Thank you so much to our parents and carers who came in both this morning and afternoon to wrap books for the children for Santa's grotto.

The chn 'bought' the classroom Christmas tree from the role play shop. They decided it cost £60. The tree was delivered to the homecorner where they decorated it. "It's £60" "Ouch the tree is spiky" "I got tree my house" "I got decorations on my tree" "I got big, big tree" "I'm the delivery guy"

The children helped build a bug hotel made entirely of reclaimed materials: wooden pallets, old wonky wooden construction blocks, egg boxes and cardboard tubes. They searched the garden for logs, sticks and leaves to stuff in the gaps. "I got sticks" "Will snails live here?" "Is that the bedroom?"

We are winners!! Names thought of by our children were picked as names for three of Veolia's fleet of waste food recycling trucks. Gizmo, TummyTron and Chewball will be collecting food waste from homes in Southwark. Well done to the children ♻️ 🚛 ♻️

Sarah and Claire, our teachers, spoke at the #NurseryWorldConference and shared different ways we support children at The Grove, now and for their futures. They spoke about knowing our community, developing the whole child, building an inclusive curriculum and putting sustainability into action.

The chn studied the work of British artist Frank Bowling. Born in British Guiana in 1934, he moved to London in 1953. He still has a working studio not far from The Grove. The chn watched a video by the Tate on his different techniques and worked together for a week to produce a large-scale artwork.

The chn explored pumpkins and did observational drawing/paintings. “I like the orange pumpkin because it’s orange on the outside and inside” “I like the yellow pumpkin because yellow is my favourite colour” “There’s pumpkins in Tesco” “I do the daddy pumpkin” “I wanna take my house” “I have pumpkin”

The children have been looking for signs of autumn in the Nursery garden. “Let’s find a fungi” “What’s a fungi?” “That’s a mushroom” “Me don’t touch it” “I saw a spider in my home” “Yesterday I saw a spider with ten legs” “I want a pink leaf” “This is a rainbow leaf” "I want to see fox" "Tiny seed"

The children loved trying on different clothes made with traditional African prints. “It fit me” “My mummy buy me skirt” “I like the pink skirt” “I wanna try the pink skirt” “It goes over your head. You look pretty” “I’m an orange ninja” “It’s got triangles on it” “My one has circles” #BHM

One of our parents came into Nursery to talk with the children about his traditional clothes from Nigeria. “My clothes are from Benin City, Edo. My brother in law is a tailor and made them. My wife has the same, but a dress. The clothes can be worn to church. My hat is a party hat, weddings" 1/2

The children enjoyed cornmeal porridge for their morning snack, made by Stacey. Stacey grew up in Jamaica and ate it as a child. The children tried Jamaican bun and cheese, eaten at Easter, for their afternoon snack. “I like the fruit cake” “I call it bun” “Mummy have bun at my house” #BHM 1/2

The chn read books about Black history and learnt about influential Black Britons. "Can I read this book?" "She's got black skin" "My mum has brown skin" "I play football" "He looks like Uncle Drew" "Mummy got long hair" "I can run fast" "I know Africa" "I eat jollof rice" "I like her" [boxer] #BHM

The children explored skin tone paints. They looked in a mirror and noticed their features before painting self-portraits. “I got pink skin” “I’m a black boy” “I’ve got brown skin. My daddy’s got brown skin. Mummy is white” "My hair is black" "I have brown skin on my face" "Yes, brown eyes" #BHM

Our recycling champs love taking classroom waste to the 'big bins' in the store room before everything is collected to go to the borough recycling centre. "I'm a superhero. I'm saving the planet" "This is recycling. It go in the big bin" "Let's carry it together" "Bye rubbish" "I'm recycling"

The children explored seasonal resources at carpet time. Some had to be handled carefully as they were a bit prickly! "It's a bit hairy" "It spiked me" "It's autumn" "Me want acorn" "Squirrels eat acorns" " I like pumpkin. I wanna take it my house" "I take the conker out of the shell for you"

Nursery is feeling very autumnal. We have beautiful seasonal resources for the children to explore alongside our core text 'Aaaarrgghh Spider'.

