WELCOME TO EXPLORERS NURSERY
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!
THIS TERM'S THEME
'Around the world in 80 days'
Please scroll down to see this terms learning.
Upcoming dates
23.4.25 First day of Summer 1 term
5.5.25 May Bank Holiday - NURSERY CLOSED
23.5.25 Last day of Summer 1 term
26-30.5.25 Half term holiday club
2.6.25 First day of Summer 2 term
2.7.25 Nursery Sports day afternoon 1.45-3pm
25.7.25 Last day of Summer 2 term
Meet the team
Mrs Virgo is the nursery teacher and she is supported by Miss Barnes, Mrs Sims, Miss Western, Miss Talbot, Miss Caunter, Miss Ward, Miss Baker, Miss Forsythe and Miss Russell.
image coming soon
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@whiterockprimaryschool.co.uk
Academic year 2024-2025
Curriculum map
Week beginning 28th April
We have continued to go on journeys on our Explorer train while reading the story The Train Ride. We have talked about who we might visit and where we would go. In the woodlands we have collected different flowers and leaves and then sorted and counted them.
Week beginning 23 April
We have welcomed many new Explorers to the nursery. Our caterpillars have now grown into butterflies and have been released into the woodlands. We have been talking about journeys we go on and riding on the Explorer train.
Week beginning 24th March
We have been going for walks around the school to meet new people and places. We have had stories in the main library and said hello to the goats.
In Maths we have looked at subitising - seeing an amount and saying how many is there without counting them.
We have practised using scissors and learning how to hold and carry them safely.
In the woodlands we have been on mini beast hunts to see what we can find.
Week beginning 17th March
Our caterpillars are growing well and the children have been very careful with them. To help us to understand how they will change we created lifecycles using different shapes of pasta.
We have been busy builders this week looking at how to make tracks longer and towers taller.
Week beginning 10th March
Happy Science Week! The Explorers love to be scientists are busy making sure their plants are growing. We have also got some small caterpillars to watch and care for, learning about their life cycle. We got out into the woodlands and felt the wind on our faces and made wind socks to see it blowing. In the water tray we pushed corks and watched them pop back up.
Week beginning 3rd March
We were lucky to have Story Camp visit us this week to immerse the children in language and stories. The children got to explore the tents, snuggle down into blankets and tell stories to friends. It was a really hands on experience for the children and the quality of language from the room was amazing. We hope to have Story Camps return to us at another date.
Week beginning 24th February
We have been learning about the lifecycle of plants and planting our own sunflower seed to take home and care for. In Maths we have been looking at groups of 3 items and taking some away to see how many are left.
Week beginning 10th February
We have been visiting other areas of the school such as the library. We have been practising our scissor skills by cutting playdough and making snips in paper, learning how to hold the scissors and pass them safely.
Week beginning 3rd February
We have been busy looking for birds in our woodlands. We joined the RSPB Big Schools Bird watch and counted the birds we found. We found a big buzzard, some pheasants, magpies, robins and herring gulls.
We used seeds to make bird feeders to encourage more birds, we poked them into apple slices.
Week beginning 27th January 2025
We have continued reading our story and have been busy bakers looking at our favourite recipes. We joined our friends from the Reception classes to learn about how people celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Week beginning 20th January 2025
We read the story of The Gingerbread man and baked in the home corner. Outside we have worked on our independence putting on our own coats and wellies to splash in puddles or climb. We have looked at some animals that live in countries that are cold.
Week beginning 13th January 2025
We have huffed and puffed and blown the houses down - acting out the story and talking about which house is the strongest has been a focus this week. We also explored painting on ice, looking at the patterns that it makes as the ice melts and looking at the numbers 1, 2 and 3.
Week beginning 7th January 2025
The Explorers have settled in and welcomed their new friends. We have been reading the story of The Three Little Pigs and built our own houses.
Week beginning 16th December 2024
What a busy week the Explorers had in the run up to Christmas. We got to enjoy our Christmas celebration in the hall with lots of activities to join in with. The Christmas dinner day was wonderful with lots of crackers and crowns along with a delicious roast dinner. The children have been creating their own cards to take home and exploring more mark making with large scale painting.
Week beginning 9th December
We have read the story Dear Santa and taken inspiration from the book. We have looked at lots of different types of toys in the nursery and wrapped some to go under the tree by using the right size paper and pieces of sticky tape. Children have been busy writing letters to go to Santa and posting them in the special post box in main school.
Week beginning 2nd December
We have begun to get the nursery ready for Christmas with tree decorating in the home corner. The children have been going on bear hunts in the woodlands to look for our own bear after reading Michael Rosens' story We're Going on a Bear Hunt . We have been learning about a circle and creating patterns using the shapes.
Week beginning 18th November
The children have been exploring colour mixing by creating a colour wheel and making new colours in melting ice. With the colder weather the children went on frosty walks and found pieces of ice in the woodlands to play with. We have also been learning about different occupations and the Explorers became Vets and Builders.
Week beginning 25th November
The children have been on walks to find signs and symbols that they recognise. They knew the fire exit sign and the push button for the door. We used the sensory play tray to create a snow scene. We had a big focus outside on our throwing skills, using a large net as a target.
Week beginning 11th November 2024
The children began the week by watching the Cbeebies animation Poppies and creating their own artwork. During the week we focused on counting numbers in order and singing number songs such as 5 speckled frogs. We mixed colours and read the story The Colour Monster to begin to talk about how we feel.
Week beginning 5th November 2024
The children have been learning about different light celebrations and how people celebrate them. We looked at Diwali and Bonfire night. We have enjoyed hot chocolate during story time and got dressed in our coats and scarfs for outdoor play.
Week beginning 14th October 2024
We have read the story Owl Babies and then made our own story up in the puppet show, the children used the story language in their own shows. We continued to explore textures in a spicy pumpkin tray, pouring the lentils and listening to the sounds that they make. Our main focus has been using cutlery, we have been spreading butter, chopping fruits and using a fork to eat our snacks.
Week beginning 7th October 2024
The children have been busy exploring textures and patterns in both the nursery and school. We created art work with different textured resources and described what we could feel on a texture wall. We found lots of patterns on clothing, walls and even the ceiling. The children have also been practising their hand washing technique.
Week beginning 30th September 2024
The Explorers have been to the moon and back just like Baby bear from the story Whatever Next. We have made rockets and spaceships using junk modelling and gone on our own space journeys during movement time.
Week beginning 23rd September 2024
The Explorers have been talking about who they live with and what their house looks like, they have been learning about families.
Week beginning 16th September 2024
The children have been looking at their own facial features, drawing themselves or adding colour to their picture. We have looked at how we are the same and how we are different focusing on eye and hair colour as well as the foods we like to eat at snack.
Week beginning 9th September 2024
We have been settling into nursery life and learning the rules and routines. We have explored the woodlands and the wider school environment such as the library, dinner hall and field.
