Bishops Cannings Pre School

26/03/2025

Bishops Cannings 5000m Dash and Mini Dash For Mini Legs - 14th June 2025.

this year there will be a Mini Dash For 5 years +

Timed event.
Medals.
Trophies for male/female - 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.

This event is linked with the Bishops Cannings Community fair and all fees will go to St Mary's church and Bishops Cannings Primary School.

There are different sign up options:-

1. Adult or Child Run and medal only.
2. Adult or Child Run with Burger and medal.
3. Adult or Child Run with Hotdog and medal.
4. Adult or Child Run with Vegetarian option and medal.

Bishops Canning 5000m Dash And Mini Dash For Mini Legs. This event is linked with the Bishops Cannings community fair. 5000m multi-terrain run. Parents are responsible for children under 16 years at all times during this event. Registration

28/04/2023

This week in Preschool, the children have had the opportunity to take part in many activities including, constructing with various materials and mark making on the interactive white board. They have also enjoyed playing inside and outside.

Outside the children have particularly enjoyed playing in the mud kitchen where they have been combining mud and water to create many things which they have used in their role play, and using knives to cut vegetables to add to their concoctions. Inside we have been able to reintroduce dressing up clothes and the children have enjoyed trying on different costumes and pretending to take on different characters in their play.

At the start of the week we were given some soil that the 'gardener' had found, there was also a note that asked us to help identify the seeds that were in the soil. We sifted through the soil to find the seeds and used our ten frames and subitising skills to find out how many there were.

We then tried to identify the seeds, the children used their existing knowledge to initially think of things that they knew grew from seeds and we used books and the internet to look at pictures to compare our seeds. After a few days of investigating we concluded they were sunflower seeds.

The children enjoyed finding out information about sunflowers and were encouraged to draw pictures to represent a sunflower. Lots of great collaboration was witnessed during this activity as the children shared their ideas again, of the shapes need for each part.

We also did some measuring to find out if we were as tall as a sunflower. The children used great vocabulary to describe whether they were taller or shorter than each other.

21/04/2023

We have a lot of new children starting Preschool this term, welcome to all our new families. All the children have settled well back into Preschool life and are enjoying recalling the things they have done over the Easter holidays.

We are learning to jump for a distance in PE this term and will be practising this skill back in the session as well. Music and Movement this term is songs and music all about emotions.

The nice weather is enabling us to provide many more opportunities to access the curriculum outside, we have a new reading tent which is proving to be very popular, and a new painting easel which is also popular.

Water play outside has been well accessed and the children are learning about capacity as they pour. The use of drainpipes was also transferred inside this week and lots of children enjoyed putting cars down the pipes and were encouraged to see how far they went at the end, which one was the furthest. Lots of cars went under the cupboards and this caused lots of giggles and laughter. The play was extended by providing numerals for the cars to land on and the children had a great time observing which number their car went too. We had a discussion as to why the cars rolled so far and so fast and we learned that the wheels were round which enabled them to roll. The children were then encouraged to explore the setting to experiment with different objects on the pipe. We looked closely at the properties of the shapes to see why we thought some things rolled and other things slid.

Our story of the term this term is Little Red Riding Hood, the children are enjoying beginning to listen to this story and they have also enjoyed other familiar favourite tales as well. The children are learning how to create a play based around the story. We are also beginning to see the children's role-play influenced by these stories as well.

The main theme of the children's role play has been doctors and nurses,. The children are enjoying dressing up and taking on the roles of healthcare professionals and patients. Lots of great opportunities for mark-making, turn-taking, conversations, and creating storylines.

Our snack this week has been celebrating St Georges Day, we have had scones and strawberries. We learnt the St George wasn't English but he did slay a dragon to save a town in England.

The plants we grew last term have done so well that we have been able to plant them outside this week. We will continue to care for them and observe the changes in the plants.

16/03/2023

This week in Preschool, we have taken part in Science week. The children have enjoyed being nature detectives and going on walks around the school and the conservation area with their magnifying glasses to see what they could see. They listened to birds, looked for insects, learned where animals might live, and did lots of noticing. The children also enjoyed a game of 'wildlife faces', in this game they developed their observational skills and knowledge of the names and features of living things. We also learned about where our vegetables come from and then had great fun planting seeds for our garden. The children enjoyed comparing the sizes of the different sorts of seeds whilst we were planting. We examined some runner beans closely, before planting them in clear plastic bags, which we hope will enable us to see the roots and stalks as they grow.

