Welcome
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!
Upcoming dates
18.04 - First day back
27.04 - Teachers strike day
1.05 - Bank Holiday
1.05 - National Gardening day
2.05 - Teachers strike day
08.05 - Bank Holiday Kings coronation
26.05 - Last day of term
20.06 - Main school sports day
06.07 - Transition day for school starters
07.07 - Summer fayre 2pm
25.07 - Last day of term
Meet the team
Mrs Virgo is the nursery teacher and she is supported by Mrs Netherway, Miss Barnes, Miss Rowe, Miss Western, Miss Ward, Mrs Sims, Miss Baker, Miss Martin and Miss Talbot.
Contact us
If you have any issues or concerns, please feel free to get in touch and speak to a member of the Nursery team, alternatively you can contact the Nursery teacher,
Mrs Kassia Virgo: kvirgo@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk
or the Team Lead
Mr Liam O'Sullivan: losullivan@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk
Academic year 2022 - 2023
Curriculum map Summer term
Week beginning 10th July
With the year coming close to an end we have been looking back at photos of when the children first came to nursery and talking about their favourite moments. We made a 'selfie' station and the children have enjoyed having photos taken with their friends and teachers.
The younger children have been serving foods from their farmers market and playing parachute games.
Week beginning 3 July
The oldest children have been busy building in the sand and making flags to go into their creations. We continued to read the book 'Sharing a shell' and looked at how a hermit crab moves home. In the nursery we had our own shop and the children bought their own food and then cut it up in the home corner. There was lots of vegetable soups being cooked up!
The Caterpillars have enjoyed making music and had instruments to play such as the ukulele and drums.
Week beginning 26 June
We have been reading the story 'Sharing a shell' and enjoyed watching clips of rockpool animals. The children explored various textures on the lightbox and played games to guess what they were holding. In the woodlands we looked at planting seeds and the Caterpillars explored gloop, sand and ice.
Week beginning 19 June
This week the Caterpillars have made their own fruit kebabs by cutting up soft fruits and putting them on sticks. The older children looked at freezing and melting and then made their own ice lollies. They used fruit, yoghurt and milk. Outside we ran races for sports day and practised using the rackets and balls. With school holding their sports day the children learned about the four house teams at White Rock and made streamers to support the older children.
Week beginning 12 June
We have been reading George The Sun Safe superstar and looking at how to keep ourselves safe in the sun. The children quickly remembered to put on their hats and sun cream and play in the shade.
Following the children's interest in the rockpool animals we also looked at Sally and the limpet. We read the book and watched a limpet moving on a BBC programme.
We made group collages using lots of natural resources and discussed how to be a good friend by sharing and being kind.
With Fathers Day coming up the children made a fingerprint picture for someone special.
Week beginning 5th June
We have had a great time this week looking at the beach and rockpools. The children have made their own pictures, choosing the resources they wanted. We have been taking turns and playing sharing games in group time along with playing football and tennis.
The Caterpillars have been singing '5 little ducks' and exploring the gloop.
Week beginning 15th May
With the better weather we have been outside in the woodlands and on the field. Our older children have been looking at writing the letter s and our youngest have been singing 'row row'. The Tadpoles have had quiet time in the dance studio going on a yoga bear hunt.
Our role play was a vets, the children were caring owners and vets themselves. Lots of animals got bandages and medicines and were taken back to the home corner for food and cuddles.
Week beginning 9th May
The Explorers have had a busy week in the nursery watching our tadpoles grow into frogs and our caterpillars have begun to turn into a chrysalis. We are looking forward to releasing all of our new animals soon.
Week beginning 3rd May
The Explorers have been busy getting ready for the Kings Coronation. They used paints to finger print their own flags, decorated crowns by adding jewels to playdough and sang songs. Our maths focused on the numbers that add up to 5 and in phonics the older children looked at the letter K. Our tadpoles have now grown into frogs and the children have been watching them hop around before they are set free in the garden they came from.
Outside the children poured and filled in the water tray, whisked bubbles and played games on the field.
Week beginning 24th April
This week in nursery we are learning our friends and teachers names. We are looking at what makes a good friend and how we can be one ourselves. Outside we have used lots of different sized wands to create bubbles. We watched the bubbles fly away or tried to pop them. We also created trains using different shaped pieces.
Week beginning 17 April
We have settled back into nursery and welcomed many new friends. We have been looking at the story 'The train ride' and had lots of adventures talking about what we have seen on the way. With the better weather we have enjoyed snack on the field and in the woodlands.
Curriculum map Spring term
Week beginning 27th March
We have continued to look at the mini beasts in the woodlands and have used magnifying tubs to look at the animals in closer detail. The stick insects from Reception classes came up for a visit and the children got to hold them. Everyone was very gentle.
The Explorers have been creating Easter cards, decorating eggs and listening to the Easter story. We have also looked at melting chocolate and then making an Easter nest by crunching cereals up.
