We had an amazing Olympics-themed Enrichment Week this week!
Highlights included our Sports Day, a Jungle-themed Multisports Festival, an amazing garden party, making and flying kites, making muffins, and joining in with the whole school on the big field for the closing ceremony on Friday afternoon. What a week to remember!!
Week Ending Friday 2nd July
We had a very exciting delivery at the start of this week. We received a letter from Farmer Jones to tell us how impressed he was with our work about farms. He sent us a special surprise- some duck eggs! It is our job for two weeks to look after these eggs and the duckling that hatch from them.
We wrote a letter back to Farmer Jones explaining that we will take very good care of the ducklings for him and this week, the children have done just that. They have learnt about the lifecycle of a duck, how to feed them and even helped them paddle in a pool.
We can’t wait to see what the ducklings get up to next week.
This week in Nursery we enjoyed observing our caterpillars and watching how they were beginning to change. We have learnt rhymes and songs about caterpillars as well as choreographing our own dance routine to show what happens in a caterpillar life cycle.
When we left school on Thursday evening, the caterpillars were all safely tucked up in their cocoons...We are looking forward to seeing what happens next week!
This week we have been learning all about farms. The children have used construction materials to make farm buildings and animal homes and explored a sensory farmyard tuff tray in forest area. They had super imaginations using large cardboard boxes to make tractors and role play being on a farm.
In groups, we read What the Ladybird Heard and discussed the different animals on the farm and what noises they make. The children then learned the names of the baby animals and matched them to the adults.
We have learnt that farmers don’t just look after animals but also crops like vegetables. The children explored lots of different vegetables by feeling, smelling and tasting them and even helped to carefully chop them up in the tuff tray.
We ended the week with a 'Freddie the farmer’ themed Yogabugs session in the dance studio which was very relaxing.
This week we made the most of the glorious weather. We spent time on the field, practicing the different events for our forthcoming Sports Day. We also needed to cool off after playing in the sun, so we made fruity ice lollies. We talked about sun safety and some of the lovely things that you can do in the summer, such as going on trips to the beach and having picnics. We read lots of books about the seaside and what you might see and do there. Our Purple Poppies had fun exploring instruments, making cloud dough, and looking at themselves in the mirrors as we explored feelings.
We have had a great last week before the half term. All of our activities have been rainbow themed in preparation for the Rainbow Run on Thursday.
We have done an exploding rainbow experiment, threaded pasta to make rainbow bracelets and ended to week with our fun rainbow run. The atmosphere during the run was brilliant with other classes cheering us on. The children ran the whole way and we were super proud of them all. They made some yummy rainbow fruit kebabs which were very refreshing after all that running!
What a magical week we have had in the nursery this week!
On Monday we arrived to find that we had been left surprise parcels. Inside the parcels were special books and letters from The Forest Fairies. They wrote to tell us that they had decided to stay in our forest and that they were looking forward to seeing us and receiving some letters and pictures from us.
We managed to spot signs of the fairies in the forest and then all week the fairies have left the children different letters, packages, and challenges. In return, the children have made some amazing presents, letters, and drawings for the fairies...we even made them some cakes!
On Friday, the fairies wrote to tell us that they were leaving to visit another school, but before they left, they sent us a special video which showed that they had even been inside our classroom!!
This week we have been Mathmagicians and have completed lots of Maths tasks.
We have focussed on a different skill each day such as reciting numbers in order to 10, matching numerals and quantity correctly and thinking about simple number problems. We have played lots of games and sang number songs to practise these skills.
We have also learnt about 2D shapes, making shape pictures and played a ‘What’s in the bag?’ game to learn about their properties.
This week I would love to celebrate the children's effort and enthusiasm that they have put into our new Talk For Writing story - The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
After reading the book at the start of the week the children began to learn the story using actions and prompts on a story map.
To build upon the children's knowledge of each of the characters and the sequence of the story, we practiced taking on roles and acting out the story outside using props. The children pretended to be the Baby Goat with a small, squeaky voice, the Big Billy Goat with his big horns and big, booming voice, and of course, they loved being the horrible troll, growling 'who's that trip trapping over my bridge?'
The children's enthusiasm for the story also emerged during their independent play as they began to role-play the story with their friends, building their own bridges and taking on the roles of the characters.
We have had such a fun week learning all about pets. Monday morning we discovered our role play area had been changed into a veterinary surgery and the children have loved being vets this week. They have taken very good care of the animals.
