PEOPLE AND PLACES
Silk and paper
Seventeen-month-old Mae Eddleston-Rose enjoyed exploring the differenttextures of clothes and materials supplied for dressing up for ChineseNew Year at Little Acorns nursery in Urmston, Manchester. Nurserychildren made their own paper hats, lanterns and dragons, and hadtaste-testing sessions before partaking of a Chinese lunch on twooccasions.
Nursery noodles
Children's Choice Nursery in Monkseaton, Whitley Bay, arranged for avisit to Newcastle's own Chinatown, learning all about the Year of theOx in a range of activities including chopstick printing, noodle play,decorating money envelopes and making fortune cookies. The culminationof their week of cultural celebrations was a huge banquet held in thenursery's dance studio.
Hungry childminders
Worthing Childminding Association marked Chinese New Year with a meal attheir local Chinese restaurant, which they also used for helping thechildren to work towards the early learning goals in Knowledge andUnderstanding of the World, by learning about different cultures andbeliefs.
New manager named
North-west childcare provider Kids Allowed has appointed Sue Foy, aformer childminder, as the new centre manager at the Christie FieldsCentre in Didsbury.
Jennie Johnson, founder of Kids Allowed, said, 'We are delighted to haveSue on board. Her previous experience and credentials speak forthemselves, but she is also enthusiastic, hard-working and ambitious,and she will be pushing the centre to obtain an outstanding report fromOfsted.'
Hatching ideas
Sticky Mits Nursery in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, has brought a littlepiece of the countryside to the town centre setting, in the form of ninetiny chickens that helped the children learn about the cycle of life.Nine eggs were placed in an incubator and after two days the chicksemerged. Nursery manager Angela Smith said, 'At Sticky Mits we doeverything we can to give the children new learning experiences. This isa brilliant project - we've seen the absolute joy on the children'sfaces, and it teaches them to respect and care for others, even tinylittle balls of fluff.' The chicks will stay at the nursery for twoweeks before going to good homes.
OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Refurbishment tour
The newly refurbished Bromley Day Nursery in Kent, part of AsquithNurseries, was re-opened last month by the mayor of Bromley, CouncillorDenise Reddin. Mingling with more than 150 parents and children, theMayor took the looked round the new nursery rooms and baby unit, whichhas been converted from loft space and cost 160,000. The nurserycaters for children aged three months to five years, and can now offerplaces for an additional six babies.
EVENTS
Puppy Power
Readers can get a special preview of the new Disney movie 'SpaceBuddies' before its general release. The film is aimed at three- toeight-year-olds and its themes include teamwork, loyalty and followingyour dreams. The team of talking puppies must summon all their courageto launch plans for a moon landing and prepare to rocket themselves backhome, dodging asteroids and moving at death-defying speeds. 'SpaceBuddies' is released on DVD and Blu Ray on 16 March, but 250 seats areavailable for Nursery World readers on 1 March at 11am in Cineworldcinemas across the country. The preview screenings are being held atDublin, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool London, Didsbury, Nottingham,Sheffield, Glasgow and Cardiff.
To download tickets visit www.seefilmfirst.com and enter code 947787.Tickets are limited and available on a first-come first-servedbasis.
- Photo of the week
A dragon wall display was the centrepiece of celebrations for ChineseNew Year by children from Sunny Days Playschool in Bognor Regis, WestSussex. The children also made Chinese hats and lanterns throughout theweek and sampled traditional Chinese food, using chopsticks to feast onprawn crackers and noodles.
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