Daisy Nursery Ltd

We started the term with each nursery hosting their parent information evening. Based on parental feedback from last year, this year we have planned to run these events in a hybrid way - sometimes online and sometimes in person - to allow as many as possible the opportunity to participate.

The four evenings were designed to follow the start of term nursery team meetings where the team worked collaboratively to discuss and plot their intentions for the curriculum. Whilst we are always mindful of the overarching key themes of each term, and work closely with the government’s advisory Development Matters; each new cohort of children will have specific needs and interests and it is our role to assess these and tailor our knowledge and expectations to firstly the nursery as a whole, then specifically the different age groups, the key groups, and then the individual child.

Our curriculum is ambitious, but it is also bespoke.

Crown Daisy's Chloe had a brilliant summer - she successfully completed her Level 3 Early Years Educator qualification, with Distinction. On top of that, she was voted "Parents' Choice" in our annual Daisy awards.

We are very proud of Chloe and all she has achieved; building strong, professional relationships with her key children and their families as well as studying hard and passing with such flying colours!

Last Friday, some of the Daisy managers and their nominated colleagues travelled up to Coventry to take part in the Childcare & Education Expo. This event is a highlight in our calendar as we combine training and professional development with sourcing innovative, exciting new products for early years.

This year Vicky was invited to participate in the Breakfast Summit, chaired by Courteney Donaldson, and attended by a wide range of people in our sector. The key discussion points were funding and sustainability; the extended early years offer and phased roll out; and the current challenges faced by the workforce.

The seminars on offer were broad – from Ofsted Updates to Provocations for Play (hosted by the inspirational ); Speech, Language and Communication Needs to Embedding a Neuroinclusive Culture. Each member of our team was able to choose the most relevant training for them, being mindful of the impact it would have on their current cohort of key children.

We took part in workshops, we networked with fellow educators, and we shopped until we couldn’t carry anymore products or catalogues home! It was a long but joyful day, and even the road trip there and back was a fun, team-building experience!

At the end of every August, we invite our school leavers to celebrate their time with us at Daisy. During the summer months the children are involved in a ‘graduation’ committee, discussing how they would like to commemorate their time at nursery, and they work together to share their thoughts and ideas.

The nursery teams throw the children a party with their friends and our managers host a short ceremony for the families. We like to use this event to recognise the privilege it is to be part of these children’s lives and to share our thanks and best wishes to each family for the future.

From colour confetti to disco dancing, singing songs to cuddles and claps – it never gets easier to say goodbye to these magical young people. We take immense pride in our Daisy family and we wish them all well in the next stage of their lives.

As August draws to a close, here at Daisy, we reach the end of our academic year.

To celebrate the achievements of our team over this time, and to reflect on the challenges, changes and make plans for the coming term; we recently held our annual team training event – with this year’s theme being ‘The Power of Play’.

All the Daisy teams came together to undertake a range of professional development workshops and courses delivered by the very passionate Ben and Diana from Inspired Children and Wendy and Sarah from The Forest Approach. Amongst the training, we found time for fun too – and the afternoon ended with our annual Daisy awards.

It is always a huge pleasure to host these events for our colleagues and to welcome such incredible early years experts to our nurseries. It was a day of joy and curiosity, awe and wonder; with each of us coming away with more knowledge, more energy and a renewed sense of marvel at the true meaning of play - and the purpose, platform and power it has in early years education.

In our final week of Summer of Fun, we took the opportunity to look back on yesterday, our history and the past, as we wave goodbye to our school leavers and wish them well for the future.

Each nursery and their children have interpreted the concept of history and the past differently, with some children being drawn to dinosaurs and prehistoric life, visiting their very own nursery “museum”, with others replicating cave art using mud and rustic materials.

Our youngest groups have looked at different types of artists (such as Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo and Gerhard Richer) and their painting styles, being inspired to create their own masterpieces! Some of our toddlers have learned about The Great Fire of London, constructing their own 17th century city buildings close together. Other groups of toddlers have discussed the history of medicine, foraging for leaves and herbs to create their own natural remedies in their potion station. We also travelled to ancient Egypt to look at the shape of pyramids and ways we could construct our own using sand and water.

Our older groups looked at all things photographic, exploring film, digital and polaroid cameras and how technology has changed through the years. The children enjoyed taking their own photos and looking at negatives and different lenses. Some of our children were really interested in early forms of transport – making their own horse and carriages and discussing the differences to a modern car.

