Category Archives: Newsletters

23. January 2021 – Arctic

Sunday, February 28th, 2021

Arctic

Our ‘Arctic Topic’ certainly fitted in with the weather this month, as we have been learning about the Arctic and the amazing animals that live there. We, watched a short video about the Arctic Tundra and one called a ‘Walk in the Arctic’. We, conducted a small science experiment and discovered how water turns to ice and we rescued some toy animals that were stuck in the ice. Outside we also found some ice and made footprints on the frosty grass.

The children worked together to create an Artic area display made out of cardboard, white paint, cotton wool and other materials with artic animals, a cave and snow.

Most excitingly, we were granted permission from Fawley Farms to take the children for our “squirrel walks” around their fields. We have enjoyed lots of long muddy walks exploring the fields and the woods, where we built a den and jumped in muddy puddles. Hopefully, you saw some of the photos on Tapestry or Facebook.

 

 

 

 

Finally, during the last week of January the weather aligned to “our topic” enabling lots of snow to play in. We headed off with a backpack containing hot chocolate and homemade bread, after all that walking and exploring in the snow, we needed a snack to warm us up.

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The next day with the snow still in the garden we made some snowmen and used Miss Veronica’s hat for our biggest snowman.

We continued with our cooking activities as well and we made bear faces out of yoghurt. The children furthermore cut their own bananas or cucumbers, spooned the yoghurt into a circular cutter and made a bear face with banana cucumbers and blueberries. The best part of it all was eating it during snack time, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

The children have certainly enjoyed learning about the Artic. They can name many animals that live in the Artic and they understand how these animals keep warm in snow and ice. As the lockdown continues, we hope you and your loved ones are keeping safe and well.

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22. December 2020 – prime colour fun

Sunday, February 28th, 2021

Prime colour fun

 

 

 

We have all been busy making Christmas craft, some clay candle holders, bauble cards with buttons and sparking decorations involving lots of glitter. The children have been learning some Christmas songs, you may have heard them singing some at home.

During “Welcome Time”, we have been learning how to have kind gentle hands and how to help our friends. We have introduced some grace and courtesy demonstrations and the children have been practicing how to set the table for snack time. We also continue our PE classed and had lots of fun outside.

 

 

Finally, we finished the last week of term baking some vegan Gingerbread cookies and having our Christmas Party.

 

 

 

So, it is goodbye to 2020! And yes, the Christmas Holidays will be a little different this year! We, on behalf of Privett Montessori Nursery School, wish you and your loved ones a safe, happy and peaceful break and look forward to seeing you in the New Year!

 

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21. October 2020 – Happy Autumn learning

Tuesday, October 27th, 2020

Happy Autumn learning

Autumn learning: During October, we have been learning about Autumn. The children enjoyed finding colourful leaves outside and lots and lots of acorns. They found so many that some may have found their way home, hiding inside coat pockets.

We learnt about the life cycle of the apple tree and cut up apples to discover and count the seeds. The children asked many questions and were amazed to learn that a tree could grow out of just a seed.

 

The had fun in weighing apples on scales and helped with making apple crumble. We also enjoyed tasting apples from miss Veronica’s apple tree during snack time

In our tactile sensory learning, we discovered what happens when corn flour and water mix together. It resulted in lovely slime that we felt slipping though our fingers.

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We, also decorated a pumpkin and drew faces. After slicing the top, the children brilliantly worked together to scoop out the pumpkin seeds & flesh

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On the last day of half term the children came in many different outfits. We had lots of spooky fun, made spiders, pumpkins, passed the parcel and danced to some Halloween songs. 

Read more on where to find local pumpkins

Durleigh March – Read more

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20. September 2020 – Welcome

Sunday, October 4th, 2020

 

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19. Summer Term 2019 – Happy Busy bees

Wednesday, July 31st, 2019

Happy busy bees

Happy busy bees: I cannot believe how quickly the weeks have flown by  and as I look at the photographs we have taken during the Summer term I realise just how “happy busy bees” we were and how much we did and so it is not surprising that the last week arrived too soon.

At the end of April Freddie’s Dad brought some of his lambs to Nursery.  He cleverly selected ones that were a few weeks apart in age so that the children could see how they grow and change.   Some of the children were able to feed the lambs bottles of milk and many of them enjoyed stroking and cuddling the lambs.  We had a further opportunity to cuddle some young animals when Alby’s mum brought their 5 pups to see us.  They were gorgeous and so well behaved – not a single accident on our floor!

At the beginning of May, the village hall was once again in use as a Polling Station and so we moved to Roessa and Robin’s house for the day. After Yoga followed by quick drink and a snack we set off on a walk into the countryside. There were gates to climb, animals in the fields and butterflies to spot. The children smelled the wild garlic and listened to the birdsong.

