Head of School's message
It is that time of year... We are delighted to share some of the special Christmas experiences planned for the children at Heath Lane.
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We have already enjoyed a visiting pantomime performance of Red Riding Hood, and the children will shortly be visiting South Hill Primary School to watch their Nativity. We will also be welcoming a choir from Lockers Park to sing Christmas carols in nursery.
On Thursday 11th December, we warmly invite you and your family to our Winter Lights Festival from 4.00–5.00pm, where you can explore different festive celebrations across the nursery and enjoy biscuits, hot chocolate and marshmallows together.
In the final two weeks of term, children are welcome to wear something festive each day, and we will be running a Christmas jumper/top swap shop using donations left on the clothing rail in the foyer.
Our children have also created decorations for our sponsored tree at St John’s Church Christmas Tree Festival (12th–16th December); do visit if you can and see if your child can spot their artwork.
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Please note that the last day of the Autumn term is Friday 19th December, when nursery will close at 1.00pm
Dates coming up:
​Please see the Christmas at Heath Lane letter attached to your email.
Thursday 11th December - "Winter Lights Festival" from 4pm to 5pm. Save the date! - more information to follow.
Friday 19th December - Last day of term and the Nursery will be closing at 1pm.
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Monday 5th January - Stay and Play 1.30pm to 3pm, all families welcome.​
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Tuesday 6th January - Nursery open.​​​​
Reminders:
​Please be considerate when parking as we have had instances recently of parents/carers blocking the access to the Staff Car Park which has prevented NHS staff from getting to appointments on time.
The deadline for on-time Primary School Applications is 15 January 2026.
​​​Join our nursery's social media pages to stay connected.
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Book & Rhyme of the week
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Our Structured Stories Book is "The Gruffalo" by Julia Donaldson.
Next week the story will move into the imitation phase of Structured Stories, where children will focus on the story structure identifying the beginning, middle and end. This will involve activities such as retelling the story with actions, creating story maps and performing the text aloud. This phase is to provide a solid foundation through understanding and practising the language patterns and structure of the text.
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Our key vocabulary of the text is "terrible", "tusk", "sneak", "knobbly", "roasted" and "poisonous". Please see below link to story;
Please see below a link to the story
The Gruffalo - Animated Read Aloud Book
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Next week's Rhyme of the week is going to be "I am the Music Man".
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This Rhyme will support the children with Phonics, specifically Rhythm and Percussion.
Language of the week
We are lucky to have a rich and diverse community with lots of different languages. Our language of the week is Bengali, which is spoken by some of our children and their families.
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Please find below links of how to say "Hello" and "Goodbye" in Bengali. You can practise with your child/ren at home.
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How to say " Hello " in Bengali languages
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How to say “goodbye” in Bengali | How to speak “goodbye” in Bengali
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Learning at home
This week in Nursery we have been discussing the different habitats of animals and where they live.
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Whilst you are out and about what different types of habitat can you see?
Healthy me, Healthy world
This week at nursery we focused on healthy eating and cooking. The children enjoyed making Roasted Fox (a colourful mix of roasted vegetables), Scrambled Snake (scrambled egg), and a warm and comforting Gruffalo apple crumble.
Our vegetable of the week was beetroot, which the children were curious about, even if it wasn’t the most popular choice!
As always, a variety of healthy snacks were available throughout the week to keep everyone fuelled and happy.
Success story of the week
"Little Red Riding Hood" Pantomime
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This week, the children were captivated by a special visit from a travelling pantomime, who brought the story of "Little Red Riding Hood" to life.
The performance was wonderfully interactive, with the children eagerly joining in, singing, and dancing along. It was a joyful experience that not only sparked their imaginations but also encouraged their confidence to participate, perform, and share in the fun with their friends.