Siren Films have extended their free to watch offer on our short, but beautiful, film about sustainability at The Grove. Do share with friends and colleagues ...

We have been learning more about recycling during #recyclingweek Families enjoyed watching our beautiful film on sustainability featuring @laurahallain.bsky.social by @sirenfilms.bsky.social We read a range of books/info about looking after our planet. And children have been junk modelling.

The chn have been thinking about recycling waste for #recycleweek They brought recycling in from home to sort into different piles and took them to the nursery recycling bins. They continue to take care of nursery by picking up litter from the garden/classroom floor to recycle or put in the bin.

We are so happy to be able to share this short film about sustainability at The Grove Nursery. Thank you so much to @sirenfilms.bsky.social and @laurahallain.bsky.social for helping to make it happen. It was a privilege to be part of it. #recycleweek

This week is Recycle Week. To celebrate @sirenfilms.bsky.social released a film about sustainability with @laurahallain.bsky.social at @grovenursery.bsky.social I was moved by how Sarah and @eyfsclaire.bsky.social talk about how racial justice is part of it Beautiful. www.sirenfilms.co.uk

Following on from our learning on World Afro Day, one of the children brought in her wash day crown. We read'Ada's Wash Day' and talked about similarities. "Why is she crying?" "I go on my tablet when I get my hair done" "This is my crown" "I got a brush like that" "Aunty Angel braids my hair"

The children were fascinated to watch tree surgeons trim two big olive trees outside the Nursery. It was a great opportunity to chat & introduce lots of new vocabulary: motor, engine, strimmer, chipper, helmet, visor, ear defenders, shovel, canopy, pruning. "What you doing, bro?" "Why he up there?"

The Grove celebrated World Afro Day today. Parents came in to share how they take care of their children's hair - showing tools and products. Our staff talked about their hair too. One of our team, whose child attends our setting, showed the chn how she styles her daughter's hair after wash day 🧵

Thank you so much @sirenfilms.bsky.social and @laurahallain.bsky.social It was such a special experience to take part in this. We are so proud of our children, our families, our community. And we keep on learning together.

The children entered a competition to name one of Veoila's new vehicles that will collect waste food (to be recycled) from homes in the borough of Southwark. The children worked together to think of names and then they voted on the one they liked the best. GOBBLE TRUCK got the most votes 💚🚛

We are very excited to welcome the children back to Nursery today. The garden and classrooms are looking beautiful and we can't wait to play!

Good morning from our beautiful nursery garden. The sunflowers and pumpkins are loving the sunshine. It is our final week before the summer break. We are going to enjoy our last week together.

More children visited the rescue hens at Glengall Wharf Gardens. They fed the hens (seeds and kale), they held the hens gently and they searched for eggs in the coops. They also collected fallen, ripe fruit (apricots and greengages) from the orchard to feed to the hens. Such a rich experience 💛

Lots of scooters and bikes outside of Nursery. We love to see sustainable forms of transport.

The chn ate sweet bun at snack time. They had lots to say about it: "I want to eat all the bread" "I don't have bun. I have toast" "Nanny buys bun" "Would you like some bun?" "The bun has cherries in it" "Mummy buys bun. She make toast" "I wanna eat all the bun" "It's delicious" "I want bread"

The chn were talking about who was their friend and who was allowed in the home-corner. We had a discussion about the home -corner being for everyone. For all of our friends. We gave the home-corner a name: Friends House. The children made a sign and it went up over the entrance. Everyone welcome.

The children conrinue to take part in The Wildlife Trusts #30DaysWild. Week 2: Move like wildlife and get active outdoors. They tried wildlife yoga poses: eg heron, snake & frog. And they made treasure boxes out of old egg cartons, filling them with beautiful & interesting things they found.

The chn have been learning about Windrush. They looked at photos of families aboard Empire Windrush and a map of the world and the journey across the oceans that people made to come to Britain. Gloria, who helps look after our classrooms, talked with them about her journey, as a child, from Guyana.

