22 Street Lane Nursery - December 2023 Newsletter

Newsletter December

Play • Discovery • Growth

December Newsletter

Dear Parents and Carers, It’s the most wonderful time of the year here at 22 Street Lane Nursery, the tree is up, we are writing our letters to Santa and making our Christmas crafts. All we need to do now is wait patiently for the big man’s arrival! We have a very magical month planned for the children: we will be visiting various countries around the world to see how they celebrate Christmas and explore the real meaning of Christmas. We have lots of festive days to look forward to including our Christmas Jumper Day, our yummy Christmas Dinner and our festive Christmas Party! We also have some special visitors who will be stopping by the nursery to see the children, I wonder who they are? Please note that the nursery will close on Friday 22nd December, and we look forward to welcoming the children back on Tuesday 2nd January. We hope that you all have a very merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year! To find out more, please read on…

December Newsletter STAFF NEWS

New Starter - Maryam Aftab We would like to give a warm welcome to Maryam, who will be joining us as a nursery assistant and will be working in all of our rooms. “Working with children has been a lifelong passion of mine. I have always been interested in watching children grow and develop their personalities. I have previously worked in early years in a primary school for 2 years, where I got my qualification as an early years practitioner. I have learned so much through my experience, and I am excited to excel further in my career. I love being creative and planning and creating innovative activities for children based on their interests to develop an enabling and stimulating environment to support their development. I enjoy spending time with family and friends, exploring new places and shopping!”

Country of the Month, December 2023: Christmas Around The World Throughout November, we celebrated India as our country of the month! We explored Indian-inspired tuff trays filled with coloured rice and created rangoli patterns. We made Diya lamps and Oli cooked an Indian-inspired lunch! In December, we will be exploring how different countries explore Christmas all around the world. If your family has any specific traditions at Christmas time, please do let one of the staff in your child’s room know, or feel free to share some photos on Tapestry, so we can explore this further with the children. During December, the children will also be exploring animals that live in cold conditions such as Puffins, white-beaked dolphins, Grey Seals, European Rabbits, Humpback whales, Arctic Foxes and the Icelandic dog. We will be exploring ice and freezing objects then thinking of ways to melt the ice and get them out.

December Newsletter NEWS

Team Training Day During our team training day, we developed our nursery curriculum as well as revisiting the ‘Reggio Emilia’ and ‘Curiosity Approach’, which are part of our nursery ethos. We refreshed on important policies such as safeguarding and took part in some First Aid refreshers.

Remembrance Sunday The Swans children learned a lot about Remembrance Day and why people choose to wear poppies. They learnt about how poppies grew on lots of fields where soldiers had protected us. They explored the different coloured poppies; how the red poppies remember the soldiers, the purple to remember the animal's service, the black to remember all the people of colour during the war and how the white poppies are the hope that we will not have another war and maintain peace. The children created their poppies and we even 'planted' our own in the garden so we could have our own poppy field!

December Newsletter NEWS

Diwali Festivities The children had lots of fun celebrating Diwali. It was great to see some pictures from our families and share them with the children. We also learnt about the story of Rama and Sita during Debutots and spoke about how light always beats the darkness. Throughout the week we learnt how to make Mendi patterns, Henna art and played in some colourful Diwali tuff trays. Chef Oli also cooked a delicious Diwali-inspired lunch!

The Nursery Allotment The children enjoyed planting some garlic in our allotment area recently and have been helping Oli to water and look after all the plants. We are looking forward to harvesting our garlic very soon, to make some delicious homemade garlic bread and other recipes! We will be doing some further planting throughout the next few months and will use any produce we grow when cooking with the children.

Children in Need - Pyjama Day Thank you to everyone who donated to Children in Need, we raised a total of £298.16!

December Newsletter NEWS

A Special Visit From Santa’s Reindeers On Tuesday 19th December, we have some very special visitors coming to 22 Street Lane, Santa’s Reindeers! If your child does not attend on this day and you would like to come along to see the reindeers, we have the following time slots available: Chicklets/Ducklings: 10.30-11.00am

Goslings: 10:00-10.30am Cygnets: 11.00-11.30am Swans: 11.30-12:00pm

Please Note: The reindeers will be in the car park, so the car park will be closed for the morning for the safety of the children. If you do come along, please find on-street parking and enter the Nursery through the single pedestrian gate.

People Who Help Us Throughout November, the Swans and Cygnets have had some visits from ‘People Who Help Us’ including the police, a doctor, a vet and a nurse! It has been so lovely for the children to learn all about what each job entails and have some great interactive experiences, including exploring inside a police van, checking each other temperatures and learning how to correctly put on a bandage. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has volunteered to come in and speak to the children - it is hugely appreciated, and the children have all really enjoyed it! We now have a lot of aspiring doctors, nurses, police officers and vets!

Notice - Glass Door We would like to remind parents to close the glass door behind them for the safety of the children. Please make sure that you do

not let anyone in behind you. Thank you for your support.