We had a special visitor at the start of the week- Nibbles the guinea pig. During circle time, we learnt about what she eats and where she sleeps, then all the children got to stroke Nibbles.
We looked at a lovely book called the Bug Hotel and then placed our new bug houses in our forest school area. We can't wait to see which bugs make a home there. The children then made their own bug houses using cut and stick materials.
Then at the end of the week the children were visited by Miss Foster's dog Buddy. Everyone was very excited when he arrived and even more so when they found out it is his 6th birthday! We talked about how to take care of a dog- feeding, walking, bathing, brushing. Some volunteers came up to brush Buddy and everyone watched the tricks he can do. We finished by singing happy birthday to Buddy and the children had the option to give him a treat.
We enjoyed the book Whatever Next, played in our own space station, made planet pictures using marbling inks, made a space picnic, made rockets, backpacks, and boosters, and watched real space rockets blast off to the moon.
We also loved meeting up with our friends after the Easter holidays and playing in the lovely sunny weather we have had this week.
We have decorated boiled eggs for a competition, sang Easter songs and decorated eggs using repeating patterns. We also played a great game in the forest where everyone picked a card that described something that they had to find. We found round, smelly, straight, orange and bendy things! The children were super at listening to what we had to look for then going off to find it!
At the end of the week the Easter Bunny left us a letter. It said that we had to follow the clues to find our Easter Eggs. It turns out the promise of an Easter egg turned everyone into super sleuths and we cracked all the clues in no time!
We hope you all have a wonderful Easter break everyone!
After some successful settling-in sessions, we have welcomed some new 'Poppies' into our two-year-old provision. They have enjoyed finding their feet amongst the existing children.
They have had fun playing outside on the bikes, playing in the forest, making playdough, getting messy with gloop, and learning to follow the routines of circle time. Well done to all of our youngest, but very fabulous nursery members!
This week, we have continued our Spring theme and started thinking about Easter. We have found out about the life cycle of a hen and linked to this, learnt the story 'Rosie's Walk' using Talk For Writing. All the children learnt the story and actions off by heart with the help of a story map. They then went on to draw their own story maps.
We celebrated St Patrick's Day on Thursday by finding out what people do in Ireland to celebrate this day, we listened to Irish music and even made shamrock badges to wear.
We ended the week with some Comic Relief themed activities. Take a look at our silly face pictures and red nose headbands!
What a great week - we genuinely had tears in our eyes as the children came together on Monday morning and sang our 'good morning' song for the first time in weeks! It has been so good to have them back, learning and playing together.
We have tried to make the most of the sun this week and have been outside at every opportunity getting some fresh spring air!
We have had a very festive week in nursery. We really enjoyed the Pantomime Sleeping Beauty earlier in the week. The children thought it was very funny seeing the staff dressed up as panto characters. We loved seeing the children dressed in their Christmas jumpers, t-shirts and dresses. We have also really enjoyed designing our own Christmas jumpers.
The Christmas party was fantastic on Thursday. We played lots of party games, danced our socks off and even had a special Christmas message on a video from Santa!
Nursery class have been absolutely amazing during this very different school term. I wish them all a very happy and restful Christmas!
Well, our fabulous, new outdoor waterproof sets arrived just in time!!
We spent a lot of time in our forest area this week road-testing them. Our favourite session was on Friday afternoon when we made 'jingle sticks' - the children found sticks and then carefully wound and tied bells onto them. We hope that the children can use them on Christmas Eve at 6 pm when local families will be stood outside their doors, jiggling bells to get into the Christmas spirit and let Santa know where they are. We finished off the afternoon with an alfresco hot chocolate...yum yum.
We have had a great week in nursery starting our count down to Christmas. We have read lots of Christmas themed stories and enjoyed doing activities linked to these like making our own snow friends from snow foam. The children have enjoyed writing their letters to Santa and we even got a visit from the elves who brought us some special treats. We have been learning the makaton for jingle bells with the help of Mr Tumble and also enjoyed learning the the first Christmas and using stick puppets to act this out.
We have had a magical week in the nursery this week. We have read books all about making spells and potions. We played with lots of different textures and colours in a potion lab outside. We have also made magical wands in our forest area with sticks that we found - we decorated them with wool, ribbons and materials. We even made a fruity magical wand treat for a snack.