This week the children have been very interested in shapes and this has been observed in lots of their play. The stacking blocks have been great for collaborative play and the children have been able to compare and order the sizes of the blocks to build stable towers. The sensory shapes have been used to build and balance, as have the junk modelling boxes.

The workbench has been moved back inside and is proving as popular as ever. The children are learning how to use the tools safely and the movements they use are great for building those muscles needed for writing.

We have observed lots of mark-making inside and outside the week. The older children are enjoying writing in notebooks and the younger children are enjoying lots of large-scale mark making activities.

We have purchased a new 'telephone' that is enabling the children to work together and talk to each other. It took a few days for the children to realise they can hear each other and to learn how to take turns and listen to each other. But it has been great to see the amazement on their faces when they realise they can actually talk to each other.

10/03/2023

term 4, wk 3, 2023
This term in Preschool we are encouraging the children to sort items by categories—this in turn leads to opportunities to explore patterns. The children have enjoyed exploring this with our loose parts, buttons, shells, etc as well as with other toys.

Whilst walking around the school grounds this week, the children enjoyed playing a game of 3 or not 3 as they went.
The sprouting daffodils are a great source for practicing subitising.

We are always finding ways to instill the love of books in the children at Preschool. Our new cosy book corner has been a big hit and you can often find groups of children looking at books or listening to a story with an adult. This week we have been able to introduce a new sofa, which gives the children opportunities to sit and share books. We also have a selection of books in our toy boxes, which often lead to discussions and shared opportunities to find out further information about things.

Outside this week the children have been enjoying some new bicycles and scooters. They are going to be a great source for gaining those gross motor skills and strengthening leg muscles. It looks like they are also great for collaboration as well.

During one session this week, the children had a great time building and balancing with our wooden blocks. They built various different 'courses' and enjoyed taking turns to walk and balance around.

Mark-making is always promoted within Preschool and this week the children have shown a great interest in the notebooks around the setting. During one session a group of children was spotted led under the loft area, with notebooks just chatting and mark-making. Mark-making in the craft area and outside with chalks has also been popular this week,

02/03/2023

Wk 2, term4, 2023
It has been a busy week in Preschool. This week we have started to use our interactive whiteboard. It has been great for the children to share their photos on Tapestry from home with the group. This gives a great opportunity for the child to talk about their family or things they have done at home, and the larger screen ensures everyone can see. We will use this time to build vocabulary, and confidence as well a time to teach the children how to ask questions about the pictures to gain further information.

During one session this week, the children joined in an activity constructing a marble run. They had to work together, as well as use critical thinking to construct and reflect, working out why it got stuck and how to fix it.

This activity also led to testing marbles going round with speed on a circular base. The adult introduced the idea of gravity and the conversation extended to earth's gravity and planets. Lots of great learning and engagement was observed.

The children are continuing to explore and notice, and this week they have been encouraged to say 'What they see' and play 3 not 3 with the loose parts.

The children have also had the opportunity to construct with the junk modelling things this week. They were able to build and balance with various sizes and shapes, gaining confidence to follow their own ideas and explore freely.

We have also moved into our new outside area this week and are beginning to create areas where the children have opportunities to access all areas of the curriculum. Our new mud kitchen will certainly be well used by the children.

In PE, the children are learning to gallop this term. They are having lots of fun being horses and riders and playing cow, cow, horse.

In Music and movement the children are learning to move rhythmically to music themed on Pirates and Princesses. Each week we have a different song for free moving and this weeks song was Let it go, which was very popular.

In the setting the role play this week has turned to hospital play. This was facilitated with costumes and props and the children enjoyed taking turns making each other better and being the patient.

World Book day was on Thursday and the children and staff enjoyed dressing up as characters from books. In the session we read lots of the children's stories that they brought in and we listened to stories through our white board. We encouraged the children to recall the sequence of events in the stories, encouraging vocabulary such as 'first' and 'then'. We also visited Unicorn class and shared books and then listened to Mrs Breydin reading the three little pigs.

24/02/2023

wk 1, term 4, 2023
As we welcome back the children to a new term at preschool, we are still settling into our fantastic new Preschool building. The children have adapted well and are enjoying the extra space our new layout has given us. Many visitors have commented on the calmness that the new building seems to have brought to the setting.

