Hullavington CofE Primary and Nursery School

This term the children have been getting to know their new friends and exploring the indoor and outdoor resources.  They have been learning about Autumn by collecting fallen leaves to make hedgehog pictures and sun-catchers.  

Little Hoots made harvest crowns for the Harvest Festival Service, at the Church of St Mary in Hullavington, where they gave a beautiful performance of 'The Farmer Plants the Seeds.'  

During a visit from the Life Education Bus the children discovered what happens inside their bodies.  The children have also been learning what happens to their bodies when they exercise through their PE sessions on a Tuesday and Friday.

One of our lovely parents taught the children how Chappattis are made in Kenya.  Another of our parents made a ball run for the children to play with.  No term would be complete without a visit from our friend Liz for a music and singing session.

This term the children have been learning about winter.  We have been fortunate to have had some very cold weather (snow would have been fabulous but was not to be), so the children could explore and learn about the ice that had formed in our outdoor area. They have learnt what clothing is good to wear when it is cold outside. They been playing games which have enabled them to learn about animals which hibernate and/or live in cold places.  

This term the children initially chose to create a train station in their role play area.  We created a display of trains from the different countries. The children's imagination took them off to a wide variety of places including to the beach.  In the later part of the term the children chose to create a hospital, where they role played being doctors and making each other, the staff and dolls better.

The children have been exploring a wide variety of ways to mark make, through paper and pens, magnetic boards, aqua mats, artificial snow and computer software and have been keen to share their creations with both staff and parents.

In PE they have been learning to use the gym equipment safely.  The Little Hoots have been exploring different ways of moving on the equipment and how to mount and dismount it safely. 

They have also enjoyed making their own play dough and gingerbread men.

Hello my name is Debbie Hanna and I am the teacher in Little Hoots Nursery. 

Children develop quickly during their early years. It is our aim at Little Hoots to do all we can to give the children the best possible start in life and prepare them for their upcoming transition to school.  We recognise that children learn best when they feel valued and secure in their environment.  

At this stage of their development play-based learning is key.  We provide a wide variety of resources and opportunities to encourage the holistic development of the children, paying particular attention to their communication skills; personal, social and emotional development; and their physical development.  We monitor the children's stages of learning and development using the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.  To find out more about how your children learn and develop in accordance with the EYFS, take a look at the attached '4children parents guide to the EYFS' booklet. It explains what to expect at different stages of development and provides ideas to support learning at home.

We are one team, working together, learning together and succeeding together.

Little Hoots have been exploring colour through the mediums of paint, chalks, crayons colouring pens, ink marbling and the stories of Elmer the Elephant.  

One of our parents  taught us how the Diwali festival of light is celebrated by Sikhs in India. Working with our friends from Owlets Class, we learnt to make Diwali candle holders and sampled some traditional homemade sweets.

Later in the term we dressed up to fund raise for 'Children in Need.'  We made a giant Pudsey picture using paint dabbers to make Pudsey's spots and decorated biscuits with icing and sweets.

We had lots of fun decorating the Nursery to celebrate Christmas.  The children fully engaged in their Santa Grotto themed role play area, wrapping parcels and writing letters which were posted to Santa.  We enjoyed pulling crackers at our traditional Christmas Dinner. When Santa sent us a letter asking for our help to find the items he lost one night when flying over our school playing field we were more than happy to help. With the assistance of our friends from Hawk Owl Class we found all of the presents, stockings, hats, crackers, christmas decorations and carrots Santa had lost and were able to return them to him.  He was so happy he sent the  children a special Christmas message!  

And finally the children were absolutely amazing at our Christmas Carol Service at Malmesbury Abbey where they performed the song 'Little Snowflake.'

The children have been learning about healthy eating through the meduim of story: Handa's Surprise - The children acted out the story becoming Handa and the animals. They tasted the fruits from the story and created paintings/drawings of fruit.  Oliver's Vegetables - enabled the children to learn about how different vegetables grow. They have planted various vegetable and flower seeds to plant in the nursery garden next term understanding that seeds need food and drink to grow just as they do.  The children retold the story of the hungry caterpillar using story props and in the process learnt how a caterpillar turns into a beautiful butterfly.  They created some lovely butterfly pictures too.

We marked Shrove Tuesday by tasting pancakes.  Little Hoots dressed up as their favourite book characters and brought in their favourite stories from home.  We were joined by Snowy Owls who shared the Hungry Caterpillar -  our favourite story - with us. The children wer amazing  at the Easter Service held at the Church of St Mary in Hullavington.  They performed 'The Easter Bunny Song' wearing the bunny ears they had made from various arts and crafts materials. 

A big thank you to all the Little Hoots who helped us to fundraise for Red Nose Day.  The children came into the Nursery wearing red, sporting their red noses.  

We ended the term with a visit to Owlets class and the children spent the morning with Miss Pearce.  They had a lovely morning and were very excited about it afterwards and are looking forward to their next visit.  We had a lovely morning for our Easter Egg Hunt in the nursery playground with the children finding lots of chocolate eggs.