Investigation Hub and Discovery Hub at Deckham

We have had a wonderful first week of the autumn term. 

Welcome back to all of our returning children, it is lovely to see you all. We have enjoyed looking at the photographs you have sent us on Famly showing us the exciting things you have been up to during the summer holiday. 

We have also welcomed new children and families to nursery this week and it has been lovely to get to know you all. The children have made a great start to their time at nursery; beginning to explore the environment, and learning through their play. 

This week we have focussed on learning our daily routine. We begin each session with a welcome time with songs, which is a lovely opportunity for everyone to greet each other and share any news. The children in our Investigation Hub have had time to plan what they would like to do in their play and all of the children have lots of time to carry out their planned activities. The children have the opportunity to ‘review’ and reflect on their play and learning as they talk about what they have been doing that day. 

Throughout the session we also have a healthy snack time and share group times together, during which we enjoy songs, a story or an activity. Over the coming weeks the children will start to become more familiar with the routine.

This week we have seen the children show interest in using the small world toys to develop play around familiar and imaginative experiences. This has included making enclosures for animals, keeping them safe from the dinosaurs! 

Some of the children have shown interest in using the large magnets and attaching them to items outdoors making observations such as:

“It’s hanging on the post.”

“It’s not magnetic.”

“I think it only works on iron.”

To continue to develop this interest, we provided a range of items to experiment with alongside the magnets. The children noticed the effect that the magnet was having on some of the items, making comments such as:

“The magnet is making it jump up!”

“3, 2, 1, up!”

Outdoor learning 

We have had lots of interesting creations at our outdoor mud kitchen this week. The children have been learning about the resources that we have there and have used natural materials to represent food items in their play including making “pasta” and “yummy chocolate cake!”

Staffing: 

This week we have welcomed Rob to our team. Rob will be joining us on Monday and Wednesday each week and he will continue to work at our other nursery in Bensham, the rest of the week. Rob has enjoyed getting to know the children. 

We look forward to seeing everyone next week and wish you all a lovely weekend.