Explorers are inquisitive and imaginative, creative and curious, brave and endlessly busy!

We are exploring our world, making relationships and always hungry to find out more! We have amazing ideas, hatch awesome plans and have action-packed adventures- and all before lunch!

MEET THE TEAM

Get in touch

If you have any issues or concerns, please feel free to get in touch and speak to a member of the Nursery team, 

contact the Nursery teacher, Mrs Kassia Virgo:  

kvirgo@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk

or the Team Lead, Mrs Nicky Howard: 

nhoward@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk 

or  give us a call.

Upcoming dates

3rd May 2021 - Bank holiday - nursery and school closed

23rd July 2021 - Last day of term

Curriculum map Summer 2021

Weeks beginning 21st and 28th June

We have been learning all about looking after our teeth in Explorers.  The role play area became a dentist and the children have been carefully looking at their own and others teeth.  This was a great way to practise counting also.  The children have been talking about the effects that sugary foods have on their teeth and sorting foods into groups.  We looked at different animals teeth and some xrays of where the adult teeth are hiding.  In our daily hellos the younger children have been learning to sing different nursery rhymes and take turns with friends.  Lots of children have enjoyed the woodlands especially playing tag.

Weeks beginning 7th and 14th June

We looked at space and the planets and had our hair done!  The role play area was a beautiful hair salon.  The children took turns to share the resources and to listen carefully to their friends.  We combed and added bows and ribbons to lots of hair and the children were great at encouraging conversations during appointments.  A rocket landed in the small world full of aliens and moon rocks.  We made planets from papier mache getting rather sticky in the process.  We also looked at the partial solar eclipse, looking at photos online.  The children looked carefully at the numbers 1-5, and with the good weather we kept exploring the woodlands, playing hide and seek and sitting it the shade of the trees.  In our outdoor area the plants are starting to attract some visitors that keep the Explorers busy for a long time.

Weeks beginning 17th and 24th May

Dear Parents and Carers - we started our week by writing a letter to Mrs Tomkinson. The children were very curious about which goat was Archie and which was Arnie so they decided the best way to find out was to ask.  We looked at how to write a letter and what needed to go on the envelope too.  Mrs Tomkinson kindly replied so now we know - I wonder who can remember?  The roleplay area became a bustling post office with lots of mark making and we made cards for someone in the community who was turning 100 years old. We continued exploring textures in our play (squeezing fruits and sponges) and worked on our teambuilding and turn taking.

Weeks beginning 4th and 10th May

We have been busy looking at the life cycle of the butterfly and the frog.  The children made their own life cycles, talking about the changes that happen to the animals and drew pictures.  We explored lots of textures in our messy play and in our art.  We used textured paint to make frogs and painted bubble wrap to create the frogspawn in a pond.  Our role play area was a 'discover more' zone where the children have looked at colour mixing, floating and sinking and magnets.  With a mixed bit of weather we have both sat in the sun in the woodlands for story telling and bug hunting and splashed in the puddles and caught the rain in pots.

Captain Tom 100

The EYFS team wanted to acknowledge the Captain Tom 100 so we challenged our children to read 100 books during this week. 

This is a great way to immerse our children in stories and it has been lovely to see them enjoying books independently, sharing stories together and listening to new books as a whole class.

We started our week with the book

One Hundred Steps by Sir Captain Tom Moore.

Weeks beginning 19th and 26th April

We have welcomed lots of new starters to the nursery who have settled in well and are learning our routines and making friends.  Our learning has been looking at planting seeds and caring for some new nursery flowers.  We have been busy measuring using different things that we find and some of our older children have been looking at books together to tell the story themselves using the pictures.  In the nursery we have been learning about what an author is and how to care for our books as well as exploring out in the woodlands.

Weeks beginning 1st and 8th February

"Run run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man". What a fabulous story to get the children moving and baking.  The Explorers have decorated biscuits and made ginger cake to share at snack time.  We have explored lots of different shapes and thought about the number of sides and corners.  Being busy Explorers we also looked at our feelings for Children's mental health week, reading the book The Colour Monster and saw how some children prepare for the Chinese New Year by learning dances.  It has been fabulous to get lots of updates from Explorers who are busy at home too.