We were excited to welcome visitors from the Willis and Sainsbury Museum who brought in artefacts for the children to investigate. We thought about historical buildings and used quills to design our own letters on tea stained paper to bring an even more historical aspect to our work! We looked at old maps, postcards and books of our areas, thinking about what was different and what looked the same.

This was a very special week for our leaving pre-schoolers. With the thoughts of yesterday running through our minds we found their very first photos at nursery and shared these as part of our leaving celebrations. We were very lucky to have some older Daisy graduates come back to visit us and tell the pre-schoolers all about school from their perspective and answer any questions the children had. It was truly wonderful to see these confident and articulate young people, return to their nurseries and share their experiences.

In week four of our Summer of Fun, our nurseries became a hive of discovery, buzzing with children of all ages exploring early scientific principles. We went beyond space, introducing the concept of gravity (rolling, egg drops and egg and spoon challenges), and participated in experiments with giant bubbles, volcanoes, rainbow jars, magnets, light and rocket launchers. We dissected sunflowers, identifying and labelling their parts, as well as plant printing onto different materials.

We travelled back in time and learnt about bones, dinosaurs, fossils and rock formations – with a very special visit from one of our parents, a geologist.

We have been ambitious in our use of language this week, with children learning and using words such as “forces, motion, diffusion, pipette, sepal and dissolve”. In our younger years we have explored different animals, asking and predicting which animal is fastest, tallest, smallest; comparing and categorising their characteristics. We used this opportunity to look at the life cycle of a frog and hear from many children about their pets at home and their love of both flora and fauna in the natural world.

During week three of Summer of Fun, we decided to embrace the motto, “I can” as our approach to all things mathematical. Across the nurseries we explored number fluency and problem solving, code breaking and pattern finding – promoting a love of early maths in all our activities and role play spaces.

Using songs and sensory play, even our youngest children have been able to develop their understanding of counting and colour sorting, progressing to using mathematical language to talk about the concept of height and weight, measuring each other in Toddlers and in our Pre-Schools, using scales, making comparisons and predictions. We’ve been asking “can you add two blocks?”, “what happens when you take one away?”, “which one do you think is heaviest, and why?” looking at the density of materials as well as early addition and subtraction in our games.

The children (and team!) have enjoyed becoming pirates and using co-ordinates on maps to find the hidden treasure, following sequences and visual clues and counting the gems in the chests. We’ve all enjoyed extra baking experiences, measuring, weighing and following simple recipes to share with our families and friends.

At one nursery, we even had a visit from an accountant from Walker’s crisp factory. We enjoyed seeing the process from potatoes on the farms to crisps in the shops and the way we use money to buy food from the shops.

Summer of Fun has continued across our nurseries, with a week celebrating a love of language, literacy and poetry.

The children have shared their favourite stories, dressing up as characters and enjoying seeing their educators dressed up too!

Our youngest children have explored a variety of songs and poems, developing their vocabulary and using Makaton signs as they sang.

We’ve been very lucky to welcome lots of visitors to inspire us, with children at Aster Daisy meeting Ryan from the Petersfield Museum (and puppet Jaffa Cake) as part of a poetry reading experience and a local author who captivated us with her storytelling.

At Butter Daisy the children welcomed a guest who taught them new French words, played a game called ‘Un, deux, trois, soleil’ and sung some French songs.

The children at Crown Daisy enjoyed Spanish with Mirian; learning colours, weather, body parts and days of the week in fun filled sessions and a dramatic story told with puppets!

And at Sunshine Daisy every single team member chose a book to celebrate and explore with activities both indoors and out.

From the fairy tale walks creating stories based on the sights and sounds the children saw in the woodland, to activities promoting letter recognition and pre-writing skills, and the creative and interactive ways of bringing both classic and new tales to life – the children have been immersed in a world of imagination, empowering them to see the magic of language and how it can be used.

Many congratulations to Crown Daisy's Shelby on her successful qualification as a Level 2 Early Years Practitioner!

Shelby joined us an Apprentice and has studied alongside working; learning on the job whilst being part of the team.

Each term, we welcome a small group of dedicated and naturally adept individuals who are great with children. These authentic young people join us as Apprentices, and we provide them with comprehensive support to attain their professional qualifications and secure roles within our organisation.

If you would like to apply for an Apprenticeship with Daisy Nursery, please email [email protected] for information about our next enrolment date.

