Bristol Childcare

The babies at Mornington House have harvested their potato crop! We used them to make potato salad for our afternoon snack. First, we washed them and then Louise boiled them for us in the kitchen. When they had cooled, we chopped them up and added all the other ingredients. We found it funny when smelling the spring onions!

Graduation ceremony at Mornington House.

We had a wonderful celebration and it was great that all the parents were able to come. The children all received a ‘memory message’ and a group photo. They sang an African song which Sally had recorded and sent out to parents, so everyone was able to join in. Afterwards, we enjoyed some very tasty cakes which Louise had baked together with a refreshing cold drink. One of our parents brought in some graduation gowns and caps so the children were able to dress up and have their photos taken. It was such a lovely afternoon!

We were so thrilled to receive this amazing review from a Priory parent. #

We have an exciting opportunity at our Clifton nursery, Mornington House: we are recruiting for a SENCO; you can find out more here...https://www.bristolchildcare.co.uk/work-for-us/

Exciting news from The Court House pre-school garden; the first figs are ready! The children are looking forward to trying them this morning 😋

The summer harvest has started; these beautiful cucumbers are on the way to nursery, grown by Matthew our Finance Director. Providing delicious, fresh, healthy and varied home grown and home cooked meals is a core part of our curriculum 😋

Congratulations to Sarah, our cook at The Court House, who has had the annual environmental health inspection in the kitchen this week!! We are delighted to announce that they have maintained their 5 star rating 🤗⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you to Sarah for all her hard work in achieving this, alongside all the delicious food that she cooks for staff and children every day. Poor Sarah was far too hot for a photo, so enjoy this photo of her delicious salad instead!

Continuing the ice theme in this hot weather, The Priory decided that making ice lollies was a fun activity to stay cool.

I asked the children if they'd like to make some, and they excitedly showed their curiosity by asking questions about how and what to do. One asked, "How are we going to freeze it, it's too hot?" When I explained that we would need to make it first and then put it in the freezer. Another asked, "What flavour are we going to make?" So, we decided to take a vote by making tally charts to choose between summer fruit and orange-flavoured squash. The orange flavour won by just one point, so Alaya went to the shop to buy it. After each child made their own ice lolly, they also helped make some for their friends who couldn't be here today, so they could share them tomorrow. 😎

Following our activity yesterday to stay cool at The Priory, we got more ice cubes out of the freezer, and to extend their learning further, we provided different coloured paints and paint brushes to explore the melting temperature. This allowed the children to blend the colours together when the water was forming. Staff provided different ice trays which were different shapes e.g. circles, crosses, and strawberries. This allowed the children to be creative and bring lots of mathematical language into play. Also, friendship building and supporting the younger preschoolers to push the ice cubes out of the moulds which enhances their fine motor skills.

At The Priory, we have been exploring ice cubes! It's a great activity to help keep us all cool. The children were excited about this and couldn't contain their excitement as they dived in to get their hands on them as soon as they came over to the table. This extended their learning as they talked among themselves about the temperature of the ice and how it was melting because of the hot weather. To challenge them even further, I introduced some tweezers to see if they could pick up the ice cubes and put them into containers. Some managed to pick them up, but others found it challenging and said that it was slippery.