Today it was Pen Pal Day so we have been getting creative...
The children had lots of fun writing and drawing pictures on our letters to send to our families, as well as sending some letters overseas to our sister nurseries in the UAE.
#makingfriends #markmaking #literacy #newexperiences
Happy Birthday to us! Today we have been celebrating our 13th Birthday.
We have had lots of fun celebrating with a pyjama party complete with dancing, creative activites and a party tea.
#timetocelebrate #happybirthday #nurserylife #13today
It's Christmas decoration competition time at The Willows!
Create your own Christmas decoration at home to help decorate our nursery Christmas tree... but hurry! The competition ends on December 20th.
The winner will be announced on the 21st December and they will receive a special prize...
Let's get creative!
Don't forget, tomorrow we will be dressing up as superheroes for the day to raise money for a very worthy cause.
We will be raising money and awareness for a little boy called Theo who has been diagnosed with ETANTR Brain Tumour.
We are hoping to raise as much money as we can to help this little boy get the treatment he needs. Any donations will be gratefully received.
We will be posting some pictures of our little superheroes on our Facebook page.
The Willows recently had a visit from Ofsted and we are very proud to annouce our OUTSTANDING result!
The report is ready to view. If you would like to read our report, just click on the link below...
The Willows Ofsted Report 2016
Today our Toddlers have really enjoyed walking to the Market to see and buy their favourite fruits...
They all chose their own fruits that they wanted and even helped paying for all of our items. When we came back to nursery we made collage pictures of what we had bought.
We then got to taste them all, which I think was our favourite part!!
On Friday the Toddler Room children enjoyed letting their ladybirds go that they have been looking after all week.They enjoyed holding and touching them as well as seeing them in their new home in our bug house in the garden!!
Thank you to all the Dads and Grandads who came to our tea party. We hope you enjoyed it and enjoy your weekend.
Here are some pictures of the fun activities we have enjoyed taking part in today...
Today we have been very busy creating birthday cards today to celebrate the Queens 90th birthday.
Happy Birthday Ma'am!
Today's Let's Cook with Tash session was... pizzas! We could choose from lots of different ingredients to create our yummy incy wincy spiders. We had great fun and made some yummy treats. A few of us even got a little bit messy with the tomato puree :)
We carry out weekly "Lets cook with Tash" sessions with our Toddler, Early Learner & Reception Rooms to promote healthy eating and encourage children to be involved in the preparation of food and making healthy choices. The children thoroughly enjoy this experience.
Pancake day surely creped up on us this year. The children had an eggciting time, exploring the different ingredients and making their very own mixture, competing in pancake flipping races, and best of all, the tasting part! The children were able to choose their own fillings and we all had lots of fun.
On Saturday 30th January 2016 we held our annual open day.
We had a special visit from Wolfie and Declan Patton from Warrington Wolves who officially opened the nursery. It was lovely to see so many new faces and welcome some new families.
If you missed it don't worry, you can call Sue & Helen for a show around any time on 01925 419911 or contact us on willows@evolution-childcare.co.uk.
Evolution Childcare nurseries deliver outstanding childcare to children from 0-5 years. We tailor each resource, piece of equipment, fixture and fitting to meet the individual development needs of the children who use our settings and our highly skilled, trained and experienced staff team then utilise these to deliver high quality learning experiences and childcare to each child.
Don’t just take our world for it though, come and see for yourself.
We are having an Open Day at our NEW Willows Nursery site this Saturday from 10am to 2pm and we would love to see you there.
Can’t make it? Not to worry, ring the Nursery direct on 01925 419911 and arrange a show round that is at a more convenient time and date for you.
It's a normal day at The Willows, busy preparing the children lunches when the phone rings. It’s Sue transferring Kerry through from Head office. My automatic reaction is "why is Kerry phoning? Did I do something wrong?”. I took the phone, worrying what she was going to say, when she told me the news… "You've been shortlisted for the NMT awards for nursery chef of the year”.
Sue and Helen appeared at the door with huge grins, laughing and being very giddy. I was so excited, "I can't believe it! Me! As if they picked me out of all those other people! They must have got it wrong!”, followed by lots of jumping and giddiness. The whole team were buzzing and they were all excited for me. I went home with the same excitement, telling my family the news. That night I didn't sleep… panic set in… I've got to cook in someone's kitchen… and in front of judges just like Masterchef, what are they going to ask me, what if it burns, I can’t do this… I went into work that morning after a few hours’ sleep to the same excitement as yesterday from the rest of the team. I shared my concerns with them and they were great, supporting me telling me that I could do it.
Over the next few weeks I practised my menu, worked out costing etc and prepared myself for the big day. The day before we were all set to go, I was feeling confident and the team were saying “You're going to win!!". That night I didn't sleep at all, the panic set in and I arrived to work 2 hours early and began cooking for the day, even though we had cover for me, and in true Tash style everything was already prepared for the day. Then it was time to leave. I felt like a celebrity! All the children, parents and team waved me off and wished me luck. Sue and I arrived at the train station, unloaded our bags, cool boxes with food bags full of equipment and resources. We looked like we were leaving the country! I was feeling confident and good as we arrived at Milton Keynes. We stopped for some lunch, enjoyed a Costa and then it was time to head to the venue. Sue told the taxi driver where we were headed but he told us he wasn’t sure where the cookery school was. I was thinking “Are you kidding me, I've got to be there in 40 mins!". Sue spotted a sign directing us to the cookery school, thankfully.
