Westwood Smarties Pre School

Today we celebrated a truly special milestone — Dora’s 20 years at Smarties.
We filled the nursery with photos of Dora, the staff, and the children from across the last two decades, and it was so lovely to reminisce about the “old days”.
The children made her beautiful cards, we spoiled her with her favourite gifts and restaurant vouchers, and of course we had to choose a Tiger Who Came to Tea theme — perfect for our tiger‑loving Dora.
We all sang her a special “workiversary” song and enjoyed a slice of cake together at our tea‑party celebration.

Dora has been a shining part of our Smarties family for so long. Her kindness, dedication, and warm spirit have been at the heart of Smarties and helps make our nursery the special place it is.
Thank you, Dora — we’re so grateful for everything you bring to our nursery family and we are very lucky to have you here with us all. X

What a truly lovely last day of the half term we’ve had today. The sunshine finally joined us, and our Tiger Who Came to Tea theme made the day even more magical.
The children enjoyed splashing in the water play, playing games in the garden, and even having their faces painted.
We finished the morning with a special outdoor tea‑party lunch — such a perfect way to end the week.

Today was also a special treat for Dora who has celebrated 20 years of working at Smarties nursery! Watch this space for Dora's photos!! 😝

Wishing all our families a wonderful half‑term break.

One of our brilliant members of staff has a secret talent! Gemma, is an author and she has now branched out into writing children's books. Check out her page and follow the updates ready for the release of her very first children's book.

Stories Like Ours

Our garden has been full of energy and imagination. The children climbed high, jumped far, rolled down the hill with giggles, crossing the bridge, and zooming through the tunnel. They balanced across the large tyres with such confidence just like little adventurers! We have also enjoyed lots of garden games: rolling hoops, practising our golf swings, and throwing and kicking balls with great enthusiasm.
Others found peaceful moments — feet up, book in hand — while a few cooled down with a refreshing splash in the water.
Such joy, curiosity, and confidence in every corner of the garden. 💛

Watching our baby chicks grow has been the highlight of our week, they have settled in beautifully. The children have been so gentle — holding them, feeding them, and watching them change each day. We’ve been exploring new vocabulary like pecking, fluffy, and chirp chirp, and using the chicks to learn about life cycles in a real, meaningful way. Such a lovely hands‑on way to learn and care, it’s amazing to see their curiosity grow alongside the chicks.

What an exciting day in Nursery!
The children gathered around the incubator to watch a tiny chick hatch from its egg in real time, noticing the cracks in the shell, the movements inside, and the moment the chick finally wriggled free . There were so many curious questions and brilliant observations as they talked about what they could see — “It’s cracking!”, “The chick is pushing!”, “It’s so fluffy!”. 🐥🐥🐥
A beautiful moment of learning, awe and wonder.

On Wednesday morning we arrived at nursery to see that 2 eggs had hatched over night. However we were super lucky that the children were able to then see 5 more chicks hatch! We left on Wednesday evening with 7 healthy chicks and 3 eggs yet to hatch. Let's hope they start hatching too. 🐣🐥🐣🐥

The big day is coming for our pre school leavers!

Tomorrow many of you will receive your child's primary school place offers. We know this can be a mixture of excitement, nerves and big emotions but just know that we are incredibly proud of every single one of them.
During their time at pre school, we have loved watching them grow, learn and become confident, independent little people. The laughter we all share will never be forgotten.🌟

We hope you all get your first choice, please let us know what school they get.

🌟 Good luck! 🌟

The children explored prepositions through small‑world play — discovering what on, under, next to, beside, on top, in front of, and behind really mean.
They listened beautifully to instructions and had so much fun placing animals, people, and objects in the right places. Learning prepositions is vital for children to develop spatial awareness, improve communication, and follow instructions. These words allow them to describe their surroundings, locate objects, and build foundational language skills essential for academic success and everyday navigation.

Before long, the activity grew into their own ideas: “The flower is on the table!” … “The farmer is next to the chair!” "The lady is on the chair...now it's on the table...this one i put here in front of the table".
Hearing them use the correct language so confidently was a joy. Learning through play at its best.