Our blogs

Easter Big Talk! 26.03.18, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 26th Mar 2018 @ 10:27pm

Easter Big Talk

This week we are learning all about the sorrow and joy of the Easter Story and the children are developing their understanding of why we celebrate Easter. Please share the following image with your child and talk to them about what they can see.

Here are some questions you could share:

* What can you see?

* Where has this bunny come from? Has it hatched from the eggs? Why is it in the nest?

* What else can you spot in the nest? What might be inside? Which colours can you spot?

* What can you spot in the background?

* At what time of the year do we celebrate Easter?

* Can you think of or spot any signs of Spring or new life?

* Can you remember why we celebrate Easter? Why do we feel sadness on Good Friday? What happened on Easter Sunday?

Beans Big Talk 19.03.18, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 18th Mar 2018 @ 10:29pm

Bean Big Talk!

Last week we started reading the story, Jasper's Beanstalk. The children have planted their own beans and we are waiting very patiently to observe them over the next weeks to see what happens to them.

This week, our Big Talk image is a photo of some very unusual beans. Share the image with your child and talk about it together. Here are some questions you could share together:

* What can you see?

* What do they look like?

* What do they remind you of?

* Have you seen some of these before?

* What do we need to do with them?

* How can we make them grow?

 

We would love to hear and share your child's responses with the rest of the class, so please add your child's comments below.

Odd Egg Big Talk 05.02.18, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 4th Feb 2018 @ 10:39pm

The Odd Egg!

Last week, 10 very special visitors arrived in our classroom - some eggs! We have been looking after them in their incubator, observing them, checking them and counting them to make sure they are looked after and safe. There was a lot of pecking on Wednesday during the day, and we could see a couple of the chicks were starting to hatch. Then, on Wednesday after school, our first two chicks emerged from their shells!!! On Thursday morning, the children were delighted to meet our Nursery chicks. This week, our Big Talk image is of some very peculiar eggs (we have been reading The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett and learning about the types of animals that lay eggs too). Share the image with your child and talk about what you all see, think and feel. We have written some questions below that you could ask.

* What can you see?

* Which colours can you spot?

* What do you think is growing inside?

* What do you think will happen next?

SuperVeggies Big Talk 29.01.18, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 28th Jan 2018 @ 9:13pm

The children have loved learning all about keeping healthy and also reading our story, Supertato (by Sue Hendra)! This week, we are continuing with this fantastic book, so we thought we could add a SuperVeggie image as a Big Talk activity this week. Share the image below with your child and we have written a list of suggested questions you could discuss together:

  • Which fruit or vegetables can you spot?
  • Have you tried these foods before? Did you like them?
  • Which colours can you see?
  • Which is your favourite SuperVeggie? Why?
  • What makes a good superhero?
  • What super powers do you think these SuperVeggies have?

As always, we love discussing your child's ideas with the rest of the class, so please add your child's comments below!

Healthy Food Big Talk 16.01.18, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 16th Jan 2018 @ 7:32pm

Healthy Eating Big Talk!

This week the Nursery have been reading Supertato by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet. The baddy in the story, the Evil Pea, came to visit our Nursery on Monday morning and trapped lots of very unhealthy foods. Supertato and his veggie friends were very shocked! So were the children! We learnt about the foods he had trapped and how they contained lots of sugar and salt which are unhealthy foods. The children suggested that maybe this was why Evil Pea was so mean - his diet was very unhealthy and it was making his body sad!

We learnt some different ways we can keep our bodies healthy (your Nursery child might already have told you some of these things!):

* eating a healthy, balanced diet (plenty of fruit and vegetables!)

* keeping our bodies clean (brushing our teeth, washing our hands, having a bath / shower)

* drinking plenty of water

* getting plenty of exercise

* getting plenty of sleep

* keeping happy - happy, healthy minds!

It is of no surprise then, that this week's Big Talk image is linked to healthy foods. Share the picture below with your child.

Here are some questions you could discuss with your child:

* Which foods can you see? Which colours and shapes can you spot?

* Which foods are healthy? Unhealthy?

* Which foods do you like to eat?

* Why are some of these foods unhealthy?

* What might happen if you eat too many of them?

* Which healthy foods are your favourite?

* Can you think of other ways we can keep our bodies healthy?

 

We loved reading Oscar's feedback last week! Please post your child's comments below!

