22 Street Lane Nursery - November 2017 Newsletter

Newsletter November

Play. Discovery. Growth.

November Newsletter

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to our November Newsletter and as always, a big warm welcome to our new families which have recently joined us.

Autumn is most definitely a magical time for young children and we have been exploring the season in many ways. We have enjoyed autumnal walks to Roundhay Park, explored Harvest, and had lots of spooky fun celebrating Halloween. The children have also been learning about sharing and giving to others as we collected items of food to our local foodbank. It was lovely to see the children bring the autumn treasures into nursery which they had collected in their autumn home learning bags. We used the collections in many ways such as counting and sorting, small world, expressive art and design and developing knowledge and understanding of the world and communication and language.

Staff News; Employee of the Month

Septembers' Employee of the Month has been awarded to Paige Yates from the Duckling Room, Paige has been nominated by some of her Key parents.

“Paige and Rory have a fantastic relationship. She has worked hard to gain his trust and learn his likes and dislikes and he is always delighted to see her in the morning. With her enthusiastic support, he has come on so much during his time in Ducklings. A baby started with them in June but he’s now a little boy; using a spoon, dancing, starting to talk and doing the best animal impressions you’ve ever seen (rabbit is my personal favourite)!”

Well done Paige, great work!. If you would like to nominate a staff member, please email Alex;

alexandra@22streetlanenursery.co.uk

Staff News;

We would like to welcome the following practitioners to the 22 Street Lane Nursery team;

Bella Sargeant;

Qualified Practitioner: Swan Room

I hold a degree in Early Childhood Studies (BA, hons) and have always had a passion for high quality child care, I have worked in childcare roles throughout my working life and thoroughly enjoy working and enhancing the children's development.

I am very excited to have bene given the opportunity to join an amazing team and an outstanding setting and can't wait to get to know everyone!.

Chloe Powell;

Qualified Practitioner: Gosling Room

I currently hold a NVQ level 3 in Childcare. I have 4 years experience of working with children which has always been my passion. I am delighted to be part of the 22 Street Lane team and can not wait to see the children grow and develop around me. In my free time I like to spend time with my family and friends.

Holly Griffin;

Nursery Apprentice : Swan Room

I have just completed two years at college studying health and social extended diploma. I am very passionate about working with children and am really excited to start my apprenticeship Level 3 at 22 Street Lane Nursery! I can’t wait to support the children at 22 to learn and reach their full potentials whilst having lots of fun along the way! This is a great opportunity to pursue my career and it is my dream job to work at such a great nursery where I can learn alongside some amazing practitioners

November Newsletter

Harvest Festival;

The children had lots of fun celebrating harvest and the importance of sharing and giving to others. We would like to thank you for all your generosity in food donations, we collected over 200 items which we were delighted to pass on and to our local foodbank. Once again we thank all parents you for your continued support.

Autumn;

This month we have focused on Harvest and Autumn. We transformed our role play area in to a fruit and vegetable shop where the children were encouraged to take on the role of ‘Shopkeepers’. We explored autumnal tuff trays which were filled with autumn treasures which we had collected and made autumn mobiles. We made autumnal pictures using vegetables to print with and we made out very own vegetable soup. We cut up our own vegetables and put them in the blender, we then added some spices for extra flavour and enjoyed our soup for tea – yummy!!

November Newsletter

Parents Evening; Parents Evening will be held on the following dates:

• Tuesday 21 st November 6.15pm – 8pm: Chicklets, Goslings and Cygnets.

• Wednesday 22nd November 6:15pp – 8pm Ducklings and Swans.

• Please book an appointment with your child's Key Person • Each family will be allocated 10 minutes

Parents are welcome to join us 15 minutes prior to their appointment to sample some of our winter menu.