See how our gardens grow!

The weather might be a bit wetter than we are used to in August, but the plants and our gardens are very happy.

From sunflowers at Sunshine, to carrots at Crown, the children are seeing the impact of the weather in nature and are asking lots of inquisitive questions.

The beauty of an effective early years curriculum, is how quickly planned learning can evolve into new opportunities and conversations. Understanding the world around us is so much easier for young children in real life scenarios; seeing, feeling, hearing and experiencing things for themselves. What happens to our plants in wet weather can be read in a book, but it is so much more powerful to explore in person with peers.

At Daisy, we celebrate summer with an enriching program of events and opportunities, and we look forward to sharing the highlights of 2023.

During week 1, our nurseries explored the worlds of design, technology and art; shaping the architects, engineers and artists of the future.

The children showcased their own creations in art exhibitions, they took part in a workshop titled ‘Inventors and Makers’ creating designs on the theme of bridges, they drew blueprints and used their critical thinking skills, even making their own boats and testing them on the water to see which material would float the best and which material was light enough to move quickly in the wind.

At one nursery, the youngest children used home grown raspberries and rhubarb to complement their mark making resources to broaden their imaginations and sensory experiences. Some of our toddlers have used loose parts in the garden to build obstacle courses on a larger scale, developing their gross motor skills and working together as a team to try them out. Other children have been exploring the different styles of artists, looking in focus at Paul Cezanne and honing their own skills.

Clay and sculpture have been incorporated into our continuous provision and we have been grateful to welcome such a wide range of visitors to our nurseries to talk about their exciting jobs and share their passions with us.

What can you see?

A butterfly!

Some of our curious learners spotted a beautiful butterfly flying past their pre-school garden and into flowers on the barn. The children were excited to share this sighting with their friends.

It's that time of term again....

At head office, we are about to embark on the huge task of collecting together all the Early Years Education funding information for the Autumn term.

If your child is eligible from September 2023, please keep an eye out for an email from us with information on how to claim your entitlement for next term, thank you.

If you would like to know more about how Early Years Education funding works through Hampshire County Council and Daisy Nursery, please don't hesitate to contact us, or visit our website where we have a Fact File on our parent's page.

Last week at Crown Daisy, the Senior Leadership Team (comprising of managers, curriculum leaders, suite leaders and deputy managers) came together for a meeting to ensure they are setting the same standards across the nursery and communicating clearly and effectively with each other.

They discussed team dynamics and revisited the different roles within the nursery, identifying any resources or training needed to support this continuous development.

Early Years education is always evolving and as leaders and managers their role is to ensure each colleague is well equipped to navigate changes and new thinking, balanced with experience, and deliver a unique and personal early years learning journey for every child.

Our gardens are areas of exploration and learning opportunities all year round, but in this glorious weather they really shine!

At Sunshine Daisy Nursery, the team have set up inspiring environments, following the children's interests and our wider curriculum.

Current parents will be able to see these outdoor areas being enjoyed by their children on Tapestry, as well as the links to learning objectives which feeds into our next steps.

During May, we were delighted to throw open our doors and welcome parents into our outdoor learning environments.

These parent events were held across a series of evenings, and we are grateful for all those who took the time to join us and learn about how we deliver the EYFS and our curriculum in our garden spaces.

Despite being the summer term, the forecast was unpredictable - perfectly highlighting how we enjoy all weathers - thunder, torrential rain as well as balmy sunshine and a light breeze.

For parents who were unable to attend these events, we printed extra copies of our ‘Outdoor Play and Learning’ handout, which is available in all our reception areas.

Many congratulations to our very own Caitland, for successfully passing her Level 2 qualification in Early Years, with Distinction!

Caitland joined us as an Apprentice Educator at Crown Daisy Nursery, and has demonstrated her hard work ethic and passion for early years, building strong bonds with her key children and becoming an integral part of our team.

We will be recruiting new Apprentices to join us over the summer, if you would like more information, or to apply, please contact us at [email protected].

Coronation celebrations have swept through our nurseries, with children and colleagues dressing in red, white and blue; enjoying a party afternoon tea and working together to produce squares of tapestry to forever commemorate this special event.

To start, the children investigated and discussed the royal family and explored who King Charles is and what will happen at the Coronation through photos, books and role play.

Using a variety of paints, crafts and even sewing skills, the children designed and decorated a unique tribute to all things royal and British.