This week, we have been celebrating World Nursery Rhyme week. We have had fun doing activities based on a different rhyme each day like wheel art for Wheel on the Bus. We also role played being bus drivers and passengers, counting how many people were left on the bus. We have jumped like speckled frogs and linked our phonics to this, learning about rhyming words. In groups, children have learnt and performed the British Sign Language for the rhyme ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’ and made their own mice to run up the clock. We have enjoyed circle games whilst singing ‘Old MacDonald Had A Farm’ and the children in nursery have been excellent doctors when looking after Miss Polly’s dolly in our role play doctor’s surgery.
This week we began our new Talk For Writing unit, based upon the nursery rhyme, Incy Wincy Spider. At the beginning of the week, the children used props to act out the rhyme and look closely at what all of the words in the rhyme meant. We then used a story map to draw the rhyme and the children took it in turns to be the teacher as they guided the rest of the group through the rhyme using the map. After that, we looked at the Makaton signs for the rhyme and attempted to learn to sign alongside our recital.
Remember remember the 5th of November... As it was Bonfire Night on Thursday, we have done lots of firework and bonfire themed activities this week.
We have talked about fire safety and as a treat, the nursery children made their own smores by toasting marshmallows on tealights. They all thought they were yummy!
The children have been firefighters in the outdoor area and put out the bonfire (chalk drawing) in our tuff tray using water spray bottles. Lots of lovely artwork has been done this week such as hand print bonfires and toilet roll tube firework paintings on black paper with bright paints. We have watched video clips of fireworks which helped us make the noises of fireworks when learning the ‘Fireworks’ poem. We even introduced a movement for each firework. The week was finished off nicely in our forest school area making autumn crowns. I'm sure you'll agree that the children looked fantastic wearing them.
To end our first half term we had lots of Autumnal and Halloween fun!
We went outside and collected leaves and added them to our autumn baskets. We made pictures and models using the leaves. We also looked at acorns and had a go at planting them in our forest area.
After reading '5 Little Pumpkins' we used our senses to look, touch and smell whole and chopped up pumpkins. The children made some wonderful pumpkin face pictures.
The children were also showing an interest in pretending to be doctors so we got the doctors sets out and turned the nursery into a makeshift hospital!
This week we have been learning all about fairy tales. Our nursery children have become storytellers and have used puppets and role play to retell The Gingerbread Man, The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks.
We have put the gingerbread man’s buttons back on him in our maths activity using 1:1 number correspondence. We also ordered the sizes of the three bear’s belongings in our Goldilocks maths activity.
After listening to The Three Little Pigs, we looked at a selection of items and ask children to predict which will blow away. They sorted them into the two columns and used a fan to test which materials are best.
What a lovely, busy week. The newer children have settled in so well and are becoming more confident in their surroundings. This week the children have learned more about themselves as they drew around their friends and named parts of the body. We also started our Squiggle Whilst You Wiggle early writing program which helps the children practice gross motor movements that will help them mark make. The children also enjoyed bathing the babies, exploring gloop, building structures, and climbing and balancing on the new ladders.
Well, what a lovely week that was - we had the pleasure of our new September cohort starting with us this week after some little visits last week. They have settled in so well and it is going to be so exciting to find out more about them and their personalities in the coming days.
This week we had fun in the forest, playing and exploring and having a go at some bark rubbings with crayons. We enjoyed small group times; listening to stories, having snacks, and singing nursery rhymes with the stretchy lycra and puppets. We also had some tasty fun; trying lots of lovely exotic fruits - some were more popular than others!
More than anything though; we just loved seeing all the new children find their feet and the older children were there to help them all the way.
Oor arrrrr me harties! ☠ We have had a fun filled week learning all about pirates.
We started off the week with the story Pirate Pete and dressed up with Pirate props. The children enjoyed investigating pirate/ beach bits and bobs in the tuff tray- drift wood, shells, stones.
We have been learning to sing the song 5 Little Pirates with props and children were able count how many pirates are left each time. Later in the week we sang this song using the parachute and one child jumped off ‘the ship’ each time.
Our favourite activity this week has been our pirate treasure hunt. We looked at a treasure map and talked about what it could be. We jumped on board our pirate ship and went exploring to find the buried treasure. Nursery used their map of the forest school area to locate the golden coins and were amazed at how much treasure they found.
We are so proud of our nursery children and how well they have settled back into their routine over the past two weeks. So much so that we have made them all stars of the week this week!
This week we welcomed back our older children and they all settled back in so easily...like they had never been away!
We spent as much time as possible outside in the sunshine and the children loved digging for worms, playing in the mud kitchen, and climbing trees. We also played games altogether with the big parachute.
It has just been so lovely to see how excited the children were about coming back to school and we have loved having them back.
