Welcome to our Nursery webpage...We update our page every week...Don't forget to check in regularly for all our updates...
Welcome to the Cranborne Nursery Class Webpage. This is where we will be sharing useful information and reminders, alongside, updates on the children's upcoming and previous learning experiences with us.
We know that starting school can be a stressful experience for some, which is why we are always here to help everyone settle into our routines. We also understand that you may have lots of questions during the first few weeks (and across the year), so please ask one of us if there is anything you don't understand or just need a bit more information about.
Our Routines:
- We open our doors at 8.40am and encourage you to leave your child at the door, so they can independently put their coats and bags away before settling themselves at a busy fingers activity that will be set out.
- We go to the library on a Friday morning - please send them in with a book bag to take their library book home.
- Our PE day is Monday morning - your child does not need a school PE kit, however you can send them in wearing trainers (velcro please) and joggers/leggings that day.
- Also a reminder that toys from home should not be sent into school.
A few other reminders:
*Please send in a named water bottle daily for your child too.
*Please make sure your child is in labelled school uniform.
*Please send your child in with a named book bag - especially on a Fridays for library.
Spring Term - 2026
Welcome back to school. We hope you have all had a relaxing break.
This half-term is a short one, but we have lots of fun things planned for it.
Meet the Nursery Team
Mrs Mottram - Class Teacher
Miss Jennings -EYP
Miss March - EYP
Mrs Shete - TA
We are here to help you all. If you need anything or have any questions - no matter how trivial they may seem to you - we are always available to talk.
Key Dates for Spring Term 2026
- Thursday 5th March - World Book Day
- Friday 6th March - Friends of Cranborne pre-loved uniform and book sale
- Monday 23rd March - Easter Fayre
- Friday 27th March - Last day of term. School finishes at 1:15pm
- Link to the school calendar
- Link to the school term dates
Our Learning
Below is an overview of our learning for the first half of the Spring Term. This is a guide only, as it can change depending on children's interests and unplanned events that may happen.
Every few days we will be posting pictures and updates on your children's learning experiences and time in nursery, so please remember to check back regularly.
What have we been up to?
24th February 2026
We started the new half-term thinking festivals and celebrations. We talked about Lunar New Year and watched some traditional Dragon and Lion Dances. In PE we used our scarves to copy the movements of these dances, trying to stay in time with each other.
Miss March and Miss Jennings planned another fun science session for us, we did the Mentos Challenge. We had to guess which bottle wuld prduce the biggest explosion, and we made a tally chart to show this. The experiment was so much fun! Miss March and Miss Jennings had to jump out of the way so they didn't get splattered!!
We also enjoyed writing Chinese numbers (and other patterns) in rice and glitter with paintbrushes and our fingers. This will help us with forming our letters properly later on.
13th February 2026
Thank you for all your a objects for our sound of the week. We are getting good at hearing the initial sound in lots of words.
The children have spent time building structures with our magnetic tiles, trying to find ways to join the different shapes.
We love a jigsaw in nursery! It is one of our favourite things to do, and we are really good at working together to complete them.
On Wednesday we explored a sensory tray full of textures linked to the Gruffalo story, it was really fun!
We ended the half-term going on our own Gruffalo Hunt!
10th February 2026
We have started our week all about The Gruffalo. We started in PE, by acting out the story and moving around as if we were the different animals from the story.
It was a dry day on Monday, so we were outside as much as possible! Some of us enjoyed using the big painting wall, while some others made an obstacle course to balance along.
We have been enjoting using the role play in class, which is set up as the Three Bear's Cottage.
In the maths area Mrs Mottram has been challenging us to order our numbers.
Miss March and Miss Jennings did another science session with us where we got to make some fireworks in a bowl. It was really great to watch as they moved in the water.
We also loved making our own Gruffalos from playdough.
6th February 2026
We had fun this week! Especially making our teddy bear snacks. We helped to cut the fruit, spread our own butter or jam and then made some fruity bear faces on the bread. We ate them altogether at a Teddy Bear's picnic while Miss March read Going on a Bear Hunt to us.
We also made our music shakers, thank you for all the donated bottles! We can't wait to use them in a music session next week!
We brought in our objects or pictures starting with our sound of the week, which was m, a stretchy sound that says mmmmm, and we took it in turns to say what the object was using the sound and we said it. Next week our sound is a, which is a bouncy sound. Mrs Mottram said she is looking forward to seeing what we bring in on Wednesday.
Barnaby arrived safely back at school, and told us all about his adventures with one of you...he is now off again and we have to wait until Tuesday to find out what fun he got up to this time!
To end our week we went on our own Bear Hunt in class, through some sensory trays with different textures in...it was so much fun!
3rd February 2026
We started our week reading 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' and acting it out in PE. We had so much fun doing all the actions to go with the parts of the story.
