Early Years Teacher Status
Monday, September 16th, 2024
Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS)
Veronica successfully completed her Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) degree in August 2024, after embarking on the course in September 2023. Her decision to pursue this qualification stemmed from a strong commitment to continuous professional development, which aligns closely with the ethos of Privett Montessori, a school that consistently encourages its staff to grow and evolve.
Veronica is deeply passionate about providing high-quality care and education for young children, a key goal that motivates her daily work. Completing the Early years Teacher Status course has further empowered her with advanced knowledge and skills to achieve this standard of excellence in early years education.
She completed the course through Best Practise Network and successfully combined her studies with her full-time job. As part of the program, Veronica completed a work placement, choosing Froxfield Primary School to gain valuable experience in a primary school setting, thereby broadening her expertise beyond the early years environment.
The Early Years Teacher qualification equips Veronica with several key benefits:
- Specialised Expertise: It deepens her understanding of child development, learning strategies, and best practices for early childhood education.
- Leadership Skills: It prepares her to take on leadership roles within the early years sector, such as mentoring other staff and improving the overall quality of education in her setting.
- Professional Recognition: The EYTS qualification is a recognised standard, enhancing her professional credibility and opening up more career advancement opportunities.
- Improved Teaching Outcomes: With the specialised training, Veronica has gained a deeper understanding to better design and deliver engaging, age-appropriate curricula that support young children’s development across all key areas.
- Positive Impact on Learning Environments: The degree will allow her to contribute meaningfully to creating stimulating, safe, and nurturing learning environments, ultimately benefiting the children she works with.
Veronica’s achievement is not only a personal milestone but also a valuable asset to Privett Montessori, reinforcing the school’s mission to foster growth and innovation within its staff.
Montessori Star Accreditation – 24 August 2024
Tuesday, August 27th, 2024
Montessori Accreditation
On 24 August 2024 Privett Montessori Nursery School received the STAR Montessori Accreditation award as it is recognised to provide a high quality standard in childcare. The STAR framework is a global Montessori recognised framework, promoting settings as ours to provide a quality assured Montessori provision.
We are delighted to have received this accreditation as we worked hard towards achieving this goal.
Having received this accreditation, now allows us to use the logo on our website.Read more on STAR Montessori Accreditation
Star Privett Montessori Nursery School logo
Dates and FeesQuality Childcare Provision
Summer 2024 diverse activities
Monday, July 22nd, 2024
Diverse activities
After a delightful Easter break, the children eagerly shared with us their diverse activities that they undertool during their holiday adventures. Recounting exciting Easter egg hunts and an abundance of chocolate eggs were a few examples. Their enthusiasm set a cheerful tone for the upcoming term, filled with diverse and engaging activities.
Our first topic upon returning was wildflowers. In the craft area, the children crafted and decorated vases with daisies from the garden, showcasing their creativity and fine motor skills. During group time, we explored pictures of various flowers, learning to identify different types of wildflowers such as bluebells, poppies, and buttercups.
To celebrate Earth Day, we watched a short video highlighting the importance of environmental conservation. We read numerous books about recycling, such as “The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle“ and “Michael Recycle,” and engaged in discussions about how we can reuse, reduce, and recycle. The children also painted vibrant pictures of the planet in the craft area, expressing their understanding of the need to protect our Earth.
In the following weeks, we introduced the topic of healthy eating. The children, among a range of diverse activities children created collages featuring healthy foods and designed healthy eating lunch boxes, which helped them visualize and understand balanced meals.
For our cooking activity, we made rainbow fruit plates with an assortment of colourful fruits and vegetables like strawberries, oranges, kiwis, and blueberries. This sparked lively conversations around the lunch table and during group time about the significance of a balanced diet.
Complementing our healthy eating discussions, we had a visit from NHS staff who spoke to the children about overall well-being. They emphasized the importance of eating well, exercising, relaxing, and maintaining dental hygiene. The NHS staff led a group activity that included a food board exercise, stretches, and deep breathing exercises for relaxation. They also demonstrated proper tooth brushing techniques, allowing the children to practice brushing a picture of stained teeth until they were clean, reinforcing the message of good dental hygiene.
After half term, our focus shifted to London. During group discussions, the children learned to identify various London landmarks such as Big Ben, the Tower Bridge, and Buckingham Palace. We sang traditional songs like “London’s Burning” and “London Bridge is Falling Down,” which the children enjoyed immensely. For a group craft activity, we painted a tall box and transformed it into Big Ben. In the craft area, the children made model London buses using cardboard boxes and red paint, further immersing them in the cultural and historical aspects of London.
