Our blogs
Funky Fingers Challenge, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 6th Feb 2026 @ 2:03pm
At Nursery, we have enjoyed doing the Funky Fingers Challenge 🌈😊 This helps develop fine motor skills, hand and finger strength, and hand-eye coordination. These are essential foundational skills for everyday tasks and early writing. Good work Elephants 🐘
People Who Help Us Equipment Sorting Activity, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 5th Feb 2026 @ 1:01pm
At Nursery, we have enjoyed doing our People Who Help Us equipment sorting activity- promoting problem solving skills. Super job Elephants 🐘😊
Note for Parents, by Mrs Upton
Date: 4th Feb 2026 @ 3:23pm
Just a reminder it is Hippo's class assembbly tomorrow morning in the hall. Please drop your child off as normal, then make your way round to the office. Please remind your child how excited you are to see what they have been learning about and remind them how important it is to sit smartly on the stage!
We are working hard on working as a group to tidy up and how important it is that we all play a part in doing it. Please could you support us by encouraging good tidying up at home and please send in some WOW cards about this if they are doing a good job so that we can celebrate it - it needs some attention at the minute!
Thanks so much for your continued support.
Mrs Upton
Dear Zoo Tuff Tray & Crafts, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 3rd Feb 2026 @ 4:32pm
In Nursery, we have shown lots of interest in the story Dear Zoo, so we created our very own Dear Zoo Tuff Tray. We have had great fun creating our very own story scenes.
We have even created our very own Elephant Tribe crafts using paper plates. Well done Elephants 🐘😊
Taboo the Dinosaur, by Mrs Upton
Date: 3rd Feb 2026 @ 4:28pm
We were very excited to welcome a new visitor today into Reception. His name is Taboo. He had a note with him, he is lost!
Whilst we find out where he belongs, we need to look after him. The children had so many good ideas about how we should look after a baby dinosaur - see if your child can tell you what they were!
We found out that he was a tricerotops and that they are herbivores, so some of the children went to forage food for him, whilst others took care of him with lots of strokes and cuddles.
Lets see what tomorrow brings!
Snack and Chat, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 30th Jan 2026 @ 2:07pm
Snack and Chat at Nursery is our favourite 😊
Brain Break Dance, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 30th Jan 2026 @ 1:44pm
At Nursery, we had so much fun doing our Brain Break Dance Freeze- improving focus and attention and enhancing memory and information retention- Super job Elephants Class 😊
Junk Modelling- Fire Trucks, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 28th Jan 2026 @ 3:37pm
Today at Nursery, we have been Junk Modelling and made our very own Fire Trucks. Good job Elephants 😊
Outdoors, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 28th Jan 2026 @ 3:35pm
We love exploring the outdoors at Nursery 😊
People Who Help Us, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 27th Jan 2026 @ 1:36pm
Our next topic in Nursery is People Who Help Us, we are having great fun looking at all the different services that help us in our community, we have set up a Doctors Surgery, a Fire Station and a Post Office 😊
Threading, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 26th Jan 2026 @ 3:41pm
At Nursery we love to use our Funky Fingers. Today we have enjoyed Threading. Developing our fine motor skills. Well done Elephants 😊
Pizza Faces, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 23rd Jan 2026 @ 12:00pm
Continuing with our class topic All About Me & Ourselves, we have enjoyed making Pizza Faces 😊
Lost and Found and Lots of Learning!, by Mrs Upton
Date: 22nd Jan 2026 @ 3:49pm
We have been reading Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers this week. The children have been drawing and labelling what they would pack in their suitcase if they were travelling to the South Pole.
In Maths, we have been focusing on the composition of 5. It's so important to help them understand how we can make 5 in different ways - it really supports their Maths fluency as they move through the school. We have used the stem sentence '5 is made of ___ and ___'. See if your child can tell you different ways they know of making 5! Their homework is further work on the composition of numbers to 5.
To support their Maths, we have been building homes for the animals using sugar cubes. The children have seen how many animals they can fit inside. This is great for developing spatial awareness and of course, for counting. It also develops fine motor skills, as well as being lots of fun!
In our PSHE, we have talked about what we put into our bodies. We focused on safety in the home, including medicines and cleaning products. The children were so sensible and really helped Harold the Giraffe to understand that he should always ask a grown up for help.
