Ascott Pre-School

Down on the Farm (1)

Sharon Light — Mon, 05 May 2014 07:01:27 +0000

This week we have been down on the farm and on Monday we literally did that – we walked to Crown Farm to see the sheep and lambs and also saw lots of horses and some big tractors. Mr Badger told us lots about sheep and we even saw him give them all some medicine. The children have been bringing in lots of farm stories and some games too, which has been fantastic. We’ve been singing lots of farm songs and talking about all things on the farm. We have also made animal craft for our display boards.

Healthy Living

Sharon Light — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 16:10:50 +0000

Over the past two weeks we have been practicing like mad for Sports Day on Saturday. Come rain or shine, we have been outside warming up for the races. It was fabulous to see so many of our families (past and present) at the Fun Day, and as you saw, we all knew what to do. Saturday really was a fun day! Congratulations to all the children taking part

We have also been talking about the need for a variety of foods, which are healthy for us and which we should only have as an occasional snack. We enjoyed feeling the textures and weights of lots of different fruits, as well as trying them at snack time. We even made our own hummus which was enjoyed at snack last week too.

Some of the children have been making their own food plates, selecting pictures cut from the food magazines you kindly supplied. They were able to chose healthy foods and treats to put on their plates… hopefully not just a plate of cake and biscuits!

We have supported these messages in our choice of stories …

Handa’s Surpise. A story set in Kenya about a young girl who takes a basket of exotic fruits to her friend in the nearby village; along the way various animals help themselves to the fruit. By the time she arrives at her friend’s village her basket (emptied of the original fruits) is now full of tangerines.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The little caterpillar is constantly hungry and eats a whole host of foods (fruit, cakes, sweets, etc) until he has a stomach ache. He then eats a lovely leaf and feels better before spinning his cocoon and emerging as a butterfly.

Amongst all this we have made a couple of display boards, a healthy eating display and an interactive Handa’s Surpise board.

More Julia Donaldson…

Sharon Light — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:26:42 +0000

This week we continued with more Julia Donaldson books. We read ‘Night Monkey, Day Monkey’ as well as listening to it as a talking book. Lots of glueing, sticking and a whole pot of glitter later and a new board for Tiddy Hall was created with the children’s work displayed – it is very bright and colourful and promoted lots of chat about opposites, we also took the opportunity to investigate mixing colours. We followed this with the brilliant ‘What the Ladybird heard’ and all of the children loved the suspense of this book – would ‘Hefty Hugh’ and ‘Lanky Len’ succeed in their plan to steal the fine prize cow? Luckily the quietest animal of all saves the day and the two robbers end up in the duck pond! Some of the children copied a map from the book and we are in the process of incorporating this into a new maths screen, particularly using positional language. Hope you all have good holidays and see you again in Term 6.

29th April 2013

Sharon Light — Tue, 07 May 2013 20:37:33 +0000

What an exciting week we have had! The road crossing patrol (lollipop) lady came to visit on Tuesday and on Friday Kirsten came with her police van and we all had a turn sitting where the burglars sit in the back and listening to the siren. On Wednesday Oak Group went off to Forest school in the minibus and the remaining 15 had a busy morning in Milton. We visited the library and all had a turn using the machine to check in the books followed by lots of stories. Then we set off for the hairdressers where Jessica was expecting us and was cutting a lady’s hair. We looked at all the equipment and tried out the basin, the rollers and the big hoods for drying your hair. After that off to the park for a play while some went to the co-op to buy the snack. Snack in the park and a long play and then finally a trip to Groves. We talked about the old shop burning down in the night and then went into the new one in small groups so we could have a good look round. The children told us what they had seen in the shop – loo roll seemed to be popular with some, others loved all the tools and we talked to customers who were buying bird seed, paint rollers and a water butt. Tummies were beginning to rumble then so we headed off to the minibus which Sally had brought to the Green for us. Some said they were going to sleep but there was too much chat for that and we were looking out the window to see children’s houses as we went back to Pre-school.

26th April 2013

Sharon Light — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:02:59 +0000

This week the children have made a Victoria Sandwich cake in cooking club. As always the session begins with a reminder about hygiene – washing hands, wearing aprons and of course the fashionable hair nets!! We talked about following a recipe, where the ingredients came from and the method of mixing the ingredients. While the cakes were cooking, the children took turns at washing and drying up and wiping the table. The cakes all looked delicious and I hope there was some good sharing at home!!

15-19th April 2013

Sharon Light — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 10:24:36 +0000

The children have really enjoyed being out in the new play area this week and have been exploring the new equipment. The surface dries very quickly and is nice to sit on – hopefully we’ll be able to have lots of stories outside this term with the warmer weather. We have been practising songs and rhymes and in particular ‘I am the Music Man’ – the children have been coming up with ideas for the sounds that the instruments make. Lots of noise and laughter!

Garden Work Party

Sharon Light — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 08:10:29 +0000

Big thanks to Rachel & family and some of the Pre-School staff and their children who helped clear the garden area today – it is amazing how many hands make light work! The new boards and mirrors have been put up on the fence, the playhouse moved, paving slabs and gravel have been laid. One of the flowerbeds has been moved to the front area and will be planted up to make that area pretty. It is all looking spick and span for the opening of the new playground on Friday and the children will love what we have planned for this space now!

25th – 27th March 2013

Sharon Light — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 11:03:31 +0000

A short week! We finished off our Easter cards, made some rabbits and chicks and enjoyed eating some Easter eggs! Forest School were promised a play at Milton Village Green so we stopped off at the playground and had snack there before moving on to the Forest School site – we saw lots of sheep (pregnant ewes) and played games in the meadow. When we returned to Tiddy Hall we had Spring stories and the whole group had a very special visit from four of Aleesha’s tiny lambs! All the staff wish everyone a very Happy Easter break and hope to see some of you on Friday 5th April, 10am-12pm, for the official opening of our new outdoor play area!

This week

Sharon Light — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 20:46:56 +0000

We started on our Easter topic this week, the children made some lovely sheep with card, cotton wool and they used pegs for legs! We read a variety of Hairy Maclary books which they all love, as well as books concentrating on friendship. The week started frosty in the mornings but we all enjoyed some lovely sunshine in the new outdoor play area, the sandpit was very popular and the children were building roads, digging and dumping lots of sand into trucks. We are really looking forward to more sunny days to come.

The new outside play area is completed!

Sharon Light — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 13:31:51 +0000

Hopefully most of you have had a chance to pop by and see the fantastic new play area that is now completed. Thanks to the additional £4000 of our own fundraising money, we have been able to purchase lots of fantastic, educational outdoor play equipment. The area will be officially opened once the equipment has been set up.

Many thanks again to Andrea for all her co-ordination on the project, Pauline and Sharon for overseeing the clear-up and the Dad’s who helped on the clear up day.