Miss March and Miss Jennings did some more science with us, we helped to make lava lamps using oil, coloured water and salt. They looked really pretty with a torch underneath them.
Today Mrs Mottram showed us how to make a story map for Going on a Bear Hunt, and we have started to make our own. She said she is really proud of the ones we have done so far.
30th January 2026
We ended our week with some fun arts and crafts, and some cooking! We love to share a big roll of paper with our friends and make a collaborative piece of art! This week used used a combination of collage materials and paints.
For our cooking this week we made Teddy Bear Wrap Pizzas. We chose our toppings and then our teachers cooked them for us, so that we could eat them when we went home to our grown-ups.
Our class bear Barnaby has also gone to one of the children's homes for his first weekend adventure! We are all looking forward to hearing what he gets up to!
What a fantastic we we have had!
Next week we are looking at one of Mrs Mottram's favourite books - 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt.'
28th January 2026
So far this week we have been looking at Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The children have enjoyed building houses for the bears, sorting bears and spending time drawing while on their tummies to help strengthen their neck and core muscles. They also took part in a science experiment to make a walking rainbow, using food colouring and paper towels.
We have also spent time re-telling the story and drawing our own pictures to show what happened in the story.
23rd January 2026
This week we have been having so much fun with our Dinosaurs Topic!
We made a volcano! Which we found really exciting, especially when it made the lava touch the ceiling!! We used marbles to make patterns for our dinosaur pictures, and we also made dino footprint cookies.
Mrs Mottram showed us how big a triceratops footprint was, and we used it to measure with different objects, like our shoes, wooden spoons and maths cubes.
Happy New year everyone!
The children have had a great first week back in school. They have enjoyed seeing all their friends again (and teachers!) and have started our new topic on Dinosaurs.
We have had lots of construction going on, making homes for dinosaurs, creating dinosaur pictures using sponge printing, alongside imaginary play in the small world area which is being turned into 'Dino Land' next week with the children's help and ideas.
In maths we have been looking at size comparisons, and how we can use the correct vocabulary when doing so. For example; big, bigger, biggest.
The Learning Environment in Cranborne Early Years Foundation Stage
In the Early Years at Cranborne we strive to create an environment that promotes a sense of curiosity, awe and wonder in the children.
An environment that also enables plenty of opportunities for them to self-select and demonstrate the characteristics of effective learning, and where the children can practise, consolidate and rehearse taught skills.
We aim to provide the children with areas that are accessible to them and are organised in a way to promote independence and purposeful play.
The seven areas of learning are as follows:
Communication and Language*
Physical Development*
Personal, Social and Emotional Development*
Literacy
Maths
Knowledge and Understanding of the World
Expressive Arts and Design
*Prime Areas of Learning
Below you can see some pictures and a video tour of the Nursery classroom.
Thank you to all the parents that made it to our New Parents Meeting on 4th June.
Below is a copy of the slides that we talked through.
New Parent Meeting June 4th 2025
Supporting Maths at home.
Below are some links to sites that give examples of how to support maths at home. There is also a document to show some ideas for how you can support the different areas of the EYFS maths curriculum at home, and when out and about with your child.
Do you need weekend inspiration?
Hertfordshire are partners in a great tool for parents. A list of 50 fun things to do with your child before they turn 5. There are lots of great ideas to do as a family or with friends. Maybe you can try some over the half-term? If you do, don't forget to take photos and upload them to Evidence Me. That way we can ask your childrne to tell us all about the fun they have had.
You can download it as an app, or use the web based version, either way it is a great resource for ideas of fun activities to do together.
Please see the link here: https://hertfordshire.50thingstodo.org/app/os#!/welcome for the web based version, or the document below for the app information.
Have fun!
Snow Day Ideas...
There are lots of different things you can do on a snow day. Below is a list of just a few.
1 Build a snowman - Don't forget they will need eys, nose, mouth, arms...what will you use?
2 Make patterns in the snow - this will help with mark making and writing skills.
3 Make a snow castle (just like a sand castle but colder!) and decorate it.
4 Make footprints with family and compare the sizes of your shoes and boots. Who has the smallest? The biggest? The middle sized? (can you find any footprints from birds or animals?)
5 Investigate melting! Find some containers to put snow in and put them in different places, inside, outside, wrapped up outside. Which melts the fastest? slowest? What happens when snow melts?
6 Find some snowflakes - can you find 2 the same?
7 Make some snowflakes - here is a simple tutorial How to make a simple snowflake
8 Describe the snow - What does it feel like?
9 Make some hot chocolate with a grown-up - What do you have to do? Can you describe the steps to someone so they could do the same?
10 HAVE FUN!
Whatever you do in the snow today, we would love to see pictures! Please upload any to Evidence Me and we can look at them together when we are back in class.