Bright Stars Pre-School

On Monday morning we were pleased to host Gargs Animal Encounters for our Marvellous Males event for Father's Day. Families were able to interact with a variety of creatures including a blue-tongued skink, a giant cockroach and a lesser tenrec-which is related to an elephant despite looking like a hedgehog! It was an interesting and educational experience for us all!
Thank you to everyone that attended 😊🦉🐍

This evening, we had the honour of attending the Essex Teaching Awards ceremony at Hylands House.

At Bright Stars, we are incredibly fortunate to have a fantastic team, and on ‘Thank a Teacher Day’ it feels especially important to recognise the individual contributions each member of staff makes to the lives of our children and families.

Tonight, however, was all about one very special lady – Gwen Nott

Gwen has dedicated half her life to supporting the children of Ongar, including an incredible 17 years (and counting!) at Bright Stars. Her patience, calm demeanour, and ability to see and nurture each child as an individual speak volumes about the educator and remarkable person she is.

She is loved and appreciated by so many – the children she cares for, the families she supports, and of course, our Bright Stars team.

Congratulations Gwen, on this well-deserved recognition of your valuable contribution to early years education. We are so proud of you and grateful for everything you do. ⭐💙
Essex County Council Essex County Council Early Years

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From education to events, find what you need to help your family thrive.

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Feeding Your Under 5s - A Parent/Carer's guide to Early Years Nutrition

On Wed 17 June in this 90-minute session, baby and child nutritionist Charlotte Stirling Reed will cover everything from:

- why the early years matter so much for your child's long term health
- balanced eating, portion sizes, fussy eating
- how to make mealtimes work for the whole family.

Whether you're just starting on your child's food journey or navigating the toddler years, this session will leave you feeling informed, reassured & ready to go.

Please share sign-up the link with parents and carers in your settings: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=TzK0qFwVFUKg8X7YzJqZL6qKmjf-ZgxBkOr4HuNTNapURDU5S1hBR0hFMUU3T1BWUUoySVhSNDI2Ry4u&route=shorturl 📌

The final stage of the life cycle complete! Five beautiful butterflies released into the meadow area last Friday afternoon. Our children were in awe as the butterflies sat on their hands before flying off! 🐛🦋🌺

🌞With temperatures soaring in some parts of the UK, are you worried your child isn't drinking enough?

Children should drink 6-8 glasses of water-based fluid every day.

Drinking water is important for good bowel and bladder health, and for tackling daytime wetting, night-time wetting and poo problems like constipation, but we understand it can be hard to get kids to drink enough.

Here are a few tips on how to encourage your child to drink more:

🔵Make ice lollies using well-diluted squash. Don’t add sugar and avoid using blackcurrant squash, which can irritate the bladder.
🔵Jazz up their water with ice cubes, umbrellas and slices of fruit.
🔵Buy or customise your own funky straws.
🔵Let them choose their cup and fill it themselves.
🔵Make sugar-free jellies that contain the equivalent of one cup of water.
🔵Use our Wee Checker colour chart to see if your child is drinking enough. Print it out and put it on your bathroom door so that your child can learn to spot the signs of dehydration and be motivated to have another drink.

Find more tips on how to encourage your child to drink more on the ERIC website: https://eric.org.uk/childrens-bladders/how-to-get-kids-to-drink-more-water/

Let us know your tips or tricks for encouraging children to drink more in the comments!

With SchemaPlay Community Interest Company – I just got recognised as one of their top fans! 🎉

Yesterday was ‘World Bee Day’! We have been learning all about bees and how important they are to our eco system. The children played in sensory trays, made bee hats and collages. This morning we used honey to make some delicious biscuits.
Adam from Blue Light Bees and Ongar Honey kindly brought along some resources to teach the children some fascinating facts about bees!

🐝Did you know that bees have five eyes? 🐝That they cannot see the colour red?
🐝We also learnt how they make honey in one of their two stomachs and that they like to keep their hive clean.
🐝Their wings beat super fast which is what makes the buzzing sound.

The children also enjoyed tasting the honey that Adam’s bees had produced. We even got to meet the bees! 🍯🐝🌼🪻🌺