Grandparents Week

Last term the Grandparents got to come in and play! After recognising that a high number of Grandparents are now providing childcare support to the parents we wanted to get to know them and give them an insight into what the children get up to at nursery. The children listened to stories, played with their favourite toys and enjoyed their grandparents also having lunch with them.

Our Trip to Tropical Wings

An end of term trip to Tropical Wings in South Woodham Ferrers took place in July to support the theme of tropical lands. The children were able to explore the wonderful array of animals on offer and they had the opportunity to explore the Tropical House where they caught a glimpse of some of the world's most exotic and vibrantly coloured butterflies. They could watch the butterflies fly freely over their heads and some were even brave enough to let them land on them. Following the butterflies, there was also the opportunity to experience the variety of free flying birds and reptiles.

In order to capture these learning experiences, the children took their own photos using the disposable cameras provided which were then used to document their learning against the EYFS framework. The trip was extremely well received by staff and parents alike and most importantly the children who are already all looking forward to our next outing!

Children amazed by artist

Meadgate Nursery was fortunate to participate in the Essex Early Years Creative Project which is based on the Reggio Emilia Approach, an Italian child centred and led approach to learning. This involved a visual artist Jacqueline Davies who worked alongside the staff and children to undertake a number of creative projects.

The children, staff and parents were able to explore and use a range of recycled and unusual materials in which they made fantastic dens, musical shakers and large scale pieces of artwork.

Both managers Lauren Garwood and Carolyn Locke commented how the project enabled staff to look at a creative way to document children's learning and was really beneficial to their learning and development eabling them to get messy and have fun.