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Here are some great age appropriate ideas for books that can be shared together at home for pleasure. Leeds Libraries have many of these titles which can be borrowed for free at your local library.

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Booklist: Best books for Preschoolers (3 and 4 year olds)

50 Recommended Reads for...

Preschool & Nursery

(ages 3-4)

​

Click each book cover or linked book title to view on Amazon.

We've put together a list of 50 recommended books for 3- and 4-year-olds . Top up your preschool or nursery book collections with our hand-picked selection of classic stories, laugh-out-loud picture books, animal tales, poetry books, non-fiction for curious minds and more....

Scroll down to find more purchasing options and printable resources.

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Booksfortopics: Best Books for Preschool and Nursery

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Booklist: Best books for Preschoolers (3 and 4 year olds) ​ Click each book cover or linked book title to view on Amazon. We've put together a list of 50 recommended books for 3- and 4-year-olds .

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Autumn 1 – Once Upon a time

Autumn 2 – Toys and Celebrations

Spring 1 – Marvelous me

Spring 2 – Pets

Summer 1 – In the garden Mini beasts

Summer 2 – First Discoverers

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Summer 1 Texts  In the garden Mini-beasts

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Summer 1 Texts  In the garden Mini-beasts

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These are just a few of the books we will be looking at and reading throughout this half term.

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Nursery Acorn class Spring 2025-2026   timetable

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Packed Lunch (if not opted school dinner) ~ we  encourage parents and carers to provide their child with a packed lunch that aligns  with our healthy schools ethos. We ask that you will provide a balanced lunch and give the following guidelines on contents ( Woodlesford School Food policy) :

◦     At least one piece of fruit, salad and /or vegetables.

◦     A type of carbohydrate food. Eg, bread, rice, pasta, couscous, potatoes etc. Note: preferably wholegrain or higher fibre options and variety over the week.

◦     A source of protein. Eg, meat, fish, eggs, beans, pulses. Note: Fillings for sandwiches should be mainly protein based.

◦     A source of dairy. Eg yoghurt, milk, cheese.

◦     A healthy drink. Eg water,  or fresh fruit/vegetable juice (150ml max). Water  is preferred.

◦     We appreciate the request  of a ‘treat’ or ‘dessert’. Please consider healthier options such as fruity oat flapjack, fruit based cakes and puddings eg banana, carrot cake, malt loaf etc.

◦     Unhealthy snacks are strongly discouraged and sweets, chocolate and confectionary are not permitted in school.

We are a nut free school.
Please can all small fruits/vegetables, eg grapes, baby cherry tomatoes , olives  etc,  be cut in half as to avoid choking hazards.
Please be careful not to over fill your child's lunch box as this can sometime cause them distress, as they can  feel they have to eat it all.

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Nursery Acorn class Spring 2025-2026   timetable

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The resources on this page will help you support your child with saying their sounds and writing their letters. There are also some useful videos so you can see how they are taught at school and feel…

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Foundations for Phonics in Nursery

We provide a balance of child-led and adult-led experiences for all children that meet the curriculum expectations for ‘Communication and language’ and ‘Literacy’. These include:

sharing high-quality stories and poems

learning a range of nursery rhymes and action rhymes

activities that develop focused listening and attention, including oral blending

attention to high-quality language.

We ensure Nursery children are well prepared to begin learning grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) and blending in Reception.

Little Wandle Foundations is aligned to the non-statutory guidance on Development Matters and Birth to 5 Matters as well as the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework. We use it as part of our wider provision for Communication and Language, and Literacy. It supports children to:

develop their phonological awareness, including rhyme, alliteration, syllables, initial and voice sounds, and oral blending

love stories and rhymes, and learn by heart a bank of familiar favourites

increase their vocabulary and confidence to talk

improve their listening and ability to take part in back-and-forth conversations.

We believe that the priority in Nursery should be to build the foundations for phonics for all children.

For parents | Letters and Sounds

Nursery Rhyme Videos and Nursery Rhyme Downloads are available on The Little Wandle website.  These are an excellent resource to reinforce the nursery rhymes we are learning in our sessions.

