Lancaster University Pre-School Newsletter March / April 2018

March/April 2018
 

Keep up-to-date with the latest news and images online at www.lancaster.ac.uk/pre-school

 

In this issue...

  1. Zoolab Visit
  2. World Book Day
  3. Eggsploring
  4. Healthy Breakfast
  5. International Women's Day
  6. Sensory Garden
  7. Let's get Messy
  8. Sand & Water Play
  9. Teddy Bears Picnic
  10. Listening & Learning
  11. Scientific Experiment
  12. Pre-School to the Rescue
  13. Messy Play Exploration
  14. Staff Changes
  15. Digby the Dog - Children's Survey
  16. Pre-School Stomp
  17. Pre-School Drop-off
  18. Centre Closure
  19. Door Cards
  20. Pre-School Feedback Forms

Zoolab Visit


We celebrated Chinese New Year with a visit from Zoolab. The Pre-School children really enjoyed the experience. They learnt all about the animals in the Chinese zodiac as the Ranger read a very interesting story. Probably the most exciting part of the session was when they were able to stroke some very friendly rats, hold a snake and other unusual creatures.

As it was the Year of the dog and Zoolab didn't bring one to show the children we recruited Harley the Cocker Spaniel. He came and visited all the children and was very popular. Harley loves to show everyone how clever he is and performed some tricks for the children.


World Book Day



On Thursday 1st March staff and children enjoyed coming to Pre-School dressed as a character from their favourite book, to celebrate World Book Day. It was amazing to see how creative everybody was and we had a wide range of colourful and popular themes.

Our friends at Lancaster University Library supported the event throughout the week by coming over to share stories with the Pre-School Children. They were great storytellers who kept the children engaged and entertained. We are looking forward to visiting the Campus library and encouraging the children to become life-long bookworms!


Eggsploring




If you missed it, we can only assume you were out of the country in a very remote area with no internet access!

We along with most of the University staff and students were once again hooked on LUPSCentreEggCam. The children weren't the only ones fascinated with watching the eggs as they hatched into adorable fluffy chicks. They have grown very quickly and are due to return to the farm before Easter.

We know that the children absorbed a wealth of knowledge and understanding about life cycles as they watched the process and we will build on this further throughout the year.

As always we wouldn't have been able to share this lovely experience without the help and support of our friends in ISS with a special thanks to Chris and Graeme.

Healthy Breakfast


On Thursday 15th March, the Pre-School Centre hosted our annual Healthy Breakfast, which the staff serve to our children and their parents. Despite it being a wet and blustery morning it was a great success with a high number attending. We hope you all enjoyed the breakfast.


International Women's Day


Dr Stacey Conchie and her colleagues held an event for us to celebrate International Women's day. The Pre-School children visited Fylde College and spent the afternoon exploring gender stereotypes with lots of fun activities devised to encourage them to question if you had to be a specific gender to undertake a certain role or career.

It was a great success and we wanted to continue with the theme, as the children were so receptive to the message of inclusivity. We are very fortunate to know many inspirational women and were able to invite some of them to visit and talk to the children about their roles.

It was such a positive week with the children learning about Isokinetic structures using Hoberman spheres, Blood cells, Astro physics, Coral reefs & ecology as well as the roles of a Senior project manager a Fire fighter and a Police officer.

With curiosity well and truly ignited and the knowledge that you can achieve regardless of gender we hope our children will continue to have high aspirations for their own future careers.


Sensory Garden


The Baby Room have created a new sensory garden display. The display brings many new opportunities for the babies to explore new smells, tastes and textures.

The real herbs and grass bring a natural atmosphere to the room as well as being safe for the babies to touch or taste. The use of bright colours in the curtains and the faux flowers draw the babies' interest towards the area and encourages their natural curiosity. This new board is very popular as it leads gently into exploration of the rest of the sensory area. Once they have grown, we plan to include herbs into the activities to engage the babies' senses. We aim to keep our garden growing and to continue adding new features.


Let's Get Messy



Continuing on from our Messy play in the last newsletter, Creche 1 wanted to provide the children with more new experiences as they had all enjoyed it so much.

We decided to use fruits and different tools to make marks, explore and taste.

The children were all dressed in old clothes and showed great excitement when they saw the squashed fruits (avocado, cherries and satsuma's) on the big sheet of paper on the floor.

The children chose independently what they wanted to do. Some used hands and feet to squash the fruit enjoying the feel of it, some used mops, brushes or sponges to spread the fruit around enjoying the marks they made, whilst other had fun sitting and tasting the fruit.

All the staff joined in the activity too and we all had lots of fun getting messy and exploring the new experience.

To build on this further the Creche team will be using other foods/frozen fruits and tools to support the children's physical development and independence in making their own choices.


Sand & Water Play

In Creche 2 this term we have been exploring the sand and water play. Each week we have been providing a different variety of resources in each area of provision for the children to experience in a variety of ways using their exploratory impulse.

The children enjoyed playing in the water in different ways, using jugs and cups to fine-tune our pouring techniques. When splashing we varied the temperatures of the water asking them if it was warm or cold to encourage vocabulary development.

One snowy day we brought lots of snow inside and placed it in a tray, the children helped to make snowballs and as they played with it, they watched it dissolve and turn to water.