Lemur Big Talk 10.01.18, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 10th Jan 2018 @ 9:07am

Happy New Year and welcome back to the Spring Term!

This week we are reading the story, 'How To Lose A Lemur' by Frann Preston Gannon. So this week's Big Talk image is of ring-tailed lemurs!

Share the image with your child. Talk about what they can see. Here are some questions you could ask:

* What can you see? What are these animals? (lemurs)

* How many lemurs can you see?

* What do the lemurs look like? Can you describe them? What colours can you see?

* Do all of the lemurs in the photo look the same? How are they different?

* Where do you think the lemurs are going? 

*How do lemurs move? Do they always crawl?

Here is a video that we have watched together this week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fQDBqGcpRI

As always, we would love to hear your child's responses and ideas! Please post on our blog below so that we can share their ideas.

Puddle Big Talk 27.11.17, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 28th Nov 2017 @ 9:56pm

Puddle Big Talk

What a very wet weekend and week it has been so far! This week's Big Talk image is very fitting for the weather!

Share the image with your child and talk about what they see, how it makes them feel. Here are some questions you might like to ask:

What can you see? 

What is the little boy doing? Why?

What is he wearing? Why?

What do you think might happen next?

How do you think he is feeling?

Do you like jumping in puddles?

 

We loved hearing the children's responses to last week's Penguin Big Talk. The children really enjoyed telling us what they thought. Thank you so much to Oscar, Zachary, Max and Tilly for their excellent ideas! We'd love to hear more feedback on this week's photograph, please comment below!

Penguin Big Talk 20.11.17, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 19th Nov 2017 @ 9:47pm

This week, we will be continuing to read our story, 'Monkey and Me' by Emily Gravett. In the story, a little girl takes her monkey toy to see some different animals. One of the animals is a penguin. Share the image below with your child. Talk about what you can see, what you think is happening, where this is. We have suggested some questions to share with your child below:

Image result for penguin and egg photo

What can you see?

What is the penguin doing?

What is he holding on his feet?

Why?

Where do you think the penguin is? How do you know?

How do penguins move? Can you move like a penguin?

Can penguins fly?

Can you think of another animal that lays eggs?

Wild Animals Big Talk 13.11.17, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 12th Nov 2017 @ 9:45pm

This week, we are going to be reading a fantastic story called 'Monkey & Me' by Emily Gravett. In the story, a little girl and her monkey soft toy see lots of different wild animals. Our Big Talk image is a Zoo Map:

Share the image with your child and talk about your thoughts, opinions, feelings and ideas. Here are some questions you might like to share with your child:

What do you think this is?

What can you see?

Which animals can you spot? 

Where would you like to go first on a visit to this zoo?

What might you smell / hear / see / feel?

We would love to hear your feedback - please post your child's responses on our blog pages.

Diwali Big Talk 06.11.2017, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 5th Nov 2017 @ 11:14pm

(IMAGE SOURCE - http://www.heartbowsmakeup.com/)

This week we will be learning about the 5 day long Hindu celebration of Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights. The children will learn about some of the Hindu tradional customs during Diwali - dressing in their best clothes, giving presents and sweets, visiting their family and friends, worshipping in the temple, decorating their houses, lighting diya lamps. They will also learn about how Hindus decorate the ground with rangoli patterns during this time.

Share the image with your child and ask each other these questions:

What is this? (a rangoli pattern)

What has it been made with? (coloured rice)

What can you see?

What colours can you spot? 

What else can you see in the pattern? (flowers, diya lamps with flames)

Why has this been made? What special time of year was this made? (during Diwali)

Who might have made this pattern? (Hindus)

We have also included 2 fantastic videos that we will watch in Nursery of very talented people creating beautiful rangoli patterns with rice. It would be great for the children to watch these at home with you this week.

Bonfire Night Big Talk 30.10.17, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 29th Oct 2017 @ 10:17pm

Bonfire Night Big Talk

Welcome back! We hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable half-term break! This week we will be learning about Halloween and also Bonfire Night. Our Big Talk image this week is a Bonfire Night photograph:

Share the image with you child and ask them:

What can you see?

What time of year is it?

What do you think is happening?

Which colours can you spot?

What might you hear? Smell?

What sort of sounds might you hear?

We would love to hear your children's responses, so please feel free to post their comments below!

