Our Week in the Forest...
What a lovely week we have had in the sun! Hats have been swapped for sun glasses, fleeces swapped for t-shirts and the spring waterproofs have been donned again. One thing that hasn’t changed is the continuous shrieks of excitement, the bubble of enthusiasm and the sound of active, happy children around the forest.
The children have really enjoyed setting up shops this week. It’s been a continuous theme whether it be a pizzeria, an ice cream shop, a pancake house or some other sort of vendor. The children have loved getting lost in their role by wearing aprons or approaching a counter with their order. Often some form of currency had to be swapped, however for those lucky enough, they were given their order straight away without needing to pay. We hope we set children up for life, not just for Reception, and activities such as this help the children make sense of the world around them. They learn the importance of spoken and written word, whether by making an order or reading a menu. They also learn the importance of paying for their goods or showing kindness to pay for someone else or giving something away for free. It was lovely to see the children then sit down at logs and socialise just the way they have seen their parents do on occasions. Some of the conversations were particularly enjoyable to eaves drop on!
You may or may not be aware but this week we also had a visit from Ofsted. We could not be prouder of how your children showed off the nursery. We will have to wait another couple of weeks before we are given any official documents, but the inspector mentioned several times just how confident and independent the children were. Of course, for us, this didn’t come as a surprise. We see every day how quickly they can adapt to changing circumstances, how they negotiate, and problem solve with one another and how they build relationships.
We also had a slightly more enjoyable, less stressful visit from Trevor the Toad. He hopped on to site and the children were mesmerised by him. It brought about lots of discussions around the difference between toads and frogs, about habitats and about life cycles. Once again, the outdoor environments had come up trumps and provided a wonderfully natural learning experience for the children.
We hope you all have a wonderful long Easter weekend and we cannot wait to see the children back in the forest on Wednesday 24th April!
Little Forest Folk
Wandsworth