22 Street Lane Nursery - May 2024 Newsletter

Newsletter May Play • Discovery • Growth

May Newsletter

Dear Parents and Carers, As always, a very big welcome to all our new families who have joined our 22 Street Lane. The children have had a very busy month as Spring is in the air, and we have been spending lots more time outdoors and have been exploring the first signs of Spring. We celebrated lots of special days this month, including Vaisakhi, Eid Al Fitr, St George's Day and Passover. The children have lots to look forward to during May, such as our Grandparent's Stay and Play, World Bee Day and National Childrens’ Gardening Week towards the end of the month. We will also be having a special visit from the mobile farm where the animals will come and stay in the nursery garden for the day. To find out more, please read on...

May Newsletter STAFF NEWS

Welcoming Katie to the Duckings Room We would like to give a warm welcome Katie who has recently joined our Ducklings Room as Deputy Room Leader! Katie has previously been working as a Room Leader in another nursery and is looking forward to getting to know all the children and families in our Ducklings Room! "I’m so excited to be starting my journey in the Ducklings Room at 22 Street Lane. I have lots of experience working in early years and have most recently leading a room since October 2022. I’m super passionate about creating a safe zone for children to challenge themselves so they’re able to meet their full potential. I have a keen interest in children’s development and play behaviours, and this is something I love to share, so please come and find me if you need any help or advice!"

Country of the Month, May 2024: Vietnam Throughout May, we will be exploring Vietnam as our country of the month! We will be learning about traditions and customs such as the conical hat, which is an emblem of traditional Vietnamese cultural identity. We will be sampling the culinary staple of sticky rice, and we will be exploring traditional embroidery! If any parents have any resources that support our country of the month, we would be most grateful.

Upcoming Nursery Closure Dates We just wanted to remind parents that the Nursery will be closed on the following dates over the coming weeks:

May Day Bank Holiday: Monday 6th May Spring Bank Holiday: Monday 27th May Staff Training Day: Tuesday 4th June

We hope all our 22 Street Lane children enjoy their days off and we look forward to their return!

May Newsletter NEWS

Eid Al Fitr Celebrations! The children had a lovely time celebrating Eid Al Fitr. They explored Eid inspired tuff trays and created moon and star pictures, some of the children created their own Mendi patterns! Oli and Kim cooked an Eid feast for the children which included lentil Dhal and cauliflower pakoras!

Vaisakhi Festival Activities Vaisakhi is the Sikh New Year celebration. A joyous and vibrant event that also doubles as their Spring Harvest Festival. This is a time where Sikhs rejoice in the abundance of crops and pray for future good fortune! During these celebrations, the children got involved in lots of themed activities, including creating their own colourful Rangoli patterns, drawing their own interpretation of the Guru and exploring lots of themed tuff trays! The Swans children also enjoyed learning about the story of Vaisakhi and the Cygnets made their own yoghurt, cucumber and mint dip!

May Newsletter NEWS

Celebrating World Bicycle Day In support or World Bicycle Day, the Cygnets and Swans children brought their own bikes which they enjoyed riding and learning about cycling proficiency!

Earth Day Festivities! We supported Earth Day by learning all about the world and how we can protect it by looking after our environment!

Passover Celebrations Passover is a Jewish festival lasting eight days, which links to the biblical story of the Jewish people escaping from slavery in Egypt. During Passover, families will hold a ‘seder’ night on the first and sometimes second night of Passover. A seder night is a religious service set around a dinner table, where everyone will eat, pray, sing, and read stories from a prayer book called a ‘Haggadah’. A number of traditional foods are also eaten during the festival, including Matzah (which is a type of unleavened bread/cracker), gefiltefish and chicken soup. The children will be learning all about Passover and will have the chance to make their own Matzah crackers, listen to some Israeli music, and design their very own seder plate using a range of resources. They also tried some traditional foods too!

May Newsletter NEWS

World Bee Day - Monday 20th May In support of ‘World Bee Day’ we be teaching the children the importance of Bees and other pollinators such as the importance they have to our food supply!

National Children’s Gardening Week – W/C 27th May National Children’s Gardening Week is an annual event dedicated to encouraging children to discover the wonders of gardening. During this week-long celebration, we will be providing the children with opportunities to grow plants, learn about ecosystems, and appreciate the beauty and importance of gardening! Some of the children will even be taking a trip to Oli’s allotment. If you have any pictures of your children gardening, we would love to see these on Tapestry. We will be also celebrating Peter Rabbit Week at the same time too and focusing on the traditional tale of Peter Rabbit!

