Foundation Stage 1
The FS1 Team
Mrs Eggington - Teacher
Mrs Williams - Teacher
Mrs Jackson - Teaching Assistant
Mrs Barber - Teaching Assistant
Miss Moss - Teaching Assistant
Welcome to Foundation Stage 1!
In Nursery we work closely with parents and carers to help start and encourage the journey into learning.
This term we have been settling in lots of new children and helping everyone to make new friends.
Our approach to your child's learning centres around children's interests and learning through play. We aim to provide a range of opportunities for children so that all learning is meaningful, with hands-on, real life experiences.
A half-termly newsletter will be published to share with parents and carers more detailed information around the learning that is taking place and provide useful information for how our children can be supported at home.
We have an open door policy in Nursery, so please do not hesitate to speak to staff; we are always here and happy to help and provide support.
Mrs Williams and Mrs Eggington
19.01.2024
What a wonderful week in Nursery! We have done lots of super exciting learning with ice and investigated the homes of different Arctic animals. This meant some great artwork and creative projects which we cannot wait to get up on display. Next week, we are looking at the 'History of me' which will include looking at lots of very cute baby photographs!
12.01.2024
Happy New Year everyone! This week, we have welcomed lots of new starters into our Nursery who have done incredibly well and our older children have really helped them settle into our routines. We are learning all about Winter and explored lots of cold things last week...including ice melting! Next week, we are looking at all the different animals that live in the Arctic...I wonder if we will see any snow!
15.12.2023
Wow! Well the last two weeks have gone by in a whirl of Nativity practises and performances, Christmas craft sessions for parents and, as always, lots of fun learning opportunities for all of our children! We are super proud of everything our children have achieved this term from learning to put their own coats on, scooting outside and even standing up singing on stage for our Nativity. Can't wait for our last week of adventures before breaking up for Christmas on Thursday!
01.12.2023
It has been a busy week in Nursery this week, with lots of song practising for our first Nativity performance! We have also explored long and short, done mark-making in messy shaving foam and had a lovely group reading session where we shared different books!
24.11.2023
This week, we looked at the story Balancing Act and explored this within our small world provision, weighing and measuring different items and trying to get the scales to balance. We love building and water play fun in our nursery, as you can see here, and we have also done lots of mark making activities in shaving foam to prepare our little fingers for writing!
17.11.2023
What a busy week! We have been celebrating World Nursery Rhyme Week with lots of fun activities linking to Jack and Jill, Hickory Dickory Dock, Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Row, Row, Row your Boat and Wheels on the Bus. This included making boats and crowns, lots of painting and exciting water play! Children in Need finished our week and I'm sure you will agree that our children look fantastic dressed in their yellow, spotty outfits!
10.11.2023
This week we have focused on Anti-bullying week to coincide with the rest of the school looking at this topic next week. We used the text Elmer to explore difference and how we can show respect for each other. The children showed how we can be a kind and wonderful friend as well as looking at lots of different rainbow colours and colour mixing in provision. Towards the end of the week, we made lots of different kinds of poppies in honour of Remembrance Day this Sunday.
It has been a fabulous week and we are raring to go for World Nursery Rhyme week next week!
03.11.2023
We kicked off our topic about Celebrations this week, by learning all about Diwali and Bonfire Night! This meant we got to bake some yummy firework cookies, make firework rockets and salt dough diva lamps, as well as do some brightly coloured paintings on the easel. Also, we spent lots of time outdoors, splashing in the puddles and creating chalk firework pictures on our playground. It has been lots of fun! Next week, we are looking at a brilliant book about a very colourful elephant called Elmer...we can't wait!
18.10.2023
For the last two weeks, we have been learning all about Harvest time and the fantastic story of the Little Red Hen. Children have absolutely loved making bread, chopping vegetables to make soup (and tasting it!), using our fine motor skills to grind corn and then finding ways to transport the hay bales (weetabix!) around the farm!
We can't wait to see everyone back after the half term holidays for our exciting learning about Celebrations, starting with colour...Diwali and Bonfire Night!
Have a wonderful break everyone and lots of adventures!
Mrs Williams and Mrs Eggington
Spring 1.2.2022
This week we have been learning about the wider world and Chinese New Year. As part of our learning we heard the story of ‘The Great Race’ and why this year is the ‘Year of the Tiger’. We made our own tiger masks, dragon puppets and developed our scissor skills to make Chinese lanterns. The children could remember lots of facts to explain about how and why the New Year is celebrated.
Spring 6.1.22
It has been a busy first week back for the Nursery children. We have been exploring the season of Winter and what children know. We have been busy exploring the wider world and places where it is very cold all of the time. We learnt lots of facts and investigated what happens to water when it is hot and when it is very cold. The children have enjoyed learning about the different animals that live in the Arctic too!
