At Imperial, the Preschoolers have focusing on oral hygiene and going to the Dentists! The children have been joining in brushing their teeth at nursery, and learning each step to brushing their teeth. They have enjoyed doing it with their friends and watching the sand in the timer. We even made up our own teeth brushing song!

We also set the home corner up as a Dentists with props to support their play, and so they could engage in role play. The children used each other and the dolls as patients, communicating with each other and mark making ‘Patient Notes’. They had lots of fun!

We had lots of fun at Imperial celebrating Australia Day! The babies made their own koala masks, using their motor skills to paint them. The Toddlers made their own Australian maps, crafted the Sydney Opera House and made boomerangs. Their teachers also made them their own Australian hats to take home! The Preschoolers made flags, koala headbands, Aboriginal turtles and made Fairy bread, which is a food often made and eaten in Australia!

At Valeswood, we had so much fun celebrating Chinese New Year! We made our own rabbit ears as it is the year of the rabbit, we did some mark making and had a yummy snack, which included sweet and sour sauce and prawn crackers!

At Imperial, the Toddlers made their own pizzas! They got to choose what toppings that they wanted on top of their pizza, using their fine motor skills to pinch the food, and sprinkle it on the pizza. The children ate their beautiful pizzas at tea time- it was delicious!

At St Mary’s, we spent a week celebrating Chinese New Year! We were very busy- we made Chinese lanterns, using our scissor skills to cut and explored different materials and textures. We also tried some Chinese food, which was very yummy!

Through the month of January, we have been reading a book called ‘Sam and the lucky money’, which is a story about a little boy celebrating Chinese New Year and what traditions he takes part in. The children love this story and often talk about it!

At Imperial, the staff in the Baby Room, set up a Chinese restaurant to celebrate Chinese New Year. The children got to use their imaginations to ‘eat’ the food, serve each other and talk on the phone. They used their speech to communicate in simple words, gestures and eye contact. We have got lots more planned at Imperial to celebrate Chinese New Year!

The Preschoolers at Imperial are currently focusing on the book ‘The Healthy Wolf’. The book includes, healthy eating, oral hygiene, exercise and helping our friends. We went on a trip to our local shops and bought some fruit and vegetables to take back to nursery with us. We used our fine motor skills to cut up the foods ourselves and then we tasted them. We discussed what fruit or vegetable was our favourite and which one we liked the least.

We have also made our own Wilfred the Wolf, exploring different materials and textures to create a collage and of course- do some painting!

At St Mary’s, we have enjoyed making Christmas decorations for our Christmas trees at home and making cards for our families. We also designed calendars for 2023 and made reindeer dust to sprinkle in our homes on Christmas Eve! Some of us were Santa’s little helpers and wrapped Christmas boxes, experimenting with our cutting skills and using sticky tape.

A big thank you to our lovely parents and carers who donated party food- it was delicious! We loved dancing, singing Christmas carols and playing party games at our Christmas party!

At Imperial, the Preschoolers had a busy Forest School session! Lea, our Forest School leader, made a Christmas tree using pallets, so we decided to make some decorations to put on it. We made a very special decoration using cardboard, metal cable and fire. We used metal wire and wrapped it around cardboard, placing it on the fire and as the cardboard burned, it left the metal cable in the shape of a Christmas tree!

During our busy morning, we stopped for a nice warm juice to warm up our insides as it was quite cold outside! Even the staff had some too! We also managed to see some horses today on the field- the children gave them names and made noises to attract the horses. We are also very excited to plant our new Christmas tree and watch it grow in the new year- we named our tree Nicholas!

At Nightingale, we have been enjoying the snow, working together to make the best snowman! The children have also been using their fine motor skills to pour the water into jars and sprinkle glitter to make snow globes! We have also spent time making snowmen Christmas cards and decorated our own crackers!

At Imperial, the Preschoolers went to Forest School today and got to play in the snow! The children were so excited to see one of their favourite places covered in snow and of course, had a snowball fight, which they thought was very funny! We also made our own snow lady, who was called ‘Leafy’ and then we made her little sister, who was called ‘Sister Leafy’. The children had a great afternoon!

In the event of extreme weather (snow, storm, etc), our nurseries and pre-schools will normally remain open unless to do so would endanger the safety of the children, parents or staff. The decision whether to close will be taken by 6.45am each day by the Directors.

We will publish information by 7:00 am on our website https://www.blossomyears.co.uk about closure or amended arrangements for nursery/pre-school opening.

During the day, should the weather deteriorate to the extent that sessions need to be suspended, parents will be informed via text or email and an announcement will be posted on the website in the updates section. We ask parents to be mindful of our closing times and take into consideration their arrangements and travel times, given the conditions, to ensure children are collected on time.

In the event of severe weather disruption, staff who are able to come into work safely should endeavour to do so. Staff who are unable to travel safely should notify their director and line manager. The normal timetable may need to be suspended. In the event of staff shortages, we will contact all available off duty staff and/or agency staff and group the children differently until they are able to arrive. If we are unable to maintain statutory ratio requirements after all avenues are explored, we will contact Ofsted to inform them of this issue, recording all details in our incident file. If we feel the safety, health or welfare of the children is compromised, then we will take the decision to close the setting.

At such times, when our nurseries/pre-schools remain open, but parents decide that their child will not be attending they should inform the nursery/pre-school manager by email or telephone before the start of the session to advise that their child will not be attending.

Setting Telephone Number Email:

• Imperial Way Day Nursery 0208 295 2137 / 07534 094401 imperial@blossomyears.co.uk
• Winlaton Road Day Nursery 07948 549 185 winlaton@blossomyears.co.uk
• Nightingale Lane Pre-School 07760 891 837 nightingale@blossomyears.co.uk
• St Mary’s Pre-School 07594 417 980 stmarys@blossomyears.co.uk
• Valeswood Pre-School 07498 549 538 valeswood@blossomyears.co.uk

Please ensure that children wear suitable and appropriate clothing and footwear during these times.
We will not take children outdoors where we judge that weather conditions make it unsafe to do so.

Kind Regards

The Blossom Years Team