March 2018 - South Hills Nurseries
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March 2018
This edition will be focusing on planting and gardening, the
importance of reading to our children and Easter ideas to make
and do at home.
We have welcomed new animals on the farm at Wilton. 4 baby lambs have been born and have been named by
the children and staff—Midnight, Dr Pepper, Little Reggie and Pistachio. 1 baby pigmy goat has also been born
named Pepper. The children have been lucky enough to meet the new arrivals soon after being born and as you
can see from the photos, some children have been able to have a lovely cuddle with them too. The lambs and
pigmy goat can be found in the yard in between the baby unit and the indoor barn.
Mother’s Day breakfast was carried out at Wilton on Satur-
day, 10th March where children and their Mummy’s took a
walk up to the woods to collect puzzle pieces and then back to
the farm to complete the puzzle and cook their breakfast of
sausages. Thank you to everyone who attended and to Jo, Ami
and Katherine for helping on the day. On Friday, 9th March,
Burcombe also held a Mother’s Day morning where the chil-
dren created various crafts for their Mummy’s.
All of our nurseries have wonderful outdoor
facilities and they all include a gardening area
for the children to explore and learn in. But
what are the benefits? In the following
information, we hope to broaden your thoughts
on your children getting dirty.
Gardening with children can be fun, educational and refreshing but also be full of sensory benefits
with all children engaging in sensory play. From birth, children learn about the world around them
using their senses and as they grow and develop, sensory experiences help them to make
connections. The garden has endless opportunities for hands-on experiences to foster learning and
encourage children to process their world by touching, feeling, comparing and observing.
If you are looking for an engaging outdoor activity that allows the whole family
to participate, consider a family garden. From selecting your own vegetables
and flowers, preparing the earth and planting, and finally harvesting, garden-
ing can be a wonderful way to involve your children in healthy hobby you can
all enjoy. Children are closer to the ground and they have an intimate relation-
ship with the earth. Along with the fun of getting dirty, gardening helps chil-
dren learn valuable lessons about patience as they wait for the vegetables to
grow, responsibility as they see how necessary their care is to the garden, and
even loss when flowers die at the end of a season. Children learn about nurtur-
ing a life and what it takes to keep something alive. There is a huge value of
exercise as children physically work in a garden and this then supports the fam-
ilies to learn about working together and share. An important thing about gar-
dening , especially with growing vegetables, is that children understand where
food comes from. Children gain huge satisfaction when seeing food pulled
from the ground or picked from a plant and helps them to make comparisons
between what is seen in their garden and how it looks in the supermarket.
‘A 2010 study commissioned by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) found that children in schools that encouraged
gardening became more resilient, confident, eager to learn and have healthier life styles. It also found that gardening had a
positive impact on children’s literacy and numeracy development and that it led to a more active, inquisitive approach to
learning and improved problem solving skills.’ (www.earlylearninghq.org.uk)
Ensure your child has clothing appropriate to the weather conditions, especially
wellies, waterproofs and warm clothes. Think about protection from the sun too
with sun cream and hats. Gardening gloves could allow your child to take part in
more gardening activities but this perhaps should be more about avoiding prick-
les and scratches rather than stopping them getting dirty. Gardening is a good
way to encourage those children (and parents/carers) who are worried about
‘messy’ play and getting dirty hands. Children can wear old shirts over their own
clothes whilst gardening – they are often more flexible and comfy than plastic
aprons which can be off putting to some children. Encourage your child to wash
their hands when they are finished and always before eating and drinking.
These home learning packs have been advertised across all of
our 6 nurseries and are encouraging parents to complete
activities at home. The pack includes;
All of the resources needed to grow your own beanstalk.
Playdough recipe and playdough mat to create flowers
for Jack’s Mummy’s garden.
Pencil control maze activity sheets.
Colouring activity.
Cutting and ordering magic beans 1-10.
Beanstalk game complete with spinner.