Week beginning 20th March
The Explorers have been mini beast hunting. We looked at lots of different mini beasts and found out what their names are. We enjoyed going on bug hunts around the school and woodlands. The new flowers have been planted outside, thinking about how to care for the plants and we are watching our seeds inside grow. In maths we have focused on positional language eg. on top, under and next to. In our home corner we enjoyed tasting fruit teas, the children poured the tea themselves. The Caterpillars have been exploring mark making using various resources.
World Book Day 2023
Explorers nursery joined in with World Book Day celebrations by sharing our favourite stories and dressing up. The older children also had the chance to make their favourite character from model magic (an air drying dough). I hope everyone had a great day and enjoyed the stories, it was wonderful to see all of the children so engrossed in reading and so enthusiastic about the stories they brought in to share.
Week beginning 6th March 2023
The children have been busy shopping in the Explorers market buying fruits and vegetables to take back to the house and use in their cooking. We made our own signs so we knew how to tidy and sort the food. We have begun to read the book 'Jaspers Beanstalk' looking at the days of the week and how Jasper the cats beanstalk grows. We have been digging in the soil to find beans and carefully drawing plants and flowers. The Caterpillars had a tea party and tasted some wonderful fruit teas and had a sensory tray full of different beans to play with. Our maths focus has been comparing lengths and heights. The children played with wiggly worms, and measured each other in a variety of ways.
Week beginning 27th February
This week the children counted and ate the fruits from the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We added a cutting tray to the nursery for children to cut at their leisure, learning how to hold the scissors correctly, make snips in paper or cut paper into smaller pieces. To continue looking at lifecycles, Mrs Sims got us some frogspawn. Everyone was very excited when the first tadpoles hatched and have been very caring towards our new friends.
Week beginning 20th February
The Explorers have been learning the days of the week and counting with the help of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The children played games using a die and counted the spaces they moved. We also looked at the lifecycle of a butterfly and painted animal pictures using paints. The children practised flipping pancakes in the home corner and the 2 year olds had some for snack.
Week beginning 6th February
The sun has started to shine and we have made the most of the good weather. Small groups have been wearing wellies and protective trousers and going to the larger part of the woodland to dig and play. We have continued to look at the story of Goldilocks, talking about whether she did the right thing by eating all of the porridge and how she could make things better. Some children wanted to write a sorry card to Baby Bear. The children have also tasted porridge with various toppings.
Week beginning 30th January
Our new story is Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The children knew this story well and were great at re telling it to friends. In maths we have looked at big and small and the same, filling different sized bowls with oats, wearing various size slippers and gowns in the role play and playing games to measure using cubes. The children brought their own special teddy or toy in to join a teddy bears picnic, all of the Explorers showed how caring they can be, sharing out food items and inviting others to join in.
Week beginning 23rd January
The Explorers have become very good at retelling the story of The Gingerbread man using the story language "run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man". The younger children made their own biscuits and explored pouring water with control. Continuing to look at the Chinese New Year the Explorers had a celebration in the hall with the Reception classes where we watched dragon dancing and joined in activities and food tasting. The children have used their cutting skills to make Chinese lanterns and met Mrs Virgos rabbit called Stitch.
Week beginning 16th January
We have continued looking at traditional tales and have been reading The Gingerbread man. The children have helped to make their own biscuits, either with real dough by weighing the ingredients or in the playdough. Our maths focus has looked at 'more' and 'less' and we have been using this vocabulary throughout our learning. The children have been preparing their own snacks and showing increasing independence.
The Explorers have also been looking at how people celebrate the Chinese New Year and what some children do to get ready for the celebration. We made our own Chinese dragons and used a tray of rice to try and write some numbers in Chinese.
Week beginning 9th January
The children have continued reading The Three Little Pigs story and looking at alternative endings and plots, was the Wolf really a good wolf that wanted a cup of sugar and sneezed? We have made stick houses outside and in the woodlands. The older children have started looking at subitising numbers 1-3 while the younger children have been practising their fine motor skills using the sieves in the sand.
Week beginning 4th January
The Explorers have all settled back into nursery routines and welcomed new friends. We have begun reading the story of The Three Little Pigs and the older children helped to write their own version. Father Christmas delivered some fantastic new toys to nursery and the children have been learning to look after these by tidying them away properly and sharing them with friends.
Curriculum map
Week beginning 12th December
The children have fully embraced Christmas celebrations this week and made cards, had photos taken, eaten Christmas dinner and performed songs to a crowded hall. Our celebration on Wednesday was amazing and it was so wonderful to see so many of you there to join in with the festivities, we hope you enjoyed the singing.
We have also enjoyed the sunny afternoons in the woodlands, the children have explored the ice and lots have been mark making in the frost.
Christmas dinner day 2022
The children really enjoyed the festivities of Christmas dinner day.
Week beginning 5th December
'Dear Santa' is our book of the week and the children quickly learned the repeated story language. We have also looked at the traditional Christian Christmas story. We explored the field outside on icy mornings, collecting frozen leaves and ice on our shoes. The children used their hands to melt large pieces of ice in the nursery.
The nursery has continued to be full of glitter and colour as the children created their own cards and decorations to take home and hang in nursery.
Week beginning 28th November
This week we have continued to look at The Gruffalo, using the characters from the story in our drawings. We have begun to look at shapes and have been identifying circles and triangles. Our home corner has been decorated with a Christmas tree creating conversations about home amongst all of the children.
