All the nurseries, with the exception of The Vale, will close on Tuesday 22nd December at 6.15pm and re-open on Monday 4th January 2010 at 8.00am.

The Vale Day Nursery will close on Thursday 24th December at 6pm and re-open on Monday 4th January 2010 at 8.00am

Easter Holiday 2010

All nurseries, with the exception of The Vale, will close on Wednesday 31st March at 6.15pm and re-open on Monday 12th April at 8.00am.

The Vale Day Nursery will only be closed for the bank holidays – Friday 2nd April and Monday 5th April 2010.

The over twos have been looking at Autumn They have put a lovely display together using leaves and conkers that the children have collected. Children from both the over twos and under two’s room have been able to enjoy walks to the park where they have collected everything they need to make their autumn corner.

Thank you to all families who continue to bring in bits ‘n’ pieces for our junk modelling. Recently the children have enjoyed making models which are now on display in the foyer.

A BIG thank you to all the Children, Parents and Staff who have and continue to   take part in our colour days. We still have many colours to come but so far we have seen everyone wearing brown, yellow, orange and pink. We look forward to seeing you all wear white, purple, black, blue, green and red

Wednesday 18th November – White Day

Thursday 26^th November –Purple Day

Friday 4^th December- Black day

Monday 7^th December- Blue day

Tuesday 15^th December- Green Day

Wednesday 23^rd December – Red day.

Party plans have started ready for Christmas, We look forward to seeing Colin the Clown on the 18^th December at 3pm. At 4pm all the children will enjoy a party tea and a few party games followed by a very special visit from Santa at 5pm.

Christmas dates.

We will be closing on Christmas Eve at 6pm and will re-open on Monday the 4^th January at 8am.

In November we welcome 4 new friends to the baby room and hope they all enjoy spending time with us at The Vale

We will sadly be saying goodbye to Joanna on the 26^th November and wish her all the best for the future. Joanna will be missed by all

In December we will be saying goodbye to Janka who will be leaving us to have her second baby. We would like to wish Janka and her family all the very best.

We have had the police round to visit and over the next few weeks we have other people who help us coming to nursy

A large group of children have started at big school this September – exciting but sad for us as one of them has been with us full time since October 05!

New staff and students have started. Corrinne had a baby girl and Emily returned to work following the birth of her son.

Habeeb NVQ Level 3 (Nursery practitioner under twos room) and Bushra NVQ Level 2 (Nursery practitioner over twos room). Both have had experience working with children under fives.

We also welcome to the team our new nursery cook Neville who comes with a wealth of experience of cooking in nurseries.

Sadly we will be saying goodbye to Niroshani on Friday 27^th November as she goes off on her maternity leave. We wish her all the best for her new arrival in January.

Nursery room news

Hooray – we have welcomed new children and also those who have transitioned from the under two’s room into the over two’s room. All are doing very well in their new environment and are becoming familiar with their new routines. Both the children and the key persons of each child have started to build positive relationships between them. The children are enjoying exploring and experimenting with all the new challenges.

We have also welcomed some new children in the under twos room who are gradually settling into their new environment and with their key persons.

Celebrations

During this season we have focused on many different cultural celebrations with the children. They have learnt about Eid the Muslim New Year, Diwali the celebration of light followed by all Hindus, and the Jewish New Year Rosh (Hashanah). The children enjoyed learning all about these festivals and also all the activities that related to them.

Staff/Parent quiz night

Thank you to all the parents that attended our quiz night. It was a great evening had by both staff and parents. We decided to have two groups’ mums’ verses dads. After a nail biting tie breaker question congratulations went to the winning team which were the mums. They were very happy with their prize, each taking home a box of chocolates. The quiz questions were delivered by our lovely quiz master – the one and only carol. Of course as the evening came to an end no one wanted to go home after so much fun and socialising.

We look forward to doing it all again next year and welcome more parent participation.

Upcoming events

Fund Raising Week – Children in Need

From the 16th November the nursery is holding a fundraising week; we will be selling many items made by the children hoping to raise a charitable amount of money for children in need. Please look out for further details in the nursery.