We are looking forward to parents and children sending us
their pictures of the beanstalks growing and hope that these
will produce yummy beans for the family to eat.
Ideas for gardening with
your children at home;
small world tyres, sweet
pea wigwams, sensory beds,
free standing gardening
box, wellie boots filled with
plants, growing seeds in ice
cream cones and tray.
Plants that are ideal for growing with small children;
Plants—Primrose, Wild Strawberry, Bellflower, Pansy, Geranium, Lambs ear, Lavender, Forget-me-not.
Herbs—Spearmint, Rosemary, Thyme, Chives, lavender, Sage, Oregano, Coriander, Tarragon.
Seeds—Runner beans, radish, Sweet pea, Marigold, Lettuce, Cornflower.
Fruit and vegetables—Runner beans, Strawberry, Radish, Lettuce, Courgette,
Carrot, Potato, Spinach, Beetroot.
Happy gardening!
Feature article this month—the importance of reading to our children
We all know that reading to our children is important. But did you know that early years children who are read to every day have many
advantages and benefits. Not only does reading enhance a child’s vocabulary, and to help them understand how to read and write, but
reading aloud to children also helps them to understand different topics about the world and every day life.
Below are some benefits and advantages that highlight the importance of reading.
1. Reading to young children sets them up to succeed—The more you read to your children, the more knowledge they absorb, and knowledge is
important in all aspects of life. There have been many studies that show reading to babies and toddlers gives them a head start and helps to
prepare them for school later down the line. Reading with your children gives them the skills needed for when they start to read themselves. It
is important that children learn to follow words across the page from left to right, and turn pages which are pre-reading skills that benefit chil-
dren and help them to become readers later on.
2. 2. Reading develops language skills—While you may speak with your children every day, the vocabulary you use is often limited and re-
petitive. Reading books ensures that your child is exposed to vocabulary on different topics, which means they hear words or phrases which
they may not hear otherwise in their day to day lives. The more words they know, the better. For children who speak more than one language,
reading is an easy way to help their language skills and is important to develop their fluency.
3. Exposure to reading exercises your child’s brain—Reading to young children affects their brain
activity and may just give them that boost they need to support and promote their early reading skills.
Research shows that specific areas of the brain are affected when young children have reading expo-
sure at home from an early age. These areas are critical for a child’s language development.
4. Reading enhances a child’s concentration—While you may think it is useless reading to a toddler
who wants to constantly turn pages, swap books, or throw them around altogether, reading with your
little one is extremely important at this age. By consistently reading to your child every day, your child
will learn to concentrate and sit still for longer periods of time, which can help later on when they go to
school.
5. Reading together encourages a thirst for knowledge—Reading to your children leads to questions
about the book and the information within. It gives you a chance to speak about what is happening and
use this as a learning experience. It may also develop an interest in different cultures or languages.
There is nothing better than seeing a child who loves to learn.
6. A range of books teaches children about different topics—Providing your child with different types of books on different topics, or even in
different languages for bilingual children, gives them a wide range of information for them to learn. There are informative books on topics
such as different animals, places or objects etc, and there are also different books to help teach children about important life skills such as
sharing, being kind, and diversity.
7. Reading develops a child’s imagination and creativity—One of the great benefits of reading with children is watching their growing
imagination. When we really engage in a book we imagine what the characters are doing, we imagine the setting as reality,. Seeing the
excitement on a child's eyes when they know what is going to be on the next page, or having them guess what is going to happen is one of the
most amazing things to experience.
8. Reading books with children helps to develop empathy—When a child puts themselves into the story it helps them to develop empathy.
They identify with characters, and they feel what they are feeling. Children begin to understand and relate to emotions.
9. Books are a form of entertainment—With so much technology these days, it is difficult not to get caught up in all the hype of it all. Video
games, smart phones and apps are popular among children. However, reading a good book that your child is interested in can be just as
entertaining. With all of the negative affects of screen time, or letting them flick through pages alone, is definitely a better option.
