February 5th

2013

We belatedly send everyone our New Year

greetings from the Nursery. We hope 2013 brings
you all health, happiness and fun!
Power Cuts

We must take this

opportunity to apologise
once again for the
inconvenience caused by the
electricity failures this
month. Frankly, they could
hardly have happened at a
worst time than on cold,
dark January mornings
without warning.
You will have seen (and hopefully signed) the
petition of January 23 drawn up by Mr Carter, the
Proprietor. If you have not yet signed it please try
to pop in and do so within the next couple of days.
We can only hope the cuts will not happen again
but at present we have little long term reassurance
from the providers.
Whilst apologising to everyone for the undoubted
inconvenience , we wish to congratulate all the
nursery staff who heroically carried on under
appalling circumstances and did much ferrying of
water, food and other supplies between the nursery
and the school to keep things running as smoothly
as possible.

Fussy Eaters!
A survey of
over 2,500
mothers and
toddlers from the
UK, Netherlands,
France, Germany,
Spain, Sweden
and Italy claims
that British
children are the
fussiest eaters in Europe.
26% of UK toddlers refuse the meal theyre
offered at least once a day compared to 15% of
French children.
The survey also discovered that UK parents are
the most likely to reward children with junk food
for eating well or good behaviour.
So you have been warned. You are not alone
when your child refuses to eat sensibly but shouting
or bribing with sweet treats only tends to make
things worse. A calm approach using
encouragement, stickers or special playtime as
rewards, is more effective.
* * *

Good News
Researchers from Imperial
College London have reported
a 12% drop in hospital
admissions for childrens
asthma in the first year of the
smoking ban in public places.
In the years leading up to
the ban, hospital admissions
for children suffering a severe
asthma attack had been increasing by 2.2% per
year.
The trend reversed immediately the ban was
brought into effect!
These findings are good news for England and
should encourage countries where public smoking
is permitted to consider introducing similar
legislation.

We are sorry for the delay in getting the web cam

fixed. This was due to circumstances beyond our
control. We realise that the webcam is an important
feature at the nursery and we and the people at
NurseryCam have done everything possible to
rectify the situation. We hope that by the time you
read this, normal service will have been resumed.
* * *
Congratulations to Michaela
DArcy for being Employee of
the Month. She uses all her
knowledge, skill and patience
in meeting the babies
individual needs on a daily
basis and is very natural and
comfortable in her approach to
the infants. Well done!
Michaela D'Arcy

We recently updated our notice boards downstairs

in an effort to deliver as much helpful information
as possible to you on a regular basis.
Understandably, the Parents Notice Boards can be
overlooked, especially when you are rushing and on
your way to work but they do display some very
valuable information so please try to have a browse
at least once each week.
* * *
This month, we have been concentrating on
Festivals from Around the World. In particular
we focused on Burns Night and Chinese New
Year.
This is the Year of the
Dragon and children right
across the nursery have
been learning about the
meaning of certain customs
and experiencing a whole
range of activities to complement them.
Birthdays
We wish Happy Birthday this month to:
Harleen 1st
Chandon 3rd
Kristine 3rd
Lucy 11th
Finley 11th

Alesha 16th
Eva 17th
Harry 26th
Jakub 27th

Hellos and Goodbyes

We warmly welcome Isaac, Isabelle, Oliver,
Keira, Raajan and Samuel who have recently joined
Purple Room. In addition, we would like to
welcome Ruby, Aalekh and Anjola to Blue room,
Ryan and Jeevan to Toddler Room and Harsimran
and Ryan who have joined Pre-School!
Pre-School
Pre-School have
been learning about
different countries,
focusing on Australia,
England, India and
Italy.
During circle time,
the children discussed the many countries they have
visited and where their family
members come from.
In addition they learnt about
various foods and different
animals that come from these
countries.
Expressive Arts and Design
has included making