We collected a few bits and pieces to make natural collage pictures and after a picnic lunch in the garden, the children made their pictures, visited some lambs and had a great time rolling down the slopes. It was a really lovely day and we are so grateful to our hosts for having us.

Another highlight of the term was our visit to the Nature Reserve in Winchester.  The weather was very kind to us and we enjoyed all the activities organised by Kate Barrett including a bug hunt, a butterfly spotting walk, art and craft activities and discovering the huge variety of moths that she had caught the previous evening.  Who knew that beautiful leaf prints can be made simply by covering them with a piece of muslin and hitting them with wooden hammers to release the chlorophyll?

Activities this term in Nursery were very varied too for us as “happy busy bees”.  We made some very colourful pictures that brought the outdoors into the classroom by dipping dandelions, daisies and cow parsley  into paint and printing onto card.  We gave the children clay to explore and challenged them to make the roundest ball,  longest worm and flattest pancake.

This was surprisingly difficult for most of them and a reminder that we should not assume that just because our children have regular opportunities to explore dough does not mean that they can do basic things with it.

A glut of sweet peas in my own garden (thanks to my  very enthusiastic gardening hubby) inspired us to make paintings of them.  We chose water paints for this activity and the results were beautiful.  The paintings will be on display on 17th August in Froxfield Village Hall at the Horticultural Summer Show.

We, as “happy busy bees”, planted bean seeds in pots and over the following days the children had regular opportunities to examine their growth beneath and above the soil.  We also observed the growth and development of caterpillars to butterflies when we grew our very own Painted Ladies.  Metamorphosis  will never cease to amaze me.  For the Dads this year the children made gingerbread people and they made sure that there was one for them as well as their Dads!

As usual the Summer term means lots of teachers visiting and children visiting their next schools.  The children often find this time quite challenging and we do our best to minimise the disruption and some of the stress and anxiety that the children can feel by encouraging them to talk about their new schools and their thoughts and feelings.

Games Day was on the last day of term and for the first time in 16 years, we held it indoors!  After weeks of dry weather it decided to rain but we did not allow this to spoil the fun and games led once again by Lorna.  This term we have said goodbye to 12 children and their parents.  We wish them well and hope to hear from them from time to time.

We are looking forward to the start of the new school year on 7th September under new ownership of Veronica van Ingen and to welcoming some new children and our “old” children back after the summer break.  We are also looking forward to our half hour longer morning sessions which begin in September and will enable us as “happy busy bees” to spend more time outdoors.

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18. Spring Term 2019 – culture

Sunday, April 14th, 2019

Culture

Culture: Maike’s travels abroad were too good an opportunity to miss for introducing the children to some different cultures and environments.  Some of the things we learned included the huge difference in the types of homes people in different countries live in.  For example, in Singapore the majority of the population live in giant skyscrapers whereas in Malaysia houses are built on stilts to keep them cool and to help keep out unwelcome visitors, mainly of the snake variety!

We discussed some of the different foods eaten in different cultures and although we weren’t brave enough to try bird nest soup  we did enjoy some different fruit including guava and papaya. The children were fascinated that in Malaysia it’s quite usual to sit on the floor when eating but a little concerned that refusing food in this country is considered bad manners!  When Maike went to New Zealand we showed the children our model of an erupting volcano. It made quite an impression.

The animals of Australia were a great source of interest and we also talked about the aboriginal people and their art.  We learned the meaning for some of the symbols they use and this inspired us to have a go at producing our own artwork based on what we had learned on the culture. The pictures were so colourful and interesting we decided to exhibit them in the Spring Show in March.

At the beginning of February we were treated to some light snow and naturally we made the most of it!

March was extraordinarily busy with World Book Day, Red Nose Day, Mothers’ Day and the Froxfield and Privett Horticultural Show to enjoy and participate in.  Our children dressed as characters from stories and brought in their favourite books for us to share.  We are grateful to the parents who came in to read some of them to the children.  On Red Nose Day we provided breakfast for the children and we all enjoyed wearing our pyjamas to Nursery.  Christina who worked at the Nursery a few years ago very kindly came to lend us a hand and we raised just over £100.   A great achievement for a great cause.

The children spent a number of weeks making small paintings of Spring Flowers.  We put these together to make Mother’s Day cards.  They looked beautiful!  Our Aboriginal Art inspired paintings were entered into the Spring Show and we were very proud of all the artwork which received lots of interest and praise from visitors.  We were also very pleased for Freddie whose work achieved first place and for the two runners up, Iria and Jonah.  In the garden we have managed to get some potatoes planted and are wondering what else we can grow this year without feeding the pigeons and rabbits.

