Bentley Child Care

Foundation for Learning

Curriculum overview

As the seasons change and the weather begins to feel colder, our children began the new calendar year exploring Winter.

We explored the structure of ice, discovering ways to make the ice melt. We tried sprinkling salt onto the ice, which had very little effect on the blocks of ice, the children suggested holding the ice, as our warm hands might make the ice melt, this made our hands feel really cold, so we then had the idea to drip warm water onto the ice using pipettes, this method worked very well and we soon had a tray full of water.

To continue this theme, we looked at what life would be like in cold countries. We began by finding Antarctica on the globe in The South Pole and discovered that no people live there as it is too cold, however penguins do live in Antarctica, and they swim in the icy water to catch fish to eat. Next, we looked the top of the globe at The North Pole and discovered that people do live in the Arctic. These people are called ‘Inuit’s’. the children learnt how Inuit people use the snow and ice to create homes called Igloos, and that the igloos are a semi-circle shape. Polar bears also live in the Arctic and the children decided that polar bears have thick fluffy fur to help keep them warm in the icy cold weather.

Due to the children’s interest in Polar life, we thought it would be nice to adopt a polar animal. The children voted between adopting a penguin or a polar bear. The votes were counted, and Foundation for learning are now proud supporters of the emperor penguins in Antarctica.

Continuing the maps and globe’s theme, we then looked at how maps can help us find destinations closer to home. The children planned a route using google maps and used a compass to help them follow the route to the post office. We then used Google maps to find the street where we live using our postcodes.

Please speak to your children about the themes we are learning as we are extremely proud of what the children know and can remember.

For the remainder of the half term, children will vote weekly to decide which country on the globe they would like to explore next.

Next steps in learning-

Our next theme in March will look at planting and growing along with developing our STEM skills (Science, technology, engineering, and maths).

In this room you will find....

Tracy, Amrit ,Leah, Freya, Abbie and Loreta. 

How does your garden grow...

Foundation have done so well planting our new bulbs ready for some sunshine … next they will plant some yummy potatoes 

Well done Foundation! 

As part of our maps and globes theme, we discovered what life would be like in the Arctic and Antarctic. The children expressed an interest in what animals live in these snowy cold countries, so we decided to adopt a polar animal. The children took a vote between a polar bear in the Arctic or a penguin in Antarctic. Penguins won the vote, so our Foundation class of 2023 are the proud supporter of a penguin in Antarctic. More news on our penguin will follow soon. Mandy

A HUGE well done to our Foundation for Learning Children and staff for donating food to their local church and food bank.

This was a great team effort. 

Using our maths knowledge in the natural world

The children in foundation for learning have been developing their maths knowledge, exploring length, measure, weight and estimation within our adult guided learning. This new knowledge was then applied to our welly Wednesday sessions. The children found a variety of natural objects in the forest to measure, weigh and compare. We used measuring rules to find out the length of the objects, identifying the numerals on the rule to determine which item was the longest and which item was the shortest. Using our estimation skills, we made suggestions as to which object we thought would weigh the heaviest and which item would be the lightest. We used weighing scales to check if our estimations were correct. Lastly, we used the seesaw to explore cause and effect, looking at how we could make the seesaw tip up and down.

Our Nursery classroom...

During the Easter half term break, we have worked really hard to change and adapt our Nursery classroom ready for our Summer term. Take a look at the pictures below to see our new and exciting learning areas. This term we will be placing a big focus on children's self- help skills as they prepare for their transition to School.

Maths workshop

Following the success of our pre- writing workshop we have put together a Maths workshop for your child. We will be carrying this out the same way as the writing workshop. Please click on each video to see a practitioner completing each of the activities.

If you require any more information please speak to a member of staff.

Early Years Skills

Here you will find different Early Years challenges. How many can you complete?

Pre- writing workshop

The videos below will demonstrate how to carry out the pre- writing activities at home with your child. The pack that you have received contain all of the activities and resources you will need. The slideshow will provide you with some information about your child's pre- writing experiences.

Sessions and attendance...

Although Nursery Education is non statutory, there is a proven link between attendance, punctuality and children’s attainment and it is important that children have good attendance so that they are able to take full advantage of the education offered. Therefore we ask that children attend every session that they are entitled to and arrive at Nursery on time.

If your child will not be attending Nursery or will be late please call to let us know.

All sessions are Monday to Friday

• Breakfast club: 8am-8:45am
• Funded 30 hours: 8:45am-2:45pm/ 9:30am/3:330pm
• Funded 15 hours: 8:45am-11:45am/ 12:30pm-3:30pm
• Extra Care: 8:45am-9:30am/ 2:45pm-3:30pm
• After School Club: 3:30pm-6pm

Newsletters

This months newsletter can be found here just click the download button on the right.

Please click the link below to view our Foundation for Learning welcome pack, where you will find all of the relevant information, if you have any questions please do not hesitiate to speak to your child's teacher.