As Father’s Day approached, the children shared stories about special activities they enjoy with their fathers, from playing in the park to reading bedtime stories. They learned a special song to sing to their dads and made heartfelt cards decorated with drawings and stickers, expressing their love and appreciation.
Our next topic was “People Who Help Us,” highlighted by an exciting visit from paramedics. They explained their roles and how they assist people in emergencies, even gifting us toy ambulances for our role-play area. During group time, we used flashcards as to identify various professions, such as doctors, nurses, firefighters, and teachers. The children enjoyed dressing up and acting out different roles, which helped them understand the contributions of these essential workers. Concurrently, children transitioning to school had visits from their new teachers and attended settling-in sessions at school. We discussed school uniforms and shared books about Froxfield School to ease the transition and prepare them for the next big step in their educational journey.
As part of our diverse activities, we introduced our sports topic, discussing the importance of exercise and participation in sports. We used pictures to identify different types of sports, such as football, tennis, and swimming. In the craft area, the children created sports collages and made their own gold medals in preparation for sports day. Fortunately, the weather cooperated, allowing us to celebrate with a sports day and family picnic. The children participated in various races and games, demonstrating teamwork and physical skills, while families cheered them on and enjoyed the festivities including our 2024 graduation ceremony! 
Our final adventure was a nursery trip to Durleigh Marsh. The children enjoyed picking raspberries, red currants, black currants, and blueberries. Despite the recent adverse weather conditions limiting our strawberry findings to just two, the large, juicy raspberries more than made up for it, and we collected punnets full of fruit. The trip provided a hands-on learning experience about where our food comes from and the joys of fresh produce.
Throughout these diverse activities, the children learned and engaged with their surroundings, enriching their understanding of nature, health, community helpers, and the joy of exploration. The variety of topics and hands-on experiences not only made learning fun but also fostered a sense of curiosity and appreciation for the world around them.
Lastely, we would like to thank all the parents for all their lovely cards and presents!
Have a lovely summer and looking forward to September 2024 as we will then open full time!
Amazing Spring 2024 -newsletter 42
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2024
Spring 2024
We have returned refreshed for the spring 2024 term after a restful Christmas break and the children have been eager to share their festive adventures. Our focus for the first few weeks has been the Arctic. The children have delved into the fascinating world of Arctic animals, learning to identify various species during our welcome sessions.
We immersed ourselves in informative books and even enjoyed a short video titled “A Walk in the Arctic.” When the weather permitted, we conducted a fun experiment: placing plastic animals in pots of water overnight to observe how the water froze. The following day, the children eagerly explored ways to rescue the animals from the ice. In our knowledge and understanding area, we created a miniature Arctic habitat complete with snow and ice for the children to explore.
During our cooking activity, we whipped up some delicious hummus, which the children enjoyed during snack time. Miss Paula even brought in her food processor to demonstrate how chickpeas are mashed to make hummus.
Our next theme centred around Garden Birds, coinciding with the National Big Garden Bird Watch. The children became adept at identifying different bird species that visited our nursery garden, from robins, blue tits and blackbirds to even spotting a pheasant in the car park. During circle time, they enthusiastically shared pictures of their favourite birds with their friends. In the knowledge and understanding area, we set up a bird watching station equipped with real binoculars for the children to observe the garden birds. Crafting colourful birds and binoculars added to the excitement.
After half term, we embarked on learning about Chinese New Year. The children discovered simple facts about Chinese culture and relished the chance to enjoy noodles using chopsticks during snack time. Lantern-making and crafting colourful dragons immersed them in the festive spirit. We watched a video about Chinese New Year celebrations and danced to a lively dragon song with swirling coloured scarves.
We then introduced the concept of opposites, engaging the children with pictures and games to reinforce understanding. Stretching exercises focused on opposites such as up and down, in and out, fast and slow, tall and small, weak and strong.
We also had the opportunity to go for a meadow walk at Fawley Farm during sunny spells! We saw a horse and enjoyed walking in the already tall growing grass. We are all weather though and the children for sure enjoyed playing outside in “muddy” puddles.
As Mother’s Day approached, we celebrated the importance of families and the special role of mothers. The children shared heartwarming stories about their mums during circle time and learned a special song to sing at home. Crafting special cards and flowers added a personal touch, while experimenting with melting chocolate to create heart-shaped treats added a sprinkle of fun.
For spring 2024 World Book Day, we indulged in our favourite stories and delighted in seeing some children dressed as their beloved book characters. Designing their own books in the craft area sparked creativity. Reading “Goldilocks and The Three Bears” led to making porridge during snack time, introducing the concept of small, medium, and large for further exploration.