Phonics, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 22nd Jan 2026 @ 12:02pm
Today at Nursery, we have been Phonics Superstars 😊
Paper Plate Faces, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 21st Jan 2026 @ 12:13pm
Today at Nursery, we have enjoyed making faces using paper plates, we have used scissors developing our fine motor skills and we have looked at all the different shapes on our faces 😊
How Can We Melt The Ice and Free The Animals?, by Mrs Upton
Date: 20th Jan 2026 @ 4:23pm
Today we were scientists, trying to find out the best way to melt ice and free the animals!
We had such amazing ideas. We decided to try out 6 different ways:
- Hot water (have no fear, it was only warm)!
- Put it on the radiator.
- Put it in the sun.
- Shine a torch light on it.
- Pour salt on it.
- Smash the ice to pieces.
Ask your child which one worked the quickest!
Water and Sand, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 20th Jan 2026 @ 8:06am
Today at Nursery, we have enjoyed bathing the babies in the water and acting out The Colour Monster in the sand 😊
Science, by Mrs Pratten
Date: 16th Jan 2026 @ 2:47pm
In science we are learning about our bodies.We had fun drawing round our friends and labelling different body parts.
We have also started to learn about our 5 senses enjoying using our sense of taste. We tasted salty crisps, sour lemons, plain, dark chocolate and sweeties!
Maths fun, by Mrs Pratten
Date: 16th Jan 2026 @ 2:37pm
We have enjoyed exploring 3D shapes in maths and creating patterns.
All About Me and Ourselves, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 16th Jan 2026 @ 12:12pm
Nursery’s class topic is All About Me and Ourselves. We have enjoyed learning all about our bodies, we have looked at the skeleton and have talked about the bones in our body, we have also enjoyed doing the skeleton dance. We have put our cutting skills to the test and created a wonderful display board on what we have learnt. Good job Elephants. 😊
Play-Dough, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 16th Jan 2026 @ 9:18am
Today at nursery, we have made play-dough! And we have enjoyed doing some dough disco 😊
Homework, by Mrs Upton
Date: 15th Jan 2026 @ 4:55pm
This week has been such a special lmilestone for the school. We would love for you to share your school stories with your children - what do you remember from your school days? What about other family members? The children might choose to share these stories with us during circle time.
Please could we also have your support in practising name writing. Please help your child to form each of their letters correctly, they write their name so many times and it's great to get them in good habits! As a challenge for those who already can, try writing their surname too!
Thanks to all the parents who let us know how they were getting on with post-it notes and rainbow words!
Amazing Animals Fun!, by Mrs Upton
Date: 15th Jan 2026 @ 4:14pm
What a lovely week we have had!
We shared the story 'Owl Babies' with the children and have enjoyed a whole host of learning activities with it. We have made nests with playdough, created owls using 2D shapes and enjoyed reading books with torches in our dark den.
In phonics,we have moved onto Phase 4 and are looking at cosonant clusters. The children are trying so hard and they are making super progress!
In Maths, we have been focusing on what 1 more looks like, using the numberblocks and we have created our own 'staircase' patterns using coloured squares.
We looked at what is safe to put on our bodies in PSHE and the children offered great suggesstions as a group.
We have also enjoyed a lovely afternoon celebrating a very special milestone...100 years of Longton Primary School! The children sang nursery rhymes in front of the school and our local MP, Paul Foster, alongside our school governors. They were amazing and we are very proud of our Hippo Tribe!
You can now read our Spring 1 letter on our class page, which will give you all the information about what we are learning this half term.
First Week At Nursery, by Miss Farnworth
Date: 15th Jan 2026 @ 4:01pm
We have settled into nursery life brilliantly, we have enjoyed doing lots of team games, getting to know each other in our first week and making new friendships 😊
Christmas is coming!, by Mrs Thomson
Date: 14th Dec 2025 @ 7:57pm
I thought I would share some of our Christmas special moments! I hope you enjoy sharing these special pictures with your hippo super star!
We will be sending home lots of art and craft projects this week. Some items are very fragile so we will send things home a little at a time each afternoon so they arrive home in one piece.
All about me books - please add one or two pages over the Christmas and New Year break (some ideas - a photograph, a special christmas card or a picture with a label of their favourite gift)
Thank you