This week, the children celebrated Pancake day with pancakes at snack time. Our special snacks always give us an opportunity to share pictures with the children about different festivals, allowing them to learn about new cultures, festivals, and countries. This also allows the children to share their experiences and knowledge of the event or country.

Our new creative area is very popular and can often be seen with lots of children engaged in cuttings, sticking, and mark marking.

At the moment role-play has been observed a lot in Preschool. The children enjoy babies and family play and use the upstairs loft as a natural place to extend their play. The ice cream parlour is also very popular and lots of great collaboration can be seen among the children.

Outside cars and scooters are used in role-play too. The children enjoy petrol station play. The adults have been scaffolding the children's learning by joining in the play and modeling language and collaborative play. As the children become more confident, the adult can step back and allow the children to take the play forward. Within this play, we have also been able to introduce sign writing, numeracy, and the use of objects in their play.

This week has also seen the children doing lots of noticing and subitizing. The children are enjoying playing 3 or not 3.

The skill the children are learning in PE this term is Galloping.

In music and movement, the children are learning dances based on Pirates and princesses.

20/01/2023

This week in Preschool, the children have enjoyed exploring the icy conditions. They have been doing lots of observing the ice around the outside area and they have been using their critical thinking skills to work out how to melt the ice or how to free items that have been frozen. The frosty conditions also created a great medium for mark-making with sticks.

The children have had the opportunity this week to do some noticing walks and have been looking at the ice and the frost on the grass, trees, and leaves.

Painting is always part of our continuous provision, but this week the children have also been painting logs and boxes, as well as experimenting with different tools in the paint.

During one session the children engaged in racing cars. Exploring which were fast, and slow. which had more or fewer wheels, and which were heavy or light. lots of great comparing and language were used during this activity.

The challenge on the finger gym this week has been to 'wrap a twig'. Twigs and wool were provided and the children enjoyed exploring and manipulating the materials. Lots of children also just enjoyed cutting the wool.

As well as exercising their fine motor skills at the finger gym, the children have continued to enjoy hitting the hanging ball outside, building their coordination and shoulder muscles.

Roleplay observed this week has included: doctors' surgery, dogs, babies, and firefighters. During all these scenarios the children were witnessed working together, creating storylines, negotiating roles, and using lots of great vocabulary,

Loose parts play is another of our continual provisions in the setting and this week the children have enjoyed various activities with them including, constructing and exploring patterns.

We were lucky enough to have the Police visit again this week The children enjoyed sitting in the car and setting off the sirens, trying the Police hats, investigating with their torches and exploring the flashing lights on the cones. A fantastic learning experience.

13/01/2023

02/12/2022

Earlier this week the children got to work on their core muscles and their balance whilst having lots of fun on the scooters. While on the scooters and in the cars they also instigated their own game of emergency services rescuing each other. They had lots of fun getting 'stuck' and calling for help, the children would then rush to help each other, pushing and pulling to get the stuck person moving again.

Whilst on the scooters, some of the children had lots of fun using the old slide as a track. They were supported to take risks and negotiate their way down the bumpy track.

During the term we have been encouraging the children to look at similarities and differences. This week they enjoyed a walk around the school grounds spotting things that were the same or different. The chickens come in very useful during these walks.

It has also been an exciting week watching the builders. The digger has been a great hit, as well as the big concrete lorry later in the week. The children love to watch, whilst the adults are introducing lots of new vocabulary.

Sand is part of our continuous provision and this week it has been well accessed inside and outside. The mud in the tough tray has also been popular. Both textures have given the children the chance to explore capacity as they fill and empty containers.

As the years progressing, we have taken part in many activities to build the children's relationships with each other and this has led to more and more group role play. Many of these have been based around pirates this week. Outside the children independently built their own 'ship' and decided to use the blue mat as the sea. Lots of different storylines were observed to be added to the play; hunting for treasure, jumping into the sea and travelling on the sea.

The childrens imagination can also be seen when they are playing with the small world toys. During a session this week the fire fighter toys were used. An adult facilitated a road for the children to use in their play and the children had lots of fun extending thier play.

Christmas has arrived at Preschool this week. The children were very excited to help to decorate the tree. They choose the pieces they wanted to use and worked as a team to put everything on the tree