Squirrels

Autumn 2026

23/10/2026

Story of the Week: Bumps in the Night (Funnybones) by Allan Ahlberg

Rhyme of the Week: Magic Finger

Number of the Week: 3

Busy Fingers

During 'Busy Fingers' this week, Nursery practised their hand-eye coordination by hammering golf tees into pumpkins. They also explored the inside of pumpkins with tweezers, pulling out the flesh and the seeds.

Doctor Bones' Surgery

After listening to our story of the week, 'Bumps in the Night' by Allan Ahlberg, we discussed what had happened to the skeletons in the story, and the fact that they needed to 'send for Doctor Bones' every time they had a 'bump' to make them better. The children thought about if they had ever been to the doctors, and why they had visited.

During 'Play and Learn' our role-play area was set up like 'Doctor Bones' Surgery'. The children had a great time role-playing booking appointments for one another, visiting the surgery with various aches, pains, injuries and illnesses and being doctors treating the patients.

Potion Commotion

Nursery had lots of opportunities this week to make their own potions, both in the water tray and the tuff tray in our outdoor area. The children considered what ingredients they needed for their potions, decided what actions they needed to make it (stir, mix, pour etc.) and imagined what their potion would do (make them fly, turn them into a unicorn etc.)

The children also participated in a whole class potion making experiment, making good predictions about what would happen when we added the ingredients to the cauldron based on the story 'Potion Commotion' by Peter Bently.

Magic Wand Making

In preparation for our 'Magical Tea Party' the children each made a magic wand. They really utilised their fine motor skills, cutting out star shapes, colouring in the stars, and sprinkling glitter and glueing on gems to decorate the wands.

16/10/2026

Story of the Week: Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson

Rhyme of the Week: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Number of the Week: 3

Me and My Family

To kick off the week, Squirrel Class played a game of 'Guess Who' using photographs of each pupil as a baby. We talked about the similarities and differences between then and now, concentrating on both changes in appearance and what the children can do now that they couldn't as a baby (walk, talk, eat solid foods etc.)

Inspired by our story of the week, 'Monkey Puzzle' by Julia Donaldson, the children created their very own family trees. The children developed their descriptive language skills by using photographs to help them describe the physical appearance of their relatives – much like the story's main character. Everyone then drew beautiful portraits of their relatives on individual leaves to hang on the branches.

Busy Fingers

In Busy Fingers this week, the children participated in a range of activities. They worked together as a team to complete a variety of puzzles, decorated hearts with loose parts, inspired by the story 'Love Makes A Family by Sophie Beer, and identified and painted the first letter of their names using cotton buds.

Maths - Sorting by Colour and Size

In maths this week, we made comparisons between objects relating to colour or size. During our carpet session, the children worked together to sort objects first by colour and then by size. Some of the children independently lined up the objects in height order from smallest to biggest, and others divided them into groups of 'big', 'medium' and 'small'.

The children also participated in an adult-led activity where they sorted plastic family figurines in different ways. Firstly, they matched the family figurines to their correct houses by identifying which were the same colour. Then, the children had a go at organising the family figurines by size, looking to see if they could put all the parents in one group, and all the children in another.

09/10/2026

Story of the Week: What I Like About Me by Allia Zobel-Nolan

Rhyme of the Week: Oats and Beans and Barley Grow

Number of the Week: 2

Harvest Festival

This week, the children learnt about 'Harvest Festival', which celebrates the time of year when crops are gathered from the fields. The children enjoyed shopping for produce in the 'Farm Shop' role-play area and harvesting vegetables from the small world farm scene.

Matching

In maths, we continued to consolidate our understanding of matching and practised explaining why two things are the 'same'. We used a potato printing technique to create 2D shape prints, practised naming the shapes we had printed, and then identified which ones matched and why.

During carpet time, we searched for the classmate who had a matching Numicon piece, looking closely to see who had one of the same colour and with the same number of holes. Nursery also used their problem-solving skills to match a series of 2D shapes to their outlines drawn on paper. Well done!

Patterns

During 'Busy Fingers' our focus this week was pattern. The children experienced drawing patterns (e.g. zig-zags, swirls, waves) with a lollipop stick in flour and glitter, as well as creating repeating colour patterns by building towers of different coloured blocks.

What I Like About Me!

