By Sharon Clark, headteacher at BSCS Primary Phase.
On Wednesday 12th June, local pre-schoolers and their families were invited to a come on a bear hunt! The rain kindly stopped for long enough for us to hold our Teddy Bears’ Picnic in Savages Wood.
The picnic had a ‘Going on a Bear Hunt’ theme with children creating their own ‘Bear Hunt’ books, listening to the story (whilst learning some Makaton signs to help retell it) and exploring a bear hunt trail around the woods. Tesco kindly donated biscuits and squash so we could share a snack with the children.
The picnic was organised by pre-school and Reception teachers from Bradley Stoke and the surrounding areas, working in partnership with the South Gloucestershire Early Years Team, and is part of a bigger project focusing on transition from pre-school into reception. The project has gained sponsorship from a number of companies: Andrews Estate Agents, The Willow Brook Centre and Taylor-Wimpey; all of which have donated funds that have enabled us to buy sets of books and produce a leaflet of nursery rhymes to share with children.
The children in the pre-schools working on the project will be sharing the stories and rhymes over the next term (We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, The Gingerbread Man, The Little Red Hen, The Three Billy Goats Gruff and Max the Brave) and their Reception teachers will also have a pack of the same books to share with them when they join their new schools in September. The aim is to encourage language development through the learning of the rhymes and stories and support the transition for children as they will hear stories and rhymes they are familiar with when they start in their new classes.
As a group of schools and pre-schools, we have been working together for a number of years to strengthen the links between our settings so we can all work together to ensure our children get a great start to their early education. If your child starts school this year, look out for a ‘Road to School’ sticker chart and ‘The Importance of Nursery Rhymes’ leaflet, both of which will be given to children in participating pre-schools and schools over the next few weeks.
If your child starts school next year, when the summer arrives in 2020, look out for your invite to our next Teddy Bears’ Picnic event!
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2019 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine (on page 16). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH (except August), to ALL 8,700 homes in Bradley Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