Autumn 19.11.21
In Nursery we have been celebrating National Nursery Rhyme Week. Each day we have learnt a new rhyme and have performed them both in Nursery on our outdoor stage and at home with our adults too. We have become excellent at using Makaton signs to help us learn all the new words. We used the rhymes in our play, making our own rhyme bus as well as props to use in our performances. Well done children what stars you have been!
Autumn 5.11.21
To start the new term we have been learning about Diwali. We learnt the story of Rama and Sita and how good triumphed over bad. As part of our learning we made Diyas and decorated our own tealight holders. Children really enjoyed the hands on experience of making their own salt dough. Children helped measure the ingredients, mix, stir, knead and roll the dough before adding their own decoration. We hope our adults enjoy using them as much as we did making them!
Autumn 22.10.21
This week the children went on a trip to the Sheffield Crucible. We were so excited to see the performance of Izzy Gizmo performed by Polly Ives and the music ensemble 360. The children had practised the songs at Nursery and really enjoyed singing along to story as it was brought to life!
For some of our young children this was their first trip to a theatre not to mention travelling on a tram or a bus. Children you behaved superbly and we were very proud of you!
Autumn 8.10.21
This week we have started our learning about Harvest. As part of this learning we have been listening to the story of 'The Little Red Hen'. We have been using our voices to re-tell the story using story props, and we have made our own bread just like the Little Red Hen did. We took our bread rolls home and had to decided with our adults what we thought of it. It was so wonderful to hear that the children had shared their learning at home and that lots of you are going to follow the recipe and make your own bread at home very soon!
Autumn 20.9.21
This week we have started our learning on the season Autumn. We have been talking about the changes we see around us at this time of year. As part of our learning we read the story ‘We’re going on a leaf hunt’ by Steve Metzger. The children had lots of fun exploring our wider school grounds collecting fallen leaves to use in their create learning back at Nursery. We learned the names of some of the trees we saw and also the reason for why they could see the leaves falling off trees as they watched.
Autumn 10.9.21
Welcome to the first Nursery post of 2021-22. This week we have been welcoming our new children to Gleadless School. It has been a pleasure to see how well the children have already settled after just a short period of time. While the sun has been shining we have been enjoying lots of outdoor learning. The children have been practising their physical skills by riding, rolling, hopping and climbing, as well as using their maths skills in our mud kitchen.
Summer 9.7.21
This week our Nursery children took part in their first ever sports day.
Children used a range of skills to compete in some individual and small team games. Nursery staff were amazed by the amazing throwing, jumping, running and passing that our children demonstrated. Everyone certainly demonstrated our school values of 'We aim high', 'We are a team and 'We are determined'
Lots of fun was had by all, great job Team Gleadless!
Summer 18.6.21
Our topic this week has been all about ‘Shapes’. We have spent lots of time hunting for shapes outside and identifying the shapes we can see all around us in nature.
We have also been building models using 3d shapes and making our own patterns using the shapes - rectangle, square, triangle and circle. We have supported children to develop their shape vocabulary when talking to adults about the learning they have created.
The children have amazed the Nursery Staff with their knowledge and how well they can sing our shape songs too!
Summer - 14.5.21
At Gleadless Nursery we know our children thrive with their learning when outdoors. Our children have had lots of fun this week using their imagination, communication and physical skills.
We had our very own ice-cram van arrive to deliver us some tasty treats and the prices were very reasonable too!
We have also been exploring our mark making skills through painting with water and using a variety of different brushes and rollers. We had lots of interesting pictures appear and the children showed great excitement when talking about what they had drawn.
Summer - 30.4.21
This week in Nursery we were very lucky to be visited by the
'Concerteenies Crew'.
The children were very excited to see a music concert taking place in the Hall. The children watched with excitement as the story ‘The Dog Who Could Dig' by Jonathan Long and Korky Paul was brought to life with musical accompaniment. The children thoroughly enjoyed hearing the story and learning the songs.
In early years education we know that music not only supports learning and development, but has a positive effect on wellbeing and enhances the lives of children with special educational needs.
What a super way to spend an afternoon!
Summer - 23.4.21
It has been wonderful to welcome our children back to Nursery this week and to see everyone’s smiley face again. The children have excitedly been sharing news of their Easter holiday adventures.
This half term we are exploring the theme ‘New Life’ and to start off the term we have had some special visitors. Over the term children will be witnessing first hand the life cycle of both frogs and butterflies.
This week children have learnt some simple facts about frogs, created puppets and made their own life cycle hats. We have been so pleased to hear how engaged children have been with sharing their learning with you at home too.
As a class we have been practising the song ‘Five Little Speckled Frogs’ and children have been able to use their number knowledge in their singing. Why not ask your child to perform the song for you at home!
