22 Street Lane Nursery - February 2022 Newsletter

Newsletter February

Play • Discovery • Growth

February Newsletter

Dear Parents and Carers, Welcome to our February newsletter, and as always, greetings to our new families who have recently joined us. We have a very busy month ahead of us for the children, kicking off with National Storytelling Week and Chinese New Year celebrations, followed by Valentine’s Day and Pancake Day. Please do look out for our bedtime stories which will be posted on Tapestry and Facebook page every night this week! We will be kicking off our Chinese New Year celebrations with a tasty Chinese feast cooked by our chef, where the children will be sampling traditional dishes such as won tons, chow mein and spring rolls! This year we are celebrating the Year of the Tiger with dragon dancing and making traditional Chinese lanterns. To find out more, please read on...

February Newsletter STAFF NEWS

Congratulations Sophie! We would like to say a huge congratulations to Sophie, our Chicklets Room Leader and third in charge, who is expecting a baby boy on July 6th! Sophie will be leaving for maternity leave at the end of May.

Heli Lee - Change of Role As of 31st January, Heli has changed positions from a permanent full-time staff member of the Swans team to a Bank Staff practitioner. Heli will be working in all of the rooms across the nursery and she is looking forward to working with the different age groups.

Welcoming Aisha to the Ducklings Room We would like to welcome Aisha Hussain to our Ducklings Room! Aisha has joined the team as an Apprentice Practitioner and will be working towards a Level 3 in Childcare and Education. “I’m really excited to be starting my childcare apprenticeship with 22 Street Lane Nursery and nothing would make me happier than helping to bring a smile to the children’s faces here. I have always been passionate about working with the early years and I always enjoy being able to teach children something new and watching the ‘twinkle’ in their eyes as their imagination and curiosities bloom. Working with children provides you with the opportunity to engage in a variety of activities throughout the day, and the opportunity to be part of their development is something that excites me about this role.”

February Newsletter NEWS Around The World In 30 Days: Clothing Throughout January, we have been exploring animals from around the world and their habitats. The Swans and Cygnets had a very special visit from ZooLab, who brought in a variety of exotic animals for the children to meet. The children had the opportunity to get close up and hold snakes, tarantulas, tiger snails, giant millipedes and a giant frog! Some of the younger went on a trip to Tropical World as well, where they saw other animals such as meerkats and lots of different fish and ocean creatures! Throughout February, we will be exploring traditional clothing from all around the world such as Hindu Saris, Scottish Kilts, Japanese Kimonos and much more! If you have any customary clothing or garments that we could share with the children, we would be most grateful.

Chinese New Year Celebrations - Tuesday 1st February We had such a fun time celebrating Chinese New Year yesterday and welcoming in the Year of the Tiger! The children had the opportunity to try some traditional dragon dancing, taste Chinese food like chow mein, and have the chance to make colourful lanterns! The children also explored messy rice play, following a Chinese New Year tradition of filling up envelopes of rice to celebrate the coming of a New Year.

Children’s Mental Health Week 2022: 7th-13th February For ‘Place2Be’s’ Children’s Mental Health Week, the children will be focusing on the theme ‘Growing Together’ thinking about how things change as grow, both physically and emotionally.There will also be lots of crafts linked to growth and change, with some of the groups completing a height chart, and others creating their own representations of characters in the stories read.

Also linked to growth, all of the rooms will be planting a range of seeds and discussing what plants need to grow and why it is important to look after living things. Throughout the week, we will also be continuing to place an emphasis on the children’s wellbeing and mindfulness, with regular yoga sessions and allowing the children to talk about how they are feeling during carpet time sessions.

February Newsletter NEWS

Storytelling Week and Bedtime Story Evening We have been taking part in National Storytelling Week at the nursery! We will be exploring a variety of books including the children’s favourites, traditional tales, poems and rhymes. We are encouraging the children to bring their favourite books to the nursery to share with their teachers and friends. Please can we ask that all books be labelled clearly with your child’s name?