Christmas Festivities and Christmas Closure

Christmas Party

‘Yes’ that festive season ‘Christmas’ is just around the corner, the children and staff will be very busy getting the nursery ready in time for our Christmas party which is to be held on Friday 11^th of December. Please look out for further details

Christmas Closure.

The nursery will close at 6.15pm on Tuesday 22^nd December and re-open on Monday 4^th January 2010 at 8.15am.

In October we had a Pyjama Day to raise funds for Head Injuries and Rehabilitation Care. All the children and staff wore their pyjamas and slippers for the day and so far we have raised £280.00, and there is still some more sponsors to collect from. It went so well, that I think we will be having more pyjama days in the future as many parents really appreciated not having to dress their children for nursery!

Our next big event is the ‘Open Evening’ for the parents in the Over Two’s, where parents can examine the range of activities available to their children and meet with the staff team.  So far this has generated a lot of interest, particularly from parents in baby room whose children will soon be ready to make the transition into Over Two’s.

Some of the exciting things we have planned include looking at our senses, finding out about mini-beasts, getting ready for the winter, and sharing in the adventures of Goldilocks and the Three Bears as well as Jack and the Beanstalk. We want to make a few trips to Kew Gardens, the library, the park and the science museum.

In baby room we would also like to say welcome to a few friends who have joined us. We too have been looking at our senses, and next week we will be investigating different types of sounds. Next we will be looking at wild animals so hopefully we will be able to visit the Aquarium and Pets at Home to look at some of these animals.

We will still be doing all the painting, sticking, corn flour play, sand and water, jelly, shaving foam, pasta, cutting and drawing. As you can see we are going to be very busy so we may come home a bit more tired, and messy.

Some dates for your diary!!!!

Fancy dress party Friday 30^th October 3-5pm cost £2 – all proceeds will go to a children’s charity.

Parent’s social evening (not to be missed) Tuesday 1^st December

Children’s Christmas party Friday 18^th December 1:45-4:30

Children’s Christmas lunch Monday 21^st December

Nursery closes Tuesday 22^nd December @ 6:15

Nursery re-opens Monday 4^th January @ 8am

On Friday 8th May each nursery celebrated this in their own way with duck themed parties for all parents, staff and children. Great fun was had by all and full details of the events can be read on our General News section.

A large party was held on 4th June and great fun was had and the dancing started late! It was lovely to have all our current and past staff and supporters there having a great time and enjoying the mojitos, champagne and cake.

You can download an article from Nursery Management Today magazine all about the celebrations (3.3Mb PDF file).

Amongst our staff team we have said goodbye to Sharon and Rajiva and have welcomed Simone and Victoria.

We are very happy to report that our sunflowers and tomatoes have grown as well as our figs.

We will be holding our sports day on Friday the 28^th of August starting at 10:30 am. We will break for lunch and a rest and will then end our day with celebrations to wish a happy farewell to all the children who will be leaving. In the afternoon we will be able to enjoy activities like jumping castle, ball pool, duck pond, music and face painting

In September we look forward to a fancy dress day. We will be holding this on Wednesday 23^rd September. This is being held for charity and donations are welcome on the day. All monies raised will go to a feel good charity for brain injury centres. In the afternoon we will enjoy a party tea and party games.

In the under twos room the children are busy with many different activities the children have enjoyed reading many of their new books.  Over the coming weeks the children will have the opportunity to learn about numbers 1-10

In the over twos room the children have been enjoying building and playing in many different dens. We thank Brent council for providing us with many ideas and materials to improve our den building. The children have been continuing their work on being healthy and all about themselves. The children have and will be looking at healthy eating, our body, clothing and much more.

Recently the children have either done a hand a foot print painting. The children will then tell us what they use their hands and feet for. Some children have told us they use their hands for : ‘catching balls’,  ‘for painting and washing’ and ‘to cover mouth when we cough’. The children also told us what they use their feet for: ‘climb and pedal the bike’, ‘run outside’ and ‘walking and stamping’. 

