Nursery – Squirrels
Welcome to the Hedgehogs class page!
Our Teacher is Mrs Downs and our Early Years Practitioner is Mrs Laidler. Mrs Pickering teaches us on a Thursday afternoon during teacher PPA.
We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. This framework specifies the requirements for learning and development in Early Years and provides prime and specific areas of learning we cover in our curriculum.Prime Areas:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Physical Development
- Communication and Language Development
Specific Areas:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding of the world
- Expressive Art and Design
The children in nursery are three and four years old and they learn through play with a balance of planned purposeful adult led and child initiated activities allowing children to learn, develop and practice new skills. Activities are planned following the children’s interests for example dinosaurs, pirates, the weather or a favourite story. Alongside this we investigate a big question every other half term;
Autumn Two: “Are we all the same?”
Spring Two “How do we travel?”
Summer Two “How do we keep our bodies healthy?”
We have a fantastic outdoor area which we use in all weathers thanks to our wellies and waterproof clothing. We also participate in PE and dance lessons in our gym, weekly visits to the ICT suite, as well as engaging in activities in our DT, Art and sensory room. We have specialist teachers who deliver music and Spanish.
Trips will be planned to enhance the children’s learning and to give them exciting experiences. Last year we visited Jesmond Dene, The Rising Sun Country Park, St Joseph’s Church and Whitley Bay Beach.
From October half term, the children will take home a reading pack each week to enjoy with an adult at home. As their learning progresses, and we introduce Read Write Inc. the children will on have additional activities to complete at home to support their learning.
Nursery Parent Pamphlet – Summer 2026
Hello – Squirrels
Every music session in nursery starts with the ‘Hello’ song. It’s a lovely warm-up song where the musician greets the children by name, getting to know them. This gives the children the feeling of value and partnership in the session.
What’s going to come out the bag – Squirrels
Used as a transition song from one activity to another, it keeps the children engaged. There is also the sense of anticipation and the children test their recall skills, trying to remember what came out of the bag last week.
Baby Dinosaur – Squirrels
This song is using a familiar tune and making a whole new song with different words. This encourages creativity and song writing. There are also actions and notable ‘moments’ in the song that children learn to anticipate, understanding the structure of the song/music.
Can’t Stop It Raining – Squirrels
This is a lovely song to finish a session with, bringing the children back to calm for the rest of their day (after the excitement of dancing and singing). Weather songs are always good for encouraging the children to consider the world around them.