December Newsletter

CHRISTMAS NEWS ROUNDUP

Christmas Jumper Day: Friday 8 th December This festive season we are spreading the Christmas cheer with our annual Christmas Jumper Day. The children are invited to wear their best festive frocks, joyful jumpers and other seasonal styles on Friday 8th December, the more festive the better!

Christmas Party Day: Thursday 21st December On Thursday 21st December we will be holding our annual 22SLN Christmas party! The children are welcome to come to nursery in their party clothes.

Christmas Nursery Closure The nursery will close for Christmas on Friday 22nd December at 6pm. We will be welcoming all our families back to the nursery on Tuesday 2nd January 2024.

December Newsletter Christmas Gift Collection: Wednesday 13 th December Donated items are distributed to children aged 0-18, so most gifts are welcome (No guns or plastic weapons). Please ensure that donated presents are not wrapped as it's important that Social Services can see the items in order to allocate them to the appropriate children according to their interests and age range. We've already started collecting donations, but we will continue to accept new items up until Tuesday 12th December, as everything will be collected on Wednesday 13th December so there's enough time for the gifts to be distributed to the children in time for Christmas!

December Newsletter Swans Christmas Nativity: Thursday 14 th December

The Swans are going to be performing a very exciting rendition of the Nativity this year on Thursday 14th December at 10am at St Andrew’s Church, Roundhay, LS8 1DS. If your child DOES NOT attend nursery on a Thursday, then we kindly ask you to meet us at St Andrew’s Church at 9.45am for a 10am start. Children who DO attend nursery on a Thursday will be accompanied to and from the church by staff members. Please could we ask that you drop your child off at nursery by 9.00am latest on this day. Also, please let us know if your child is unable to attend on this date so we can plan alternative parts for our Nativity show.

December Newsletter

Dish of the Month

Festive Date, Ginger & Cinnamon Loaf

See our past selections on: 22streetlanenursery.co.uk/dish-of-the-month/ Ingredients

• 225g butter • 225g self-raising flour • 225g caster sugar • 150g pitted dates • 5 free-range eggs • 2 tsp ground ginger • 2 tsp ground cinnamon • 1 tsp vanilla essence • 2 tbsp black treacle

Method

1. Cream your softened butter. 2. Finely chop your dates and set them aside. 3. Add the caster sugar to the butter until they combine into a nice paste. 4. Add your eggs and mix it all together, then add your black treacle and place your dates in the mix. 5. Sieve your measured flour, ginger and cinnamon and combine to the mix with the vanilla. 6. Bake at 175 degrees C for around 35-40 minutes in a loaf tin.

Best served with toffee sauce or warm custard.

December Newsletter Chicklets Room News

November has been a busy month here in the Chicklets Room as we welcomed some more new friends! May we start by saying a big welcome to those who have joined us and we hope you are having the best time. This month the Chicklets have been exploring all things messy and getting stuck in with lots of new textures and consistencies. Some of our favourites have been mark-making with paint, a cereal-inspired farm tuff tray, and squishy-squashy shaving foam. Despite the weather, we have been venturing out more this month and have even enjoyed some nice trips to Roundhay Park - where we spotted some amazing fairy houses. Even we were too big to fit in those houses! During these outings, the children have enjoyed listening to the crunchy leaves under their feet and finding lots of natural treasures both in the park and in our garden. Next month, we will continue to experiment with different materials and resources ready for our Christmas crafts. We can’t wait to see what festive fun December brings!

CHICKLETS ROOM

December Newsletter

The Ducklings have been putting their baking skills to the test and have been baking lots in November. Our favourite was Vegan Cupcakes! We started by collecting all the ingredients and then enjoyed pouring the ingredients into the bowl and stirring the mixture. All the Ducklings used their fine motor skills to mix all the ingredients together. We practiced taking turns and waiting patiently and the children all did so well! They then helped scoop the mixture into the cupcake cases so they could be sent to the kitchen to be cooked. The Ducklings also celebrated Diwali throughout November. We loved exploring the tuff tray with the shaving foam and painting our very own Rangoli pattern. We spoke about all the different colours and experimented with mixing them together. As well as this, we made our own Diwali lanterns; the Ducklings did a great job at gluing and sticking lots of pretty feathers on, and we then put them up in our window for everyone to see. The Ducklings have been really enjoying singing the “3 Little Speckled Frogs” nursery rhyme! Following on from this interest we made a Speckled Frog sensory tray for the Ducklings to explore. The children enjoyed finding the 3 little frogs and exploring the water on their feet, using their different senses throughout. As always, the Ducklings have been going out on walks to Roundhay Park. We walked back through the woodland and went on our own mini bear hunt adventure. Although we saw no bears, we did find lots of doggies! We also ventured to the Charity shops where the Ducklings found different cultural items, they were so good at giving the shopkeeper some money to pay for our special items. Ducklings Room News

