We are so excited to welcome our children and families to our second term at Little Leaves Nursery!
What a wonderful first half term we have had at Little Leaves!
The children have been busy building relationships, learning our routines and becoming increasingly confident within Nursery. As we begin Autumn 2, we will continue nurturing those important relationships while encouraging greater independence, growing friendships and confidence in playing and learning together.
There is lots to look forward to during this very exciting half term!
Our topic this half term is Let’s Celebrate!
We will explore some of the different ways people celebrate special occasions and traditions, including Bonfire Night, Diwali, birthdays, weddings and Christmas.
Through stories, play, music, art and conversation, children will share their own experiences and discover how families and communities may celebrate in different ways. We will encourage them to notice both the similarities and differences between us and celebrate what makes every family unique.
Communication and language remains at the heart of everything we do.
We will encourage children to take turns in conversations, listen to others and use new vocabulary within their play. We will also continue developing listening skills through stories, songs and rhymes and practise following simple two-part instructions.
Our celebrations topic will give us lots of exciting new words to discover and use!
We will enjoy a new focus text each week alongside our daily protected story times and favourite familiar books.
Children will begin recognising features such as the front cover and title and talking about what happens in familiar stories.
In Phase 1 Phonics, we will explore Body Percussion, using clapping, tapping, stamping and movement to copy rhythms, explore syllables and develop careful listening.
Our children will continue discovering that the marks they make can have meaning.
We will provide lots of opportunities for purposeful mark making through drawing, lists, cards, labels and imaginative play. Children will explore straight lines, circular marks and other early shapes while developing their confidence in talking about what they have created.
Drawing Club and our fine motor activities will continue supporting the physical skills needed for future writing.
Our Mathematics learning will continue to be practical and playful.
We will develop a deeper understanding of 1, 2 and 3, including recognising small quantities without counting, representing numbers on our fingers and counting actions and sounds.
We will also explore repeating patterns, positional language and shape through White Rose Maths and our continuous provision.
Our Let’s Celebrate! topic will help children learn more about the people and communities around them.
We will explore Bonfire Night, Diwali, birthdays, weddings and Christmas, discovering some of the traditions and experiences associated with each celebration.
As autumn moves towards winter, we will also observe seasonal changes, explore natural materials and talk about the changing weather and world around us.
Now that the children are becoming more familiar with Little Leaves, we will encourage them to become increasingly independent.
We will support children to manage their belongings, choose activities and develop everyday self-care skills. We will also continue developing friendships, learning how to join play, share resources, take turns and talk about our feelings.
Most importantly, we will continue ensuring every child feels happy, secure and valued within our Little Leaves family.
Autumn 2 will provide lots of exciting opportunities to create!
Children will explore the colours, lights and patterns of different celebrations through painting, printing, collage, drawing and model making. In Music, we will begin our Charanga unit Rainbow Magic, exploring songs, movement and instruments.
Physical development will continue indoors and outdoors through jumping, balancing, throwing, catching and active play, alongside fine motor activities such as dough, threading, scissors and mark making.
Our Woodland Mornings will continue as autumn gradually changes into winter.
Children will observe seasonal changes, explore and compare natural materials and develop new vocabulary to describe their discoveries.
As their confidence outdoors grows, our woodland sessions will continue developing curiosity, physical skills, problem solving and teamwork.
Our first half term was about building the foundations: feeling safe, developing trust and becoming part of our Little Leaves family.
During Autumn 2, we will build on those foundations as the children become more independent, develop their friendships and grow in confidence as learners.
With celebrations, stories, songs, creativity and plenty of festive excitement ahead, we cannot wait to see where the next part of our Little Leaves journey takes us!
To see some important dates that are coming up this term, useful information about our class or current topic and hints for helping your child at home, please check out the Useful Documents & Links section on this page.
We love to share the children’s learning journey with you, so regular photos and videos will be added to the ‘Stories’ section on our Class Dojo page. If you ever have any questions, please feel free to send me a message on Class Dojo or ring the school office — we are always happy to help.
The Little Leaves Team,
Welcome Song:
We sing the first verse of this song together every morning.
“Hello, Hello, how are you? Hello, hello, how are you? Hello, hello, how are you? How are you today?”
Days of the Week Song:
SUAT supports and leads in the set-up of new academies joining the partnership. The services provided by the central support function cover both educational and non-educational support. In terms of educational support, SUAT is linked to the School of Education of Staffordshire University, which is an outstanding ITT provider.