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(Once baseline assessments have been completed)

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Nursery Acorn class Autumn  1 2025-2026   timetable

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Monday - Friday

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These are just a few of the books we will be looking at and reading throughout this half term.

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These are just a few of the books we will be looking at and reading throughout this half term.

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These are just a few of the books we will be looking at and reading throughout this half term.

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These are just a few of the books we will be looking at and reading throughout this half term.

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Please ensure your child has a set of NAMED clothes in school at all times. This does not have to be a duplicate full school uniform but may we ask that you include a pair of pants, socks, an upper and lower garment eg t-shirt, joggers/leggings/skirt and also a pair of shoes or pumps are useful. Please send your child's spare clothes in a plastic bag and these will then be put into their own, school provided, pump bags on their pegs.

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Each child will need a named  filled water bottle.  Please only fill with plain water.  The children will have access to this throughout the session and it may be refilled during the day, if needed, from the water fountain.

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'The help that parents and carers give their children at home has a very significant impact on their learning' (DfE  Development Matters July 2021).

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School  readiness refers to 'the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life' (Statutory Framework for the EYFS 2014).
Here are some key developmental areas and skills that you can help with at home that will aid your child's growth and development, in order to prepare them and support optimal learning when they start school.

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Toileting independently, including saying when they need it and wiping themselves.
Wash and dry their hands.
Put their coats and shoes on independently.
Use a fork and spoon.
Drink from a cup.
Look after their belongings,  and be able to tidy up after themselves.

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Play games to develop turn taking, sharing, and  following rules.
Create opportunities to give your child new experiences, particularly with unfamiliar settings and people. eg go to a museum, interesting place etc.
Help to develop friendships - make a playdate, visit play area, join a group.
Talk about and discuss feelings.. how do they feel? How might others be feeling? Why?

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Talk. talk, talk!
Read, read read!
Sing, sing sing!
Talk to your child about what they are doing.. you are doing,..their day,...your day.. how they are feeling.. you are feeling... what can you see.. hear.. etc.
Talk about your family and relations.
Talk about growth and change, how do we grow.. how plants grow.
Ask questions...answer questions..  follow directions, instructions.
Talking and children's quality interactions  with others support their language  and speech development, helping to build their vocabulary and understanding.
Read, read, read a wide variety of books to your child.
Have a daily story-time.
Let your child tell you stories using the pictures.
Ask questions.
Sing, sing, sing in the bath,.. on your way to bed, ...in the car... as you get dressed.. etc. Sing to your child  and
provide opportunities for them to sing. Singing Nursery rhymes is a  powerful resource  for early literacy and enables children to become interested in the rhythm and patterns of language.
Children's BBC radio is a great  resource.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-a-to-z-index/z4ddgwx.

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Play lots of games to develop and build listening, concentration and attention skills.
eg 'Simon says', 'Pass the whisper', musical statues, what's that noise?
Memory games like 'I went shopping',  'What's missing  ~(Kim's game), pairs, bingo
Hide and Seek and object.
Go on a 'listening walk'. What different sounds can they hear?

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Provide opportunities and activities to help build balance, coordination, gross motor and fine motor skills.
eg Go up and down steps and stairs
Engage in different  movements ~ running, crawling, jumping,  hopping, skipping.
Build dens/tunnels
Visit the playground ~ climbing on climbing frame, rope swings, spin on merry go-round, crawl through a tunnel, pull themselves up on  a balance beam.
Ride a scooter...tricycle ... bike.
Use paintbrushes and water to make large marks ouside.
Wave flags, ribbon sticks,  streamers.
Throwing, catching and kicking  large balls
Sweeping.... the garden.. drive
Play with playdough
Provide different  opportunities for them to use scissors - eg cutting, sticking, crafting.
Lots of  opportunities to mark make  with different materials eg, chalks, crayons, paint, pens etc- drawing,  painting, colouring, shopping lists, birthday cards etc.
Many of these activities  help to build and strengthen shoulder, arm and hand muscles; important pre-requisites for  developing  early writing.

