West Lodge Day Nursery and Pre School

We have been very excited to welcome our new African snail pet to Nursery and today the Snowdrops made its new home all comfortable.

They talked about the special soil our snail needs to make its home, and the children were amazed by how small it is. Everyone had the opportunity to help scoop the soil and prepare its new home. The children showed a great interest in our new pet, eagerly pointing at the snail and watching it closely. We have asked the children to suggest names for our new pet, and we will choose our favourite name together this Friday!

This week, in our staff meeting, our team took part in an interactive safeguarding quiz as part of our ongoing commitment to keeping children safe, happy and supported.

We regularly refresh our knowledge of safeguarding, our nursery policies and our procedures so that our whole team feels confident in recognising concerns, knowing what to do and responding appropriately.

For our families, this means you can feel reassured that safeguarding remains a priority every day. Our staff continue to learn, reflect and work together to create a safe, caring environment where every child is listened to, valued and protected.

Bluebells Room Makeover!

We’re so excited about the changes we’ve made to our Bluebells room! By adapting the layout, we’ve created bigger, more open spacesor the children to move, explore, discover and enjoy their learning through play.

The children have reacted so positively so far! They have really enjoyed exploring all the new areas, exciting resources and new toys, and it has been lovely to see their curiosity and enthusiasm as they discover something new around every corner.

Our new layout is helping to create a fun, stimulating and enabling environment, where children have the freedom to explore their interests, make choices, develop their independence and enjoy lots of opportunities for imaginative and creative play.

We absolutely love seeing the children making the space their own, having fun and learning as they play!

A Special Visit from Our Wonderful Grandparents!

What a joy it was to welcome our grandparents into nursery for a special play session! The children absolutely loved sharing their nursery environment, showing off their favourite activities and, most importantly, spending precious time together.

Grandparent visits are such a wonderful opportunity for children to build meaningful connections across generations. Through playing, chatting, reading and sharing experiences, children develop their communication and social skills, confidence and sense of belonging.

For our grandparents, it is a lovely chance to be part of the children’s early years journey, create special memories and share their own stories, skills and experiences.

Thank you to all our wonderful grandparents for coming along and making the day so special.

Snowdrops had a fantastic morning yesterday exploring our play area!

We had so much fun hopping onto the tractors and extending our play by having a go on the swings too!

There were lots of opportunities to learn, explore and build confidence as we practised taking turns, developing our strength, balance and physical skills.

The children were fascinated by the different colours, sizes and types of tractors, sparking lots of curiosity and encouraging them to explore new opportunities.

Most importantly… they absolutely LOVED it!

What a brilliant morning full of fun, adventure and learning through play

Our Snowdrops had a fantastic time having a go on the play tractors in the farm's play area! 🚜💚

The children loved practising moving the tractors along using their feet, building their confidence and coordination while having lots of fun. It was a wonderful new experience, and there were plenty of smiles and excitement all around!

We love giving our little ones opportunities to explore, learn and enjoy new adventures. 🌱✨

Our Snowdrops had a lovely visit to the farm today to meet the new baby chicks! 🐥💛

The children enjoyed watching the chicks, listening to their little cheeps, and, with lots of support, using kind, gentle hands to carefully touch them. These special experiences help to encourage curiosity and introduce the children to caring for animals in a calm and nurturing way.

Once we had finished saying goodbye to the chicks, we all washed our hands to help keep everyone clean and healthy.

What a wonderful morning full of new sights, sounds, and gentle exploration! 🌿🐣

We have been incredibly lucky to spend our day at Forest School in this glorious weather.

The children started the morning taking part in a variety of nature crafts before spending the rest of the day climbing trees, building dens, making mud cakes, sharing stories, and developing their woodworking skills.

After lunch, some of the children headed off to explore the long grass, where we discovered five different species of butterflies, as well as ladybirds and fascinating fungi. This sparked lots of excitement, and the children were completely engrossed in their discoveries.

Of course, we can't forget our delicious picnic lunch! We were treated to a wonderful courgette cake, made using courgettes grown here on the farm, and it was absolutely delicious.

We have had a fabulous day filled with learning opportunities, developing new skills, and sharing these experiences with our friends. It truly has been a perfect day for everyone!

Today our Bluebells took creativity to new heights with cotton wool splat painting! Standing safely at a height, the children dropped colourful cotton wool onto their paper, creating fantastic splatter patterns and unique masterpieces.

This exciting activity was about so much more than painting. The children explored and talked about different colours, watched how they mixed and spread, and made predictions about what would happen next.

It was also a wonderful opportunity to develop risk-taking skills in a safe and supervised way. The children learned how to assess risks, follow safety instructions, take turns, and build confidence while trying something new.

There were lots of smiles, laughter, and excited squeals as each colourful "SPLAT!" landed on the paper. We love providing hands-on experiences that encourage curiosity, creativity, and confidence while making learning unforgettable!

Poppies have been busy mathematicians this afternoon! They used their counting skills to carefully count out the correct number of stones to match each numeral using ten frames. We then explored our 2D shape poster to discover which shapes had the same number of sides as the numeral we were working with. Fantastic counting, shape recognition, and mathematical thinking from everyone!