Teddy Bears Picnic

We have enjoyed looking at the book 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'. The children have been using their language skills with size and numbers as they play in the home corner with cereals and various sized bowls. The children have enjoyed bringing their favourite bears from home to join us for a picnic at snack time enjoying fruit, crackers and very yummy cupcakes on World book day.


Listening & Learning

This term we have been focusing on our listening & attention skills and our physical development.

In order to achieve this we have enjoyed learning a new ball game. We all sat in a circle together and listened to the instructions firstly from the grown up and then from each other. The children enjoyed passing the ball in different ways, which also introduced prepositions as they passed the ball over, under and through different parts of our bodies.

We also enjoyed creating movement with our gross motor muscles as we danced using scarves. This helped us learn to negotiate space and move freely in a variety of difference ways and move in a rhythm to music.


Scientific Experiments

We have been very scientific in Pre-School 1 these last few weeks and have conducted a series of experiments.

The children have donned their aprons and mixed up lots of quirky concoctions.

We used baby oil and food colouring to see how the food colouring moved in the oil and then tried the same thing with water. Then we did an experiment with milk, colouring and washing up liquid.

This gave the children a wealth of language development and the opportunity to talk about similarities, differences, patterns and change. Go science.


Pre-School to the Rescue



In Pre-School 2 we have rescued a ladybird! With all the cold weather, we had a ladybird come and visit us. The children made a decision to keep the ladybird warm and safe in Pre-School 2 as they knew it was too cold for it to go outside. This show great care and empathy and we are very proud of the children for being so considerate.

We looked and researched on the IPad on 'how to care for a ladybird'. We found out it ate aphids, but as a substitute they also eat raisins that have been soaked in water as ladybirds like moisture.

So we followed the instructions soaked a paper towel in water and put it in the enclosure that the children helped create. After much discussion, we decided that our ladybird was a girl and we named her 'Nell'.

When the weather becomes a little nicer and warmer, we are going to release her so she can find a home.


Messy Play Exploration

It was a super fun time making a bit of a mess. The children in Pre-School 3 played with gloop which is a fabulous sensory science activity to learn about the concepts of what a solid or liquid is.

Fun fact: Gloop is a suspension of cornflour and water that can behave like a solid or a liquid depending on how much pressure you apply. If you try to grab some in your hand it will form a solid ball in your palm until you release the pressure. Then, it will flow out between your fingers. Materials that behave this way are classified as non-Newtonian fluid because their flow properties are not described by a constant viscosity. 

To the children however Gloop is just an interesting mixture with a unique texture to explore and play with. We talked about what it feels like sticky, slimy, cold and powdery. The children used tools and equipment to build on their fine motor skills and co-ordinations with jugs (large and small) for pouring, pump bottles with coloured water in to explore with mixing colours, large and small spoons, sieves.

The activity also helps as we practice our negotiation skills, taking turns and sharing it also provides opportunities for working out problems and experimenting with solutions.


Staff Changes

After Easter, Shelley has decided, for personal reasons, to step down from her role as Senior Nursery Officer.

We would like to thank her for the work and initiatives she has undertaken during her time as Senior Nursery Officer. Shelley will resume her role as a Nursery Officer from 5th April 2018 working predominantly in Nursery 1.

Kathy Yates will commence in the role of Senior Nursery Officer with effect from 5th April 2018. Kathy currently based in the Babyroom, has worked at the Centre for 14 years and has a wealth of experience, we are looking forward to her joining the Pre-School management team.

This change has resulted in Rachel moving out of Pre-School 2 and into the Babyroom with effect from 5th April.

Digby the Dog - Children's Survey

Thankyou for taking the time to help your child complete their Digby survey. The results are currently being collated and will be shared with you as soon as possible.


Pre-School Stomp


This has been a huge success with both the children and staff. Becoming very competitive!! 
Pre-School 2 were the winners 3 weeks in a row, however Nursery 2 who have also instigated the most inventive STOMPS have won week 4, well done Nursery 2.

Who will be the next week's winners, look out on the noticeboard for updates.

With the Pre-School Stomp being such a success we will be hosting a Parent Pre-School Stomp inviting the parents of Nursery and Pre-School children to stomp throughout the week of 16th April.

Each room will be stomping on a specific day (invitations to follow) the stomping will commence at 11am and parents will be invited to stay for lunch (provided).

Pre-School Drop Off



Can we please request that all parents accessing the drop off car park please ensure that they access it in the appropriate way as per the diagram below. This is to ensure the safety of all using it.
 


Term & Closure Dates:

A reminder that the Pre-School Centre closes for Easter on Wednesday 28th March at 5.30pm re-opening on Thursday 5th April.

Term Dates:-
5th April until 24th August 2018
Undergraduate Terms:-
23rd April until 29th June 2018


Door Cards


Can we please remind all parents/carers to use their door entry card/library card to gain access to the Centre.
If you have misplaced either of your cards, can you please advise the office immediately and a replacement door card is available to purchase at a cost of £5.00.


Pre-school Feedback Forms


If there is something you would like to share, comment or ask please complete our feedback form available from reception.
All feedback, new ideas and suggestions are welcomed.