Autumn Picnic Big Talk 15.10.2017, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 15th Oct 2017 @ 8:56pm

This week, we are continuing our Autumn theme. Following an exciting week reading Leaf Man, we are going to be reading Stick Man this week.

We have another autumnal image for you to share with your child...

Ask your child questions about the picture...

What can you see?

Who is there? 

What do you think is happening?

What are they doing? Why? Where?

What time of year is it?

How do you know? 

Tell them your own opinions about the picture and then ask for their opinions. How does it make you feel? We hope you enjoy this week’s Autumn image!

Autumn Big Talk 09.10.17, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 8th Oct 2017 @ 10:17pm

Autumn Big Talk

This week we are reading Leaf Man (Lois Elhart) and learning about the features of Autumn. Share the Autumn image below...

Ask your child questions about the picture – What can you see? Who is there? What do you think is happening? What are they doing? Why? Where? What time of year is it? How do you know? Tell them your own opinions about the picture and then ask for their opinions. How does it make you feel? We hope you enjoy this week’s Autumn image!

Feelings Big Talk 02.10.17, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 1st Oct 2017 @ 9:06pm

Feelings Big Talk 02.10.17

This week we are reading a book called How Do You Feel? by Gillian Liu. We will be learning about the different emotions we may feel.

Share the image below with your child. It has been taken from the children's movie, Inside Out.

Image result for emotionsTalk about the image and ask your child:

How does the little girl feel? 

How are each of the characters feeling?

What are they doing with their faces / mouths / eyes? Can you make this face too?

Why do you think they may be feeling that way?

Have you ever felt this way before? Why?

We would love to hear about your child's responses! Please post on our blog!

Faces Big Talk - week beginning 25.09.17, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 24th Sep 2017 @ 9:44pm

Big Talk - Faces

We do not set homework as such in Nursery, as we believe that it is important that families have plenty of time after school to be together, to read together and also to enjoy each other’s company! Each week we will send home, as part of the newsletter, a picture, photo or image for you to look at with your child. These photos have been sourced from Google Images and Pinterest and are usually linked in to the quality books we are reading each week! They are interesting and unusual images chosen to encourage, develop and increase children’s vocabulary and listening skills. There will also be some examples of questions you could ask. We would LOVE to hear your child’s responses on our Nursery blog page!

Image result for faces book

Our first image is the front cover of a book we are reading this week, Faces. We are learning all about our faces and how different and special we all are. We will be looking in the mirror, drawing self-portaits and making face collages with loose parts in our Finger Gym.

Share the image with your child and ask questions like:

What can you see?

Which features can you spot? Can you see the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc?

What have the authors used to make the eyes, nose, mouth, etc?

Which colours can you see?

Who does it look like? Why?

We would love to hear your child's responses (like "James thought this face looks like his grandpa because he has curly hair too" or "Ana said 'he's got a beard!'"). Don't forget to comment with the responses on our blog below!

A message from Baby Bear??? Whatever next!, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 15th Nov 2016 @ 8:57pm

This week we have been reading Whatever Next! by Jill Murphy.

This afternoon, the Nursery children discovered a very unusual message from Baby Bear! They set to work straight away to write lists for him to help remind him of the items he needed to take to the moon on his repeat visit!

Diwali Big Talk 11.11.16, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 13th Nov 2016 @ 7:38pm

(IMAGE SOURCE - http://www.heartbowsmakeup.com/)

This week we have been learning about the 5 day long Hindu celebration of Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights. The children have learnt about some of the Hindu tradional customs during Diwali - dressing in their best clothes, giving presents and sweets, visiting their family and friends, worshipping in the temple, decorating their houses, lighting diya lamps. They also learnt about how Hindus decorate the ground with rangoli patterns during this time.

Share the image with your child and ask each other these questions:

What is this? (a rangoli pattern)

What has it been made with? (coloured rice)

What can you see?

What colours can you spot? 

What else can you see in the pattern? (flowers, diya lamps with flames)

Why has this been made? What special time of year was this made? (during Diwali)

Who might have made this pattern? (Hindus)

We have also included 2 fantastic videos that we watched in Nursery of very talented people creating beautiful rangoli patterns with rice. It would be great for the children to watch these at home with you this week.

Bonfire Night Big Talk 04.11.16, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 3rd Nov 2016 @ 9:01pm

(IMAGE SOURCE - PINTEREST)

Thank you so much for the comments on our blog page last week! We loved reading about Ava and Olivia's responses!

