Little Acorns Pre-school, Shireoaks

What does SWAN or being undiagnosed mean? | SWAN UK

What does SWAN or being undiagnosed mean? | SWAN UK SWAN stands for ‘syndromes without a name’. It is not a diagnosis, but a term used when a child or young adult is believed to have a genetic condition and testing has failed to identify its genetic cause. Syndromes without a name are also referred to as undiagnosed genetic conditions, unknown ge...

Information for parents with regards to funding available in Nottinghamshire

A great effort from the children today helping out with the shireoaks spring clean , 2 bags of rubbish collected . If any parents are free to help out in the mornings this week you are more than welcome to join us .

Good morning Due to the weather and the forecasted weather for today we have made the decision to close pre school today , in line with StLukes primary school . Enjoy the Snow ❄️⛄️

Please email [email protected] for more information.

Home is where the start is: an online family festival of fun and learning

Want to help parents and carers at your setting support their children's speech and language development at home?

Our upcoming FREE family festival, Home is where the start is, which will be running from Thursday 16 - Saturday 18 March, includes a fantastic interactive session led by BBC Tiny Happy People and speech and language expert Monal Gajjar, packed with fun activities to support their child's speech and language development.

Using everyday household items, they'll show families how they can create fun, easy to play games as part of their daily routine, highlighting the speech and language benefits. The session will be followed by a Q&A with Monal.

The session will take place at 4pm on Friday 17 March and we encourage parents and carers to bring their little ones along!

Families can book this, and a range of other free family learning sessions, here:

Home is where the start is: an online family festival of fun and learning Join us for a series of free, fun and informative online sessions for families on how to support early learning and development in the home!

TOday we had a great time lighting a fire and toasting our marshmallows , we learnt about fire safety and what we need to do to be able to enjoy it safely , we talked about the warmth we could feel , what we could smell and definitely enjoyed what we could taste . We all had a practice with the flint and steel trying different ways to make it spark . The children took turns , listened to one and other and all decided how they would do it when it was their turn .

Adventures so far this week , with the weather being so beautiful and sunny although very cold 🥶we’ve taken the opportunity to explore and find some beautiful winter treasures along the way. We’ve talked about how we adapt to the cold and how animals adapt too , talking about hibernation and migration , we’ve been out to feed the swans and birds on the canal and enjoyed collecting crab apples for next week so we can make bird feeders . We are loving the Winter sunshine

Please email in for more details: [email protected]

We are also on the look out for wooden bowls , dishes , wooden spoons , wicker baskets or wooden storage boxes basically anything that is not plastic !!!!! Any indoor pot plants / small , large, we don’t mind plastic ones aswell for these as they make great resources for the children to use in the small world area , If your having a clear out or fed up with plants that you have to water all the time !!! we will gladly take it off your hands . Thank you again ######

Does anyone have any old wooden chopping boards , any size any quality we are just looking to get some for our play dough table and resources , or any old placemats , thank you

Beautiful frozen Christmas decorations that the children made yesterday , we talked about what happens when it’s cold and asked the question what will happen to the water ????

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️ look how beautiful Winter can be …… today we went on a frozen spiderweb hunt around our school , look at how beautiful they are . We noticed how the trees , plants , grass and leaves were white over , and how our warm hands melted the frost . We tried to make our own webs out of wool and see which of our friends we could trap .
❄️🕸️

