Our Week at Preschool – Christmas 🎄

Hello everyone,

We hope you all had a lovely weekend, enjoying time with family and friends and getting into the Christmas spirit.

This week at preschool has been full of excitement, curiosity and hands-on learning. Our Christmas theme took us on a wonderful festive journey, and the children have been fantastic explorers, creators and thinkers throughout. We also enjoyed our swimming sessions in the preschool pool.

Group Time

This week, we shared lots of lovely Christmas stories together. We also enjoyed some rhyming stories, and the children are beginning to understand the concept of rhyme, noticing words that sound the same. It has been wonderful to hear them offering their own ideas for rhyming words — have a go at spotting rhymes together at home!

We also spent time with Reggie the Resilient Tortoise, talking about what it means to keep trying. The children shared things they can’t do yet and came up with lots of brilliant ideas about how they can practise and persevere.

Monday

In the morning, two groups of children enjoyed swimming at preschool. They were confident in the water and had a great time. Another group decorated our Christmas surprise cooking for our preschool volunteers.

In the afternoon, we enjoyed playing in the Christmas room and writing our names on our Christmas gift tags.

Tuesday

On Tuesday morning, we had our Kickboxing session. The children went on an adventure, practising their guard and stance and learning different stretches, including press-ups.

We also made our Christmas crafts ready to bring home this week. In the afternoon, the children continued their Christmas crafts and enjoyed playing in the Christmas room.

Wednesday

In the morning, we visited the care home for a Christmas sing-song and enjoyed a festive story about Christopher the Snowman. We even had some delicious mince pies.

In the afternoon, we had our session with Sian, where the children rode on the Christmas train and played Christmas party games. We finished with a relaxing Christmas story.

Thursday

In the morning, we went swimming in the preschool pool and had a great time. We also continued working on our Christmas crafts.

In the afternoon, we visited Reception and enjoyed playing in the classroom, exploring the space and resources.

Friday

On Friday afternoon, we visited the care home again and enjoyed making Christmas crafts with the residents. We sang some Christmas songs and listened to the story Stick Man together. The residents very kindly made each child a gift of reindeer hot chocolate and reindeer food — we had such a lovely time.

Play & Learning Throughout the Week

🎄 Christmas Vocabulary Tray
The children explored festive words and objects, helping to build and extend their Christmas vocabulary.

Imaginative Play
We enjoyed playing with our small-world North Pole scene, which included Father Christmas, igloos, snowmen and reindeer. The children have also loved spending time in the Christmas room, using their imaginations and sharing festive play with their friends.

Fine Motor Fun
At the Finger Frenzy table, the children have been using small beads to decorate Christmas trees, developing their fine motor skills, hand strength and concentration.

Construction Area
Our builders have been busy all week, using blocks, Luna Park, Zoo Waffle and animal Duplo to create a variety of imaginative structures.

📸 Some photos from the week…

Notices

WOW Moments
Please bring in any WOW moments you would like to share for our WOW board. If you need any WOW slips, please help yourself to some from the notice board outside.

Applying for a Reception Place – September 2026

Applications for a Reception place open on 1 September 2025.
The closing date for applications is 15 January 2026.

You can apply online using the link below:
https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/w/starting-school-for-the-first-time

End of Term Reminder
We break up for the Christmas holidays on Friday 19th November and return to preschool on Monday 5th January.

Please remember the events happening this week. If you have any questions, please come and speak to Julia.

We wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year, and we look forward to seeing all the children again in the New Year.

Here’s to an exciting and amazing week ahead, full of fun and adventures! 🎄✨

Julia, Colleen, Lauren and Lauren

Our Week at Preschool – Christmas 🎄

Hello everyone,

We hope you all had a lovely weekend with family and friends. It was so lovely to see so many of you at the Christmas Fair.

This week has been full of excitement, curiosity and hands-on learning. Our theme took us on a wonderful journey into Christmas, and the children have been incredible explorers, creators and thinkers throughout.

Group Time

This week we shared Dear Santa by Rod Campbell. The children were amazing at signing the different presents.

We also enjoyed some rhyming stories. The children are beginning to understand the concept of rhyme and are noticing words that sound the same. It has been lovely hearing them offer their own ideas for rhyming words. Have a go at spotting rhymes at home!

Monday

In the morning, we decorated our Christmas cooking surprise. We used rolling skills and practised our pincer grips to sprinkle the decorations. We also did some Christmas printing on brown bags and learnt the names of different Christmas objects such as crackers and holly.

