Headteacher: Julia Watkins

Knoulberry,
Washington,
Tyne And Wear,
NE37 1HA

school@blackfell.org.uk

0191 9171665

Blackfell Primary School

A A A

Nursery Spring 2023-24

It's our first week back after our Christmas break and we have some new Nursery friends who have joined our class! We have enjoyed making friends with them and have made them feel very welcome. They have settled in very well into our busy day. We are looking forward to starting our topic for this term - Winter. This week we have been reading 'The Magical Snow Garden' which has been our weekly text. We have made our own snow garden pictures and we have also made animals found in snowy environments in the dough area. We have had a focus on writing our first name and will continue to do this throughout the term. We have also used our cutting skills to make snow flakes. 

Chinese New Year!

The children in nursery have been learning about 'Chinese New Year' and some  of the traditions associated with it. We listened to the story of 'The Dragon in the City' and learnt that it is the Year of the dragon. We have been creating dragons, making food and taking orders in the Chinese restaurant, decorating lanterns. making Chinese cookies in the dough and building Chinese temples or homes for the animals from the story in the construction area.

Well done everyone! You have worked really hard!

Special Person Cards

The children in Nursery had a busy week making their Special Person Cards. They enjoyed using their hand, fingers and paint to create a beautiful flower. Finally they stuck on a plant pot.

Well done! Your special person will be so happy!

British Science Week

Apple Investigators!

We have been using our senses to describe the texture and taste of two different types of apples. First we looked at the appearance of the apples before they were cut up. We used some fantastic language to describe what they looked like such as red, hard, shiny, yellow and round. Miss Forrest cut into the apples and we discussed what we could see inside. We introduced some new vocabulary such as stem, stalk, core, pips and seeds. We then showed the children each part of the apple and named them to further their understanding. Some of the children were already aware of words such as stem and seeds and were able to identify these parts independently. We discussed where apples are grown and how long they take to grow from seeds to apple trees. We past the seeds around the group and the children tried hard to count how many seeds were inside each apple. We talked about the shape and colour of the seeds and the children used language such as round, oval and brown. We tasted the apples and the children used some brilliant adjectives to describe the taste such as: juicy, sweet, hard, soft, crunchy, nice, sour and tasty. Finally we discussed what the apples looked like after 30 minutes. They were able to say they were going brown and everyone agreed that they didn't look as nice to  eat as before they were cut open.

Well done to everyone in Nursery for taking part in our 'Apple investigation' as part of

'British Science Week'. 

Nursery Easter Songs and Craft Morning!

Nursery have been learning some lovely Easter songs with actions over the past few weeks. Today the Nursery children performed their Easter songs for their families. After the performance the children joined their families to take part in our Easter Craft morning. They created some lovely Easter crafts such as chicks, bunnies, eggs and wreaths. The children really enjoyed spending time with their family creating Easter crafts. The children were offered  juice and a biscuit in the shape of a chick from the kitchen staff. The children really enjoyed the biscuits. Thank you so much to the kitchen staff for these tasty Easter treats!

Everyone enjoyed their Easter themed morning!

The Easter Bunny even came to Nursery and every child got a special Easter Egg to take home.

Well done everyone! 

Safer Internet Day!

In Nursery over the week we have been discussing 'Safer Internet Day'. The theme for safer internet day this year was 'inspiring change'. We began by talking about how we use the internet at home and in school. Lots of the children told me what kind of games they like to play. I told the story of “Mo and Jaz”. We stopped throughout the story to discuss how the characters would of being feeling eg: when something popped up on a video they were watching. We then used the emotion cards to determine how the characters were feeling. We decided together that they would of felt worried and scared. We tried hard to act out how the characters were feeling by using facial expressions to match the emotion cards. I asked the children "Who should we tell if we feel this way?" The children gave some really good answers showing they understand to tell a trusted adult that they know really well. The children were reminded of telling someone they know well and trust within their family or school life if at any time they are worried or scared about anything at all. Finally we looked at phones and computers from the past to the present day. We were able to sort them into two categories and begin to say how they have changed over time with support from an adult.

Well done Nursery! You are all brilliant at knowing who you can trust at home and school!

 

The Gingerbread Man

Our topic this term is... Once Upon a Time. The story we have focused on for the first half of this term was 'The Gingerbread Man'. We have been very busy doing lots of different activities surrounding the story. We have listened to the story and learnt the repeated refrain. This helped us to act out his adventure in the role play area. We dressed up and pretended we were the characters from the story. We made Gingerbread men in the dough and counted them or sorted them by size. We used the story book and characters in the small world to retell the story in our own words, We created boats in the craft area to help the Gingerbread Man get safely across the river. We also tested our boats to see if they would sink or float. We used 2d shapes to create a Gingerbread Man and added his features. using eyes and buttons. We constructed models in the construction area using different sized blocks to build a home, bridge or tower to help the Gingerbread Man reach a safe place. We even stitched him back together using our fine motor skills.

Well done Nursery! You have all worked so hard and learnt to retell the story of... The Gingerbread Man!

Well Being Wednesday!

Today we came to school dressed in outfits that make us happy and make us feel good about ourselves'.

The children looked lovely in all their different outfits. They all had their individual reasons for dressing up in their favourite costumes. We also took part in some mindfulness activities to learn how to relax and stay calm. After snack time we lay down on the carpet and closed our eyes to think of things that make us feel 'happy'. The main things the children talked about that made them happy were their family, favourite toys and friendships.

Well done Nursery! You have all thought really hard about what makes you feel happy and safe!

Perfect Pancakes!

Nursery have been learning about the traditions of pancake day and also listened to the story of

'The Runaway Pancake'. First we discussed what sort of ingredients you need to make a pancake. We then helped to mix the ingredients together. After the pancakes were cooked we chose our favourite toppings such as: honey, strawberry jam, chocolate spread, sugar and lemon and some of us just preferred a plain pancake. We really enjoyed eating our pancakes in small groups as part of our daily snack time. We also took turns to try and flip a pancake over in a pan just like the character in our story. Well done Nursery! You all worked hard and didn't let our pancakes runaway! Happy Pancake Day!

World Book Day!

The children in Nursery had a brilliant world book day! They dressed up their favourite characters and completed some activities linked to our current text. You all looked brilliant!

Goldilocks and the Three Bears!

We have had a really busy time in Nursery. We have continued our topic...Once upon a time. Our focus story for the second part of this term was 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'. We enjoyed listening to the story and learning the repeated phrases. We then used the language from the story in our role play area to act out different parts of the story. We made porridge for the bears breakfast, used our fine motor skills to thread pasta to make Goldilocks a necklace, sorted hard and soft items in the water tray, built beds, chairs and the cottage using large construction or Lego, created bears in the craft area and drew characters from the story in the writing area and retold parts of the story.

You have all worked so hard! Well done!