The chn were thirsty this morning whilst playing in the garden. They picked some lemon mint from the garden to add to the jug of water. It soon turned into role play, with the children setting up a 'lemonade stall' and pouring drinks for each other. A sign was written that said "Have some water"

The children have been taking part in The Wildlife Trusts #30DaysWild! Week 1: Help Wildlife Where You Live The children made: Bird feeders with seeds and vegan suet. A mini wildlife pond for small creatures. Seed bombs to grow a mini meadow. A log pile for the insects.

This morning we picked strawberries growing in The Feel Good Garden. We washed them in the home corner & chopped them up for morning snack. "I can see a strawberry" "This one is really red" "Don't pick that one. It's not red yet" "Something has been eating that one" "Can I wash the strawberries?"

This morning we picked strawberries growing in The Feel Good Garden. We washed them in the home corner & chopped them up for morning snack. "I can see a strawberry" "This one is really red" "Don't pick that one. It's not red yet" "Something has been eating that one" "Can I wash the strawberries?"

Today was a special day. We invited all of our male role models in to join in with a scavenger hunt with their children. Twenty seven dads, grandads, uncles, big brothers and cousins joined in with the fun, searching for different objects all around nursery with their children. Absolutely splendid ❤️

It has been lovely listening to the children talk about their Eid celebrations. "First I went to the masjid. I pray with baba. I opened presents. I got a doctors kit, a new dress and I went to my grandmas house" "I prayed. I went to Chessington with my family. We had a party. Mummy cooked rice"

The chn have been inspired by the visits to see the rescue hens. They used dough to make eggs to go in egg cartons. They learnt what a 'dozen' and 'half a dozen' means. Deciding the eggs could be sold in the role play shop they wrote price tags for the eggs. "There's 12 eggs" "I'm allergic to eggs"

A group of children visited the rescue hens at Glengall Wharf Gardens. They fed them meal worms and kale. They held the hens gently. And they collected eggs from the nest boxes. They each took an egg home! It was a wonderful experience for them. More children will get to enjoy visiting the hens.

The children enjoy responsibilities such as helping keep their nursery clean and tidy. They washed up after morning snack and then swept the floors clean. "Can I try too?" "We need more water" "When you put soap into the water it makes foam" "Faster,faster" "I got a dishwasher" "My nanny washes up"

Good morning from our beautiful Nursery garden. Strawberries are ripening, Sweet Peas are blossoming, the potatoes and sunflowers are getting tall. We look forward to welcoming all of our children and families back to The Grove for Summer Term 2.

This week the children leaving The Grove to go to primary school in September went to Unicorn Theatre in London Bridge to watch ‘The Koala Who Could’. Seeing a live theatre show was a special experience, one that the children will remember. Thank you so much Unicorn Theatre for your generosity.

The weather was perfect to release our butterflies that emerged over the weekend. The children enjoyed observing them in their pavilion before we set them free in the garden. We used information books to find out more about butterflies and learnt new vocabulary such as proboscis and camouflage.

The children observed the caterpillars this week. They observed their behaviour and watched them grow. They estimated how big they would grow over night! “The caterpillars are climbing” “Mine made a letter C” “The look spiky” “I see their poo” “Is caterpillar boy or girl?” “It will be a butterfly”

Good morning from our beautiful nursery garden. Everything is in bloom! We are looking forward to welcoming the children back today. Our core text this fortnight is ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ and soon we will have our very own caterpillars to look after and observe their lifecycle.

The children used their observational skills to paint grape hyacinths that they planted in the autumn. They blended powder paints to create the shades they needed. “What flower is this?” “I like purple” “I need more water. The paint is too sticky” “I need green for the stem” “They look like grapes”

To mark the end of this half term, families came together to sing with the children. It was a joyful occasion singing our Spring core songs in the sunshine. The children made Hot Cross Buns for Easter. And, with the help of a parent & grandparent, made Nunor Handesh, an Eid snack from Bangladesh.