Padnell Pre-School

☀️💦 As the weather heats up, we’ll be enjoying some water play outdoors!

Water play is a fun way to support children’s learning and development, including:
💧 Sensory exploration and calming experiences
💧 Early maths skills through filling and pouring
💧 Physical development and coordination
💧 Social skills such as sharing and turn-taking

Learning through play while keeping cool in the sunshine! 🪣🌈

🐛 Caterpillar Week at Padnell Pre-School 🦋

Our Very Hungry Caterpillar Story Sack is a much-loved resource here at Padnell Pre-School, and we have thoroughly enjoyed sharing this wonderful story with the children.

This week, we have been learning all about caterpillars and their life cycle. The children have been exploring how caterpillars grow and change, from tiny eggs to beautiful butterflies!

We are also very excited to share our very own caterpillars with you! Katherine has been taking wonderful care of them 😊, and over the coming weeks we hope to watch them grow before releasing them at Joey’s Field.

Be sure to ask your child how our caterpillars are doing and if they can tell you which stage of the life cycle they are at!

We can’t wait to see their journey from caterpillar to butterfly and share this special experience with our children and families. 🐛➡️🦋

✨ Preparing for Big School! ✨

We hope our children enjoyed their first visit at big school this week.

It can be an exciting yet daunting time as our children get ready for their next big adventure. At pre-school, we support children to develop the confidence and independence they need for a successful start to school. 💛

🎒 Self-Care
• Using the toilet independently
• Washing hands
• Dressing themselves
• Managing buttons and zips

🎒 Self-Help
• Opening lunchboxes and water bottles
• Putting on shoes
• Carrying and looking after their backpack

🎒 Communication & Language
• Listening carefully
• Sharing and taking turns
• Following simple instructions
• Expressing thoughts and feelings

🎒 Literacy & Maths
• Practising writing their name
• Recognising colours and shapes
• Counting through everyday play

Every small step helps build confidence, independence, and a positive start to school. 📚✨

🐝 Mini Beast Adventures at Padnell Pre-school 🐝

Following our children’s interests, we have been busy learning all about bees through a fun, hands-on sensory activity! 💛🖤

Did you know?

🐝 Bees have 5 eyes
🐝 A bee’s tongue can be as long as its entire body
🐝 Bees make delicious honey 🍯
🐝 They communicate with each other through a special waggle dance 💃

🍯 The Benefits of Honey

Honey is good for you within moderation it contains antioxidants, which help protect our bodies, and has natural antibacterial properties that have been valued for centuries.

🐝 How can we help protect our bees?

🌸 Plant native flowers that provide food for pollinators
🚫 Reduce the use of pesticides in gardens and outdoor spaces
🌿 Leave areas of grass and wildflowers to grow naturally, creating safe habitats for bees and other mini beasts

The children loved creating, investigating, and discovering more about these amazing little pollinators while learning about the important role they play in our environment. 🐝💛

Another beautiful day 💛

Wishing all our families a safe and happy half term — enjoy some well-deserved family time in the awaited sunshine ✨☀️

We can’t wait to welcome you all back on 1st June for a fun-packed final half term together! 🎉

📚✨ Library Book Reminder ✨📚

This is the last week for library books!
We will be collecting all books back in next week as we begin our focus on phonics learning. 🔤

We hope you have enjoyed sharing stories and reading together with your children at home. Thank you for supporting their love of reading! ❤️📖

Please remember to send library books back in next week. 😊

🐾 Meet Fern the Therapy Dog! 🐾

We’re so excited to welcome Fern to our pre-school! Fern is a 4-year-old Australian Labradoodle and a trained therapy dog. She’s hypoallergenic, meaning she doesn’t shed her hair, and she has a very gentle, friendly nature.

Fern will be visiting us on Friday afternoons. She’ll always be safely supervised—either on a lead or relaxing behind the gate in the office. Children will have the opportunity to visit her in small groups with Holly, where they can read her a story, give her a cuddle, or simply enjoy her calm company if they choose.

In the afternoon, Fern will also take a walk to Joey’s Field with Holly (on her lead, of course!). She’s especially good at helping carry sticks along the way 🐶🌿

Therapy dogs like Fern can:
✨ Provide comfort and emotional support
✨ Encourage positive behaviour
✨ Help develop speech and communication
✨ Build confidence and bring lots of joy

Having Fern visit will also help children learn how to safely interact with and respect animals, building confidence around dogs they may meet in the future.

Fern has already been bringing happiness to her 92-year-old Grandpa, who she spends time with each week—and we’re hopeful she’ll bring just as much joy to our pre-school community 💛

We can’t wait for you all to meet her!

We’ve been exploring Jack and the Beanstalk this half term 🌱🏰

Today the children enjoyed colouring their own castles and planting their very own beans and we will continue to do this throughout the week.
Next comes the exciting part… watching them grow!

Will they reach the castle in the clouds? ☁️✨
How tall do you think your beanstalk will grow?

We’re excited to share with you our cosy book corner 📚✨

A book corner is so much more than just a space for stories — it’s where little minds begin to grow.

🌿 It nurtures a love for reading
🌿 Supports communication, language and literacy development
🌿 Sparks imagination and creativity

A quiet corner, a good book, and endless possibilities 💭💛

Good luck to parents of school leavers of ’26 finding out your school places today! 🏫✏️😊
Please don’t forget to let us know your results—we’d love to hear your news!