Parent/Carers Feedback;

Here at 22 Street Lane Nursery we are very keen to hear your views and ask if you would please take 10 minutes to complete our nursery questionnaire. Your answers will help us reflect on our current practice and in order that we can make continued improvements to our service to both you and the children. Our questionnaire can be found by clicking the following link;

➢ http://www.22streetlanenursery.co.uk/parent-questionnaire-3/

Once the document has been completed we would be most grateful if you could save and return your completed feedback to the following email address;

➢ alexandra@22streetlanenursery.co.uk

Each questionnaire will be reviewed by the management team, we will then look to accommodated and implement any changes were possible as we strive to deliver outstanding practice.

Country Of the Month;

This month we will be celebrating ‘America’ as the country of the month to tie in with ‘Thanksgiving’. We will be celebrating Thanksgiving with a traditional lunch of Turkey and pumpkin pie – yum yum.

If any parents or carers have any resources they could lend us to support the country ‘America’ then we would be most grateful.

*All children are welcome to dress in stars and strips or red white and blue to mark the occasion on Thursday 23 rd November*

November Newsletter

Diwali Celebrations;

The children had a wonderful time celebrating ‘Diwali’ here at 22 Street Lane.

The children particularly enjoyed our Diwali messy play; we explored with rainbow coloured rice, powdered paints, and bright play dough, we then added bright powered paints to our water trays and encouraged the children to explore and mix the different colours. We made Rangoli patterns using coloured rice and chalks, as well as drawing around our hands. We listened to some Hindu style music, and a song called ‘happy Diwali’ which we had a little dance to. The children also made some beautiful salt dough Diya lamps; these lamps are traditionally made in India to celebrate Diwali, the festival of light. We painted our lamps, added a tea light, then switched the lights off and watched the sensory colour changing lamps flash and sparkle! At snack time we had some ‘Mango Lassi’ that the children had made earlier that day; we cut mango into pieces and then blended it with yogurt - it was a big hit with the children! To finish the day the children enjoyed homemade lentil and daal curry with pittas and Indian snacks of Onion Bhajis made b

We captured some amazing photos during our Diwali celebrations at 22 Street Lane Nursery, which we would like to share…

November Newsletter

Working on vertical surfaces;

Here at 22 Street Lane Nursery we believe in encouraging our children to work on vertical surfaces. The use of large vertical surfaces has many benefits….

1. Shoulder/Elbow Stability; The use of larger vertical surfaces such as chalkboards, marker boards, and Smart boards allows children to use bigger arm movements that encourage strength and flexibility throughout the joints and muscles of the upper extremities. Even the hand gets a hefty boost of strengthening as it works against gravity to keep making vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines 2. Core Strength and Posture; Working in a kneeling or standing position at an upright surface gives kids a good dose of core strengthening. There’s no slumping or leaning on the back of the chair – the only choice is to engage those core and back muscles to maintain upright posture ! 3. Sensory; Working at a vertical surface may be beneficial for fidgety kids who work better in a standing position than sitting at a desk . Let’s face it, we all work better if we can change positions! 4. Wrist Extension/Pencil Grasp; Vertical surface writing naturally puts the wrist in an extended position which encourages hand stabilization for better pencil grasp and control of writing utensils. 5. Visual Attention and Hand-Eye Coordination; Working on a vertical surface brings the task closer to the child’s eyes. This helps kids who have difficulty maintaining visual attention to activities and can help to encourage hand-eye coordination, as the child has a better view of what they are doing!

November Newsletter

Staff Recognition Awards;

On October, 27th, 2017, we held our first 22 Street Lane Nursery employee recognition awards at Rudding Park, Harrogate. The aim of the awards was to celebrate, recognise and praise our practitioners and leaders for their energy, professionalism and continued dedication to be outstanding each and every day, we have an incredible team that we are so very proud of! We would like to thank of all the parents who took the time to vote for the awards and supporting the nursery closure. In response to asking parents, carers and staff to vote for our 2017 22 Street Lane Nursery Awards, we received over 212 votes for our 7 award categories; for each category we had awards for Gold, Silver and Bronze!. During the awards ceremony we captured some amazing photo’s and with these we have created and published a Flipbook. Within our flipbook you can also view all our 'Winners' and runners up for each of our categories. Our ‘Ceremony Flipbook’ can be viewed on our dedicated ‘employee recognition awards’ page, on the 22 Street Lane Nursery Website... www.22streetlanenursery.co.uk/employee-recognition-awards/