Week beginning 21st November
This week the children have been busy looking for animals in the woodlands after reading the story 'The Gruffalo' by Julia Donaldson. Lots of practise with the scissors has been our fine motor focus and the children used their skills to make spiral snakes and woodland scenes. The younger children explored painting tracks with their feet and went to the library to share stories. The children were interested in the beginning of the World Cup so we created our own football games outside, everyone was very supportive of each other, cheering when children scored goals.
Week beginning 14th November
We have continued to look at our emotions and feelings in the nursery thinking about things that make us angry and cross. When talking about this we also talked about ways to calm ourselves or our friends down. The Explorers thought that having time to themselves, a cuddle or playing outside can help.
Alongside this we took part in Nursery Rhyme week. We sang a nursery rhyme each day and learned the actions to each song. The younger children went over to the dance studio and explored moving in a variety of ways to music while our older children played xylophones, recorders and hand bells.
For Children in Need we decorated lots of Pudsey bears including a very large one made from a box. We created bears from playdough and many of us dressed up in our Pudsey or Blush outfits.
Week beginning 7th November
The Explorers have been looking at the book 'The Colour Monster' by Anna Llenas. It is a story of a little monster who is feeling all mixed up. This opened up lots of conversations and play about being happy and sad and what we can do when we are feeling a little mixed up too. We also looked at colour mixing with our paints and created large collage monsters using various materials. The children became very caring vets and looked after lots of animals.
Our younger children are looking at the book 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?' focusing on the repeated language and colour. They have been using the main school hall and the parachute to explore different movements.
For Armistice day we observed the two minute silence by watching the cbeebies programme 'Poppies' (Poppies - CBeebies - BBC). The children also created poppy artwork.
Week beginning 1st November
This week we learned all about 'The Leaf Thief'. We read the story by Alice Hemming and spent time looking at our outside area and how it has changed since the summer. We watched the leaves blow across the field and talked about seasons and the wind. The children made leaf rubbings and printed with leaves they found. With bonfire night coming the children persevered at putting their own coats and hats on to go outside, we made glitter sparklers to wave around and painted with forks to create our own fireworks.
Outdoor learning day 2022
The Explorers love to be outside in all weathers and we daily take our learning opportunities out of the nursery building making the most of the wider school environment and woodlands.
Today the children spent time cooking in the woodland mud kitchen, coloured and drew leaves in autumn colours, climbed the obstacle course and went in search of some mini beasts.
Week beginning 17th October 2022
The Explorers continued to listen for mother owl in the school grounds and building, they had to listen very carefully as there were lots of noises around them but the Explorers were really good at differentiating the sounds. We looked at the Hindu festival of Diwali and made Diya lamps using model magic clay. We learned that the festival celebrates happiness and light and we also tried to create rangoli patterns in the outdoor area. The younger Explorers made full use of their senses with gloop, spaghetti, jelly and ice. They enjoyed how it felt in their hands...and on their heads with lots of exploration and giggles.
Week beginning 10th October
The 'Owl Babies' have come to visit nursery to share their story. The children have been on listening walks in the woodlands, on the field and through school to see if they can find the owl mum. In maths we have looked at creating repeating patterns using two items or colours. The children have been great at knowing the pattern has to happen again and again to be repeated and have made some lovely necklaces. The children helped to make some bird feeders using slices of apples and seeds.
Week beginning 3rd October
The Explorers have continued to look at the story 'We're Going on a Bear hunt' and made their own books with a favourite animal. The children have explored patterns by looking at their clothing, the patterns around the nursery and some animals. They used patterned paper and pens to create their own animal and made biscuits with spots or stripes. Outside we whisked and poured in the woodlands and took turns on the bikes.
Week beginning 26th September
'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' has been the Explorers book this week and we have certainly enjoyed searching for bears. The children have been re telling the story, created their own books and been on lots of explorations in the school grounds and woodlands. We have had a big focus on how to wash our hands including pulling up our sleeves.
Week beginning 20th September
The Explorers have continued to look at the details of their face by using natural materials they found in the woodlands. We read 'The family book' by Todd Parr and have talked about who is in our family and who is special to us, the children have also drawn their homes. The children have been carefully listening to musical instruments to differentiate between them without looking. We made our own shakers by reusing old plastic bottles as it was recycling week. Outside we have been learning how to play 'duck, duck, goose' with friends.
Week beginning 12th September
We have been remembering and talking about the Queen this week. We read stories, looked at pictures and ate jam sandwiches. The children have been exploring the woodlands and some of them found dinosaur footprints which led to them looking for eggs and clues that the dinosaur had been around. We have been counting to 5 and enjoying our stories. Our focus has been drawing our self portrait and looking at what is the same and different about our faces to our friends.
Week beginning 7th September
We have been very busy Explorers this week. We have begun to make new friendships and learn the nursery routines. Story time has been a big focus this week and the teachers have enjoyed sharing some of their favourites in small groups. We have made mud pies in the woodlands and practised balancing on the obstacle course.