On Tuesday 15th February, we will be hosting a bedtime story evening where we are inviting the Cygnets and Swans children to come into the nursery from 6:00-6.30pm to listen to some of their favourite bedtime stories, along with a warm milky drink. The children are welcome to come to the nursery in pyjamas. Unfortunately, due to space, we cannot accommodate siblings. If you would like your child to attend, please can you email: alexandra@22streetlanenursery.co.uk or comment on the Tapestry post. For the younger children and for those that can not attend, we will be posting a bedtime story on Tapestry and our Facebook Page for you to enjoy!

Mask Wearing At The Nursery Following the latest government guidance, you are no longer legally obliged to wear face coverings in the nursery, however, we would like to maintain our policy

of wearing face masks until further notice. We appreciate your continued support.

Employee Recognition Award, January 2022

Please visit our website to place for vote for next month: https://www.22streetlanenursery.co.uk/employee-recognition-award-vote/ Thank you to all the parents who took the time to vote for the staff member they feel deserves the ‘Employee Recognition Award’. We believe our staff should be recognised for delivering outstanding care and education each and their continued hard work. We are delighted to announce that January’s award goes to… Rose Seymour, Ducklings Team

February Newsletter Valentine’s Day Celebrations: Monday 14th February Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14th in honour of Saint Valentine of Rome. In England, it grew into an occasion in which people expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery and sending Valentine’s cards. The children at 22SLN will be busy making their own Valentine cards to send to the people they love, looking at heart shapes, exploring the colours red and pink, as well as rose petals that will provide a wonderful sensory experience for them too.

February Newsletter Shove Tuesday (Pancake Day!): Tuesday 1st March This is always a very popular celebration at 22 Street Lane! In other countries it is referred to as ‘Mardi Gras’ which translates as ‘Fat Tuesday’. This is the time that people traditionally use up their leftover sugary foods before starting their fast for Lent. Chris will be onboard for this celebration too, providing a lovely spread of healthy pancakes for the children to enjoy.

February Newsletter The Curiosity Approach at 22 Street Lane

In this technological age, our society contains a multitude of distractions: iPads, computers, television and electronic toys. Together these can create an overabundance of sensory stimulation and a busy, hectic life that fills a child’s brain, overstimulated with that constant noise and endless activity. Do you wonder what the future of our littlest people looks like? We need to enhance their communication and literacy skills and develop their imagination in play through creating an environment of awe and wonder. The Curiosity Approach values time and space, and looks to empower children. Helping them to become the thinkers and doers of the future. Through uncluttered and beautiful environments, it is our aim to create a calm and tranquil environment in which children can be curious to investigate, discover and learn. To allow children time and space to tinker, explore and work at their own pace. Through a child-centred approach, we encourage the power of concentration in young children. We are passionate educators who are looking to empower our children for a successful and happy future through play, exploration and discovery. Setting them up with the skills for life!

Teaching our children through heart and soul is what we must aspire to do. Look closely at their faces, how incredible to witness such pure joy. There’s truly no better reward! “If you don’t love what you do, you won’t do it with much conviction or passion.” ~ Mia Hamm

Continuing our sharing of the A-Z of the Curiosity Approach, we are showcasing W & X this month:

Who is it for? - “If we thought more about childhoods and less about needs, some of our programs would look less like schools and more like homes and children’s museums, or like fields and parks. We might develop varied places with a genuine sense of beauty; places where adults and children delight at times in simply being together” - Jim Greenman

eXtraordinary - “The difference between being ordinary and extraordinary is just that little bit extra!” – Jimmy Johnson. How far will you go to be an extraordinary practitioner? How far will you go to create an extraordinary childhood for the little people you serve?

