Holtsmere End Infant and Nursery School

 

'Willow'

Nursery Class
 Miss 'Anna' Humphries

 

Autumn 1 2023

Week commencing 11th September 

Week commencing 18th September

Week commencing 25th September

Week commencing 2nd October

Week commencing 9th October

Week commencing 16th October

Autumn 2 2023

Week commencing 30th October

Week commencing 6th November 2023 

Time Travelling Ted visited Nursery this week. He told us about soldiers from a long time ago who were brave so that we can be safe and happy today. We have been looking at the poppy as a way to remember and thank them. We have also discussed special events in our own lives that we like to remember and we have shared these with our friends.

Week commencing 13th November 2023

Jigsaw Jenie visited Nursery on Monday to tell us it was going to be her birthday on Thursday. The children decided to throw her a party. We made a list of everything we would need and slowly made our way through it. We made decorations, cupcakes and a card. The party was a huge success and the children were proud of their hard work.

Week commencing 20th November 2023

This week we have been learning about how we have changed since we were babies. We have looked at pictures of ourselves as babies and talked to our friends about how we are now different, we met Mrs Hammett’s baby and had the opportunity to ask her lots of questions, we read ‘Baby Animals’ and discussed how they change too and we have been playing with babies during child initiated learning.

Week commencing 27th November 2023

To continue our topic of celebrations, this week Nursery have been learning all about weddings. We have talked about why people get married, who goes to a wedding, what happens there and we have watched videos of different religious weddings. We decided to have our own wedding in Nursery which we prepared for by making biscuits and bouquets. 

Week commencing 4th December 2023

We have been learning all about the Jewish celebration Hanukkah.  We learned about the miracle of how a little bit of oil lasted 8 days and 8 nights. On Friday we had a Hanukkah party. We listened to blessings, music, lit the menorah, ate doughnuts and read the story ‘Eight Nights, Eight Lights’. 

Week commencing 11th December 2023

This week we have been getting ready for Christmas. We talked about why some Christians celebrate Christmas and we read the Nativity story. On Friday we performed our Christmas songs to our families, enjoyed doing Christmassy activities for Deco Morning, had a lovely Christmas lunch in the hall and watched a very noisy panto in the afternoon. It was a very busy but exciting day!

Spring Term 2024

Week commencing 8th January 2024

This term our topic is ‘On the Move!’. Our class toy, Cheeky Monkey, visited London on the train. We looked at her photos and talked about where we could go on a train. We talked about how trains work and who works on the trains. We have enjoyed reading lots of train stories, role playing trains and drawing train tracks. We were also so impressed with how well the children settled back into Nursery after the long break.

Week commencing 15th January 2024

Seasonal change week. This week we have focused on Winter. We went on a winter walk to see what changes we could see in the environment. We noticed there were no leaves on the trees, the pond was frozen and there weren’t many plants. We have had fun finding ice every morning in our garden and bringing it inside to play with. 

Week commencing 22nd January 2024

Cheeky Monkey told us she wanted to go to Ireland this week, after looking at the map and discovering she would have to go over the sea, we decided a boat would be the best way to get there. Miss Anna’s uncle is the captain of a boat in Cornwall so we came up with questions to ask him to help cheeky know what to expect. Captain Chris sent us a video back which was very exciting!

Week commencing 29th January 2024

Cheeky Monkey and Geography Georgie flew to China this week. They have been teaching us all about Chinese New Year. We have learned about how people celebrate the festival and the traditions they follow. We have also learned about the story of ‘The Great Race’ with a particular focus on the dragon because this coming year is the year of the dragon. Cheeky Monkey and Geography Georgie flew to China so we have also talk about planes and why that was the best mode of transport for their trip.

Week commencing 5th February 2024

This week Cheeky Monkey wanted to go to space. As a class we read ‘Whatever Next’ but we discovered you can’t really go to space in a cardboard box. We did some research and found out you can only go to space in a rocket. We learned about rockets and set one up in our classroom. Cheeky sent us photos from space and we enjoyed learning that there is no gravity in space and everything floats. 

Week commencing 12th February 2024

On Monday we saw a photo of a UFO flying above our playground. When we went outside we discovered it had crashed! We found an alien, a book (Aliens in Underpants Save the World) and the broken UFO. We received a video from Astronaut Amy asking us to take care of her friend, she also invited us on a trip to space on Friday. During the week we have been learning all about astronauts and how space is different from Earth. Amy arrived on Thursday to give us astronaut training to help us cope with the zero gravity in space!

Week commencing 26th February 2024

Emily the Explorer visited us on Monday. She told us that she is an animal expert and over the next few weeks she will be teaching us about animals from all over the world. This week we were learning about African animals and life in Africa. We learned about safari animals and what some people in Africa like to eat and what music they like to listen to as well as what the weather can be like in some parts of Africa.

Week commencing 4th March 2024

Emily the Explorer returned and taught us all about the Arctic. We found out that it is very cold there so the animals need thick fur or blubber to keep them warm. We loved talking about how the animals were different to African animals. We also discussed the Inuit community and some of their traditions.

On Thursday we celebrated World Book Day by dressing up as cowboys and attending a wild west drama workshop.

Week commencing 11th March 2024

Emily the Explorer visited on Monday with Time Travelling Ted and an Egg. She said they had gone back in time to a long long long time ago and brought the egg back. We guessed what was inside but discovered it was a dinosaur when we saw a video of a triceratops in our garden on Tuesday. On Wednesday we discovered what dinosaurs ate by looking through their poo. On Thursday we discussed the word ‘extinct’ and learned a few ways the dinosaurs may have died. We did a volcano and asteroid experiment to understand this.

Week commencing 18th March 2024

This week Geography Georgie had been spotted around Hemel Hempstead. The children discussed where they have been in Hemel and what you can see here. Emily the Explorer sent us a letter to say she had been busy helping out at farm learning about British farm animals. We have been learning about these animals and what the animals and farms provide for us. We had a great time on Wednesday playing with our families during our stay and play session.

 

Nursery Rhymes

Nursery rhymes are important for young children because they help develop an ear for language. Both rhyme and rhythm help children hear the sounds and syllables in words, which helps children learn to read! The teachers have chosen some nursery rhymes for you to share with your child. There are links to the rhymes on You tube if you are unfamiliar with them. Enjoy!

Hey diddle diddle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJiw-edttDY

Baa baa black sheep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR5XSOdjKMA

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n38kGst16sI

Humpty Dumpty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n_J2z-ILXo

Hickory dickory dock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGgsklW-mtg

Sing a song of sixpence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26yFO5lnkgU

Oranges and Lemons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91Za-Nu2XW4

The grand old Duke of York

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGvEQTQaTbQ

Tommy thumb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ustdPWKFqaM

5 Little Speckled Frogs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSC-gHBU_d0

10 Little Men in a Flying Saucer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E3p_51tJx0

Wind the Bobbin up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5h_-6gAf7w

1,2,3,4,5 once I caught a fish alive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ir_l7qTiZ4

Incy wincey spider

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAJynCIsNUg

Jack and Jill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYojUSFfuMg

 

 

 

 

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