On April Fool’s Day our children arrived to find their chairs facing the wrong way and name cards turned upside down.  Not many of the children seemed unduly concerned although a couple of them did turn their chairs round and at snack time when the children take their name cards from the board, Harry very crossly commented “someone has turned my name upside down!”

Dilys’ Dad, Nick came and read  Zog to us and in a very interactive session the children were able to practise their first aid skills by applying plasters and bandages to Zog and they could even listen to his heart!
In the last week of term we made our Easter Garden and despite the rain the children went looking for eggs in the garden.  They found several!

We are sad to say goodbye to Louise who has been a wonderful help while Maike has been away but we are looking forward to the start of the Summer Term on Wednesday 24th April and to welcoming back Maike.  I am sure she will have plenty to tell us! In the meantime, we wish you all a very Happy Easter!

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17. Autumn Term 2018 – great fruits

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2019

Fruit

Fruit: After a long, dry and hot Summer, we fully expected a wet, cold and windy Autumn.  Instead the weather was, for the most part, warm and dry. There was, for many people, an abundance of fruit and we helped ourselves to the plentiful supply of blackberries from the hedgerows.  We showed the children how to crush the blackberries using a pestle and mortar, sieve the pulp and use the juice like paint to make pictures with their fingers or brushes.

Want to know more on how to paint with Blackberry fruit? Press the below button for a video

Painting with Blackberry Fruit

Fruity, apples were turned into delicious crumbles and the children created Autumn Collages arranging seeds, grasses etc onto sticky back plastic.  We discovered that the marks made by seed heads from cow parsley dipped in paint and pressed onto paper looked like fireworks exploding and in November these made very attractive pictures.
Louise joined us as a volunteer in early September and within a very short time has become very much part of the Privett team helping us on Tuesday mornings

At the end of September we organised a Macmillan Coffee morning.  This was attended by many of our children and parents several of whom also provided cakes to be enjoyed on the day or to be bought and taken away.  We raised £82, which is a great achievement in aid of such a worthy cause.

During the term one of our ex-pupils, Joyce whose brother Arthur currently attends Nursery visited us. Joyce read stories to a group of our children much to Arthur’s delight!  We also managed to talk Antonio, Aaron’s Dad, into reading a story in Spanish to all of us.  It was interesting to see the children listening to him with the same attention and interest as they do to stories read in English.

As part of our ongoing self evaluation we sent out questionnaires to all our parents to survey their opinions on our provision. We also asked the children to tell us what they like and don’t like about our Nursery.  The responses were overwhelmingly positive and very encouraging.  When we asked for parents to suggest hobbies and skills they could share with us, we were offered some very interesting ideas including learning how to do head stands, which we have politely declined on the grounds of our combined mature years!

Our Christmas party, held at the beginning of December, was great fun.  We played lots of traditional party games with a Christmas twist; What’s the time Father Christmas,  Father Christmas’s Footsteps,  Musical icicles and sleighs!  Lunch was a feast with the food and drink provided by parents.

As usual, the children performed this year’s Nativity on the last day of term and we were treated to a very fine show with James excelling as a very grumpy innkeeper and some great dancing from all the children to Rock around the Clock.

Next term Maike will be taking a few months off to go travelling with her family and we look forward to receiving regular updates on her adventures which we will be following with the children in Nursery.  In the meantime, Louise has very kindly agreed to cover Maike’s hours with us.   We also look forward to welcoming new children to the Nursery and wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year.

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16. Summer Term 2018-music

Wednesday, August 8th, 2018

Music

Our project work was about music. Children and parents brought in their instruments so the children could play and make music. We are very grateful to Ailsa, Olly and Maike who each played their viola, flute and cello, respectively, to us.  The children asked lots of questions about music and instruments and were very keen to play Maike’s small cello that she had played as a child.

In circle time,  we showed the children a variety of percussion instruments and encouraged them to explore how they could change the sound they made by playing them in different ways.   The children became very good at watching the “conductor” and following directions.  Some of the children enjoyed forming groups to compose and play their own music.

Many of the children brought in their instruments from home, including a violin, keyboards and African drum.   James brought one of the most unusual instruments in for us, a spolum drum.  It sounds beautiful however it is played!  Our project certainly provided a great opportunity for all the children to hear and play many different instruments.  One morning, music therapist, Christina, from Balloons and Tunes, came and played her guitar and sang to us.  Christina also brought in a few of her own instruments that the children played while she accompanied them on the guitar.

During the term many of our children visited their new schools and we were visited by many of their future teachers.  The children loved showing their teachers around the Nursery and proudly showed off their work.

Looking for a good book on the Montessori approach to music, please press the Read more button.