10. Reading together helps to create a bond—There’s nothing better than cuddling up to your little one and reading a book or a bedtime
story together,. Spending time with one another, reading and talking, can bring parents closer to their children. For parents who work, or have
a busy lifestyle, relaxing with your child and simply enjoying each others company while reading can be a great way for you both to wind
down, relax and bond.
According to www.madeformums.com, these are the top 10 books for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers;
Babies Toddlers Pre-school
‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’—Eric ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’—Michael ‘The Gruffalo’—Julia Donaldson & Axel
Carle Rosen & Helen Oxenbury Scheffler
‘Is it bedtime Wiggle Pig?’ - Mick Inkpen ‘Room on the Broom’—Julia Donaldson & ‘Where the Wild Things Are’—Maurice
Axel Scheffler Sendak
‘Each Peach Pear Plum’— Janet & Allan
Ahlberg ‘Dear Zoo’—Rod Campbell ‘Winnie-The-Pooh’—A.A.Milne
‘Guess How Much I Love You’—Sam ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’—Judith Kerr ‘I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato’—
McBratney & Anita Jeram Lauren Child
‘Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy’—
‘Peepo!’ - Janet & Allan Ahlberg Lynley Dodd ‘The Jolly Postman’—Janet & Allan
Ahlberg
‘Maisy’s Bus’—Lucy Cousins ‘The Tale Of Peter Rabbit’—Beatrix Potter
‘A Magic Faraway Tree’—Enid Blyton
‘That’s Not My Dinosaur’—Fiona Watt & ‘The Cat In The Hat’—Dr Seuss
Rachel Wells ‘No Matter What’—Debi Gliori
‘Owl Babies’—Martin Waddell & Patrick
‘The Baby’s Catalogue’—Janet & Allan Benson ‘Green Eggs and Ham’—Dr Seuss
Ahlberg
‘Alfie Gets in First’—Shirley Hughes ‘Dogger’—Shirley Hughes
‘Where’s Spot?’ - Eric Hill
‘Peace At Last’—Jill Murphy ‘Mog the Forgetful Cat’—Judith Kerr
‘Peek-A-Boo’—Jan Ormerod
Children and staff across sites dressed up as their favourite book characters. I’m sure you
agree that everyone made a wonderful effort and look amazing.
‘The books transported
her into new worlds and
introduced her to
amazing people who lived
exciting lives’.
(Matilda by Roald Dahl)
So what has been going on in and around our nurseries?........
Semley—Some of Semley children have enjoyed visiting a lambing farm as part of our
Spring fun. They had lots of fun feeding the lambs and the children even watched a lamb
being born. We have also been making links with our wonderful community. Our local dairy
farm representative came to visit, telling the children all about the cows and how their milk
is produced. Many children took a trip to the local dairy and bought some creamy fresh
farm milk from their dispenser! In consequence our children are having great fun exploring
'down on the farm'.
City—The preschool class choose to do a topic about Jack and the Beanstalk after sever-
al of them watched the pantomime at Christmas. The children have enjoyed creating a dis-
play and retelling the story through art, role play and puppets. We have also grown our own
magic beans and the children are fascinated that they are all growing at different rates
and they are very proud of them. The Butterfly class have been learning about people who
help us and they have created their own display depicting a house on fire with all the emer-
gency service vehicles around it. The Role play corner has been turned into a vets where
they have enjoyed making their animals better. We are hoping to have visits from the fire
and police but unfortunately these got cancelled due to other events ! The Dragonfly class
have enjoyed the story of the Gruffalo and they have made a lovely display using lots of
different media. The children love the story and one parent has even told us that their
child can retell the story back to them. We have also taken the story outside and we found
sticks to make our own log house. The Baby room have been making a display of under the
sea and they have enjoyed lots of sensory activities. All the classrooms have celebrated,
Pancake Day, Valentine's Day, St. David's Day, Mother's Day, St Patrick's Day and Chinese
New Year and we even tried some Chinese food.