Petting Farm Visit: Wednesday 29th May We are so excited for the petting farm to come and visit us! The animals will spend the day in the nursery garden, where the children will have the opportunity to go out and visit them. They'll even be able to pet and feed them if they're feeling brave!

May Newsletter

Dish of the Month

Maple and Star Anise Roasted Plums with Mascarpone

• 700g plums (you could also use pears, apples or even blood oranges • 3 or 4 tablespoons of maple syrup • 2 star anise • A good quality thick Greek yogurt or mascarpone • Ground ginger • 2 oranges, zested and juiced See our past selections on: 22streetlanenursery.co.uk/dish-of-the-month/ Ingredients

Method

1. Wash and rinse your plums and pre-heat your oven to 180C. 2. Slice your plums so they are nice and chunky and grate, place them in a baking tray. Grate your orange zest and juice over the top of them. Gently dust them with the ground ginger and any additional spice you like. 3. Drizzle your maple syrup over the plums, making sure that they are evenly coated. 4. Bake until they are nice and tender but not falling apart. 5. Once cooked they can be stored in the fridge, ready for healthy breakfasts or an evening dessert. This dish can be stored for up to 3 days. Serve with a nice vanilla mascarpone or good quality Greek yogurt, add any additional extras such as, chia seeds or coconut flakes.

May Newsletter Grandparent’s Stay and Play: Tuesday 28 th - Friday 31 st May

We would like to invite someone special to attend our Grandparent’s Stay and Play. This event will be held at 3-4pm for every room on the dates in the table to the right. Spaces will be offered on a first come, first served basis. If you would like to attend, please leave a comment speak to Alex and give us the attendee’s

Chicklets Ducklings Goslings

Thursday 30th May Wednesday 29th May Tuesday 28th May Friday 31st May Tuesday 28th May

Cygnets

Swans

name/s and the date of the Stay and Play session they would like to attend. Please note that we can only permit two grandparents per child. We are looking forward to it!

June Newsletter Swans Graduation Ceremony: Thursday 18th July

We’ve already started planning for this big day as it’s always such an exciting day in our annual calendar. So make sure to pop this very important date in your diary, as it’s not one to miss. Our Swans Graduation is always a special event and we hope to make this year's ceremony bigger and better than ever before, with tons of fun activities, big performances and yummy food. We’ll be looking back at the time our Swans spent at 22 Street Lane and wishing them lots of luck in Big School!

May Newsletter Chicklets Room News

We, once again, have had a very exciting month in the Chicklets Room! The children have jumped into lots of new fun and exciting messy play activities (like large-scale painting with bubble wrap) and have been able to explore lots more outdoors in lots of different weathers. There have been lots of celebrations across April, where the Chicklets have been able to explore different cultures and traditions through texture, smell and taste. We also joined in with the ‘Tiger Who Came To Tea’ fun by exploring the story in lots of creative ways and mixing up our own orange, coloured and scented tea to share with the tiger. We are super excited to continue investigating different messy play opportunities throughout May as we continue our celebrations with World Gardening Week and World Bee Day. Our outdoor adventures will also continue throughout May as, with warmer weather, we hope to get on more outings; particularly to places in the local community like charity shops to buy new books for the Chicklets Room. We can’t wait to see all of your adventures throughout May too!

CHICKLETS ROOM

May Newsletter

Ducklings Room News

The Ducklings have had a great month at Nursery, we have been doing all sorts of fun activities and enjoying the start of the spring weather. We started the month by celebrating Easter. Lots of the Ducklings brought in Easter Bonnets, and it was great to see how much time and effort was put into the Bonnets. There were some fabulous ones! We also celebrated Eid. We used our creative skills to decorate stars and moon pictures and enjoyed glueing and sticking the different crafts onto the paper. Then, we put our baking skills to the test and made ‘Eid Orange Loaf.’ All the Ducklings got involved taking it in turns to mix all the ingredients together and some of us got to help crack the eggs, which was fun! This month the Ducklings have taken a massive interest in animals and lots of children have been visiting zoos/farms. Following on the children’s interest Chloe set up a zoo activity for the Ducklings to explore. The Ducklings used their mark-making skills to create marks in the flour and cornflakes. We spoke about the different animals and what noises they make and enjoyed ‘stomp stomping ‘ them into the messy tray. We are looking forward to having lots more fun during May!

