At Rachel Keeling Nursery School we know children need lots of time to explore, repeat, make mistakes, find solutions, think, talk, work together and master skills.
As a result our whole environment is set up to facilitate this: core experiences are accessible long term for children, staff are stable and sustain strands of learning in areas on a three week cycle and children are trusted and encouraged to have a go and try something new without pressure.

Over the past three weeks, children have been honing skills they have been developing across the year, using one handed tools to design, plan and make.
Children were invited to think about what they would like to make: they used books and images to inspire them and help create ideas.
Children were then encouraged to talk and mark make about their plans.
They selected materials and organised themselves at the workbench. 
Children were supported to use one handed tools such as the glue gun and saw.
Children returned to paint, embellish and add to their creations: some children made models, others created paintings and wall hangings. 
In the environment, children were able to organise themselves and leave their models safely, in the knowledge they would be respected by children and staff. 

Whilst the end products are incredible, the learning involved in the journey was key.

At home, you could use recyclable materials to create models and props for play. 

At Rachel Keeling we love coming together to mark the festivals of the year.
This week children have been learning about parts of the Easter Story and how some people celebrate Easter around the world.
Children explored some Christian artefacts, information and story books. 
Some children listened to the Easter Story and talked about Jesus and his friends having a supper together (this was called The Last Supper).

Staff and children planned a supper in the garden for all our friends. 
Children developed skill and confidence using one handed tools to prepare the fruit to create our juice for the shared supper. 
They followed a recipe and used the blender to juice the watermelon, grapes and strawberries. 
Children shared fresh bread and the juice in the garden with their friends. They shared talk about the sunshine and spring flowers they could see.
​Some children later reflected on the Easter Story, recalling parts they remembered, making marks and sharing talk.
As they described their pictures children added:

"Jesus was helping children, he died"
"There's Jesus. I got a cross. Jesus lie down"
"Jesus died and he alive again"
"This was not a kind person. This is a baddie"

Today we enjoyed Easter Egg Hunts - the Easter Bunny delivered some eggs to the garden which the children were able to swap for chocolate eggs.
Enjoy the Easter holidays with your loved ones after a busy term. Children come back to school on 23 April, 2025.
The forecast looks lovely and warm: Meath Gardens and Victoria Park are beautiful to take a picnic to and have some fresh air. 

We celebrated Eid together in school this week: children had been sharing theirs news about Eid clothes and Eid haircuts. 
Families so kindly donated fruit and children used one handed tools to prepare lots of fruit for our platters, creating patterns and talking about their favourite fruit. 
Some children went shopping to buy ingredients for an egg-free Eid cake. they wrote lists, counted money and selected ingredients. 
They then followed a recipe and cooperated with each other to take turns and the cake was delicious!

In the garden, children danced and shared the food: some children had worn their Eid outfits! Everyone enjoyed themselves together in the sunshine. 

Eid Mubarak if you celebrated. 

We cycle all year round with our children but now that spring has arrived, we have an extra focus on children developing their skills on the balance bikes.

Sam supported a group with bike maintenance. Children cleaned the bikes and oiled the chains, they checked the tyres and Sam checked the seats were the right height. They also checked the helmets were not damaged by looking closely at them. 
Once the balance bikes were ready, children fitted their helmets and an adult checked they were safe (it is so important children wear helmets and develop positive cycling behaviours).
Children have been supported to develop their balance and skill in scooting, coasting and navigating space. 
For some children it was also about developing confidence as well. 

Many children are now able to use the balance bike with skill and are mastering their skills before they move onto our pedal bikes. 

Remember you can borrow a bike and helmet over the weekend.
You can visit the VeloPark at Stratford: click here. 
Also, ladies look out for Cycle Sisters in the local area: a wonderful charity who teach Muslim women to cycle. Click here for more. 

The garden has been a hive of activity as the weather improves. Lots of cycling, challenging climbing and physical games. 
We also know it is important to have periods and areas of calm.
Children were supported to create beautiful, sensory, scent bags.

Firstly they walked around the garden, noticing the changes and explored the many herbs we have growing. They touched them and smelled them. They learned their names:
Lavender
Rosemary
Thyme
Mint 
Lemon Balm

They developed their fine motor skills using one handed tools such as  scissors to cut trimmings of the herbs and gathered them in baskets.
They also had cinnamon sticks, cloves and dried lemon which were brought in from home. 

Children handled them, using their senses - smelling them and talking about how they felt and smelt.
Children made choices and selected some of the herbs and wrapped them in some recycled bags which they tied up. 
Children mark made their names and poppe them somewhere safe to take home. 

How do you and your family relax? It is so important we show children how to rest intentionally in their busy lives.

At Rachel Keeling we involve the children in the life of the nursery as much as possible: making decisions, setting up, tidying away, giving messages and caring for our school. We know that even our youngest friends are capable of all of these things.

In Rainbow Room staff realised we needed a new table cloth for snack time. 
Children wrote lists and talked about what they were going to buy in our local shop Nansons. 
They collected the shopping backpacks and their coats and went to the office to ask for money from the safe!
They carefully observed a crisp £10 note: looking at the numbers. That went into their purse and they set off. 

As our two year olds are still exploring, Lize took one child at a time. They carefully crossed the road and saw cars and buses on the way.
They went to the shop and looked at all the table cloths: the talked about the patterns and chose a very light one.
They paid and folded it into a reusable shopping bag (it was too big for the backpack!) The shopkeeper was very friendly.

They returned to school to show everyone what they had bought. They needed to give the change back to the office and signed the petty cash invoice, mark making their name. 

Going to the shop and making choices is a great experience for children. See if you can get your child involved in your shopping at home. 

We know how important sensory play is for us all to explore our senses (touch, see, smell, taste and hear).
Children helped to created a gloopy tray of cornflour with an adult. They poured the dry cornflour into the tray and selected containers to transport the water from the tap. They added water carefully, moving steadily and mixed it using their hands. Children explored how it felt and talked about how it felt. . 
Some children were not keen to touch but with encouragement, they dipped their fingers in!
Children noticed the more water they added, the more runny the mixture became.
Many children sustained their explorative play for a long period, engrossed in the exploration alongside friends. 
We know how important exploring and developing hand-eye coordination is: you can see the children's brains working hard in some of these photographs.

It's a really easy and affordable way to explore with your senses at home. You can buy a packet of cornflour at local shops. Just add water!
Just be aware it is MESSY play so wear some old clothes and put a cloth or newspaper down: or once the weather improves, try it outdoors!

The continuation of our learning about lunar New Year was further developed through music and movement. 

Children used photographs in books to research how people celebrate Lunar New Year.
We looked especially at Ribbon Dancing and the Lion Dance. 
Children selected materials and collaboratively created a lion for their Lion Dance. They made marks on fabric using fabric pens.
Some children created their own ribbons using tissue paper and lolly sticks. They used a range of one handed tools and developed their joining skills.

We discovered some music on YouTube and accompanied that with cymbals and bells.
Children paraded together with staff around the garden, moving their bodies and taking it in turns to be under the Lion's head and body!

We take our dance and musical appreciation at Rachel Keeling very seriously! Welcome the year of the snake!!!