ℹ️ FYI: UKHSA update on Scarlet Fever and invasive Group A strep
The latest data from UKHSA show that scarlet fever cases continue to remain higher than we would typically see at this time of year. There were 851 cases reported in week 46, compared to an average of 186 for the preceding years.
Scarlet fever is usually a mild illness, but it is highly infectious. Therefore, look out for symptoms in your child, which include a sore throat, headache, and fever, along with a fine, pinkish or red body rash with a sandpapery feel. On darker skin the rash can be more difficult to detect visually but will have a sandpapery feel. Contact NHS 111 or your GP if you suspect your child has scarlet fever, because early treatment of scarlet fever with antibiotics is important to reduce the risk of complications such as pneumonia or a bloodstream infection. If your child has scarlet fever, keep them at home until at least 24 hours after the start of antibiotic treatment to avoid spreading the infection to others.
Scarlet fever is caused by bacteria called group A streptococci. These bacteria also cause other respiratory and skin infections such as Strep throat and impetigo.
In very rare occasions, the bacteria can get into the bloodstream and cause an illness called invasive Group A strep. Whilst still uncommon, there has been an increase in invasive Group A strep cases this year, particularly in children under 10. There were 2.3 cases per 100,000 children aged 1-4 compared to an average of 0.5 in the pre-pandemic seasons (2017 to 2019) and 1.1 cases per 100,000 children aged 5-9 compared to the pre-pandemic average of 0.3 (2017 to 2019) at the same time of the year.
So far this season there have been 5 recorded deaths within 7 days of an iGAS diagnosis in children under 10 in England. During the last high season for Group A Strep infection (2017/18) there were 4 deaths in children under 10 in the equivalent period.
Investigations are also underway following reports of an increase in lower respiratory tract Group A Strep infections in children over the past few weeks, which have caused severe illness.
Currently, there is no evidence that a new strain is circulating. The increase is most likely related to high amounts of circulating bacteria and social mixing
There are lots of viruses that cause sore throats, colds and coughs circulating. These should resolve without medical intervention. However, children can on occasion develop a bacterial infection on top of a virus and that can make them more unwell.
As a parent, if you feel that your child seems seriously unwell, you should trust your own judgement. Contact NHS 111 if or your GP if:
your child is getting worse
your child is feeding or eating much less than normal
your child has had a dry nappy for 12 hours or more or shows other signs of dehydration
your baby is under 3 months and has a temperature of 38C, or is older than 3 months and has a temperature of 39C or higher
your baby feels hotter than usual when you touch their back or chest, or feels sweaty
your child is very tired or irritable
Call 999 or go to A&E if:
your child is having difficulty breathing – you may notice grunting noises or their tummy sucking under their ribs
there are pauses when your child breathes
your child’s skin, tongue or lips are blue
your child is floppy and will not wake up or stay awake
Good hand and respiratory hygiene are important for stopping the spread of many bugs. By teaching your child how to wash their hands properly with soap for 20 seconds, using a tissue to catch coughs and sneezes, and keeping away from others when feeling unwell, they will be able to reduce the risk of picking up, or spreading, infections.
Dr Colin Brown, Deputy Director, UKHSA, said:
“We are seeing a higher number of cases of Group A strep this year than usual. The bacteria usually causes a mild infection producing sore throats or scarlet fever that can be easily treated with antibiotics. In very rare circumstances, this bacteria can get into the bloodstream and cause serious illness – called invasive Group A strep (iGAS). This is still uncommon however it is important that parents are on the lookout for symptoms and see a doctor as quickly as possible so that their child can be treated and we can stop the infection becoming serious. Make sure you talk to a health professional if your child is showing signs of deteriorating after a bout of scarlet fever, a sore throat, or a respiratory infection.”
SOURCE: UK Health Security Agency

We are going on a bear hunt “ squelch, squelch squelch “through the mud , through the wavy grass “ swish swish swoosh “

The Curiosity Approach

Such a great post that I thought I’d share with you highlighting the benefits of play and how our children learn and develop . An added benefit of outdoor play , climbing , scrambling, swinging , balancing and carrying all to build up their core muscles ready for the next stage in development .

Did you know that shoulders are immensely important in children being able to write their name?

The reason being, that through natural physical development, children develop from the top down, inside out!

Babies firstly strengthen, neck, chest, they crawl and then come up to standing enabling them to walk.
cephalocaudal (from top to bottom)

Children also develop from the inside out - Their core strength, then their shoulders, elbows, wrists and FINALLY their fingers.
This is called proximodistral ( from the spine outwards).

They develop what are called their pivotal joints!

Pivotal or rotary joints are shoulder, elbow, wrist and fingers!

Let’s consider and pause for a moment shoulders are that low load, bearing joint and muscle that supports the movement of the arm!

Notice one of the images of the chid writing, how she is holding his pencil A palmer or emergent palmer grip.

This is an indicator that her control is being lead by her shoulder (supported by her shoulder) and moving to her elbow and not her fingers.

Her shoulder is driving the movement of the pencil and not her fingers.