In the Over 2s the staff have been teaching the children how to stay healthy. Many children now understand the concept of ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ and will happily tell you why we must do this. They are currently learning a lot of healthy eating and the children all bring in fruit and discuss with their friends what fruit they have brought in and why it is good for them.

We have all enjoyed the lovely warm weather over the last few months and the children have especially enjoyed being outdoors and extending their learning environment outdoors.

The father’s day coffee morning was very well attended and a big thank you to all the father’s that made the effort to attend. I am so glad that you all enjoyed the breakfast treats

Sports Day 2009

How quickly time flies, as it was time again to get those running shoes out  again and enjoy an afternoon of fun and laughter on Hampstead Heath. Sports day 2009 was a great success and we had a great turnout considering the unpredictable weather. However the rain soon cleared and we were able to enjoy the races and our picnic. It was such fun seeing the children enjoying themselves, running with their potato and spoon, dressing up in hats, jackets, scarves and bags for the dressing up race and just having fun.

The parent races are also a lot of fun to watch too and this year you did not disappoint us. I can’t believe how competitive you all are and some great physical agility was shown. Congratulations to all the parent race winners; I do hope you all enjoyed your prizes. It was very much camera moments not to be missed and we look forward to displaying all the photos around the nursery.

Thank you all for your participation and we look forward to doing it all again next year

Staff News

Congratulations to Niroshani (senior nursery practitioner under two’s room) who is expecting her first baby in January 2010. We wish her all the best over the coming months and look forward to welcoming the new arrival.

Congratulations to Naina (Deputy Manager) who has updated her qualification to NVQ Level 3 and has achieved certification for this. We also congratulate Lydie (nursery practitioner over two’s room) who has also achieved her NVQ level 3 qualification. Lydie will now go on to study a foundation degree in early years.

Here at bringing up baby we really value the importance of staff development and ensure each staff member is given every opportunity to develop themselves and to achieve further qualifications. It has been a pleasure to see Naina and Lydie achieve their goals

Fundraising

Both under 2’s and over 2’s took part in raising money for a children’s charity that help’s children who are suffering from cerebella syndrome. Thank you to all the parents who kindly donated which helped us raise £20.00.

Festival Celebrations

This month we celebrated Raksha Bhandhan which means promise to protect. This is a Hindu festival in which the sister ties a Rakhi (a holy thread) around the wrist of her brother in return the brother’s promises to protect her from troubles and danger. Raksha Bhandhan spreads bonds of love protection and friendship among all people.

The over twos children enjoyed making the holy thread bracelets and learning about the festival.

This month will also mark the beginning of Ramadan leading onto the festival of Eid marking the end of fast. Ramadan is where the entire Muslims world wide fast for 30days and the children will be learning more about this festival too.

We would like to wish all the parents and staff all the best during this month.

Nursery room news

The children in the 3-5 years group have comfortably settled into their new routine and room and are very much benefiting from all that goes on in there. They have also been very inspirational towards the younger children outside in the garden, where they have been searching for bugs and creepy crawlies, which has led the younger children to follow them, and they have very much enjoyed exploring alongside the older children. As this was the children’s interest a mini project was followed up by the children, in which they really enjoyed creating their own mini bugs out of play dough, and egg cartons.

A lot of hard work has been undertaken to the 2-3 years room with positive changes and soft touches added. We had very positive comments on the changes by the over 2’s Early Years Foundation Stage Adviser whom we work very closely with.

In the under twos room we have been busy celebrating all the first birthday’s.

There have also been a lot of very messy activities taking place and we have enjoyed being outdoors.

Some of us have been very clever over the months and have now mastered the art of sitting, crawling and walking. “oooh what great fun we are having”.

Dates for your diary

We have an important date coming up for your diaries

Parent’s and Staff quiz night on Friday 23^rd October from 7.00-9.00pm

So get your thinking caps on and join us for a social evening. Please look out for your invitations.

Please see our photo gallery for photos of our sports day.