1.1. We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of the users of our services. Our services include and will hereby be referred to as 'Our Services' (our websites used to promote eSchools services and tutorial resources, specifically
https://www.eschools.co.uk
and https://academy.eschools.co.uk), 'School Websites' ( designed by eSchools and populated by individual schools themselves) and 'Platforms' (individual online services that provide teachers, learners, parents and governors with information, tools and resources) as well as our smartphone app. This policy sets out how we will treat your personal information across these services.
2. Collecting personal information on Our Services
2.1 We may process or temporarily store the following kinds of personal information:
information about your computer and about your visits to and use of Our Services (including but not limited to, your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths)
information contained in or relating to any communications that you send to us or send through our website (including, the communication content) via online forms
any other personal information that you choose to send to us via online forms
manually inputted details of users added to the platform
details of users as integrated by our providers at Wonde via your MIS (if applicable to your package). For further information on integrated data please see our Data Sharing Agreement
2.2 Before you disclose to us the personal information of another person, you must obtain that person's consent to both the disclosure and the processing of that personal information in accordance with the terms of this policy.
2.3 eSchools websites may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us and to enrich your user experience. You can adapt your cookie preferences, although please note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing. For further information on how you can manage and set your cookie preferences, please see our Cookie Policy.
2.4 Information submitted through the online contact form on a school website is processed via eSchools, and passed directly to the school in question. This data is held by eSchools for 30 days (or in the case of failed messages, 90 days) before deletion. Once passed to the school this data is held by them and subject to that school’s privacy policy.
2.5 Schools are also able to add analytics tools and can therefore gather information on visits to and use of their website (including but not limited to, IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths). Individual visitors can manage their preferences through cookie preferences, as mentioned in 2.4.
2.6 Session IP addresses are retained to monitor and safeguard against improper usage of our services.
2.7 Content on the platform (added by staff, governors and students) and website content is added directly by School Users. This information is only used for to display on the platform in the way the user intends and is not used for any other purposes by eSchools. At a time when a school ceases to use our services the content is removed within a 14 day period as detailed in our agreement with the school.
2.8 Some of our services require the school to provide access to information they require for use with those services. For example a school using our communication tool, Letters Home, which enables schools to contact parents by email regarding important school information. In this situation a school will provide eSchools with access to the email address(es) they wish to send their communication to. Schools have granular access to ensure only the required data is shared and accessed by eSchools. The data is frequently updated to ensure that eSchools only retains up-to-date data.
3. Using your personal information
3.1. We may use your personal information to:
administer our services
enable your use of our services
troubleshoot and problem solve
send you email notifications that you have specifically requested. You can manage your preferences at anytime through your eSchools dashboard.
keep our services secure, safeguard against improper use of our services and prevent fraud.
3.1.1. For the purposes of providing you access to your eSchools platform and app (ie. forgotten password/login)
3.1.2. By registering for updates, School Staff/Governors are able to subscribe to our regular communications.
3.1.3. We will use any contact details supplied in an online form for the purposes explicitly detailed in said form. For example troubleshooting and problem solving or the provision of live online training as explicitly requested by you, the user.
3.2. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
3.3. eSchools understands our obligation to be mindful about the data we process and only process data that is required to fulfil our obligations in providing our services; to a school who enters into an agreement to use our services and you, the user.
3.4. We will not pass your information to third parties; except for the purpose of fulfilling our services to a school who enters into an agreement to use our services and you, the user or where we are required to do so by law.
4. Disclosing personal information
4.1 We may disclose your personal information to any of our employees, officers, insurers, professional advisers, agents, suppliers or subcontractors insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.
4.2 We may disclose your personal information:
to the extent that we are required to do so by law;
in connection with any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings;
in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk);
to any person who we reasonably believe may apply to a court or other competent authority for disclosure of that personal information where, in our reasonable opinion, such court or authority would be reasonably likely to order disclosure of that personal information;
to the school in the case of improper use on the platform by individuals
4.3 Except as provided in this policy, we will not provide your personal information to third parties.
5. International data transfers
5.1. Data directly collected by eSchools may be stored and processed in and transferred between any of the countries in which we operate in order to enable us to use the information in accordance with this policy. Any third party we use is within the EEA or they hold an existing EU SCC, as in line with requirements under the GDPR. No other third party are permitted to access the school’s data.
5.2. Personal information that an individual adds to our websites may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use or misuse of such information by others.
6. Retaining personal information
6.1. This section sets out our data retention policies and procedures, which are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention and deletion of personal information.
