Preschool

14th September 2026

Owl Room

We are so proud of how the children have settled into Owl Room this term! It has been lovely to see how much their confidence has grown as they become familiar with their new surroundings, routines and friendships.

The children have been getting used to their new preschool routines, including self- registration, circle time and group activities. We have been encouraging the children to become more independent and confident in making choices, joining in with activities and taking responsibility for themselves and their environment.

The children have had lots of opportunities to explore both indoors and outdoors. They have particularly enjoyed our PE sessions in the hall, where they have been developing their physical skills, confidence and ability to follow instructions.

Our outdoor area has also been a place for exploration and discovery. The children have enjoyed investigating the sand and water, as well as discovering our new fairy garden. These experiences encourage the children to use their imagination, develop their language and communication skills and explore the world around them.

The new music area has been a great success too! The children have had lots of fun experimenting with our collection of pots, pans and other musical objects, discovering how they can create different loud and quiet sounds and rhythms.

Our topic this term is “All About Me”, and the children have been exploring who they are, what makes them special and the people and places that are important to them.

The children have been creating their own self-portraits, using a range of natural and creative resources including wool and card. This has given them the opportunity to think carefully about their own features while developing their creativity, fine motor skills and ability to express themselves.

We have also been exploring homes and houses, with the children enjoying the opportunity to design and create their own houses. This has encouraged lots of imaginative ideas and conversations about where they live, who lives with them and what makes a house feel like home.

It has been wonderful to see the children becoming more confident, independent and curious at the beginning of the term. We are very proud of all their achievements and look forward to seeing them continue to learn, explore and grow together.

Duckling Room

We are so proud of how wonderfully the children have settled into Duckling Room. It has been lovely to watch them become familiar with their new surroundings, learn our preschool routines and begin to build new friendships.

During the term, we have been supporting the children as they become confident with routines such as circle time, snack time and group activities. The children are beginning to understand what happens throughout their preschool day, and it has been lovely to see their confidence grow as they explore their new environment and make new friends.

We are also encouraging the children to develop their independence and confidence within preschool. We celebrate their little achievements, whether it is having a go at something new, helping to tidy away, making choices during play or joining in with a group activity.

Our topic this term is called “Ourselves”, this is about their families and the people who are important to them, feelings, our bodies, and the things that we like.

During our key group sessions, we have enjoyed looking at family photographs together. It has been lovely to see the children pointing out familiar faces and sharing their thoughts and experiences. These conversations have provided wonderful opportunities for the children to develop their language and communication skills, while helping them to feel valued and listened to.

The children have also enjoyed a variety of creative and sensory experiences, including making our little ducks using finger painting. They have explored different textures and materials while developing their fine motor skills and creativity.

We have enjoyed sharing stories together, encouraging the children to listen, join in with repeated words and develop a love of books. Also, the children had great fun exploring musical instruments, making sounds, singing songs and moving to music.

It has been a lovely beginning of term, and we are so pleased with the progress each child is making. We look forward to continuing to support their learning, confidence, independence and friendships as they grow and develop throughout the year.

6th July 2026

Keeping cool in preschool! The recent warm weather has brought lots of exciting opportunities for outdoor learning and play across both Preschool Rooms. To help everyone stay cool and comfortable, the children have enjoyed a variety of water-based activities throughout the week. From water trays and pouring stations to splashing games and sensory water tuff trays, the children have had great fun exploring, experimenting, and working together. These activities have supported the development of fine motor skills, problem-solving, communication, and cooperative play while providing a refreshing way to enjoy the sunshine. We also introduced ice play, where the children investigated melting ice, explored different textures and temperatures, and used tools to discover hidden objects frozen inside. This sparked lots of curiosity, conversation, and scientific thinking as the children observed how the ice changed in the sunshine.

We have been encouraging the children to take regular drinks of water, seek shade when needed, and learn about the importance of staying safe in hot weather. It has been wonderful to see the children confidently helping to fill containers, share resources, and engage in imaginative water play with their friends.

Thank you for continuing to send your children with sun hats and suitable clothing. We look forward to making the most of the summer weather while keeping everyone safe, happy, and hydrated!

8th June 2026

This week in Owl Class, the children have been enjoying our new topic, "People Who Help Us." They have been learning about the important roles that different people play in our community, including doctors, nurses, firefighters, police officers, and many others. The children have been enthusiastic during discussions and activities, sharing their own experiences and ideas about how these people help us every day.

We are also excited that it has been the Duckling Room's turn to take part in Forest School sessions. The children have thoroughly enjoyed spending time outdoors, exploring the natural environment, building confidence, and developing their teamwork skills through a variety of fun and engaging activities. It has been wonderful to see their excitement and curiosity as they learn through hands-on experiences in nature.

We look forward to continuing our learning and sharing more exciting experiences with you over the coming weeks!

18th May 2026

Our Little ducklings have been loving our new outdoor equipment. The cascading water fountain has been a huge hit, and they are fascinated watching the water filter down through the bamboo tubes before collecting at the bottom. There has been lots of filling and emptying, pouring, and exploring as the children investigate how the water moves.

The new climbing frame has also proved very popular. The children have been enjoying the different climbing options, as well as using the den for imaginative play and zooming down the slide. It has been wonderful to see their confidence, coordination, and teamwork developing through their outdoor play experiences. Now we just need the sunshine.....