Please share this week's Bonfire Night image with your child at home. Here are some lovely questions you could ask each other:

What can you see? What do you think is happening? Why? What time of year is it? Which colours can you spot? What sounds might you hear? Which clues can you see?

We would absolutely love to hear your child's responses and whether they have been to a Bonfire Night over the weekend. Please login and comment on the blog page below. We have been talking a lot about firework safety with the children. We hope you all have a fantastic, safe Bonfire Night!

Autumn Big Talk 21.10.16, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 20th Oct 2016 @ 9:10pm

We do not set homework as such in Nursery, as we believe that it is important that families have plenty of time after school to be together, to read together and also to enjoy each other’s company! Each week we will send home, as part of the newsletter, a picture, photo or image for you to look at with your child. These photos have been sourced from Google Images and Pinterest! They are interesting and unusual images chosen to encourage, develop and increase children’s vocabulary and listening skills. There will also be some examples of questions you could ask. We would LOVE to hear your child’s responses on our Nursery blog page!

(IMAGE SOURCE - J. PETRA)

Here is the half-term's Big Talk picture. Ask your child questions about the picture – What can you see? Who is there? What do you think is happening? What are they doing? Why? Where? What time of year is it? How do you know? Tell them your own opinions about the picture and then ask for their opinions. How does it make you feel? We hope you enjoy this week’s Autumn image!

Big Talk 08.07.16, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 7th Jul 2016 @ 9:55pm

Minibeast Big Talk!

 

Here is this week's Big Talk image. Share the picture together and talk to your child about what they see. You could ask them questions like...

What can you see in the photo? Where have they come from? What would they feel like? Can you think of some “wow” words to describe them? Do you know any facts about minibeasts? 

Big Talk 30.06.16, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 30th Jun 2016 @ 9:18pm

The Monster In The Hood

Last week, we had a very unusual visitor! The Monster In The Hood! We spent the week reading all about him and the the children have been writing their own newspaper article about the very unusual events that they have witnessed.

This week, our Big Talk image is an illustration from Steve Anthony's book.

 

 

Share the image and ask your child: who are these characters? Who is the monster in the hood? Why are they looking for him? What does he look like? Think of some really interesting describing words. How does he feel? What happens in the story? What did the monster in the hood do at our school?

Big Talk! 17.06.16, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 16th Jun 2016 @ 8:59pm

Caterpillars

This week's Big Talk is an absolute wonder! A truly fascinating photograph taken of one of God's most peculiar looking creations! As we have welcomed our 5 new caterpillars into Reception, we thought this would be an ideal image to share.


Caterpillar of a Chinese Moon Moth It looks like me in the morning!:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share the photograph (taken from telegraph.co.uk) and talk about what your child can see. Ask them: What do you think this is? Where is it going? What is it going to do? Can you describe it? Think of some really interesting describing words – e.g hairy, spotty, wriggly, spiky.

NB. This is a Chinese Moon Moth caterpillar!!!

Big Talk 13.05.16, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 18th May 2016 @ 7:14pm

Pies!

Inspired by all of the delicious (!!!) mud pies that have been made outside, here is this week's Big Talk image (taken from Pinterest). Share the photo with your child, talk about what they can see? What do you think is happening? Why are they doing this? What will happen next? Make up a story about the image. Does your story have a happy ending or a sad ending? Write a fantastic mud pie recipe that you could make in our mud kitchen!

Big Talk 06.05.16, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 18th May 2016 @ 7:10pm

Pig In Boots!

This week, the children have LOVED playing in our new Mud Kitchen. Inspired by their wellies, we have selected this image for the week's Big Talk! (Taken from tpet.co.uk). Share the photo with your child, talk about it together. What do you think this is? What can you see? What is happening? Can you make up a short story about this piglet?

Big Talk 29.04.16, by Mrs Fitzsimons

Date: 18th May 2016 @ 7:06pm

First Man on the Moon

This week, we have been learning about the first moon landing. Share the photograph of Neil Armstrong landing on the moon in 1969. Can the children remember any facts about the moon landing? How many astronauts flew to the moon? What was their rocket's name? Which space ship did they then fly in to the moon? Why was this so special? What did Neil Armstrong say? What would you do if you went to the moon? How would you feel? What would you see? How would you move?

We watched the following video, which the children absolutely loved!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd0C8HuGOHM

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