DUCKLINGS ROOM

May Newsletter Goslings Room News

The Goslings have had a very busy few weeks recently; enjoying trips to the local shops to buy fresh fruit and making a yummy fruit salad together for a snack! With Egypt being the Country of the Month, we have also been enjoying making necklaces and dancing to Egyptian music. The Goslings have shown recent interest in various animal sounds. To encourage this interest, our setups have been animal-orientated with bugs, zoo and sea animals. Moving on, with Eid just gone by, the Goslings enjoyed learning all about and helped make pretty decorations using foil with moons and stars. We also enjoyed lots of sensory tuff trays with coloured rice and paint for different textures. They also enjoyed doing henna patterns using our fine paint brushes and did a great job. Later in the month, the Goslings made some Matzah to have for their snack to celebrate Passover. The Goslings have also recently begun to enjoy sharing pictures of their family and friends every week during our story times which is a great way to encourage their speech and language. As The Tiger who came to Tea was playing in the theatre in Leeds this month, with lots of children going to see the show, we have been enjoying lots of tiger-themed activities where the Goslings have been so excited, talking about the theatre during the activities, which was so great!

GOSLINGS ROOM

May Newsletter Cygnets Room News

In the Cygnets Room, we have been celebrating Egypt as our Country of the Month. The Cygnets enjoyed exploring what a pyramid looks like, as one of the children brought a pyramid ornament into the nursery to share. As the Cygnets have shown an interest in number recently, we opened our very own ‘Cygnets Charity Shop’, where the Cygnets designed their own money and chose what to sell in the shop. They really enjoyed taking turns to be the customers and the cashiers. We’re looking forward to opening our own café soon. The Cygnets celebrated Vaisakhi, a traditional Sikh festival celebrating the Spring Harvest. We’ve also been making colourful Rangoli patterns by painting and exploring colourful tuff trays. Later in the month, it was National Bicycle Day, where lots of the children enjoyed bringing their bikes into the nursery. The children all showed their great balancing skills and they all loved the races! As our caterpillars arrived in the middle of April, the Cygnets were all really excited about it. Over the next few weeks, we will be watching the lifecycle of the caterpillars as they turn into beautiful butterflies. We will support this by reading 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' and learning the Makaton of the story as well. In the next month, we’re looking forward to celebrating Vietnam, as our next country of the month and hope to learn all about the Ba Chua Xu Festival in Vietnam. As it’s National Children’s Gardening Week at the end of May as well, we’re looking forward to doing lots more gardening with the Cygnets.

CYGNETS ROOM

Swans Room News May Newsletter

Throughout April we celebrated Eid. The children learnt all about why we celebrate as well as having lots of fun activities for the children to explore. The Swans enjoyed making Henna hands. They did some beautiful designs and swirls using paint. The Swans also got very excited to learn about traditional clothes worn when celebrating. The children dressed up with some very beautiful materials to make a sari. The Swans children also went on a special trip to Leeds Playhouse, to see 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea'! We went on the bus and the children loved singing the wheels on the bus as well as watching out the window. Throughout the performance, the Swans enjoyed following the story, as well as getting involved with some singing and dancing. The Tiger, Mummy and Sophie showed the audience some fantastic dance moves and actions, which the children loved joining in with. The Swans really enjoyed bringing in their bikes for National Bicycle Day. The children. enjoyed cycling up and down the car park as well as taking part in some races with their friends. We talked to the children about how we can be safe on our bikes and how we ride safely if we are cycling to and from nursery. Some of the children also took a trip to a local cafe for a special treat. The Swans enjoyed a delicious babycino. They then stopped off at the charity shop and bought some nice plates for our roleplay area! Towards the end of the month, we celebrated Passover. We learnt all about the celebration and made our own Seder plates and Afikomen bags. We also had lots of fun baking a traditional dish called Matzo.

SWANS ROOM

May Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Monday 6 th May May Day Bank Holiday, Nursery CLOSED Monday 20 th May World Bee Day Monday 27 th May Spring Bank Holiday, Nursery CLOSED W/C Monday 27 th May National Childrens’ Gardening Week Tuesday 28 th - Friday 31 st May Grandparent’s Stay & Play Tuesday 4 th June Team Training Day, Nursery CLOSED

May 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. 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. Sun Cream and Sunhats With the warmer months upon us, please can you ensure that your child has appropriate clothing for warm weather including sun cream and a sun hat. We would recommend that you provide sun cream which is factor 50 and at least a 4-star UVA rating. If you could please label your child’s sun cream and hat with their name, it would be helpful.

May Newsletter

*ATTENTION* Important Information - Please Read 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.

CONTACT US 0333 043 22 22

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