Staff Recognition Awards 2017

November Newsletter

Recipe of the Month

Vegetable curry;

• 1 medium onion diced • 4 cloves of garlic crushed into a paste

• 1-inch large sweet potato diced into 1/2 cubes (no need to peel) • 2 inch medium yellow or red potatoes diced into 1/2 cubes • 1 large carrot sliced into thin rounds • 1 large green bell pepper diced • 2 cups of green beans chopped • 3 spring onions or scallions green and white parts chopped • 1 tsp coconut oil • 4 pods of green cardamom slightly crushed • 1/4 tsp turmeric • 1/2 cup coconut milk • 1-2 cups of vegetable stock or plain water • 1 14- oz can of chickpeas drained and rinsed • Juice of 1/2 lemon • 2 tbsp minced coriander leaves for garnish • 1 tbsp curry powder or substitute with sambar powder • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Method;

1. Heat the oil. Add the cardamom and sauté for a minute until the pods start to colour slightly.

2. Add the onions and sauté over medium heat until they start to sweat and turn translucent. Add the turmeric, cayenne and garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds.

3. Add the sweet potatoes, potatoes, and carrots. Season with some salt and cover the pan. Turn the heat to low and let the vegetables cook about five minutes. If the vegetables start to stick, add some water.

4. Now add the green beans and green peppers and 1/2 cup of water or vegetable stock. Cover again and cook five more minutes.

5. Check to see if the potatoes and sweet potatoes are cooked. If they are not, continue to cook, covered, for a few more minutes.

6. Stir in the chickpeas, curry powder and another cup of vegetable stock. Bring the mixture to a boil.

7. Add the coconut milk and scallions and just let the curry heat through without coming to a boil. Turn off the heat.

November Newsletter

Upcoming events Update;

Friday 3 rd November: Children’s Bonfire Tea

Monday 20 th – Friday 4 th November: America Week

Tuesday 21 st November 6.15-8pm: Parents Evening – Chicklets, Goslings and Cygnets

Wednesday 22 nd November 6.15-8pm: Parents Evening Ducklings and Swans

Thursday 23 rd November: Thanksgiving Celebrations *

All children are welcome to dress in stars and strips or red white and blue to mark the occasion in celebration of thanksgiving.

November Newsletter

Lunchtimes;

Can we kindly ask parents not to call the rooms during lunch time (11.30am – 1.30pm) unless it is urgent. It is an extremely busy time with staff supporting children with their meals and sleep times. Staff also have their lunch breaks

Absence;

P lease note that we are unable to swap days or offer an alternative day if your child is absent from nursery. We are now extremely busy and it is impossible for us to do this for all children. This is stated in our terms and conditions. Thank you for your cooperation.

Parents Suggestions;

We continue to welcome all feedback from parents, if you would like to make a suggestion then please post this in our ‘Parents Suggestion Box’ which is based on reception. Alternatively, you can speak to a member of staff.

Drop Off and Collection;

Can we kindly remind you that we open at 7.30 a.m. and cannot accept children into the nursery before this time. We close at 6.00 p.m. and any parents that pick up after this time will be charged. Thank you for your cooperation.

Parking;

Please can we politely ask you NOT to park outside the nursery on the double yellow lines or outside the nursery front door . This is to ensure the safety of the children.

Glass Door;

For safety of the building, please can you ensure that when you are entering and leaving the building that you close the glass door behind you. Thank you.

We thank you for your support and continued cooperation

CONTACT.

03330 43 22 22 info@22streetlanenursery.co.uk 22 Street Lane, Roundhay, Leeds, LS8 2ET

Like & Share our social media and online feeds;

www.22streetlanenursery.co.uk