Our tapestries are on display in our nurseries and photographs have been sent to the palace with the children’s best wishes and even some thoughtful questions!

We wish all our families a joyous weekend, and look forward to hearing about your own celebrations.

Our very own 'Camilla'!

HR and Training Manager, Clare, was a welcoming sight at nursery this morning as we get into the swing of coronation preparations.

Sunshine Daisy had a very exciting start of term delivery! Thank you Community Playthings for more fantastic outdoor resources. We loved unpacking, setting up and trying out the new garden activity set and arbour. The boxes were a big hit too!

Last week, we were excited to show Clare and Mel from Gompels around our newest nursery (including our Gompels cleaning cupboard!) give feedback about the products we love, explore products that would help us more, and discuss the way we order - getting advice on how to make the process even more efficient!

Aster Daisy's outdoor environment has been a labour of love!

Our forest school area is coming along nicely, with huge progress in the last two weeks. We've had several old tree stumps ground down, vast amounts of soil removed (to be stored for the next phase... our orchard and kitchen garden) and some of the resources have started arriving.

The children helped design and create scarecrows to protect our grass seed and vegetable patch, and our pre-schoolers have been actively suggesting what they would like in their new space - a pulley system, hammock, willow den and fire circle are just some of the exciting requests!

Our Jubilee tree is looking gorgeous in the spring sunshine. Blooming for the coronation.

Some unusual post to unwrap at work today...

At the last managers meeting, we discussed how we would like to celebrate the King's coronation with the children and how we plan to commemorate this event. Here is a sneak peek of some the decorations we have in mind!

Spring is in the air! 🌼

At Sunshine Daisy, we have been looking at and talking about the changes in our environment and the beautiful spring flowers inspired some fantastic water colour painting.

We then continued this exploration in a different way, discovering the beauty in the children's masterpieces, even though the canvas was crinkled. The paint behaved differently here than the children were used to. We agreed that just because it's different, doesn't mean it's not beautiful.

This spring, we have been re-developing our garden spaces. Here at Crown Daisy, we have rebuilt the beach, extended the construction zone and purchased a set of large physical play resources. The children enjoy watching and safely helping us, with our pre-schoolers discussing and voting where to spend their budget. They have come up with a great shopping list - more photos to follow later this term!

TTS Resources

The first signs of spring at Crown Daisy!

The children were delighted to see so many budding flowers in their garden, so quickly after the snow. Resilient and hopeful symbols of a new season and the excitement that lies ahead.

May we know them, may we be them and may we raise them.

Thank you to all the incredible women in our lives.

Waking up to a winter wonderland! ❄️⛄️

We cannot wait to explore our outdoor environments this morning. We will be wrapping up warm and enjoying every moment of this magical weather.

Goodnight, Sunshine.

Today we have enjoyed a fun filled day of activities and discussions around books, authors, illustrators and magnificent literary adventures! Wishing you all a very happy !

Last week we celebrated and manager Georgia treated her apprentices to a surprise lunch, filled with treats, in the office!

Lucky Annabelle was away last week so we are celebrating this week with her!

Annabelle is an Apprentice at our Aster Daisy Nursery in Rake. Annabelle has been developing her early years practise in each age group and we are very proud to have her on our team!

Continuing our celebration of last week, the Crown Daisy team surprised Chloe, Maddie, Shelby and Caitland to a range of treats to thank them for all they do. These four team members are studying for their Level 2 and Level 3 Early Years Educator qualifications and work in our Baby Lodge, Toddler Suite and Pre-School Suite, and are very popular with the children!

We thank you for all the hard work that goes into studying and learning on the job, and look forward to being part of your futures in Early Years!

It is and at Daisy we are celebrating!

First up is Erin, at Sunshine Daisy. Erin has been with us now for 6 months and is studying for her Level 3 Early Years Educator qualification. Erin is a fantastic part of our team - just look at her planned activity for the children in her suite - and we just want to say a big thank you for all she does and the future she will have in Early Years.

At the start of each term, we are always so pleased to host parent information evenings at each of our nurseries.

This term, the main discussion was around our curriculum and how it starts with each and every child, develops along the Early Years Foundation Stage areas of learning and is extended, adapted, revisited and embedded by our educators.

Parents were then invited to explore the suites, see the activities set up for their children and discuss with the team the learning intentions and how we track and communicate their child's progress.

These photographs are a very small snapshot of the last two weeks, capturing what we have been up to at Daisy Nursery.