Weeks beginning 18th and 25th January

We have looked at the Goldilocks and the three bears story, some children have made up their own ending to the story and some have re told it using story language.  To help the birds in our gardens we made bird feeders from fruit, carefully chopping up fruit and adding seeds. The children also made their own snacks and some have been using these skills to help make dinners and cakes at home.  

Weeks beginning 4th and 11th January

We have spent the first couple of weeks of term making some new friends feel welcome in nursery, showing them how we are kind and helpful.  The children have been looking at the story of the 3 little pigs and their houses. We used sticks, stamps and straw to make our own houses and thought about the houses that we live in or near and drew them.  During snack we have made our own choices of what to eat and learned how to spread our own toppings.  We have been using the field to explore the frosty mornings and look for patterns.  Some children found stripes on the leaves and the fences.

Weeks beginning 7th and 14th December

With Christmas fast approaching the Explorers helped to decorate the nursery trees.  The children selected from various resources to create something special to take home, went on frosty nature walks and enjoyed a fantastic Christmas dinner together. We looked at a kindness calendar from Mrs Howards assembly and then talked about ways that we could be kind either in nursery or at home to add stars to the calendar each day.  The older children used their phonic knowledge to write lists for Father Christmas, cards to take home or their names on artwork.  All of the Explorers enjoyed using the new climbing apparatus outside, challenging themselves and persevering when it was tough. 

All the staff wish everyone a safe and happy festive season.

Weeks beginning 23rd and 30th November

'Stickman is lonely, Stickman is lost, Stickman is frozen and covered in frost'. One chilly morning Mrs Virgo found Stickman lost outside the nursery.  This sparked conversations on how Stickman felt and how we could help him.  The children found their own Stickman and made clothes by wrapping material onto them.  They made boats so he could get home and talked about how a hug might make him feel better.  We also looked at how to be kind to friends and family and thought of ways to help each other.  The children drew maps of how they get to nursery and of Stickmans journey.  During phonics sessions the older children continue to recap and learn the initial sounds S, A, T, P while the younger children went on listening walks and made instruments to distinguish different sounds.  Our roleplay area turned into a busy garage and the children fixed the nursery bikes and scooters using spanners and hammers.

Weeks beginning 9th and 16th November

The Explorers have continued to look at people who help us and we have focused on the children's interests of doctors and vets.  They have been busy taking care of each other and the animals within nursery, we also got 2 new fish to look after.  Some of our older children have continued to practise writing their names and the names of their pets while our younger children have been strengthening their fingers with wool threading.  We joined in with some Diwali celebrations by painting mandala patterns and talked about how to be kind to each other on odd sock day. Outside the big physical focus has been climbing safely and we created a crate tower for them.

Week beginning 2nd November

With an exciting week ahead we took inspiration from Jackson Pollock and created lots of firework splatter art.  The role play corner became a fire station as we checked for pets in trees and helped to put out lots of fires around the nursery.  Outside lots of children have continued to practise pedalling on the bikes and using the large balls to throw and catch as well as using our team work skills to make a bonfire.

Weeks beginning 12th and 19th October

We have been busy bakers in Explorers and made our own bread for snack.  We looked at what goes in to make bread and how it changes when it is baking. 

After reading the Room on the Broom story by Julia Donaldson we made potions in our witches den and wands using various materials.  We scooped out pumpkins using lots of different tools too.  In groups we are working hard to take turns and listen to each other and some of us are starting to write the letters from our name.

Week beginning 5th October

With the change in weather we looked at the books Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert and The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson.  The Explorers went on nature hunts to look for leaf man and talked about how the area around the school is changing. We made our own leaf people and animals back at nursery.  Some of the children helped to care for our stick insects by giving them fresh leaves to eat and we helped Mrs Harris to make playdough thinking about the quantities we needed of each ingredient.

We have really enjoyed coming to Nursery! We have caught up with all of our old friends and welcomed many new ones. We have been learning how to wash our hands REALLY WELL and remembering how we do things at Explorers. 

We have loved getting back out into the woodland and choosing our story books to take home. Some of us have had our first Spanish sessions with Seniorita Head!