YMCA City Gateway Day Nursery

As its Well-being Wednesday and our staff team are working so hard to make sure the children stay protected, cool, hydrated but still learning and having fun through this heatwave 🥵

Sarah Lee decided to pop out and treat all staff to some nice cold drinks, sweet treats and a ice cream of their choice🍦

We appreciate everything you do, every single day!!

Would you please join me in giving a shout out to the City Gateway team 🎉

Weather Reminder ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

A weather warning has been issued for temperatures this week.

Please ensure your child
* Wears loose, cool clothing
* Brings sun cream to nursery so staff can reapply it throughout the day
* Brings a sun hat

We will be regularly checking the UV index and the temperature when using the outdoor provision. If the UV index and temperatures become too high, children will remain indoors and alternative physical activities will be provided.

We will ensure children stay hydrated by offering regular cold drinks and refreshments throughout the day.

Thank you for your support, and enjoy the sunshine! ☀️

Thrive Approach is a dynamic, developmental, trauma-sensitive approach meeting the emotional and social needs of all children.

As Sarah Lee and Abby have now officially completed the training and are now qualified Thrive Practitioners, they have supported the Toddler Room in creating a 'Thrive Den'. This is a safe space where the children can go and self regulate but also use the resources added to let practitioner how they are feeling and how they can best support the children.

We have added sensory bottles, emotion books and clouds, colour monster resources and also family photos to give them a sense of belonging and help them feel safe and secure.

We will continue to use Thrive in all rooms by creating spaces where children can feel free to express how they are feeling 🌈

As the topic is now 'Marvellous Me', this gives us a chance to look back at everything we have learnt over the academic year. The Toddler room applied the Christian ethos into their curriculum planning, as the children had shown a particular interest in Noah's Ark. We learnt about the variety of animals that God had created and the importance of looking after them so that they are still here in the future. The story we used is called Noah and the Very Big Boat. The children were very excited to bring the book to life with the Noah's Ark provocation set up. 🌊🐾🪽

At the end of last term, we closed out the focus 'My future', by talking about 'Handa's Surprise' and looking at where different tropical fruits grow, as well as the different places people and animals live.

Today, we explored a 'Handa's Surprise' tuff tray filled with the fruits and animals we have read about in the book. In key groups, the preschool children retold aspects they remembered from the book while finding the corresponding fruits or animals. To work on our maths skills, we linked this with counting out the fruits we saw in the tray and finding the correct numbered card to match the number of fruits.

🍌🍍🥭🥝🥥🍋‍🟩

Strong foundations for little learners to thrive. In 2025, 124 pre-school children received care and education through YMCA.

Discover your closest YMCA Nursery: ymcabc.org.uk/nurseries

Did you know our cycling sessions are back in West Brom?

Every Tuesday & Wednesday we're running outdoor sessions to help you build your skills and confidence as a cyclist. Every Wednesday our club meets at YMCA West Brom and heads out for a leisurely ride around Sandwell Valley Park - the whole team stays together, nobody gets left behind!

The best part, it's all free! And anyone can join, no matter your ability - you must be 16 or over.

For more information DM us or contact Luke Ridout at 0121 524 1950 or [email protected]

The Toddler's have been exploring the artist Claude Monet by completing large scale mark making using natural resources from the garden!🌿🌷🌾🍁🍂🪾