As spring 2024 arrived, we embraced the season with daffodil-themed activities. Exploring daffodil pictures in the craft area and watching a video about spring during Welcome Time infused us with the spirit of the season. We even got our fingers dirty and did some planting. The children concluded the theme by baking chocolate cakes and decorating bunny cards.
Wishing you all a restful Spring 2024 break, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to nursery on Monday, April 15th.
Reasons and overview of positive childcare Changes for April 2024
Friday, February 23rd, 2024
Understanding the reasons and overview of the proposed UK childcare Changes impacting Parents in the UK from April 1, 2024
The UK government has proposed significant changes to childcare policies, set to come into effect from April 1, 2024. These changes aim to address various challenges faced by parents and families in accessing affordable and high-quality childcare services.
The reason for this change in the view of Privett Montessori based on OECD reports is that the UK participation rate has drastically reduced since 2019 (start of the pandemic) compared to Q3/Q4 2022 (end of the pandemic). The participation rate is an important measure as it indicates how many people are working or are seeking employment between the ages of 15 to 64. The UK already finds itself in a labour shortage (Financial Times, 12 December 2023) and as the participation rate hit a -1% change based on the OECD’s information; it is no surprise that this has triggered a change in the direction of the UK government.
What is going to change?
The proposed childcare changes encompass several aspects, including adjustments to eligibility criteria, funding mechanisms, and the provision of support services. Key highlights of the changes include:
- Expansion of eligibility criteria for childcare support
- Introduction of a new funding model for early years education
- Enhancement of quality standards in childcare facilities
- Streamlining of administrative processes for parents and providers
Key Features of the New Childcare Policies:
- Expanded Eligibility Criteria: The government intends to broaden the eligibility criteria for childcare support, allowing more families to access financial assistance for childcare expenses. This may include extending support to families with higher incomes or those facing specific circumstances, such as parents with disabilities or special needs children.
From April 2024, working parents will have access to funding up to 30 hrs for 2 to 4 year olds. A good links to use to review if you are eligible are:
New Funding Model: A revised funding model for early years education is proposed to ensure equitable distribution of resources and support for childcare providers. This model may involve changes to funding allocations based on factors such as socioeconomic indicators, regional disparities, and the quality of childcare services.
For Privett Montessori, participation in the program entails receiving funding from Hampshire County Council for each enrolled child. However, the allocated funding falls short of the session rate utilised by the nursery, presenting a financial challenge. Nevertheless, there is a silver lining as Hampshire County Council has authorised providers to levy a fee for nursery consumables on parents. While this may result in a modest expense for parents, it ultimately aids in bolstering the sustainability of nurseries, particularly those situated in rural areas.
Impact on Parents and Families: The proposed childcare changes are expected to have significant implications for parents and families across the UK. While the expansion of eligibility criteria and the introduction of a new funding model may benefit many families by making childcare more affordable and accessible, the hope of the UK government most likely is an increase in the participation rate in the UK labour force. This obviously will boost the UK economy in the long term.
Despite the government allocating significant resources to support the implementation of the proposed childcare changes, including funding for subsidies, training programs, infrastructure development, and support services, the questions remain about the long-term sustainability of these initiatives and the adequacy of funding levels to meet the growing demand for childcare services.
In general, Privett Montessori believes that a successful implementation of the proposed childcare changes will require careful planning, coordination, and collaboration among government agencies, childcare providers, educators, parents, and other stakeholders. Key challenges and considerations include:
- Ensuring adequate funding and resources
- Addressing workforce shortages and training needs
- Monitoring and evaluation of quality standards
- Addressing disparities in access and provision
- Engaging with diverse communities and stakeholders
It is therefore no surprise that stakeholders from various sectors, including parents, childcare providers, educators, advocacy groups, and policymakers, have expressed a range of opinions and concerns regarding the proposed childcare changes. While some welcome the initiatives as positive steps towards improving childcare accessibility and quality, others raise questions about funding adequacy, implementation challenges, and the potential impact on disadvantaged families.
Privett Montessori warmly embraces the initiative; however, it recognizes that the allocated funding falls short of its standard session rates. To ensure the organization’s long-term sustainability, it is deliberating the option of implementing a nominal fee for customers to mitigate the shortfall for the upcoming September 2024 academic year.
In conclusion, the proposed UK childcare changes set to take effect from April 1, 2024, represent a significant overhaul of the childcare system aimed at improving accessibility, affordability, and quality. While the changes hold the promise of benefiting many families, they also pose challenges and uncertainties that will require ongoing attention and collaboration to address effectively.