After reading, 'What I Like About Me' by Allia Zobel-Nolanour, Squirrel class had a close look in the mirror and celebrated what makes them unique. Each child picked their favourite feature and shared the reason behind it. We then combined the children's voices together into a class poem!

02/10/2026

Story of the Week: First Day at Bug School by Sam Lloyd

Rhyme of the Week: Ten Little Fingers

Number of the Week: 2

First Day at School Feelings

This week, Nursery listened to the story 'First Day at Bug School' by Sam Lloyd and then thought back to how they felt on their first day at Nursery. The children practised looking in a mirror and changing their expressions to show the different emotions their friends felt. They were introduced to and practised using our 'Feel It!' board, where they can move their 'mini-me' to different sections to share with the classroom adults how they are feeling each day at Nursery.

During our PHSE lesson, we watched 'Pink Misses Mummy' and read the story 'Owl Babies' by Martin Waddell. The children learnt that they are safe and that it is okay to feel worried when their parent/carer is not there. We also talked about how parents/carers always come back, and that at Nursery we can take care of one another by using kind words and sharing toys to help our friends feel less upset. Some of the children shared things their parents/carers do that help them feel less anxious, such as drawing a heart on their hands, or pressing a 'love button'.

Maths - Matching

In maths this week we have been practising finding matching pairs and describing why two objects match or do not match.

The children were all given a button and had to find their partner. When matching the buttons, the children made sure they were the same colour, same shape and had the same number of holes. If any of these things were different, the buttons did not match.

The children also practised describing their shoes, considering what was the same and what was different. From a selection of shoes of the same colour, the children were able to put them into pairs, considering other features of the shoe, such as the style or fastenings.

Busy Fingers

During 'Busy Fingers' the children took part in activities, focussing on improving their dexterity, tapping nails into cork boards to create a shape picture, placing buttons to follow patterns taped onto the table, and threading cords through bug-themed lacing cards.

25/09/2026

Story of the Week: All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold

Rhyme of the Week: Five Little Ducks Went Swimming One Day

Number of the Week: 5

Our Daily Routines - Busy Fingers

Nursery are settling brilliantly into our daily routines; remembering to self-register themselves using their 'Squirrels' and then finding their table to begin a 'Busy Fingers' fine motor activity.

This week, the children have been tracing pre-writing patterns; selecting and placing loose parts to follow the shapes, or rubbing out the shapes using cotton buds. They have also been strengthening their hand muscles, stretching elastic bands over peg boards to create lines, shapes and patterns.

Our Daily Routines - Washing Our Hands

This week we watched a video from our new PHSE scheme - 'Yellow Learns About Germs' - which prompted the children to talk about what germs are, what they cause, and how to prevent the spread of germs. One of the suggestions to stop germs spreading was to wash your hands.

In small groups, the children read, 'I Don't Want To Wash My Hands' by Tony Ross, and discussed the importance of good hand hygiene. The children then went into the washroom and watched an adult model the hand washing steps, before having a go at washing their hands themselves, ensuring they washed them for an appropriate length of time, use enough soap and scrub all parts of their hands.

Our Daily Routines - Putting On Coats

We have also been practising ensuring that we put all our belongings in the correct place on arrival at school; packed lunches on the bench, coats and bags on our pegs, water bottles in the tray and any smaller items in our tray.

The children have been practising doing the 'coat flip' to encourage independence when getting ready for outside play and at the end of the school day.

18/09/2026

Story of the Week: Things I Like by Anthony Browne

Rhyme of the Week: One Elephant Went Out To Play

Number of the Week: 1

Play and Learn

Over the last few weeks, Nursery have been getting to know their learning environment, exploring the resources both inside the classroom and within the outside spaces. They have had fun making new friends and learning each others' names.

Nursery have also very much enjoyed learning about their friends' interests, likes and about each others' families through the sharing of their 'Marvellous Me' bags. The children have impressed me with their good listening skills and the encouragement they have given their classmates, clapping and saying "well done" at the end of each presentation.

Rosh Hashanah

This week, we learnt about Rosh Hashanah, a Jewish festival that celebrates a new year and new beginnings. During Rosh Hashanah, sweet foods are eaten to signify the sweet new year that is just beginning. At snack time, the children ate apples dipped in honey and thought about the new school year, wishing each other "Shanah Tovah!"