16th March 2026

Preschool

Following on from it’s success last year, this week the preschool children were lucky enough to attend a session with Little City!

This is an engaging role play experience where children can explore and act out a variety of real life scenarios and ‘be’ grown ups, where nothing is off limits.

The children had the opportunity to dress up and take on different roles, such as hairdresser, café worker, fire fighter, doctor, supermarket assistant and many more. It was lovely to see their imaginations come alive as they threw themselves wholeheartedly into every occupation.

We would like to extend a big thank you to The Friends of Prestwood Infant School for funding this event, also to our parent helpers for supporting the children and especially to Chloe for hosting the session.

The children and adults had a wonderful time and are already looking forward to hosting this event again next year.

2nd March 2026

This half term in Owl room, our theme is Spring and growing. The children have been exploring seeds, beans, and peas, learning about want plants need to grow. We are very excited to begin planting seeds in our new outside planter and watching them grow and change over the coming weeks. This hands on experience will help the children understand the life cycle of plants in a fun and meaningful way.

In Duckling room, the theme is The Farm. The children have been getting creative by painting a wonderful barn and a variety of farm animals. They are enjoying talking about farm animals and the noises they make.

Both rooms have been making the most of the lovely weather, spending lots of time outdoors in the sunshine.

This week is Communication Week, and across both preschool rooms we have been taking part in a range of fun, language rich activities, from storytelling, singing, and role play and learning Makaton, which the children are really enjoying.

9th February 2026

This week in the Duckling Room, we have been exploring colour. The children have enjoyed lots of colour mixing creative activities, experimenting with different shades and discovering what happens when colours are combined. They have shown great curiosity and excitement as they painted, printed and created colourful masterpieces. It has been wonderful to see their confidence grow as they talked about the colours they were using and the changes they noticed.

In Owl Class, the children have been exploring the story of the Gingerbread Man. They have loved acting out the story taking on the different roles and learning the rhyme, RUN RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN.

The highlight was when the gingerbread man was caught on camera snooping around the preschool after everyone had gone home! The children were amazed especially when they saw him jump onto the table! There were lots of surprised faces and conversations as they shared their ideas about what might have been doing.

26th January 2026

This week in Owl room we are reading Jack and the Beanstalk, The children were so excited that we decided to plant our very own “magic beans.” The children each folded a piece of paper towel and put it in their plastic cups, they then chose a magic bean and then watered it, they then made predictions about what might happen next.

We can’t wait to watch our beans grow and see how tall they become.

In the Duckling room, as part of our topic building and construction, the children had great fun building a wall using cereal boxes. They especially loved using the wheelbarrow to collect and transport the boxes before joining them together. This activity supported teamwork, problem-solving, coordination, and lots of creative thinking.

12th January 2026

Welcome back, and Happy New Year to all our families,

It has been a busy couple of weeks in our preschool rooms.

Duckling room children have been making the most of the cold weather by enjoying rich learning experiences both outdoors and indoors.

While playing outside the children collected the ice and explored its cold, slippery texture. We added polar bears and penguins to the ice which inspired their imaginative play and storytelling skills as the children created icy habitats and we discussed animals that live in the cold environments

We then brought the ice inside and worked together to build a small igloo. This activity linked beautifully to our current topic of Building and Construction. The children experimented with stacking and balancing the ice, shared ideas, and problem solved together.

As the ice began to melt, the children observed the changes taking place. We watched closely and talked about why the ice was changing. This was a great opportunity to explore early scientific concepts and develop curiosity about the natural world.

8th December 2025

The walk to Lapland has begun!

This week our little Ducklings joined Owl class to begin the exciting walk to Lapland. This is a special joint mission taking place across all of the Great Learners Trust schools, and we were excited to get things started.

The Ducklings led the way, looking all Christmassy as they shook their jingle bells and sang festive songs while we lapped around the playground. 

After our walk, we looked at pictures of Lapland and talked about the snowy landscapes, the reindeer, and what it might be like to visit this magical place. Their imaginations were full of wonder and it sparked lots of interesting conversations. 

Well Done Ducklings.

24th November 2025

This week the Owl class have been exploring the wonderful world of light and dark. The children had great fun experimenting with torches and glow sticks inside our cosy dark den, watching how different colours and beams of light glow in the darkness.

Outside, the children enjoyed chasing their shadows and discovering how to make shadows dance across the playground. They were fascinated to see how their movements changed the shapes and sizes they created, as they also made shadows inside against the wall

We also had some thoughtful discussions about where light comes from, exploring both natural and man made light sources. The children shared brilliant ideas about the sun, lamps candles and more.

It has been a bright and exciting week of learning for our little Owls.

17th November 2025

Its beginning to look a lot like winter, the children were thrilled to see the snow yesterday, it brought so much excitement and inspired us to create are very own collaged snowmen. We had some wonderful conversations about the weather how snow is made and what it feels like.

Inside the duckling room things have been very noisey. We have been busy exploring a range of musical instruments, discovering different sounds, rhythms, and ways to play.

They especially enjoyed playing along to our favourite songs, filling the room with music, movement, lots of noise and smiles.