Last week, we noticed the children were spending lots of time piling themselves and their belongings (i.e. bags full of items from the home corner!) into the big, wooden car to head off on various adventures.  As we always try to follow the children’s interests when it comes to enhancing our learning environment, we decided to transform the car into a number 57 bus!

The children were thrilled to discover the bus waiting for them at the bus stop when they arrived on Monday morning.  They grabbed a debit card, tapped in and quickly found a seat!  Luckily, several of them also knew how to drive the bus and it wasn’t long before they set off…

I wondered if they were heading off to Kingston but I was quickly corrected “no, we’re going to beach!”  And, sure enough, a small group got off at the next stop (the sand tray) to play at the beach!

At the end of the week, we were lucky enough to be visited by another big, red vehicle – in this case, a real fire engine!  There was great excitement as the children spotted the engine pulling up outside the school…

We joined the Reception children in their classroom to meet the firefighters and learn more about the special clothes they wear to keep them safe…

Then, we went outside to have a close up look at the fire engine! We were even allowed to sit on the back seats and try on the firefighter helmet!

What an exciting end to the half term!  A huge thank you must go to Blue Watch at New Malden Fire Station for coming to visit us and to Mrs Bibby for organising the visit.

If you would like to find out more about fire safety at home, including fire alarm installation, visit https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/safety/the-home/.

We hope everyone has a wonderful half term break!  See you back at Nursery on Monday 28th October.

This week it was time to say Goodbye to a very special person.  Our wonderful Mrs Williams is moving on to a new job after 16 years at St. Matthew’s!  We will miss her so much but we are so grateful for all the love and expertise she has given to our Nursery over the years and we know she will continue to make a real difference to so many children in her new role as a Speech and Language Therapist.

All the children in the school (from Reception to Year 6) contributed to a special memory book for Mrs Williams which we presented to her in a whole school assembly on Friday morning.  And Mrs Williams was absolutely delighted with the wonderful card & flowers that Mrs Robinson organised from the Nursery children and parents.  Thank you so much everyone!

As we say goodbye and thank you to Mrs Williams, it seems rather fitting that our whole school value this half term has been thankfulness.  In Reception, the children have been finding out about people who help us and being thankful for these people.  This week, they have had several visitors from the local community.  Mrs Bibby and Mrs Rainey kindly invited us to join the Reception children as they met Brian the Firefighter and PC Rainey.  You can read more about their visits on the  Reception blog.

On Mrs Williams last day, she read the children one last story; “This is Our House” by the former Children’s Laureate, Michael Rosen.  You can re-watch it here below.

The children’s play in the classroom this week reminded me of the picture at the end of the book when everyone finally plays together!  Of course, the children in our Nursery know just what to do when there isn’t enough space for everyone in the car…why, simply add more chairs and turn the car into a camper van!  Well done Nursery!

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day!  This is actually something you will very rarely hear us say in Nursery quite simply because we love to go out in the rain!

The children have been working hard to remember the three things they need to do before heading out in the rain:

1. Put your boots on…

2. Put your coat on (and have a go at doing up your zip! – perhaps a grown-up can start you off…)

3. And make sure your hood is up!

Well done! Now you’re ready to play in the rain! ☔️☔️☔️

Our favourite thing to do in the rain is jump in muddy puddles of course!  We were also fascinated by all the different colours and effects we could create by sprinkling powder paint into the puddles…

Back in the classroom, we have been reading lots of familiar stories to help the children feel settled at Nursery while getting used to our daily routine.

Here are two of our favourites which you might like to revisit at home.  Try turning the sound off for this one (Harry and the Dinosaurs go to School) and read it yourself as the video plays…

Lots of the dinosaurs seem to have made their way to our school too!

We always love reading the wonderful story of Owl Babies by Martin Waddell.

Here’s a delightful animation of the story which you might like to share together at home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPQRiSTYFHo

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Just a reminder that The PTA Light Festival will be taking place this coming Friday (11th October) between 6pm and 8pm. This is a delightful, magical event and a real highlight of the school year.  It takes place at school, with a light parade on the field after dark!