Owlets Nursery Class

Welcome to Owlets Class

Miss Pritchard will be teaching Owlets Class every day. Ms Tolley and Mrs Armstrong will be supporting every day.

We will use this page to share important information with you. You can find out what your child is learning in school, what they need to bring, and any special dates to remember.

Please check this page often to help you stay up to date. If you have any questions, you can always talk to us at the classroom door, or contact us through the school office.

 

What do you need to bring to school?

            

                                         Water Bottle              Coat                                   Spare Clothes

 

Our Week:

Monday	Forest Area (pm)
Tuesday	Gardening (am)
Wednesday	PE (am) Music (pm)
Thursday	Forest Area (am)
Friday	Cooking (am)

 

Dates to remember:

Thursday 3rd September - Term Starts

Tuesday 13th October - Parents Meetings 4pm-7pm

Wednesday 14th October - Parents Meetings - 3.30pm—6pm

Friday 16th October - School Photographs

Friday 23rd October - Break up for Half Term

Monday 2nd November - School Reopens

 

 

How can you help your child at home?

Parents can support their nursery child's learning and development at home in many simple ways through everyday activities. Reading together regularly helps to develop language, communication, and a love of books, while talking about daily experiences encourages children to express their thoughts and build their vocabulary. Children can develop early maths skills by counting objects, recognising shapes and colours, and spotting patterns during play and routine activities. Providing opportunities for active play, drawing, colouring, and building helps to strengthen both gross and fine motor skills. Parents can also encourage independence by allowing children to dress themselves, tidy up their toys, and help with simple household tasks. Creative activities such as painting, singing, dancing, and imaginative play support children's confidence and self-expression. Exploring the local environment, visiting parks and libraries, and following children's interests helps them learn about the world around them. Establishing positive routines for sleep, meals, and daily activities provides security and consistency. Most importantly, spending quality time together, playing, talking, and showing interest in a child's learning helps them feel valued and supports their overall development.

What have we been learning in Nursery?

The children have been learning all about themselves, answering the question 'I wonder what makes me special?' Through the topic, the children have explored their emotions, learnt about their bodies and had the opportunity to talk about their family. The children have continued to explore the beautiful grounds during their forest school time and have been watching the season change to Autumn. They have been busy planting winter peas in their gardening session and have enjoyed making apple crumble from apples collected in the school grounds.

Beautiful work – mark making:

Mark making is an important part of learning and development in Nursery, as it helps children begin to understand that marks, symbols, and drawings can represent meaning. Through activities such as drawing, painting, scribbling, and making patterns, children develop the fine motor skills needed for later writing. Mark making also encourages creativity, communication, and self-expression, allowing children to share their ideas, experiences, and imagination. By providing a range of opportunities and resources for mark making, adults support children's confidence and lay the foundations for early literacy and writing skills.

 

Maths-Key Instant Recall Facts:

The children will be learning to count to 5. They will start by learning to say the numbers in order before moving onto counting objects. It is important for nursery children to say numbers to 5 because it lays a strong foundation for their future mathematical skills. By saying numbers to 5, children learn the value of numbers, the concept of one-to-one correspondence, and the principle of cardinality. These foundational skills are essential for understanding addition, subtraction, and other mathematical concepts. Additionally, saying numbers to 5 helps children develop their number sense, which is crucial for problem-solving and pattern recognition. Regular exposure to numbers in everyday life, such as counting objects, reading stories with numbers, and using tools like dice and dominoes, further supports their learning.

Our Owlets Nursery Class is a teacher-led setting, taking children from the age of 2 years old up until they join Reception Class.  Funded hours for 2 year olds (if eligible) can be used from the term following their 2nd birthday and funded hours for 3 year olds (15 or 30 hours per week, dependent on eligibility) can be used from the term following their 3rd birthday.  Parents / carers can also pay privately for additional top-up hours, or for their child to attend after their 2nd or 3rd birthday, prior to their funded hours activating at the start of the following term.

Our Nursery children are also able to take advantage of our fabulous Wraparound provision, Lindkidz.  They are open before school from 7.30am and after school until 5.30pm.  Funded hours can be used for wraparound care, or this can be paid for privately. 

Children follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum, learning in our Nursery classroom ‘Owlets’, the dedicated outside area, and Forest School.  Learning opportunities focus on the children’s interests and balance the chances to collaborate, explore, discuss, investigate and create independently, with teacher-led specific teaching sessions to support the acquisition of new skills and knowledge.  We teach our children to have a sense of responsibility for themselves, other people and the environment.  We know every child as an individual and the creation of strong and positive relationships with parents, carers and families is a central part of this.

Please telephone 01584 881466 or email office@lindridge.worcs.sch.uk for up to date information on place availability.  We welcome visits to our setting, and offer taster sessions to make the transition to Nursery class as smooth as possible.  Please call or email if you would like to arrange a visit; we’d love to see you.

Early Years Curriculum

At Lindridge St Lawrence CE VA Primary we believe that a high-quality teaching within the early years setting should engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to participate, play and learn. As children progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of the 7 main areas of learning.

• Personal, social and emotional development (prime area)
• Communication and language (prime area)
• Physical development (prime area)
• Literacy (specific area)
• Mathematics (specific area)
• Understanding of the world (specific area)
• Expressive arts and design (specific area)

The 3 prime areas of learning are particularly important for learning and forming relationships and building a foundation for children to thrive and providing the basis for learning in all areas. The 4 specific areas help strengthen and develop the three prime areas, and ignite children’s curiosity and enthusiasm. All areas of learning are interconnected.

The Early Years department is divided into two classes. Owlets is a Teacher Led Nursery class and teaches children from the age of two until they start Reception. Hedgehogs is the Reception class for children aged four and five years old. Both classes have an outdoor classroom where the children can learn and have meaningful interactions with trained staff.

Our curriculum which encourages the children to Discover Life in all its Fullness is delivered through a range of different approaches. These include: learning through play; modelling by adults; collaborative learning through children working together and observing each other and through adult-guided learning. Continuous provision allows the children to take ownership of their own learning and gives them opportunity to enter deeper learning. In planning and guiding what children learn, teachers reflect on the different rates at which children are developing and adjust their practice appropriately. Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:

• Playing and exploring (children investigate and experience things and “have a go”) 
• Active learning (children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties and enjoy achievements) 
• Thinking critically (children have develop their own ideas, make links between ideas and develop strategies for doing things) 

Each class has an indoor classroom and a dedicated outside early years classroom and the focus is on allowing the children to develop through positive interactions with staff in a secure environment. We also make use of our beautiful school grounds with weekly outdoor learning sessions.

Adult-led teaching activities are also an integral feature of our EYFS curriculum.  In Owlets the children are taught both the prime and specific areas during carpet time and during meaningful interactions during play. In Hedgehogs the children are taught phonics, writing and mathematics daily and have structured RE, PE, music, humanities, science and PSHE lessons throughout the week.