It’s no good us keep getting her to practice holding her pencil ‘properly’ or re adjusting her grip. 😓

It’s no good us trying to keep getting her to copy our writing and form letters on a page. 😓

It’s not necessary to TEACH letters, children will do things when ready and interested. Children have to develop the core strength, shoulders, elbows FiRST

THEN fine motor skills and Fingers 🙌🏼

We have to stop the fixation of pushing our children to write and see and recognise that non of this quantifiable stuff (writing their name) is possible until a child has been given the opportunity to develop strength in these pivotal joints! 💪🏽

Reminder - Shoulders, elbow, wrist and finally fingers.

Children learn in so many different ways whilst being at home, nursery kindergarten or the childminders.

PLAY is vital to this natural process!

Read the text under each image for more information

If you’d like more from us at The Curiosity Approach stay tuned we have some exciting news for December that is going to be phenomenal.

Join our mailing list so you don’t miss out! We would love to share with you
www.thecuriosityapproach.com

Content of this post is protected by copyright©️

The Curiosity Approach The Curiosity Approach® is a modern day approach to Early Childhood. It’s a beautiful recipe book of wonderful ingredients, carefully mixed together with experience, passion and a love of Early Childhood.

A little bit of team work , sharing , taking turns , perseverance and loads of fun this week in the woods , the new tarps, swing and hammock are a great addition to our forest school . It definitely feels like winter is on the way .

Don’t forget if you’ve got any old clothes , soft toys , pairs of shoes , curtains or bedding it is our bags2 school collection tomorrow morning 23rd November , please leave any bags by the front gate first thing in the morning, this is a great an easy fundraiser for us , and a great time for you to have a clear out before Christmas!!!

AGM tonight all parents new and old welcome , please come along and see what we do as pre school . Be lovely to see you all there ###

Bags for school collection is on Wednesday 23rd November if you have any old clothes, soft toys , paired shoes , hand bags, belts and accessories please bag them up and leave outside the school gates on Wednesday 23rd before 9am , this is a great and easy way to get funds for the school and have a clear out at home ready for Christmas. Please make sure that any bags left don’t block the school gates .
Thank you ###

What’s better on a wet day then a walk in the rain jumping and splashing in puddles , A spot of den building too , great team work and helping each other out , it’s the best den to have our snack in . Well done everyone

Nature putting on its most beautiful display in shireoaks today !!!!

Christmas stocking sale
Thursday 1st December at 3.40 pm everyone welcome

If your child would like to take part in our Christmas stocking sale please donate a new pair of Christmas socks( one rolled up inside the other) filled with chocolate, sweets, candy canes or even a small toy .
All proceeds will go towards resources for pre school .

yourself.org.uk

Another useful site in Nottinghamshire to signpost parents too , if extra support is needed.

Www.notts help

yourself.org.uk

Home

Nottinghamshire childrens centre service provides early help and targeted services for expectant mums and dads, children under the age of 5 and families with children aged under 5

Check out the link below for more information
Nottinghamshire.gov.uk/childrenscentreservice

Home Information from Nottinghamshire County Council on local services, latest news, job vacancies, tourism and Robin Hood.

healthcare.nhs.uk

Language for life - Nottinghamshire healthcare

Our language for life approach ensures that all our services work together to support parents, families and professionals to help all children develop the speech language and communicate skills they need for life.

Good speaking and listening skills are crucial. Children need them to do well at school and to make friendships. Much later on, good communication skills are vital for their careers, as well as their all round wellbeing and mental health. If you take a look at the language for life website and explore their pages to discover what you can do to help childrens language skills to grow and how you can get further help, information and support !
Www.Nottinghamshire healthcare.nhs.uk/ language-for-life

healthcare.nhs.uk

Another fire today helping the children to understand how to keep themselves safe near a fire the children today helped set up the site ready for the fire , they then helped build the fire talking about what we were using and why , once we were ready to light the fire the children understood that they needed to move behind the bricks and talked about the reasons why they had too . The children were more independent with toasting their marshmallows and did a great job they tasted amazing .
After the fire we used the charcoal left behind to mark make on the bricks , then decided to make a potion with the water in the fire pit .
And then we had the time to make our chocolate sparkler biscuits in the afternoon to enjoy for snack time .
What a beautiful day thank you for all being amazing ###