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Creative Authum Term – newsletter 41
Monday, December 18th, 2023
A creative start of Authum Term
As we returned to the nursery after a delightful summer break, the children creatively eagerly shared tales of their summer escapades and the joyous memories they created.
Our inaugural theme centred around ‘All about Me.’ The children embarked on a creative endeavour, crafting personalised books that delved into their unique personalities, complemented by self-portraits painted with zest after introspection in front of mirrors. Group sessions focused on familial discussions, where children animatedly shared stories of siblings and pets. Outdoors, we laid creative sizable sheets for the children to sprawl on while we traced their figures – a delightful canvas for their imaginative self-decorations.
In a celebration of family life, we learned a heartwarming song called “I Love My Family” and delved into numerous books, exploring diverse family structures. Culinary creativity took centre stage as we picked blackberries from the nursery garden for a delightful blackberry and apple crumble! Leftover blackberries sparked experimentation, leading to a vibrant session of crushing and painting. In our science section. Miss Veronica dazzled us with a rainbow trick involving paper towels and water. Explorations continued with mixing paint colours, accompanied by delightful songs about colours and rainbows, such as the Rainbow colour song. This made all of us dance!
Transitioning to apples and apple trees, we cut open apples to discover their tiny seeds and created a captivating collage depicting the life cycle of an apple tree. Apples from our garden became tools for apple printing, and we engaged in weighing activities with scales while whipping up delicious apple and carrot muffins. Before the mid-term break, we relished a trip to Durleigh Marsh for pumpkin picking, concluding with a cozy café visit for drinks and flapjacks.
Post-half term, we embraced the season with pumpkin printing and sensory explorations of pumpkin seeds. As Bonfire Night approached, the children experimented with paint effects to craft vivid firework pictures and fashioned rockets. Group discussions emphasized the importance of safety around fires and fireworks. Our thematic journey then ventured into hibernation, with the children learning about animals that slumber through the winter.
In the craft area, we shaped hedgehogs from clay, designing cozy hedgehog houses for their winter rest. Informational books and cherished tales about Hodge the Hedgehog enriched our creative exploration.
Culinary creative adventures persisted with the baking of delicious bread rolls, accompanied by warm porridge during colder weather for delightful snack times outdoors. Bread roles looked amazing and tasted great as the children really enjonyed them as you can see from the below pictures:
Wrapping up the term, the children showcased their creativity with Christmas cards and adorable reindeer decorations.
Throughout the term, our weekly focus on phonetic letters and words continued, with children working closely with their key persons using Montessori equipment to explore different cone shapes, sounds, numbers, and name writing.
A heartfelt thank you for your kind cards and presents. As we bid farewell to this term, we extend warm wishes for a joyous Christmas and a delightful New Year. Enjoy a well-deserved break and we eagerly anticipate our return to the nursery on Tuesday, January 2nd.
A great Privett Montessori welcome back- 40
Wednesday, September 6th, 2023
A great Privett Montessori welcome back
A great Privett Montessori welcome back as on Monday 4 September we started our new 2023 / 2024 school year in our nursery for 1 to 5 year olds.
We are glad to see many familiar as well as new faces and are enjoying the really nice warm weather. The children are taken the opportunity to play in the garden and enjoy the new wooden Seasaw.
A helpful article with tips for parents / carers: “Optimal Child development: 20 Tips for Parents”. Please note that some of the tips are for an older age group of +10 years onwards. This may still feel far a way, but this comes around the corner sooner then you think….time flies! In terms of context, the article was written in early 2022, when we all went back to school after the Covid pandemic.
As a setting we are very pleased to see that we as a whole have moved on from the pandemic !
Summer 23 – Newsletter 39 – Healthy Eating
Monday, July 24th, 2023
Summer 23 – Newsletter 39- Healthy Eating
Healthy Eating- We returned to the nursery after a delightful two-week Easter break, during which the children excitedly shared their stories of Easter egg hunts and indulging in chocolate eggs.
To align with EYFS requirements, we embarked on our topic of Healthy Eating. We engaged the children in discussions about the significance of consuming a diverse range of healthy fruits and vegetables and in the craft area, created a colourful healthy eating plate.
The book area came alive with tales about fruit and vegetables, and we all enjoyed a hilarious story called “Oliver’s Vegetables”. Curious about the book? Please press the button to “read it aloud”. Oliver’s Vegetables
During snack and lunch times, we reinforced the importance of healthy eating by encouraging the children to choose nutritious snacks, like fruit and vegetables, and bring a wholesome lunch box. We also emphasized the value of staying hydrated and had a friendly chat about dental health and visiting the dentist.
