Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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New Website Launched!
Fri 21 May 2021Welcome to our brand new school website! We have created the website to keep parents up to date with school news and notices, and to showcase some of the great things our pupils are achieving. The website is extremely easy to edit by all staff at the school, so check back soon for new updates!
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School Closing Thursday 17th Dec
Fri 11 Dec 2020Dear parents/carers,
Yesterday, the government announced that schools could close on Thursday 17th December instead of 18th December. The reason for this is because schools have been asked to support with Covid-19 track and trace for 6 days after closure. This would mean that school staff would have to be available to support track and trace up until the 24th December. It could also mean that we are asking families to self-isolate on Christmas Eve.
For this reason, we have accepted the government’s invitation and the last day of term will be Thursday 17th December.
I understand that this may cause some inconvenience and it was not an easy decision to make but I feel it is important that we reduce the risk of families and school staff having to isolate over the break. This has been an incredibly challenging year and everyone deserves time with their families and loved ones.
To continue to support with track and trace, can I ask that from the 18th December to the 23rd December that if a child tests positive for Covid-19 that you text the test results to 07881047221. Please do not call the school as the office will not be open.
This phone number should also be used if a child tests positive at a weekend.
Please see individual school letters with school specific arrangements.
Yours sincerely
Mr Commins
Executive Headteacher
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Dorothy Gardner Nursery End of term letter Dec 2020
Mon 30 Nov 2020Dear Parents and Carers,
I can hardly believe it – 3 weeks to the Xmas holidays! It has been a long and eventful term for us in the Queen’s Park Nursery Federation. Thank you very much for supporting the Covid measures we carry out and for your future support too. We know the pandemic is not over and that until a vaccine rollout happens, we all need to keep up the effort to social distance with other parents at the gate.
We will be continuing with our enhanced handwashing and cleaning in January and for the Spring term, it is unlikely we’ll be able to allow you inside the school. We will keep you updated by email and also keep checking the website.
Here is the schedule for our festive end of term events! We are again planning around the theme of ‘A Home-made Xmas’. We won’t be using glitter or tinsel as we are educating the children about using natural materials to decorate with. Key People will also be making final calls to any parents they’ve not spoken too. If you have not spoken to your Key person by phone, tell me on the gate and I will ensure you have a call booked in.
You will have your child’s profile to look at between the 7th and 10th of December. Please return them to us on the 11th December, they are a precious record of your child’s learning and will be added to until July, when you will have them to keep.
*Please note two adjustments to the Nursery Sessions on the 17th and 18th December. There will be a slightly later morning start up on the 17th and 18th December. For parents who work, we are able to provide cover in the mornings. However, there will be an earlier finish on the 18th of December at 2.00 pm to allow us to close the Nursery up for the holidays. We will not be providing holiday club sessions this year. Nursery closes at 2pm on the 18th and opens again for the Spring Term on the 6th of January.
Enjoy the break with your families safely and we will look forward to welcoming you back on January 6th.
With best wishes,
Wendy Jenkins
Queens Park EY Federation Dorothy Gardner Nursery School
Ben Commins
Acting Executive Head teacher Federation Deputy Head teacher
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Special Educational Needs
Sun 25 Oct 2020If you have any concerns about your child at home or at Nursery or any questions about Special Educational Needs make an appointment to see Lucie our Federation Assistant Head of Inclusion
Monday 9:15-9:30
Monday 11:30-11:45
Monday 12:45-1:00
Monday 2:45-3:00
Thank you Jeannie for creating this lovely newsletter!
Dates for your Diary
Friday 13th November Pudsey Dress Up Day –
we are fundraising for the BBC ‘Children in Need’ Appeal !
Term DatesThe 2nd Half Term is : Monday 2nd November to Friday 18th December
Spring Term starts Wednesday 6th January 2021
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Celebrating All the Areas of the Early Years Curriculum
Sun 25 Oct 2020Celebrating All the Areas of the Early Years Curriculum …
Personal Social and Emotional Development
Our main theme this term –‘All about me’, helped the new and returning children develop friendships and understand about sharing and taking turns.
Communication and Language- Story telling of ‘The Enormous Turnip’
One of our core books this half term was ‘The Enormous Turnip’.The book was read during story sessions and then extended to a magnetic story board where the children became familiar with the new vocabulary and the sequencing of the narrative.
Physical Development
Gross motor and fine motors skills in action here! We all enjoyed going for a local nature walk. The children were challenged by walking and picking up natural objects like fallen leaves, stick and conkers.
