Footsteps November News

November is one of the busiest month’s in the Footsteps calendar and 2021 has been no exception.  We round up what’s been going on in our Footsteps family this November!

Diwali

Diwali is a fantastic opportunity to explore culture and celebrations. The festival of light certainly lit up our children’s faces with smiles as we experienced food tastings like onion bhajis, Bombay potatoes and naan bread, colourful artwork, designing mehndi patterns, themed tuff trays and traditional costumes. We also enjoyed making and decorating our own Diwali Diyas.  The children loved exploring the texture of the clay and moulding it into shape.  We then decorated them with lots of bright colours!

Fireworks

Our fireworks celebrations went off with a bang! Fireworks is always something our children love.  Even those who aren’t such a fan of the noise, love the inspiration for some wonderful creative activities.  Alongside celebrating Diwali, we have created some sparkling sensations.  And who doesn’t love paint and glitter!!

Remembrance Day

Lest we forget …. We have been spending some time talking about Remembrance Day.  We understand how hard it is for young children to understand, so the best way to is through experiences and visual appreciation.  We did lots of activities which included handprint wreaths, painted pebbles and poppies as well as visits to lay handmade poppy wreaths at our local churches.  The children at Chalfont were even treated to a rehearsal of The Last Post during their visit.

Road Safety

This important life skill is a key learning objective at Footsteps.  We often take walks out into our local villages, to the shops and parks to explore and learn. Our Footsteps teams were on hand to show them the way. We have talked about being safe out on the roads and practised on our walks.  We have made zebra crossings outside and even whole road systems in chalk outside.  Our staff have got into the safety spirit too – dressing as police officers to help them learn.

Internet safety

Computing is very much part of our everyday lives and here at Footsteps we are armed with the knowledge and equipment to help build a strong foundation of skills. We have been looking at how to stay safe online and helping our children to safely explore all the possibilities has to offer.  We also have been communicating with our families and carers to help them with some top tips for home too.  You can check them out here.

Nursery Rhyme week

There has been nothing incey wincey about the fun had over at Chalfont St Peter during Nursery Rhyme week! With Old Macdonalds farm tuff tray, spider experiment drainpipes (we can confirm they definitely washed poor Incey out!) and twinkle star biscuits and wheels on the bus group art, the nursery has been full of the sound of singing and laughter.  We hope the children have been practising and entertaining their families at home too!

Forest School

Hats .. gloves… coats and off we go! November is an amazing month to be out exploring our wonderful outside spaces. We have been going on lots of autumnal walks, collecting treasures and spotting interesting things in nature. We have loved creating artwork out of our collections – from leaf trees and stickmen/women to natural sparklers and wonderful additions to our sensory trays. We have also been able to enjoy this dry weather in our Playball and Tennis sessions this month which has been brilliant.

Special Achievements

A huge well done to all the Footsteps teams on a fabulous month.  A special shout out must go to the team at Maple cross who achieved a Good rating in their latest OFSTED inspection.  You can read some of the brilliant comments here. Footsteps Farnborough also received their five-star hygiene rating so a big whoop whoop to all the team for their hard work in keeping our kitchens, clean, hygienic and organised.