Butterfly Preschool

On Monday morning we came into pre school to find a surprise!

AN EGG!! 🥚

After speaking to the children about what they thought may be inside the egg, they came to the conclusion that it was a T-Rex that had laid the egg and there was a baby T-Rex inside! 🦖

As the children have been showing intrest in small world play, especially with dinosaurs we thought it’d be fitting to explore dinosaurs this week, but with Christmas approaching we wanted to incorporate both in our planning. Luckily, a lovely book about a Christmas dinosaur was written for such moments!🎄 The Christmasaurus! 🦖

Over the next few days our egg slowly hatched, all children loved watching the egg and were very excited when they could seen an eye from the inside!

All of the children believed it was a T-Rex egg and they thought it would be blue or red! We also spoke about what the dinosaur may eat, some children said ‘rice and pasta’ while other said ‘ plants and trees’.

On Thursday morning something incredible happened! Our egg hatched a blue Christmassy T-Rex! Santa also made a visit in the night, dropping off our elf (who we named Red), delivering us our Christmas decorations and leaving us a letter!

The children loved getting involved in decorating preschool and talking about the letter!

We can’t wait to see what our cheeky Elf gets up to over the next few weeks!! We have lots of fun Christmas activities planned!🎄🦖

Butterfly preschool are looking for an apprentice to join our team . We are interested in someone who is between 17 and 19 years old and available to start in January 2023 The right candidate needs to be keen to learn and work toward level 2/3 childcare qualification through a reputable apprenticeship scheme. They must be motivated and eager to learn all aspects of becoming a Early Years Practitioner, working along side a highly experienced team, in a busy preschool and out of school club. Hours will be around 20- 30 a week term time only. Please contact Rachael or Lotti on here or [email protected].

For any of you parents that are lookking at school
Places.
https://www.facebook.com/100063786916143/posts/531755038960722/

Tonight we have an open evening at 6.00pm for parents/ carers of children starting school in September 2023- we look forward to meeting the new families who may be joining us in September.

APPLY FOR RECEPTION: If your child turns 4 between 1st September 2022 and 31st August 2023 you can now apply for a primary school place. Please let the pre-school know once you have applied. Thank you.

https://www.westnorthants.gov.uk/primary-school-places/apply-primary-school-place?fbclid=IwAR0gPPcdTwJuSo_rBgCeAm-lIbwBG3gxKaByUi9Rp49jJ9pnxav83vxuRMo

Apply for a primary school place | West Northamptonshire Council Make an application for a primary school place for your child

The last few weeks we have be learning about all things autum! Autumn animals and their habitats, autumn fruit and vegetables, different colours, the change in seasons and things we see in autumn!

We have-
- had a fruit and veg stall in our home corner where the children used their imaginations, developed their social skills and explored new types of foods. They also developed their maths skills by using scales to weigh their fruit and veg and using fake money to pay for them! We also talked about how the different fruit and veg grows and where they come from.
- been on lots of autumn walks where the children explored the world, used their senses to talk about what they could see, hear, feel and touch. We looked for different animals habitats and talked about why they live there and how they make them, we collected conkers, leaves and twigs to use in our play.
- we talked about the changed in trees, leaves and the environment, to show this we used finger paints to create our trees and used all the crunchy leaves in our small world and construction play!
- investigated pumpkins! We drew then, painted them and made stain glass windows. We learnt new vocabulary to describe them- big, small, heavy, light, smooth, bumpy, slimy and lots of others. We used a lot of fine motor skills when investigating the pumpkins, the children took risks by using hammers and golf tees to hammer into the pumpkins, they then used spoons to remove the insides of them and then had slimy pumpkins where the children investigated the different textures.
- talked a lot about or emotions, our feelings and others. We learnt the importance of being kind. We have also created a new emotions area where the can go and calm down or communicate their emotions.
- we talked about scarecrows and worked as a team to make our own scarecrow “Mr Scarecrow” and then worked hard alone to make individual ones. We talked about why we have scarecrows and who uses them.
- the children have developed new friendships, learnt new routines and most of all had fun ❤️

We hope all of our butterflies and caterpillars have a lovely half term!

🧮 HEURISTIC PLAY 🧮

🧩What is heuristic play?
Heuristic play is a specific approach of teaching and helping children learn about the world around them in a positive way, while using their 5 senses to explore.

🧩Benefits Of Heuristic Play
- keeps child motivated as they explore their own ideas, at their own pace
- Improved communication skills as when a child is engaged in an activity they have chosen, they will be more excited and forth coming to talk about it
- It allows the child to engage and explore in the natural world, developing their senses, confidence and self esteem
- It helps children build better relationships as the activities encourage children to be open minded, themselves and focus on success

🧩How To Encourage Heuristic Play
- encourage child to be expressive, imaginative and creative
- Develop child’s motor skills
- Develop child’s 5 senses
- Encourage child’s ability to communicate with you
- Supporting exploring and unrestricted activities
- Asking child open ended questions
- Allow child to explore interests

🧩Activities our setting have been enjoying recently-
- exploring different materials
- Bug hunting and building houses for the bugs
- Mud kitchen
- using rice and cups to make music

Staff have been in pre school this week getting the rooms and garden ready for the start of term.
Today we have been planning topics and learning experience for this year!
We’re all looking forward to welcoming our new families to our coffee morning tomorrow

Just another reach out to any 2020 school leavers parents!

I would really appreciate if you could spare a moment to complete the short questionnaire!

Thank you!

Transitions and School Readiness During covid Questionnaire I am currently in the research phase of my dissertation for my MA in Education at the University of Northampton, which aims to investigate how the setting used activity packs to support children’s transition from preschool to school during covid. My research questions are: · What understanding do...

Good Morning!

I'm reaching out to some of our previous parents whose children left us for school in July 2020!

I am currently in the research phase of my dissertation for my MA in Education at the University of Northampton, which aims to investigate how the setting used activity packs to support children’s transition from preschool to school during covid.

If your child attended preschool and started school in Sept 2020, if you wouldn't mind taking some time to complete the short questionnaire in the link below, I would really appreciate it!

👇👇

https://forms.gle/ALKbkfZgLJFLQTRT9

Thank you!
Charlotte

Transitions and School Readiness During covid Questionnaire I am currently in the research phase of my dissertation for my MA in Education at the University of Northampton, which aims to investigate how the setting used activity packs to support children’s transition from preschool to school during covid. My research questions are: · What understanding do...

Do you have a child, or know someone who has a child that will be turning 2 or 3 over the next few months? Are you looking for a well established, fun and caring preschool for your child to attend?

Butterfly preschool have spaces left for 2 and 3 year olds starting in September!

We are a small preschool in the grounds of The Abbey Primary School, Northampton. All staff a highly qualified, knowledgeable and passionate about giving children the best start to their learning. Here at Butterfly Preschool we pride ourselves on developing children’s knowledge, skills and independence by giving them a wide variety of experiences. Our children thrive from both child-led and adult led activities. Children who attend our setting, have opportunities to explore their outdoor environment, not only out in our garden, but in the wider community through going on walks to the forest and the local shops. Children will also be able to engage in whatever their interests are, from princesses and superhero’s to painting and developing their creative minds.

The best way for a child to learn

For more information you can pop in and see us, give us a call on:
01604766323 / 07449295537
Or dropping us an email:
[email protected]

Funded places are available for both 2 and 3 year olds. Please speak to us for more information.

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