🔥 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋We’ve had the best afternoon learning about fire safety and how to light a fire keeping ourselves safe , of course we had to toast marshmallows and make s’mores which were so yummy 😋 . A massive thank-you to Kelly and Andrew for allowing us to light a small fire on their land . We had the best time so thank you from us all . X#########

🍁🍂🍁🍂🍃🍁🍂🍁🍂🍃🍁🍁🍂🍃🍁🍁🍂🍂🪺🍂🍂🍂🍁🍁🍁🍂🍃🍁🍁🍂🍃🍁🍁🍂
A lovely afternoon in the sunshine we had a fab morning jumping in puddles , making leaf showers , and slipping down the hill , we had a great game of 1,2,3 where are you , a snack sat in the sunshine then ventured back to pre school for lunch , the children were amazing as usually ###

👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃happy Halloween to you all , lots of spooky things going on in pre school today , thank you to everyone who dressed , your outfits were amazing !!!
Great job on the spooky scavenger hunt , thank you so much we’ve had 10 entries in so far £20 raised towards the children’s Christmas party so thank you so much , you have all week to bring yours in and we have a sweetie treat for all completed forms,
Happy trick and treating tonight 👻👻👻👻👻👻

FREEBIES! | Anna Smithers

To celebrate my favourite season – autumn and the attitude of gratitude – I have teamed up with some wonderful authors to offer 15 free FALL/Gratitude themed E-books on Wed 10/26 and Thurs 10/27!

Please Download and Share with all of your friends! We hope to spark a love of reading in kids with these free Fall books!

To download them, just click the link for the country you are in. Make sure you are using a browser and not the Amazon App. Also make sure that if you have downloaded any of them in the past to remove those from your cart before checking out.

We are very grateful for the support of our readers and hope you enjoy our books! We would also be THANKFUL if you would please leave us an honest review on Amazon after reading our books. Reviews are very important to the independent author community and are always VERY appreciated!

US link – https://tinyurl.com/USfreeFallbooks

UK link – https://tinyurl.com/UKfreeFallBooks

AU link – https://tinyurl.com/AUFreeFallBooks

CA link – https://tinyurl.com/CAFreeFallBooks

NL link – https://tinyurl.com/NLFreeFallBooks

IN link- https://tinyurl.com/INfreeFallBooks

IT link – https://tinyurl.com/ITFreeFallBooks

ES link – https://tinyurl.com/ESFreeFallBooks

DE link – https://tinyurl.com/DEFreeFallBooks

BR link – https://tinyurl.com/BRFreeFallBooks

If you enjoyed Tree of wonder you can download free worksheets here:
https://annasmithers.com/freebies/

Happy Autumn!









Inspiring Kids - Sugar Cookie Books Carli Valentine-Children’s Book Author/Illustrator Christine K. Fields It Must Be Books Inspire Joy Kim Ann - Author, Coach, PublisherMindful Stories for KidsShannon Bell Misty Black Author r A Matter of Rhyme Children's Books Carolyn Watson Dubisch

FREEBIES! | Anna Smithers

⛄️🎅🏼🎄⛄️🎅🏼🎄⛄️🎅🏼🎄⛄️⛄️🎅🏼🎄⛄️ 🎅🏼 🎄 ⛄️

We are thinking ahead to our last big fundraising event this year , our Christmas fair on December 1st .
There will be loads on sale including a personalised snowmen mug complete with hot chocolate, marshmallows and a candy cane for each of the little Acorn children , if you would like to pre order a mug for a sibling to purchase on the day please let me know so we can make one ready , mugs will cost £4 each or 2 for £7 or 3 for £10 .
Please remember all money raised will go to new resources for the children . We need at least a weeks notice to make the mugs so last orders will be Friday 25th November .
Many thanks for all your support

👻🎃🧙👻🎃🧙‍♀️🧙🧙👻🎃🧙🧙‍♀️🧙👻🎃🧙🧙‍♀️🧙👻🎃🧙🧙‍♀️🧙😘🎃🎃👻👻🎃🧙👻🎃🧙🧙‍♀️

Happy scavenger hunting !!!
I hope you are all enjoying the half term holidays , please don’t forget to go on your spooky Halloween scavenger hunt , a sweet treat for all completed forms , plus all money raised will go towards our Christmas party and celebrations , so please don’t forget to attach your £2 coin . 👻 🧙‍♀️ 🧙 🎃 ##

