Monthly News
May 2013
As we enter the month of May we begin to prepare the transition for the children that will be going to school in September. Brockenhurst Preschool has an excellent transition programme to Brockenhurst Primary School. We make sure that every child that leaves us in the summer term goes to school knowing their future teachers and also the teachers being aware of any individual needs the child has and what makes them tick.
Links with the school extend also into our daily activities. Now that we are open in the afternoons we have had more time to take the children out and about and a little further afield. This term we have been walking them past Brockenhurst Primary School, where they watch the children play at break time, some of them waving at older siblings as we head down to the stream to paddle and catch bugs. As we walk along we have been counting the cows and horses we see and sounding out the letters they begin with and the sounds they make. If you see us out and about do give us a “hello”!.
February 2013
The children of Brockenhurst Pre-School have been out and about spotting the first signs of spring. As we walk to the field we chant our snow drop song “Snow drop, snow drop, little drop of snow. What do you do when the cold wind blows? Shake our little heads and sing ding a ling a ling, here comes spring”. We have also been exploring the trails that creatures have left behind, we have flattened mole hills, we have aided a hibernating frog continue his winters sleep and rescued a few stray worms. This term we have been focusing on helping the children reconnect with nature, so important for the human spirit and the best way to explore our imagination and raise children with happy hearts.
November 2012
In November the children talked excitedly about the fireworks they had seen in the village or at home. We recreated the experience with movement and sound, twirling like a Catherine wheel, jumping like a rocket and banging the drums. Colourful pictures were created, using lots of sparkles. We experimented rolling marbles through paint inside a frying pan and saw what happens to paint when you spin it inside a salad spinner.
Our teddies and dolls were cared for in our very own hospital, our story of the month is ‘The Naughty Red Bus’ and we learn to rhyme with the ‘Ning nang nong’ by Spike Milligan.
The children enjoyed their trip to the church play and Britta visited the children, who had left us to go to Brockenhurst Primary School. It was great to see how well they have settled in such a short time.
October 2012
Autumn term is such an exciting time at pre-school. We are outside every day exploring the changes in nature; collecting conkers, discovering the changing colours on trees and bushes, and finding out how apples grow. We are learning about hibernating hedgehogs and other animals and how to keep warm and dry. A firm favourite is ‘going on a bear hunt’ and running races on the field. The children are learning to put on their own coats and wellies and helping the younger ones – we care for each other. Indoors we are learning to count and weigh using our conkers, we are doing leaf prints and learning more about colous and the amazing displays of fireworks and how to keep safe.
We are mixing our own play dough and using the new cooker to make apple sauce and biscuits.
July 2012
The summer term has been very busy and exciting – the 17 children leaving us to go to ‘big school’ enjoyed their transition visits to Brockenhurst Primary School, finishing these with a Princess and Pirate Party. Soon they will be wearing their new school uniforms for the first time.
All of us celebrated the Queens Jubilee with a picnic in the play park, later we learned about the Olympics by making our own colourful Olympic rings and medals. Running races and relays prepared us for our very own sports day at the last day of term. Here we also said goodbye to our school starters at their very special leavers ceremony – we are sad to see them go, but wish them all the very best in their future learning.
Our very own Grandma Ellen came runner up in the national best pre-school volunteer competition! To us, she simply is the best!! Well done and a big thank you, Ellen for all you do for us.
Soon it’s time to say hello again to all the little ones – many of whom will now be the ‘big ones’ – at the start of autumn term; we also look forward to welcome many new children into our group.
April 2012
What a mixture of weather we have had - from making sure everyone has brought their sun hat to 'is your coat waterproof and all put on wellies please'; however we have managed to be outside nearly every day, singing 'incy wincy spider' alongside overflowing water pipes, splashing in puddles, to helping pump out the trampoline pit in the play park. We watched the cement mixer next door and are keeping an eye on our potatoes, once again growing in kind Anne's garden. Lots of seed planting has gone home and we watched our tadpoles grow legs. Staff and passengers at the train stations ticket office were treated to 'Down by the station' and 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', and the children enjoyed taking their very own tickets back to pre-school.
The children starting school in September have said hello to the Registration class teacher Nick Pepin and his Teaching Assistant Mrs White at Pre-school and are now looking forward to their first visits to their new classroom.
Bunting making has started for our tea party celebrating the Queens Diamond Jubilee and we are learning about the different homes people all over the world live in.
The children enjoy taking turns in our new sensory tent, and dressing up in our new princess and knight costumes.