February Newsletter

Dish of the Month

Chow Mein

• 150g/5oz medium egg noodles • 300g/11oz skinless chicken breast fillets, sliced into strips See our past selections on: 22streetlanenursery.co.uk/dish-of-the-month/ Ingredients

• 150g/5oz bean sprouts • 2 tbsp light soy sauce • 1 tsp Chinese five-spice • 1 tsp chilli sauce (optional)

• 1 tbsp cornflour • 1 tbsp olive oil • 1 red pepper, seeds removed and thinly sliced • 1 spring onion, sliced lengthways • Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Cook the noodles in a pan of boiling water for 2-3 minutes, until al dente, or according to packet instructions. Drain, then rinse under cold running water and drain again. Drizzle olive oil and toss through to prevent the noodles from sticking to each other. 2. Put the chicken strips in a bowl and season with a dash of light soy sauce, the five-spice powder and chilli sauce (if using). 3. Mix well, then lightly dust the chicken strips with the cornflour. 4. Heat a wok until smoking and add the olive oil, then add the chicken and stir fry for 3-4 minutes, or until the chicken is golden-brown and cooked through. 5. Add the red pepper and stir fry for 1 minute, then add the bean sprouts and spring onion and stir fry for 30 seconds. 6. Stir in the cooked noodles and season with the soy sauce, a dash of sesame oil and freshly ground black pepper. 7. Pile the noodles onto a serving plate and serve immediately.

February Newsletter Chicklets Room News

We have had a busy January in the Chicklets Room. Firstly, we would like to say a warm welcome to all our new Chicklets who have recently joined the room. They have all done so well on their settles and we are looking forward to getting to know them more as they continue to familiarise themselves with the room. We have also introduced short sensory sessions into the Chicklets Room this month. The children have enjoyed exploring the sensory lights, and the different textures of the sensory balls and bean bags. It has been very calming for the children and we will be introducing different themes to these sessions each week too. The babies have shown an interest in recognising their facial features too this month. They have enjoyed looking in the mirrors at themselves and have been joining in with the nursery rhyme ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes'. Some have even started to say the words for their facial features such as ‘nose’ and ‘head’. As the children have enjoyed the sensory sessions this month, we wanted to link our home learning challenge to this, which is: Can you make your own sensory bottles? All you need is an empty bottle and you can add any materials of your choice such as pasta, rice, water and food colouring or natural materials you find in the park. Next month, we will be celebrating Chinese New Year with the children and will be setting up different activities around this, such as rice and noodle play. We will also be celebrating Valentine’s Day with the children and doing lots of activities themed around the colour red.

CHICKLETS ROOM

February Newsletter

Ducklings Room News

We have had a lovely January in the Ducklings Room! Everyone settled back into nursery life with ease, and lots of cuddles made it clear that we all missed our friends! This month, the Ducklings have loved exploring so many different animals from around the world. We began the month exploring animals from hot and cold climates to continue our theme of ‘Around the World in 30 Days’. The Ducklings worked together to paint their very own boats to sail across the ocean and visit some animals that live in the sea. The children explored Tibetan yaks living in the Himalayan mountains and desert elephants from the African desert. The children got to explore the real snow that we brought in from outside earlier this month, and walk the animals across it to simulate their natural environment. They also explored the sandy feel of the desert in the sand tray, which was lots of fun for them. The sensory dark den was a big hit, with reflective pebbles, textured balls and stacking coloured blocks that changed colour on each angle, which brought lots of awe and wonder for the Ducklings. The Ducklings have also been practising their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, transporting sand into small pots using spoons, painting 3D objects and tackling our homemade size sorting boxes, made from recycled cardboard and various sized logs. The Ducklings have also had a strong interest in different vehicles and loved steering the toy cars around the tracks we painted and racing cars down the big ramp outside.

DUCKLINGS ROOM

February Newsletter Goslings Room News

The Goslings have all come back very cheerful after their Christmas break. Firstly, we would like to thank all the parents who were able to complete the home learning challenge last month, which was to complete a scrapbook filled with their time spent during the holidays. It truly helped their transition back to the nursery. As the theme for ‘Around the World in 30 Days’ this month is animals and their natural habitats, the Goslings have had the opportunity to be able to explore and learn about all sorts of animals from all over the world. Our activities have included learning about the animals from Antarctica using blue coloured gloop in the tuff tray, where the children could act out polar bears, penguins and whales swimming through the gloop! The Goslings also enjoyed a jungle-themed tuff tray with a variety of textures, such as oats, cornflakes and couscous. This also involved making elephant trunks masks and learning about the different kinds of animals that live in the jungle. We even took some of the Goslings to Tropical World, where they were able to see ocean animals in their natural habitats, alongside reptiles such as tortoises and iguanas too! This was a great experience for them as they have shown such great interest and awe in learning about animals. In order to encourage this interest to their homes, we would like to set a new home learning challenge for you, if your child has shown any interest in any new books at home, please share the pictures on Tapestry of your child’s favourite new book, or what they like to read before bed. As the Goslings love to share their pictures on Tapestry with everyone.

