Summer 2025
Welcome back to Blackberry House Day Nursery Newsletter! In our monthly issues we will be letting you know of the achievements and beautiful learning opportunities that children engaged in that month from across our four settings. We will also be providing you with two articles that will keep you informed within the sector and might even provide some helpful information! In this month’s issue we have covered a refresher on our Parent Zone – Frequently Asked Questions, The Importance of Art in Early Years, as well as Working Together with Parents.
Thank you for your continued support and enjoy reading!
Under 3's
Our Under 3’s have been focusing on improving their fine and gross motor skills by participating in garden games as well as our Little Chef’s activities where they were able to chop their own stack and create delicious meals. Our Under 3’s also participated in watching caterpillars turn into butterflies this term, learning all about their lifecycles before watching them be released. What a proud moment this has been to see our children understand the cycle and cheer our butterflies on!
Our children also continued to work on their Maths skills as they learnt about different shapes and sizes. We continued to discover the environments around us and represent various shapes using our fingers, sticks or other objects. This was an incredibly fun theme throughout the term as the children continued to explore objects beyond the nursery in the outside environments too!
Role playing continued to be a massive focus at our nurseries, with our younger children loved watching the bigger children get ready to go to school and explore their new uniforms with the littlest ones. We loved pretending to be families and role play home tasks such as washing uniforms or creating lunchboxes for our children, this was super fun!
Rainbows were also a big theme in our nurseries with the children continuing to explore colours through their activities. We began by reading a special story of Planting a Rainbow in our Forest Schools and proceeded to recreate colours and rainbows in our play!
Under the Sea was another theme that our littlest children explored by learning about the different colours and animals we can find under the water. They loved all our water activities that supported with this theme as well as painting with sponges to make bubbles and water effect art!
Our youngest children continued learning about their bodies and their health as they engaged in some Toddler Yoga throughout the term. This opportunity allowed them to further get to know their bodies and abilities as well as improve their physical development skills, great work!
The warm weather allowed us to have a closer look at Ladybirds as the little insects visited all of our sites in super-huge groups. Our youngest children continued to explore their Forest Sessions and engaged in What The Ladybird Heard book activities to support the sudden visits of ladybirds to our nurseries. We learnt all about their lives and environments as well as used their dots to practice our maths!
What a fantastic term!
Over 3's
Our Over 3’s continued to work on their school readiness as they began and completed their final term at nursery. This has been an emotional time for the practitioners as they watched with pride how the children become ready for their next chapter. Our settings have celebrated this transition through Graduation parties that allowed all parents to meet with the practitioners for the last time before their children embark on a new adventure in September.
Our Over 3’s also continued to work on their Maths skills by working on number formation and number recognition through super fun garden games and group work. This has continued throughout the term as the children loved role playing as teachers or detectives in finding numbers all around the environments around them!
Our eldest children also continued to get ready for school as they explored their new schools, new teachers and new unforms on school visits as well as activities at our nurseries. We worked super hard on ensuring the children’s independence is encouraged and supported throughout the entire time they are with us, therefore watching them be super excited for this next chapter was once again, a very proud moment for us all! The children supported one another in how to tie their shoes, how to put them on as well as how to get dressed for PE!
Planting a Rainbow truly was a successful Forest School book as the children were encouraged to step out of their comfort zone and explore and experiment with colours. Our eldest children supported their younger friends in recognising different colours as well as understanding the concept of rainbow. We are yet to see a real rainbow, but the children are surely ready for one!
Under the Sea was another successful theme across our nurseries with our eldest children learning all about the different creatures and their lives in the under-the-water world! This also linked quite nicely with the changing weather as the children engaged in a lot more puddle jumping than they were able to last term!
Our eldest children also continued to role play as they engaged in a pirate theme activity and became their very own Pirates! We were able to further engage in learning about science as we explored the various objects that we turned into ships and watched whether they sink or float.
Our children also engaged in Father’s Day activities and events across the group, with some fathers attending our Father’s Day breakfasts! The children absolutely loved spending time with their fathers and carers and show them all around their nurseries!
With the weather being super hot this term, we have engaged our children in a lot of water play including some water games where both children and the practitioners got super wet! This was such a nice experience especially on some hot days that we experienced.
What The Ladybird Heard was another successful story that the children engaged in whilst they completed Forest School sessions as well as SALT sessions. Some of our children even engaged in predicting where the story could be taken next or coming up with alternative parts to it.
Well done to all!
Links to Development Matters
The Importance of Art in Early Years
Art plays a crucial role in the development of young children, fostering creativity, self-expression, and cognitive growth. Engaging in artistic activities such as drawing, painting, and crafting helps children explore their emotions, understand the world around them, and develop fine motor skills. These experiences encourage imagination and problem-solving, as children learn to express ideas visually.
In early childhood, art also supports language development. When children describe their creations, they expand their vocabulary and practice communication skills. This interaction with art provides a non-verbal platform for children to share their feelings, thoughts, and experiences, strengthening both emotional and social intelligence.
Moreover, art enhances critical thinking and decision-making. As children make choices about colours, shapes, and materials, they build confidence in their ability to make decisions and solve problems. Art also introduces them to different cultures, history, and traditions, broadening their perspective of the world.
Incorporating art into early education sets the foundation for lifelong learning, providing children with the tools to think creatively and express themselves freely. Its importance goes beyond the nursery, fostering skills that will benefit children throughout their academic and personal lives.
ParentZone – Frequently Asked Questions
ParentZone is a smartphone app that brings you closer to your child’s development in nursery. At blackberries it is important for us to communicate with our families regularly, ParentZone gives us the ability to give you instant access to the activities your child takes part in, and will give you an insight into what they have been involved in during the day.
