Author: Hope Pre School

From September 2016 we will be offering two Full Day sessions each week. These will be Mondays and Thursdays and will run from 9.15 a.m. until 3.15 p.m. Please contact us for more details or to book your place!

[caption id="attachment_289" align="alignright" width="300"] Having a good look. They are quite small at the moment.[/caption] We have welcomed five caterpillars to share our space at Preschool! The children seem fascinated by the tiny creatures, at the same time as learning about the life cycle of butterflies. Each day we have a look to see how they have progressed. The caterpillars should take 3-5 weeks to become a chrysalis. By that time they will have shed their exoskeleton several times to allow themselves to grow bigger and bigger! When the chrysalides have settled, we will transfer them into our "butterfly garden" enclosure where we will see the butterflies emerging. [caption id="attachment_288" align="alignleft" width="225"] Just a few days later and they are much bigger![/caption]     We have been asked to produce…

We've been having a smashing time playing pirates in the woods! First we used the sea creatures along Green Drive as stepping stones to cross the raging ocean. Then we built a pirate ship with branches and string. We added our Jolly Rodger flags!   Our pirate story was The Pirate Cruncher, where all the pirates get eaten by a clever sea monster. The children cooked the ships' dinner in the mud kitchen. Obviously fish was on the menu! We ate in the galley. Real food this time! Look-outs spied land from the crow's nest, using their telescopes of course and we used our fishing rods to catch fish (it's amazing what sticks can be!) On the way back we sang our Pirate Song. Please look on our songs page for…

The children have been taking part in "show and tell" over the last few days. Each child brings something in to show us all. It can be anything (within reason!) Maybe a toy, a book, "something interesting", it's really up to the child. Hopefully they will be able to tell us something about their item, or show us what it does! All the children are excited when it is their turn. We try to be a good audience by listening well and thinking of good questions to ask.......What would you bring?

On Monday 11th April we visited the new lambs at Watson's Sheep shed. The weather was kind to us and there was lots to explore. Mr. and Mrs. Watson kindly let us take as long as we wanted, even though they were very busy! We saw lots of sheep and lambs, cows, pigs and piglets and BIG tractors and machinery. There was something for everyone! [caption id="attachment_260" align="alignleft" width="300"] Inside the shed there were large pens of sheep and small pens where the sheep were put with their new arrivals.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_261" align="alignright" width="300"] These cade lambs needed a large heat lamp to help keep them warm.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_259" align="alignright" width="300"] The sheep and lambs had matching numbers on their sides so we could tell who belonged to who.[/caption]  …

The children have been exploring and hunting for different things in the run up to the Easter holiday. Everybody enjoys a challenge! We walked across to the churchyard of St. Peter's church and met with Reverend Josephine who showed us features of the church. Then we went on to explore the churchyard, hunting for daffodils. We talked about the different parts of the flower: bud,petals, stem, leaves, pollen. The children also enjoyed spotting the gargoyles!   At Forest Fun we experienced a chick hunt. The children worked together in groups of three to find 11 chicks, they then took turns to count them to check they had the right number and put some back if there were too many.       Then finally, we had an egg hunt out in the yard…

The staff decided to treat the children to one of their favourite stories! Debbie read Monkey Puzzle. We also welcomed one of our mums to come and do Storytime. Thankyou Jane! How did all those children fit into the Book Corner??

After discovering several of the children have an interest in trains we decided to hold a "train week"! All of the children have learned how to make a 3D model of a train using old cardboard boxes. We learned a new song called This Train ( see youtube for the video)! We looked at a book about trains that one of the children had brought in. Storytime featured a story about a train journey.   All we need to do now is go on our own train journey! Perhaps that would be a nice Easter hols trip?

On Monday (29th Feb) we will have another visit to Cheryl Mulvey's garden on Eccles Close. Cheryl has a lovely vegetable garden and she is very welcoming to the children. Many of you may know Cheryl and be aware that she was once the manager of our Pre-School, a few years ago. Cheryl still likes to be involved with Pre-School. We have her to thank for cooking the marvelous Christmas dinner the children enjoyed on Christmas party day. Last time we visited the garden was in October, when the plants were being harvested. Cheryl gave us some veg to bring back to Pre-School and we made soup. So, let's hope it is fine on Monday. Don't forget your child's waterproof coat and shoes/boots...just in case it isn't!

The children have had fun this week with the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. It is also a good introduction to this term's theme of "Growing". On Monday we read the story to them from a story book. On Tuesday we acted out the story in the woods, using the climbing frame as the beanstalk. On Wednesday and Thursday we had props in the form of a story sack. By Friday the children were so confident with the story, they told it to us!