boomerangs, sponge painting and making some

beautiful tiger pictures.
To celebrate Chinese New Year the children made
a wonderful coloured dragon and some 3D Magic
Dough coins. It is said that the coins symbolise
Good Luck for the coming year!
In Toddler Room their
theme for the month was
Families Around the World.
The children had the
opportunity to work in small
groups and to talk about their
own family members.
They created paper-plate
faces using a range of
materials, including paint, string, wool and felt to
create different effects. The children have collected
family pictures and
created family trees.
They began to show
an awareness of their
feelings and families
and displayed high
levels of involvement
in what they were doing, including lovely examples
of sharing and making new friends!
To complement our festival celebrations further
the children in Toddler Room looked at books with
people in traditional
dress and outfits from
around the world.
Toddlers chose a
favourite book See
how I Grow. This
helped the children
feel at ease - as there
seem to be quite a few new babies being born
amongst Toddler Room families!
Toddlers learning goal was to note the
similarities and differences between us and amongst
our own families, communities and traditions.
Blue Room
Children in Blue
Room have been
extremely busy this
month celebrating
Chinese New Year.
They painted Chinese
lanterns and gold
coins for good luck.
They also brought garden experiences into the play
room - such as tunnels, tents, and even some snow!
Other texture craft work included working with
cornflakes, spaghetti, and shaving foam!

The children made a very good display of The

Wheels on the Bus and have been singing the song
as a group and practising their sounds.
Sensory play involved bubble wrap and fruit
printing with grapes, oranges, and apples.
Blue Room staff welcomed Natalie and Alison to
the team to join in the fun!
Purple Room

What about .?
Playing together
with different
textures like
dough, sand or
fabric? Every child
will enjoy making
things and feeling
the difference in
the fabric or material. Let them squeeze the
materials in between their fingers and handle them
in different ways. This way theyll discover more
by exploration and enjoy using all their senses.

Children in Purple Room

have been concentrating on
making a seasonal birthday
chart. The babies certainly
enjoyed decorating it! In
addition they experienced some
new action rhymes including
Hickory Dickory Dock and
Row Row Row your Boat.
Such songs within a small
group are a great way to help very young children
feel included and comfortable, especially when they
are new to the setting.
Purple Room also celebrated Chinese New Year
and to raise their awareness further the children will
be experiencing a range of food, not only for new
tastes, but to experience new textures and colours
too.
Messy play included gloop, shaving foam, sand,
water and pasta, and holistic play involved the use
of boxes, cartons, plastic bottles and shakers.
All the children were lucky enough to experience
the snow and thoroughly enjoyed squeezing and
pressing it and feeling its texture and temperature.

Another great idea!

Use an empty box, like a shoe box, to gather
things you find together. Next
time you go to the park or go
for a walk, talk about the
things you see and ask your
child to choose something to
bring home.
It may be stones, moss, a
feather or some leaves. When you get home talk
about the colour, the texture and their shape. Your
childs skills will be growing in every area!
Remember to spend quality time with your child
and to make it fun!

* * *
Your Childs Learning, Development and Care
At Bronte Nursery we believe play is the best
way to explore and learn. In addition to this,
playing outdoors is essential to children of all ages
and being outside means they can experience
different temperatures and types of weather - and
also make bigger movements and more noise!
Pretending helps children develop ideas and
stories, and understand things from another
persons point of view.
Childrens play with natural materials helps to
develop their understanding of the world around
them. For example, mixing flour and water, seeing
ice melt, or helping with cooking are all ways that
children learn about how liquids and solids can
change in different circumstances.

Play and other imaginative

activities help children to
make sense of their
experience, and transform
their knowledge, fostering
cognitive development
(Early Years Foundation
Stage 2008, A unique Child
1:1, Child Development)

Interesting Quotes !
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
For knowledge is limited to all we now know and
understand, while imagination embraces the entire
world, and all there ever will be to know and
understand
(Albert Einstein)

The next newsletter will be out on February 28th and will be sent via ParentMail for those who can
receive email. If you need a hard copy just let the office know and, everybody, please remember to
look at our Notice Boards for latest news.