Cooking and Food preparation going on here involves using the grater. Some of us learned how to make courgette bread. This provided challenges with using equipment that the children were not familiar with or had not used independently before.
Literacy
The ‘Core Books’ captured the children’s interest and after listening to adult reading the books, our children wanted to read the books themselves! We have enjoyed: The Owl Babies, The Enormous Turnip, The Gruffalo and So Much this half term. At our morning gathering our children find their photos and their name cards. This has made the children aware of their names and that print carries meaning. We will be doing lots more mark making and will be starting to learn to write our names very soon.
We have been developing our awarness of the weather by putting on our waterproofs and getting wet. The recent downpours were great fun and helped our understanding of our need to keep dry and put on our coats. Remember, ‘there is no such thing as Bad Weather …. Its about the Right Clothes!’ Exploring the texture of the new top soil was messy,muddy but fun. We then went on to do plant some daffodil bulbs! We have still got some flowers outside in the garden ! The giant tomato is still growing!!!
Expressive Arts and Design
We love to make and create! Here you can see us making observational drawings of pumpkins, painting pictures of ourselves and making play dough models of the ‘Owl Babies’. These activities stretched the creative ability of all our children.
Mathematics
We have been organising and building with the large blocks enhancing our ability to categorise objects according to shape and size. We have also been playing in the ‘Outdoor Garden Market’, it was a great opportunity to reflect the children’s real life experience of shopping. They were able to sort and count the real vegetables and at the end of the week the children were able to take the vegetables home to make a delicious vegetable soup!
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Dorothy Gardner Nursery School Newsletter Issue 11 October 2020
Sun 25 Oct 2020Dear Parents,
After the first half term of the year, all the children and staff are all happy to be back into the routine at Nursery! We continue to provide a ‘Covid-safe’environment’, ensuring the children wash their hands and adults maintain social distancing; following a daily routine of enhanced cleaning and washing of our equipment and resources. Unfortunately, parents are still not allowed into the school unless they are settling new children. These parents are asked to wear masks and sanitize their hands on entry. This is to keep our ‘bubble’ at Nursery as small as possible. Thank you your understanding at this time. You can always call Anna if you have any concerns or see me on the Gate. We will be asking our Key People to call and talk to you about how your child has settled and made progress in late November. We’re glad to say that after a few weeks we can see great strides in learning!
We have lots to look forward to in the coming half term and will be celebrating seasonal changes and community festivities – you can be sure!
Have a wonderful half term break,
Wendy Jenkins
Federation Deputy Headteacher
Dorothy Gardner Nursery School
New Staff
You have probably noticed a few new faces around the school! We would like to welcome the following staff to the Dorothy Gardner Nursery School. Lia Garcia has joined the 2’s team as an Early Years Educator. She loves working with very young children and this is her ‘dream job’, she has settled quickly into the Dorothy Gardner family.
Jannine Badstuber is our new Senior Teacher, leading the provision for our 3 – 4 year olds on the Nursery Floor. She comes to us with a wealth of experience in Early Years settings and Primary Schools. She is a Forest School expert and is also passionate about the Natural World.
Dean Martin is the new Federation Business Manager, he comes to us having spent significant time serving in the British Army and also working for several other schools as a Business manager. He really enjoys taking short breaks on the Nursery floor getting to know the children.
Keeping Good Time!
A gentle reminder - please be on time when dropping and collecting your child. Being late can unsettle your child and is not a positive start to their nursery session. We start our morning and afternoon gathering promptly. Please note our new main Entry Times:
Mornings 9.15-9.25 am
Afternoons 12.45-12.55pm
We also ask parents to sign our late book 15 minutes after our start time.
Thank you for your support.
Remember –No buggies or scooters are to be left on the school premises due to Health and Safety requirements.
Let’s all Avoid Lost Clothing!
Please put your child’s name on their coats and clothing-to avoid them getting lost! We do have some children with identical coats!
Library - our New System!
Library books will be coming home every THURSDAY with the children. Please take time to share the book with your child. As soon as we can, we will return to the system of Parents and children choosing together upstairs in our lending library.
Forest School Starts Very Soon!
Forest school will be starting in November. Our wonderful programme gives the children an opportunity to spend time in a woodland or natural environment to support the development of a relationship between the child and their natural world.
Inez has contacted our first cohort of children and we aim to give all the Nursery children time over the year.