Read more about music

 

In May, we asked parents to come into Nursery to help the children make models for the Privett Flower Festival held at Privett Church at the end of the month.  For three mornings the Nursery was filled with Mums, Dads, babies and all manner of model making materials.  All sorts of amazing creatures; spiders, caterpillars, sheep, birds and fish were created. We are going to borrow a few ideas for our future craft projects!

Outdoors, we enjoyed one of the driest summers I can remember.  In the garden, which Andrew had prepared for us in the Spring, we planted potatoes and various herbs.  We also planted beans and radishes but they sadly failed to thrive due to the dry conditions.

In July, the parents organised and catered for a leavers lunch.  Particular mention should go to Francesca for her tiramisu, which was truly sublime and to Antonio for his very delicious tortilla!

Our annual Games Day was held on the last day of term and Lorna, once again took it upon herself to organise all the games for us.  The children were able to demonstrate many of the skills they have practised during the year in Lorna’s Playball classes.

We wish all our children success, fun and happiness in their new schools.  We will miss you all and trust that you will keep in touch and visit from time to time.

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15. Spring Term 2018 – technology

Thursday, May 10th, 2018

Technology

Our project this term was to look at everyday technology and to find out about the sort of technology our children use at home. We invited the children to bring their technological toys to show us and they obliged with wind up and friction toys, toys with buttons, levers and pull strings, all manners of toys.  In Nursery we showed the children how to use a rotating whisk,  a rotating apple peeler and a coffee grinder.

At snack time the children peeled apples (most of them ate the peel) and made toast.  The staff drank the coffee!   We used our microwave to make sponge puddings.  This was great because we could see the sponge rising inside.  We also made popcorn and listened to the kernels popping inside!  Maggie brought in her bread maker and the nursery was filled with the delicious smell of freshly baked bread.

We used other techno gadgets to make soup and smoothies so the children could experience the efficiency and speed with with which technological devices can process food for us.  In the role play corner we created an office and it was interesting to see the children typing, making ‘phone calls, using the calculator etc.  We discovered that many of our children are used to using tablets at home but had never used a mouse.  They quickly learnt how to use one to point, select, click and drag.

In art we looked closely at the flowers that were growing outside and the children made chalk drawings of snowdrops and used their fingers to make pictures of primroses.  For Mother’s day the children decorated their hand print cards with mosaics and we found a sweet poem to go with them.  The children cut and decorated salt dough Easter chicks, eggs and flowers which were entered in the Spring Horticultural Show.  They added extra Spring colour to the event and received lots of positive comments.

When Arthur’s chicks hatched at home we were allowed to chick sit them in Nursery for a day.  It was surprising how much noise and mess anything so tiny and cute could make!  We also had some frogspawn which had hatched into tadpoles before term ended.  We gave them to Benedict to look after and we are hoping to be able to observe them changing into frogs next term.  We had to postpone our World Book Day celebrations for a week because of the snow and ice but this year’s book character costumes that the children wore were better than ever.  It was lovely to also have some of the children’s parents in to read stories to us.

The snow that fell later in the month caused less disruption and meant that we could all get out and enjoy playing in it throwing snowballs and making snow angels.  Once the snow had gone, Andrew was able to dig out and re-fill  our raised beds all ready for us to plant up next term with beans, potatoes and carrots.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone again on 16th April and hoping for some fine gardening weather!

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14. Autumn Term 2017 – dino

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018

Dino

We decided to base our project work on dinosaurs and very soon realised that some the children already knew more than we did about many dinosaurs!  It was fun to try and find interesting new information to tell them and
they constantly amazed us with their insatiable curiosity and memory for detail.  Over the weeks the children made pictures of dinosaurs using different media and techniques.  We displayed them in Nursery on banners.

Want to learn some Fun Facts on Dinosaurs, press read more

Read more on Dino’s

We also were a bit surprised as we already in September have had our first real taste of winter with the arrival of some sharp frosts, snow and ice. In November many of the children went to firework displays and all of them were keen to create colourful pictures of exploding fireworks using lots of glue, glitter and sequins.  We promise not to let any of the plastic end up in the sea.

In December we held our Christmas party and played traditional party games including pass the parcel, musical chairs and statues.  The children participated with enthusiasm and there was a certain amount of good natured competitiveness! As usual, parents provided a delicious feast of sandwiches, pizza, sausages, cakes etc and the children ate just about everything.

Over the weeks, we  practised new songs for our Nativity which the children performed to parents and grandparents  on the last day of term.  The children sang beautifully and looked lovely in their various costumes.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back to Nursery on Thursday 4th January and our new project for the term when we will be looking at technology in the environment and its benefits.

Wishing you all a Joyful time this Christmas and Best Wishes for 2018.

Kate, Maggie, Maike and Matilda

 

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