6.2. Personal information that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.
6.3. Data collected through analytic cookies will be retained for 26 months. Individual visitors can adapt the data collected through cookie preferences, as mentioned in 2.4.
6.4. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Section 6, we will retain documents (including electronic documents) containing personal data:
To the extent that we are required to do so by law;
If we believe that the documents may be relevant to any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings; and
In order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk). Data will no longer be kept after the termination of the contract with the school.
7. Security of your personal information
7.1. We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information.
7.2. We will store all the personal information you provide on our secure (password- and firewall-protected) servers. The web service we employ has a broad range of accreditations and certifications and the data centres used ensure the data stays within the EEA.
7.3. eSchools use a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) which creates a secure connection and uses two keys to encrypt data in transit. Despite this, you acknowledge that the transmission of information over the internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data.
8. Amendments
8.1. We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.
8.2. You should check this page regularly to ensure you are aware of any changes to this policy.
9. Your rights
9.1. You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you.
9.2. We may withhold personal information that you request to the extent permitted by law.
9.3. You may change your cookie preferences at any time as referenced in 2.4.
9.4. School Staff/Governors who subscribe to our Newsletter may manage their preferences at any time through their eSchools dashboard.
10. Third party websites
10.1 Our websites may include hyperlinks to, and details of, third party websites. We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy policies and practices of third parties.
11. Updating information
We will only provide communication about the eSchools platform to school staff/governors who can manage their preferences at any time through their eSchools dashboard.
Part 2: Cookie Policy
Last Edited: 22nd April 2021
This Cookie Policy explains how eSchools use cookies and similar technologies in our Services. It explains what these technologies are and why we use them, as well as your rights to control their use.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies are widely used by online service providers in order to (for example) make their websites or services work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information.
Cookies set by the website owner or service provider (in this case, eSchools) are called “first party cookies”. Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called “third party cookies”. Third party cookies enable third party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website or service you are using (such as advertising, interactive content and analytics). The third parties that set these third party cookies can recognise your computer both when it visits the website or service in question and also when it visits certain other websites or services.
Why do we use cookies and other tracking technologies?
We use first party and third party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our Services to operate, and we refer to these as “essential” cookies. Other cookies enable us and the third parties we work with to track and target the interests of visitors to our Services, and we refer to these as “advertising” or “analytical” cookies. For example, the embedding of YouTube and Vimeo videos, as added by individual schools, will require “advertising” cookies to be enabled in order to successfully play them. Schools that, for example, opt to track visitor data using Google Analytics will require “analytical” cookies to be enabled in order to do so. These third party cookies are used to tailor content and information that we may send or display to you and otherwise personalise your experience while interacting with our Services and to otherwise improve the functionality of the Services we provide. We also enable schools to employ cookies and similar tracking technologies in connection with their use of our Services in order to allow them to track visitors to and interactions with their school website.
How eSchools Uses Cookies
eSchools websites may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us and to enrich your user experience. The cookies differ depending on the information. You can adapt your cookie preferences, although please note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
User Embedded Content
Our Services allows schools to embed code which may potentially contain cookies. Please note embedded content, if displayed on one of our websites, has been added by the school and not by eSchools. The embedded content added by the school may require additional cookies or tracking technologies to be enabled in order to function.
How can I control cookies?
You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. Be aware that cookie preferences are set on a per device basis; therefore you may need to set your preferences on each device you use.
Initial cookie pop-up banner: You can exercise preferences about what cookies are served on our Websites by selecting your preference from this modal which appears upon visiting an eSchools website/login screen and dashboard. You can also change your cookie preferences by clicking on the link on the footer of any page. The banner will reappear annually (August 31st to coincide with the academic year) to confirm your settings.
Browser Controls: You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our Websites though your access to some functionality and areas of our Websites may be restricted. As the means by which you can refuse cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser-to-browser, you should visit your browser’s help menu for more information.
Disabling Most Interest Based Advertising: Most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of Interest Based Advertising. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing. If you would like to find out more information, please visit aboutads.info/choices or youronlinechoices.com.
Mobile Advertising: You can opt out of having your mobile advertising identifiers used for certain types of Interest Based Advertising, by accessing the settings on your Apple or Android mobile device and following the most recent published instructions. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
How often will you update this Cookie Statement?
We may update this Cookie Statement from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. Please therefore re-visit this Cookie Statement regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies. The date at the bottom of this Cookie Statement indicates when it was last updated.
Where can I get further information?
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please email us at support@.eschools.co.uk.