Wilton—Barn 1 have been looking at authors and artists with a focus on one per week.
One of the children's favourites was Nick Sharratt who wrote
books such as ‘Shark in the Park’, ‘You Choose’ and ‘What’s in the
Witches Kitchen?’. The children have
completed various crafts and cooking
activities to support the children’s
learning and knowledge of the books.
Julie is also contacting Nick Sharratt
via email to let him know how much the
children have enjoyed learning and read-
ing his stories and to send pictures of
the children’s learning. Fingers crossed
he replies and will no doubt be compli-
menting the children on their efforts.
Bemerton
The children in the Owl class had
the pleasure of being invited to
Salisbury Cathedral and joining
other schools and nursery’s to sing
the song ‘Morning has broken’. The
children and staff have worked hard
to learn
the words and actions and they had
enormous fun participating in the
workshops put on, including making
a sun catcher and joining in with a
story time. The children were
exceptionally well behaved and were
a credit to the nursery and their
families.
Corsham
We are thrilled to announce that our
Corsham site had their latest Ofsted in-
spection on 31st January where they main-
tained their rating of ‘Outstanding’. Some of
the comments made by the inspector includ-
ed ‘team is highly experienced and shows
commitment to maintaining the quality of the
provision to benefit children, their families
and the local community’ and ‘children be-
have exceptionally well, with a strong under-
standing of fairness and confidently negoti-
ate taking turns with their friends’. A parent
kindly made these delicious cupcakes and
iced them beautifully to celebrate the re-
port with the staff and children.
Burcombe
This week we have been exploring space and
the planets.
We’ve enjoyed
watching a shuttle
launch, Major Tim
Peake’s space walk
on the Internation-
al Space Station
and have sung along
to the ‘Planet Song’
on YouTube. Most
of all we have en-
joyed playing in our role play space ship and space rocket that
blasts off into space every day. We are busy making papier-mache
planets, aliens in spaceships, counting on our dot to dot moon pic-
tures and squishing and squeezing our sensory galaxy bags.
Use lollypop sticks and glue
together. Paint yellow and
add the details to make this
fun and cheerful spring
Planting cress is great fun
for children of all ages as
it grows quickly. Sprinkle
the cress seeds on damp
cotton wool inside empty
egg shells and keep
watered.
Using everyday
breakfast food, you can
create a fun bunny face
to entice your child to
eat this healthy meal.
Scotch pancakes,
apple, blueberries and
raspberries can be
placed on a plate.
Easter ideas Handprints can be used to make
lots of fun crafts with your chil-
dren and these bunny prints
make lovely Easter cards for
Rice krispie or cornflake cakes are quick and easy to make
family and friends.
and just require melting chocolate and syrup together and
adding the cereal. Make sure you put the eggs in the middle
when the chocolate is still warm to help them set.
All Easter
bunnies love
to eat carrots!
This footprint
craft is fun if
you can keep
your child’s
foot still long A fork dipped in paint can create
enough to this adorable chick, dragging the
print!. paint to make him as big or small
as required.
Hot cross buns can be Small world trays are great sensory
quite time consuming to exploratory activities for children
make so try following an of all ages. This one has been
easy chocolate chip cookie created by filling a tray with
shredded paper and adding
recipe and piping an icing
different coloured eggs for the
cross on top.
children to sort. Don’t forget to add
the chickens that have laid the
eggs!
Dates for City parents
Easter Bunny will be visiting us on Monday 26th
March
The Owl room are having an Easter Celebration on Friday 23rd March at 2pm for all
the children who participate in Jo Machin’s lessons on a Friday
On the 29th March we will be having an Easter Bonnet parade and if you could all
make an Easter bonnet with your children at home and then we will do a parade at
2pm in the hall. There will be a prize for the best bonnet in each room.
Bemerton parents
Each child has been given an Easter egg to decorate at home. There will be a
prize of an Easter egg which will be drawn from a hat.You can also read
