Our First Footsteps: Footsteps Watermead opens its doors
Footsteps are thrilled to celebrate the first few weeks of opening at our brand new Watermead pre-school. Based in the grounds of The Piazza, in Aylesbury, this bright welcoming space has a strong ethos towards a caring and nurturing setting, as well as access to plenty of outside space where all children can thrive.
As is the case when starting any new school, our children have lots to learn with new carers, new friends and new routines and we are so proud of all of them. All the children have been thoroughly enjoying the space and having lots of fun with our amazing team. They have shown tons of enthusiasm for a wide range of activities – from playing with dolls houses, racing on scooters, sharing snack time through to reading and listening to stories as well as learning to choose a book to take home and share with parents from our library.
Our topic is “All About Me” so children can get to learn all about each other and our staff. They have been sharing photos of themselves and their families, pets and friends. We have also drawn pictures of our family, as well as around ourselves and identified body parts which was lots of fun. We did some cooking to make happy and sad face biscuits. Exploring and being able to express emotions is something we are always keen to encourage the children to do – especially early on.
This is one of our favourite topics to really explore their personalities, likes, dislikes and what interests them. It is also great for developing language and friendship bonds through shared passions and experiences.
We love to explore the world around us and have been on lots of lovely nature walks to feed the ducks and look at the local wildlife. We learnt about the names of some of the birds and the children loved looking at the cygnets and talking about the transformation into swans. We also were lucky enough to see dragonflies and have a turn on the trim trail. This is perfect for perfecting those gross motor skills and balance.
As well as enjoying the outside world, these excursions are a great opportunity to develop listening skills and how to follow instructions. The children were all beautifully behaved.
We have had some beautiful warm weather, so with sun-cream and sun hats at the ready, we loved playing with ice and water, painting walls with water and making cress heads! We know that no-one wants to hear the words just yet (especially in this sunny weather) but we have also been thinking about Christmas – we know it’s only September! We have found a great local business to support who is going to change some beautiful snowman designs the children have worked on into very special cards for their families to send. That’s the last time we will mention the C word we promise – for now!
We don’t know about the children, but we are certainly exhausted. But we are so excited at all the fun yet to come.