We unloaded and entered the building, still feeling pretty confident. I was shown around and then went to get changed. I got to the bathroom and panic set in "I can't do this, I really can't!”. Then the tears began to flow. Now I was trapped in a bathroom in my chef outfit with red eyes and blotchy face thinking “Do I look like I've been crying?”. Sue knocked on the door, I let her in and went into melt down number 2! All I kept thinking was I need to get a grip of myself. Sue gave me a huge hug and reassured me. I then entered the kitchen area and prepared myself and began talking to the other finalists. It began with a short video with the judges and our huge smiles. I look over at Sue and she gives me the reassuring look I need and I’m off, in my own zone… "I can do this, I'm going do it for the team". Everything was going well and I was enjoying every minute until it was time to mash the potatoes… "Potato gate!! Why today of all days, do my potatoes decide not to mash?” The judge chose that moment to come and speak to me. “Arrgh are you kidding me, my potatoes wont mash!".
The rest was a blur, and the next minute I knew it was time to stop and serve. The rest of the day went so quick and I was milking every minute of my fame in front of the camera (well you never know when your next chance will be, Gordon Ramsey eat your heart out, Tash is in town) . Then it was time to leave. Thanking everyone Sue and I left the cookery school and headed to the nearest pub in the train station for a much deserved glass of wine or 2 for the way home. It was a great day, one I will never forget. I would like to thank the team for all their support – I couldn't have done it without them.
The day arrives, we're going to London! To be honest, I wasn’t convinced I could win, even though Sue kept telling me different. I was more concerned about my dress and accessories, and what I could fit in my handbag. The train journey went well with lots of fun and laughter. We arrived at the hotel again, enjoying the atmosphere, laughing with Sue, Lynn, Lucie, Amy & Leanne. It was time to leave and we were all dressed and ready to go, looking amazing in our chosen outfits. I began to feel nervous knowing my video was going to be shown to everyone.
We arrive downstairs to welcome drinks and a beautiful meal, and then it hits me… It was nearly time to find out the winners. My category is announced, my stomach flips, I turn to Sue and say you will have to come with me if the say my name! I held her hand and had my head down. I heard Sue scream! Oh my goodness, I won! The next minute I’m on stage collecting my award, meeting Scott Mills and telling him I follow him on Twitter! There are cheers and applause and poses for the camera. I can't believe it, I did it, I never once thought it could be me.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur. I had the best time and it was worth every second, I can’t thank everyone enough who believed in me. The NMT nursery chef of the year 2015!!
So we are sat at circle time with our Reception room when we begin a discussion about our nursery outing next week. We get many suggestions:
"Let's go see Santa!"
"McDonald's!"
"I know, how about the seaside, we could go on a plane!"
Then a little voice... "How about Billy Steve's minibus!"
This was followed by cries of "yes!", and chanting "Billy Steve, Billly Steve!" .
Linking in with our topic, we decided we would go on a minibus adventure, driving around our local community playing "I spy". The day arrives, permissions forms are signed, risk assessments and checks are completed, and the children are excited and ready to leave, high-vis jackets on and with clipboard and pencils in hand.
And we are off, singing songs until someone spots the first landmark on their clipboard, followed by cheers, and then all eyes are peeled as we travel around our local community. Who's going to find the next landmark?
All the children and staff had a fantastic time and such an amazing experience being more aware of local landmarks, important places and of course the children's favourite places to go. Lots of pictures were taken of our little explorers, ready to make a book back at nursery. We can't wait until our next adventure!
It's our birthday! 12 years old, how did that happen?! Crazy how time flies when your having fun, and we've had lots of fun over the years watching many of our beautiful babies join us and then watching them grow into our school-ready little learners, ready to go on to their next adventures.
Being part of that adventure and learning journey is the most rewarding part of our job, knowing that each and everyone of us have helped that child to be the person they are today. So how did we celebrate our big birthday this year? Well in true Willows style we decided "let's have a pyjama party", with lots of yummy food made by our fantastic chef, face painting, party games and lots and lots of dancing!
We look forward to celebrating our first year of being in our new setting (well if the Queen can have two birthdays...?!)
We would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter!
We have had a lovely day at Willows today enjoying our Easter Bonnet Parade… and we had a visit from the Easter bunny too!
We have all been enjoying sharing the love this Valentine’s Day at Willows, we have been taking part in lots of fun activities.
The children made their own pizzas using muffins cut into heart shapes and then they chose what toppings they would like to put on their pizzas. The children were able to use a knife safely to spread the tomato base and to cut up the different toppings developing their fine motor skills.
The Reception children used red and pick creative paper to create a love bug.
The Toddler children explored red and pink objects outside in the garden they also enjoyed playing with the balloons. Throwing and catching and chasing them around the garden.
Our Early learners enjoyed creating Valentine’s Day pops with marshmallows, yummy chocolate and pink sprinkles.
Look at our yummy love bug biscuits, we used lots of different ingredients to make the biscuit then we decorated them ourselves with red icing. We also made some yummy chocolate truffles we got a bit messy!
The staff also got a yummy Valentine's treat to say Happy Valentine’s Day and a big thank you for all their hard work!
Today we had a visit from the Police. Everyone loved asking the Policemen lots of questions. They even let us try on the uniform!