In the afternoon, we began making our Christmas decorations for the St George's Church Christmas Tree Festival using watercolours to paint presents.

Tuesday

We had our Kickboxing session on Tuesday morning. We went on an adventure and continued practising our guard and stance. We learnt how to kick the pad and had great fun!

We continued decorating our Christmas cooking surprises before heading to school in the afternoon to look at the Christmas displays and the Art Exhibition. We also visited the Reception classroom and had a wonderful time exploring the role-play area, puppet show and dolls' house. Afterwards, we played games in the hall such as The Floor is Lava and Musical Statues.

Wednesday

In the morning, we visited the Care Home for a Christmas carol sing-along with the Weymouth Concert Brass Band. We enjoyed mince pies and finished the visit with a story: Stick Man.

In the afternoon, some children took part in Relax Kids with Sian, while the other group visited Poundbury Garden Centre to look at the Christmas decorations. The children learnt about the Nativity Story and explored lots of Christmas objects such as baubles, wreaths, crackers, stars and angels. The singing penguins were a big hit! We ended our adventure with drinks and biscuits in the café.

Thursday

Another group of children visited Poundbury Garden Centre in both the morning and afternoon. The children again enjoyed exploring the decorations and talking about the Nativity Story. We especially loved the singing penguins and our treat in the café!

In the afternoon, we also received a note from the elves asking us to find all the Christmas decorations in the cupboard — a very exciting challenge!

Friday

On Friday, the final group visited Poundbury Garden Centre. We explored the Christmas displays, talked about the Nativity Story, and spotted familiar festive objects. And of course — more singing penguins and more biscuits!

In the afternoon, we walked to St George’s Church to decorate the Christmas Tree with our handmade decorations. The children explored the church and all the beautifully decorated trees. On the way back, we went for a little drive through Dorchester to look at the Christmas lights.

Play & Learning Throughout the Week

Sequin Boards

We explored the colour-changing sequin boards and learnt the colours gold and silver. The children loved making patterns and changing the colours with their fingers.

Imaginative Play

The forest friends small world has been very popular — a woodland Lego scene filled with spiders, bees, ladybirds, mushroom people and flowers.

Our home corner and bonfire night role-play areas were also a big hit. The children roasted pretend marshmallows, wrapped themselves up in cosy scarves and created their own bonfire stories.

Fine Motor Fun

At the Finger Frenzy table, the children used pipettes to transfer water between containers, practising their pincer grip and building hand strength. They showed brilliant resilience and kept trying.

Construction Area

Our builders have been busy all week. Using blocks, Luna Park, foam bricks and animal Duplo, the children created all sorts of imaginative structures.

Number Play

We explored numerals 1–5 and practised putting the correct number of links onto the elephant.

Lentils, Beans & Pasta

We used spoons and small pots to explore lentils, beans and pasta — great for hand-eye coordination, scooping, pouring and sorting.

📸 Some photos from the week…

Next Week at Preschool 🎆

Next week, we will be sharing lots of Christmas stories and songs. The children will also be making some special Christmas crafts to bring home at the end of term.

We are swimming this week, so please remember to bring your child’s swimming kit.

Home Learning 🏡

Here are some simple, fun activities you can try at home this week:

🔍 Can you go on a number hunt?
Look for numbers around your home or outdoors. Can you recognise any?
📚 Can you play a rhyming game?
Take turns saying words and see if you can find ones that rhyme.
🏃 Can you skip?
Have a go at skipping around the house or garden!

Notices

Please bring any WOW's for our WOW board you have and if you need some WOW slips, please pick some up from the notice board outside.

On Tuesday morning we have our Preschool family Christmas breakfast in the main school hall from 8.30-9.15am. Please return RSVP slips on Monday if not already done so. We look forward to seeing you all there.

On Wednesday morning from 8.30-9.00am we have Stay and Play. Everyone welcome, hope to see you there.

On Thursday it is Christmas Jumper Day.

Applying for Reception Place to start in September 2026

You can apply for a reception place from 1 September 2025.

The closing date for applications is 15 January 2026.

https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/w/starting-school-for-the-first-time

Please do come and see myself or a member of team if you have any questions.

Here's to an exciting and amazing week full of fun and adventures.

Julia, Colleen, Lauren and Lauren

Pre-School Year 2

Sunday, 14 December 2025

Hello everyone....