DUCKLINGS ROOM

December Newsletter Goslings Room News

What a busy few weeks it has been in the Goslings Room. We have been very busy enjoying the last few weeks of Autumn and celebrating India as the Country of the Month. To celebrate Children in Need, we all dressed up in our cosy and warm pyjamas. We also enjoyed a Pudsey-inspired tuff tray filled with different textures such as cornflakes, pasta and yellow-coloured rice with lots of transporting resources for the Goslings to explore. As the months go on, the Goslings are always exploring and looking at things of their interest around the room; they have shown lots of interest in our books lately. The Goslings have been super-duper with their listening skills and have been enjoying a book or two before lunch or teatime. They also have been enjoying listening out for their name when it is time for the handwashing song. This has been a great moment for our Goslings as it shows their progress and interest in books and singing, which is also a great support for their vocabulary! To encourage this amazing new interest in books, we have something very special we will be beginning next month. It will be linked to a very special character from one of our current favourite books… Watch this space and keep an eye on Tapestry for more details soon. We would also like to thank parents for attending our recent Parent’s Evening and spending some time with your child’s key worker, to find out information on how your child has settled into the room. It’s so lovely getting to know all of your children more and watching them progress further during their time in Goslings!

GOSLINGS ROOM

December Newsletter Cygnets Room News

Throughout November the Cygnets have been learning all about ‘People Who Help Us’. We were very lucky to have some special visitors, including two police officers, a doctor, a nurse, and a veterinary nurse. We enjoyed listening to what each job entails, as well as getting involved in lots of interactive activities, such as: putting bandages on our teddies to make them feel better, trying on uniforms, and going inside a police van. In Cygnets, we love to bake! Throughout November, Oli our Nursery chef has been coming to do some baking with us. We made some delicious samosas to celebrate Diwali, as well as a yummy apple and cinnamon loaf. We loved helping to cut up all the fruits and vegetables as Oli taught us all about how we could grow these in our allotment in the garden during the spring and summer months. We also celebrated Bonfire Night by making some fantastic fireworks pictures using brightly coloured paints, as well as making bonfire pictures using natural materials we found in the garden. Later in the month we also focused on Children in Need. We all loved coming to Nursery in our pyjamas. As always, the Cygnets were creative and designed their very own Pudsey bear ears. Finally, the Cygnets children have shown an interest recently in animals, so we have done lots of animal related activities, such as using scissors to cut a lion's mane. We also used dinosaurs to make huge footprints which was really fun. We are looking forward to lots more fun throughout December as we prepare for Christmas!

CYGNETS ROOM

Swans Room News December Newsletter

The Swans have been very busy throughout November and have enjoyed learning about lots of exciting things. At the start of the month, we celebrated Diwali. The children really enjoyed taking part in all of the fun activities and enjoyed learning about colours through messy play. The Swans also made their own Rangoli patterns with pens, pencils, paints and a range of natural resources. The children learnt all about Diwali and gained a further understanding of why we celebrate it. ‘People Who Help Us’ has been another focus this month, as we have had some very exciting visitors come and talk to us about what they do. We had fun learning all about what doctors do and were very lucky that Dr Parmar came in and showed us how to listen to our heartbeats, as well as putting bandages on each other. Dr Parmar even brought in her skeleton friend Bob! We then had another visit from the Police, who came and talked to all of the children about how they keep us safe. The children were very excited to sit in the police van, turn the siren and lights on and even sit in the jail in the back of the van! The children also enjoyed celebrating Nursery Rhyme Week. The Swans enjoyed exploring ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’, the children were weighing out wool and sharing it into 3 bags. We also built Humpty Dumpty’s house in the construction area and had lots of fun in the small world area recreating Goldilocks and the Three Bears! The Swans have had a fantastic and very busy month and are looking forward to lots more fun next month!

SWANS ROOM

December Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Friday 8 th December Christmas Jumper Day

Thursday 14 th December Swans Christmas Play/Concert Tuesday 19 th December Visit from Santa’s Reindeers Wednesday 20 th December 22SLN Christmas Dinner/Party Friday 22 nd December Nursery Closing for Christmas at 6pm Tuesday 2 nd January Nursery RE-OPENS for the New Year!

December Newsletter

*ATTENTION* Important Information - Please Read

Car Park Please can we kindly ask that parents ensure they are only parking in a single car parking bay. As you are aware, we have very limited space, and it is very busy a peak times. Thank you for your support.

HMRC Additional Funding Code (3- & 4-year-olds - 30 hours) If you are eligible and in receipt of additional 3- & 4-year-old funding, look out for a prompt every three months from HMRC to reconfirm your details so that your eligibility can be re-assessed. If you do not do this, please note that we are unable to claim the funding on your behalf. Absence Please 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 co operation. Labels in Clothing To avoid items being lost, please can you ensure that your child’s uniform is clearly labelled including their coats, hats, scarves and wellies. If your child brings gloves to nursery, we strongly advise for these to be attached and threaded through their coat to avoid any gloves going missing. Drop Off and Collection Can we kindly remind you that we open at 7.30 am and close at 6.00 pm and any parents who pick up after this time will be charged.

CONTACT US 0333 043 22 22

www.22streetlanenursery.co.uk info@22streetlanenursery.co.uk