We periodically politely remind parents/carers not to park on Brancliffe lane when dropping off or collecting children. Brancliffe Lane is a no-through road and a working farm route and is not wide enough for cars to park safely and also allow farm vehicles (or in the event of an emergency), vehicles used by the emergency services to pass by. It is also the main walking route to Little Acorns & St. Luke’s and parking up on the pavement or tuning in the road pose a significant safety risk to pedestrians, who include very young children.
Please be considerate to our neighbours and help everyone stay safe getting to and from school .

Important notice
We are closed tomorrow Friday 14th October as it’s an Inset day , we want to wish you a happy half term we will reopen Monday 31st October , it’s Halloween so please come dressed on your spookiest outfit , please remember to bring in your spooky scavenger hunt sheets with you , small spooky treat for every completed sheet . Happy hunting ###

A beautiful Autumnal morning out in the sunshine , we went in search of the biggest pumpkin in shireoaks , and we found it wow !!!! We picked a carrot , apple and a pepper and talked about what it took for them to grow , we are definitely looking forward to tasting them later , then ended up in the woods for a run around and a play , climbing scrambling and slipping down the bank . A fab morning . The children were amazing as usual xx

World mental health day 10.10.22

Supporting families accessing food banks

“People are telling us they’re skipping meals so they can feed their children. That they are turning off essential appliances so they can afford internet access for their kids to do their homework.
“How can this be right in a society like ours? And yet food banks in our network tell us this is only set to get worse as their communities are pushed deeper into financial hardship. No one’s income should fall so dangerously low that they cannot afford to stay fed, warm and dry.”
Emma Revie, chief executive, The Trussell Trust
We are all increasingly aware that many in our society are struggling to meet the rising costs of living – including families with young children. The phrase “heat or eat” is often used to describe families juggling extreme demands on their income. Recent figures show that in the year 2021/2022, The Trussell Trust distributed more than 2.1 million emergency food parcels with more than one in three of those going to families with children.
Bearing these figures in mind, it is likely that for many early years settings across the country, there will be families attending who are in need of assistance. With our open, non- judgemental approach to building positive relationships with parents and carers, early years providers are ideally placed to support them to understand the help that is on offer.
Across the country, there is a network of food banks run by either local or national organisations – but if you’d never used one before, would you know where to start?
A food bank offers free emergency food and other essentials that have been donated by local shops, businesses and members of the public. Much of this food is tinned or dried but fresh food will sometimes be offered too. To tackle issues such as period poverty, toiletries are also included when needed. Often there are local notices publicising what types of items are needed displayed in shops, community centres, family or children’s centres and on social media. These donations are particularly vital at times of year when there is increased demand such as during the school holidays.

You usually need to be referred to a food bank before you can use it – for example, through the local Citizens Advice, family support workers from the local family or children’s centre, a GP surgery, Job Centre, care professionals or by a social worker. The circumstances that mean families are accessing food banks vary, but may include redundancy, unexpected bills, a delay or change to benefit payments, ill health and low income or debt.
The referrer will usually ask some questions so that they can ensure that the family is getting all the help they need. It may be that there is additional support that can be offered such as debt counselling services, benefit advice, financial advice around budgeting or support with mental health and wellbeing issues – all of which can support
the family in finding solutions.
Once a family has been referred, they will get a voucher and details about their local food bank. This voucher can then be exchanged for an emergency food parcel. Depending on what is available at each food bank, and their level of need, a family may be able to visit more than once.
Worryingly, food poverty is becoming a frightening reality for more and more families. Although it is an issue that is less hidden than it was, for many there is still a stigma attached accessing this support. This is why it is so important to have an open and understanding relationship with the families attending your settings, so that they can receive the help they need in a timely way, without judgement.
Useful organisations
• The Trussell Trust supports a nationwide network of food banks. They also offer a Find a Food Bank service.
• Citizens Advice may be able to help you to find independent food banks near you.
• The Independent Food Aid Network