Investigation Hub and Discovery Hub at Deckham

This week we have been focussing upon fostering a feeling of ‘belonging’ within nursery as we mark Refugee Week 2026.

We have explored greeting each other in different ways, including waving, high fives and bowing, as well as learning to say hello in a range of different languages, including those languages spoken by children in our nursery.

We have enjoyed some beautiful new stories linked to Refugee Week, which developed understanding of different lives and experiences, as well as thinking about how we are all similar and different and we are all SPECIAL!

We have enjoyed lots of collective experiences together, including sharing stories and drawing together as a group on large paper.

We also worked together to create a collective piece of artwork. We enjoyed painting branches and mixing colours on the branches as we worked together. The children then practised threading as they used plastic safety needles to thread coloured pasta onto wool to hang from our painted branches. Once completed, we will display our creation in nursery as a memory of our shared experience.

We continued our focus on collaborative artwork towards the end of the week, creating a large group mandala together. The children learned that mandalas are circular patterns that begin in the centre and are built using repeated shapes and designs. Working together on one large shared piece encouraged teamwork, turn-taking and communication, as the children carefully added their own ideas into the developing pattern. They showed excellent concentration throughout, producing thoughtful and quite complex designs. The finished mandalas are truly striking and reflect the children’s creativity and shared effort.

Tidy-up time for the mandala activity became a learning experience in itself, as the children worked together as a team to carefully sort and collect all the loose materials, showing great responsibility and cooperation.

We also contributed to our outdoor ‘Belong’ mural, adding our own creative touches to a shared piece of artwork celebrating our nursery community.

The Investigation Hub also enjoyed a few large group picnics in the warm weather. It was lovely to sit and chat together, with the children waiting patiently and saying thank you when receiving their snack.

As our week came to a close, we extended our theme of ‘Belonging’ by enjoying a special music playlist. The chosen music was inspired by the different ways we have learned to say “hello” in the many languages spoken by our children. The children thoroughly enjoyed listening to a variety of music and moving their bodies freely. It was a joyful experience that helped bring us all together. Greek and Spanish traditional music were firm favourites!

Finally, our caterpillars are continuing to grow and we were very excited this week to discover that some have begun forming their cocoons! It was very interesting to see them shaking as they busily worked. The wait is now on to see when they will emerge as butterflies!

The Sensory Hub

This week in the Sensory Hub our theme has been ‘Belonging’. The children have enjoyed talking about the people and things that are important to them, sharing their likes and dislikes and discussing what makes them happy.

The children have also been exploring mark-making and were keen to talk about their creations, with comments such as “It’s my mammy,” and “It’s me.” This encouraged them to express their thoughts and feelings while developing their early writing and communication skills.

It has been lovely to see the children confidently sharing ideas about themselves and their families throughout the week.

Parents as Partners

If you have any remaining items of nursery clothing at home, please can these be returned for re-use.

A reminder that nursery is closed on Friday 26th June for staff training.

Have a wonderful weekend.

The Nursery Team