As the next phase of our journey, we delved into our Royal topic. In anticipation of the Coronation, we crafted beautiful crowns and celebrated with a delightful Coronation Tea, where strawberries and popcorn were relished. We explored photographs of the Royal Family and the Coronation, sparking engaging discussions about King Charles and Camilla.
Our half term concluded with a fascinating exploration type of mini beast. Armed with magnifying glasses, we embarked on a bug hunt in the garden and, in the craft area, created cut ladybugs. To add to the fun, we learned a catchy song about a spider.
Upon returning from break, we divided into our topic about “People-who-help-us”. Trough captivating photographs, we explored the roles of Doctors, Nurses, Teachers, Firefighters, Police Officers and Paramedics.
A highlight was the unexpected visit from the First Ambulance Aid Responders, who generously spoke to the children about their heroic jobs and even gave each child a plaster and dressing. The children were ecstatic and asked questions as well!
Outdoors, we transformed a large box into a fantastic fire engine with a ladder and hose, fostering imaginative play and creativity. Additionally, we dedicated time to celebrate Father’s Day, where the children made special cards and learned a heartwarming song about Daddy.
Next up was our enthralling topic on Dinosaurs. /we immersed ourselves in pictures of these ancient creatures, learning their names and understanding their diets some being meat eaters, while others preferred vegetation. With a dance called “The Dinosaur Stop” and a sensory tray filled with toy dinosaurs, the children’s excitement soared.
In preparation for a sport day, we enjoyed an array of activities, from running the-egg-and spoon race and even wheelbarrow racing, all under the glorious sunshine! However, on sports day, the rain tried to dampen our spirits, but we swiftly adapted by moving the races indoors.
Each child proudly received a well-deserved medal, and we celebrated with indoor picnic, cherishing the moments with friends and family.
Over the last two weeks we ventured into the vastness of space, exploring planets and the wonders of the cosmos. Through captivating information books, we deepened our knowledge of space. Furthermore, the children had a blast creating moon and planet pictures. We even pretended to walk on the moon, adding a fun of role-playing to our learning.
We also took a walk through the meadow next door and used our wonderful swing, which created big healthy smiles!
Lastly, as our leavers bird farewell, they brought in their school bags and uniforms to show us what they will wear to school. It’s been an action-packed summer term, filled with joy and earning.
We wish you all a wonderful summer and eagerly look forwards to hearing about the children’s adventure during their summer holidays when they return.
Please click the Time Table 23/24 button to see our Time table for the 23/24 term.
Spring ’23 Newsletter number 38 – world book day
Thursday, April 6th, 2023
Spring ’23 Newsletter – world book day
Spring & World book day: We returned to our nursery after a lovely Christmas break, where the children told us all about their Christmas holidays and the adventures that they had.
Our first topic was The Artic. The children thought this topic was great fun and we learnt lots of information about the animals that live on the Artic Tundra. During Welcome Time we watched a short educational video called ‘A walk in the Artic’. In the craft area, we made lots of creations. Some of them were painting snowy pictures using foil, making igloo’s using boxes, recreating our own artic scene with various animals in the builder trays and finally, practicing our cutting skills by making snowflakes.
In the Book area we read a wide range of information books about the artic. Fortunately, we were lucky enough for the weather (which was cold and icy) to match our topic so before we went out, we warmed up with some porridge at snack time and then put on our waterproofs to play outside. Out in the garden we rescued cars and plastic animals that had been frozen in some ice.
37. Pumpkin delight- Dec’22 Newsletter
Saturday, December 24th, 2022
Pumpkin
After a lovely autumn half term break, we returned to the nursery where the children were excited to dress up for Pumpkin Day! We continued our pumpkin theme by printing some pumpkin pictures and Miss Veronica showed us how to make Mexican Tortilla’s. We enjoyed playing outside, collecting leaves in the autumn sun, and when the rain came the children practiced putting on their own waterproofs and wellie boots to wear outside to splash in the puddles.
Other News:
- Early Years Teacher Status September 16, 2024
- Montessori Star Accreditation – 24 August 2024 August 27, 2024
- Summer 2024 diverse activities July 22, 2024
- Amazing Spring 2024 -newsletter 42 April 2, 2024
- Reasons and overview of positive childcare Changes for April 2024 February 23, 2024
- 4. Free Funding update for 2 Year Old January 4, 2024
- Creative Authum Term – newsletter 41 December 18, 2023
- A great Privett Montessori welcome back- 40 September 6, 2023
- Summer 23 – Newsletter 39 – Healthy Eating July 24, 2023
- Spring ’23 Newsletter number 38 – world book day April 6, 2023
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March 2021 Planting