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Spend time counting in everyday contexts with your child.  eg climbing the stairs, counting tins of food, number songs.
Look for and comment on numbers and shapes in the environment when you are out and about eg number on a bus, door..etc  Shape of a sign, ..clock...etc.
Jigsaw puzzles
Play with  building blocks
Cooking and baking together

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Progression Map of Phonics at Woodlesford Primary School

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Progression Map of Phonics at Woodlesford Primary School

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This is the terminology we use and encourage the children to use in class during our daily phonics sessions.

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This is the whole school reward and communication system we use. The children are given a dojo character. They can gain dojo points for following the school values and expectations:

Our three core values are:

Respect: We embrace our differences and listen to others. We treat ourselves and others with care and thought.  We look after our school and belongings.

Kindness: We are honest. We look after one another. We are polite and appreciate all that we have.

Perseverance: We have a positive attitude. We approach every challenge with energy and optimism.  We take pride in what we do and keep going even when things seem hard.

You will receive an email invite to join your child's class dojo. Please accept this invite to join the system.
Please talk to your child about the dojos they receive and reinforce their achievements.
This platform will also be used to  communicate between home and school to enable parents/carers to keep up to date with what is currently happening in Nursery and also to share whole school events and information.
Please note: Class Dojo is not your child's early years profile, any achievements to support their EYFS profiles, from home and school should be uploaded onto Evidence me.)

We politely request messages are only sent to teachers during the week during school hours.  If you have an urgent message then please contact the school office.

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Children may also come home with stickers as a reward for their adherence to the school values..

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Useful website links:

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Please make sure you have provided  a security password for your child for collection time. There was a form in your introduction pack to complete . Please return it as soon as possible, if not all ready done so.

Please let staff know who will be collecting your child on the day if it is not going to be you personally, or if it is not a permanent or regular arrangement. Inform the person collecting  your child of your security password. Please ask them to approach staff on the day.

If you have a permanent collection arrangement for your child (i.e. Grandma on Wednesdays or the same child minder every day) please also state on the  form or let staff know.

If there any changes  to who is collecting your child during the day, please ring the school office to provide details as soon as possible, so they can let the Nursery  staff know of any new arrangements. Thank you.

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At Woodlesford, we use the White Rose Hub mastery maths programme throughout school. This programme starts from Reception to Year 6. (Please see our school maths padlet for more information).
In Nursery we use 'Master the Curriculum' a primary and early years maths resource which aligns with the White Rose Maths framework and has a maths mastery approach. It has a Nursery maths scheme incorporated which links to the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and the new Development Matters framework and indeed helps children acquire the foundational knowledge and skills for future maths learning.

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May we politely ask you keep an eye on the weather, as it can be very changeable, and please send your child in weather and season suitable clothing ( eg coat, hat, gloves, boots, raincoat,  sunhat, etc weather dependent) as we are out in the outdoors every day. Please ensure these are named.

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Teaching Assistant

Monday to Friday

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Start  time 8.55. Collection time 3.30
If your child attends Monday to Wednesday collection time will be 11.45 on the Wednesday.
If your child attends Wednesday to  Friday then your start time on Wednesdays will be 12.30.
We politely ask that you arrive and collect promptly at the main school gates, front of school, at these times.

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Welcome to Woodlesford Primary School Nursery:

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Welcome to Woodlesford Primary School Nursery:

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We hope you have all had a lovely summer break and we are looking forward to hearing all about your adventures.

We will be spending the first few weeks settling your children into Nursery and getting to know them.

Our topic this half term is ‘Once Upon a Time’. We will be looking at Traditional stories/tales. Our learning will be encapsulated around these stories.

We will also be learning about our classroom rules, routines and expectations

Once your child has started, we will send you a link to their class Dojos. This will enable us to share our learning and communicate information with you. Please use your child’s Dojo profile to share their achievements at home to build and support their EYFS profile.

Please ensure all uniform is name!

Your child needs their water bottle in school everyday, clearly marked with their name.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to a fun packed term. If you have any questions please let us know.

Nursery team

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Teaching Assistant

Monday - Friday

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Teaching Assistant

Thursday - Friday PM