How do I get ParentZone?
You can download the app for iOS or Android on the App Store or Google Play. You can also access ParentZone online at www.parentzone.me. You as parents/carers will be sent a link to your emails during the onboarding process to sign up for ParentZone.
Can I change my password and details?
It’s easy to change your password and even add security questions for extra security. We suggest you change your password every three months to make it even more secure.
What is a ‘Day In The Life Report’?
A Day In The Life Report shows you an overview of your child’s day at nursery. You will see their sleep times, nappy changes and meals, as well as any accidents and observations that have taken place that day. We at blackberries are in the process of developing this section of our ParentZone, but we do also supply daily diaries for children under the age of 2 in our care.
When this is fully rolled out you will be able to access this from the ParentZone home screen, select ‘Day In The Life Report’, which you will find underneath your child’s photo. Then select your chosen dates and the report will be emailed to your registered address.
How safe is my data?
All data on ParentZone is protected by a 256-bit, Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificate. Typically, your Internet banking will have 128-bit security, so ParentZone is twice as secure.
Where is my data stored?
Your data is hosted on secure UK-based, highly resilient servers. The secure data centres are certified to international ISO27001 standards, meaning they are tested against a strict security standard.
Who can view information on ParentZone?
You can decide if you would like other family members or carers to view information, but log ins can only be created by the Nursery Manager. Your data on ParentZone, including photos and videos, can only be viewed by you and designated family members or guardians, and our staff. Our Nursery Manager can set permissions for staff so that they can only access data for their key children. Staff can only log in within their working hours. If they need to log in out of hours, they have to get a pin number from our designated safeguarding officer.
Will my child’s photos end up on Google?
No, all data is securely stored and is only accessible via a secure log in, no search engine or external source can access it.
Can I delete my data when my child leaves?
Once your child leaves Blackberry house day nursery you will not be able to access ParentZone anymore, therefore any pictures you would like to keep will need to be downloaded before your child’s last day.
As a requirement of Ofsted, we need to keep certain data for several years. If you would like any data removed, please speak to the Head Office team.
Parents as partners
We at blackberries utilise ParentZone to connect with our families. We welcome parents to add to their children’s learning journey by adding observations from home, these can include pictures of what your child has been doing over the weekend or holidays, or updates on milestones for your child’s key person to see. This supports the team here at Blackberries to understand what your child is interested in and will mean we can incorporate that within the setting. You are also able to add comments onto the observations that have been uploaded to have an input to your child’s learning and development during their time with us.
What to expect from ParentZone?
We at Blackberry house day nursery group will give you a weekly update on how your child’s learning and development is progressing through observations. These observations may include pictures, but will always include links to the development matters and a description of the activity your child was involved in. Whilst we understand that parents love these updates, we expect our practitioners to produce a minimum of one observation a week. We have found that this provides parents with regular updates and allows our practitioners to have a good balance between spending time with the children in their care and the paperwork attached to that responsibility. We are in the process of introducing the daily reports which will detail your child’s day from their meals and nappies to their sleep.
Please contact your nursery if you are struggling with ParentZone and they will be able to help you out 😊
Working Together – Parents as Partners
As your child begins to settle into nursery, the bonds and relationships develop. These relationships are vital for your little one to feel safe and secure in our setting for their learning to be enabled. As practitioners, we do our best to provide an individual and personalised approach to allow all children to settle in at their own pace. It’s very important for practitioners to develop a relationship with the parents as well to ensure we are all fully able to support your child on their educational journey.
Parents and carers are always the first educators each child will have. It is from parents that children learn the first sense of care, love and nurture, as well as first levels of early education, without the parents always realising it! Research suggests that the biggest and most important predictor of a child’s future outcomes is the learning environment at home. As a nursery, we ensure that we scaffold the foundations set and further any learning that has already taken place on top of our educational programmes and curriculums. Working together as a team allows us all to have a better understanding of the needs of the children allowing for the appropriate level of support both at nursery and home.
How does Blackberries’ Group work with parents?
At the start of every journey, we gather as much information as possible to allow our staff to have the best foundation to build a relationship and the educational foundation for your child. We start the journey by having our ‘All About Me’ document that talks about anything and everything your child prefers and dislikes, as well as their interests and skills. Parents are kept up to date with the signing up process before scheduling a settle in session that we offer. During our settle in session, your little one will come to meet the team and the children, as well as familiarise themselves with the environment before fully starting with us. All children under 3 have their own diary that is being filled in on a daily basis by both parents and the practitioners. The diary allows for constant and fluent way of communication on top of our daily handovers during drop offs and collections. The diary also allows us to stay in touch with those parents that aren’t always able to see us due to number of circumstances.
We are very proud to also be using a platform that allows us to share your child’s learning journey online. iConnect allows practitioners to submit learning observations and entries on a regular basis which are sent directly to parents. These entries are normally a summary of your child’s learning and their progress, and you should be receiving at least one observation per week. We use these entries to have a better understanding of your child’s learning progress and their development, which is also shared with the parents. This way, all parents and carers, as well as practitioners are kept up to date with the child’s learning and their needs.
Blackberries also offer a variety of community projects and activities outside of our curriculum to ensure we are involved in the important things that are around us.
As part of our relationship building, we also check in with the parents on a regular basis. Having longer handovers, finding out about the new puppy, home phone calls and looking at family pictures only supports the bond building that is vital for us to provide the best foundation for your child’s learning.
To allow parents and carers to stay up to date with Blackberries Group and their children’s nursery, we also offer family events that you can come along to and celebrate with us.
Keep an eye out for our next event 😊