GOSLINGS ROOM

February Newsletter Cygnets Room News

The Cygnets have had a lovely first month back after the Christmas break. The children were very excited to tell the practitioners and their peers what they have been up to during their time off, as well as telling one another what Santa had left them. The Cygnets children have also really enjoyed looking at pictures of themselves and their families from their time off on Tapestry. When asked about their Christmas break lots of the children spoke about the food they had eaten, so we set out lots of different resources such as using rice, pasta and the role play oven so the Cygnets could remake the delicious meals they enjoyed. Our ‘Around the World in 30 Days’ theme this month has been focusing on different animals. We explored animals that live in cold conditions such as the Arctic by using flour as snow and by adding Arctic animal figures into ice outside. To also follow this topic we had a very special visit from ZooLab. The Cygnets got the chance to meet a large African snail, tarantula, millipede, frog and snake. Lots of the Cygnets were very brave and took turns holding and petting the snail, millipede and snake. We have also been focusing on the book ‘Stick Man’ throughout this month by having lots of different activities surrounding this, such as making our stick man from materials found in the garden. As well as Stick Man, the Cygnets have loved reading the book ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ so we have been setting up a few activities also around this theme as we celebrate it as our 'Book of the Month' in February!

CYGNETS ROOM

February Newsletter

Swans Room News

The Swans have been very busy throughout January and have enjoyed taking part in lots of exciting activities this month and have been very interested in Arctic animals. We have been looking at Arctic animals and exploring what different animals live in the Arctic as well as the sea animals’ migrating from the cold waters to the warmer waters in the winter. We have been looking at our world map to see where the Arctic and Antarctica are located. We then talked about the animals that live there and supported this through lots of sensory small world trays which the children have loved exploring and using their imagination! In the Swans Room, we have recently implemented ‘The Helper of the Day’. This gives the Swans children the opportunity to help their friends, as well as helping to set up lunches and tea. The Helper of the Day will also be responsible for turning the light on and off when we leave the room to play outside. The idea behind it is to encourage the children with their independence, and to also reward them for their kind and caring behaviour towards all of their friends. During January we have been exploring animals as a part of our 'Around the World in 30 Days' activities. The children loved their visit from ZooLab where we got to see some exotic animals, such as a snake, tarantula, tiger snail, giant millipede and a giant frog, and were given the opportunity to see them close up and even stroke them! The children were all very brave and enjoyed learning lots of new facts about each creature.

SWANS ROOM

February Newsletter Upcoming Events

Monday 7 th - Friday 11 th February Children’s Mental Health Week 2022

Monday 14 th February Valentine’s Day Celebrations

Tuesday 1 st March Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day!)

Tuesday 1 st March St. David’s Day

Thursday 3 rd March World Book Day

February Newsletter

*ATTENTION* Important Information - Please Read

Car Park As you are aware, there are double yellow lines outside the nursery which have been put there for the safety of the children. Please can we ask that parents do not park on them, and also be mindful when parking on Park Lane that you do not park over the driveways of the residents there. Many of them are Key Workers who need immediate access from their homes when called out. There have been a few vehicles obstructing their driveways recently. COVID-19 Guidance Please can we kindly remind parents that children cannot attend nursery if they have a high temperature (37.6 ° C). If a child develops a temperature whilst at nursery, parents will be called to collect them, as supported by our policies and procedures. Due to the guidance from National Health England, children who have a high temperature or a cough will be asked to have a COVID-19 test with a negative result required before returning to the setting. 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.

February Newsletter

*ATTENTION* Important Information - Please Read

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