2nd February 2026
Things we will be exploring this week:
Dinosaurs
We will be exploring our topic of dinosaurs over the next couple of weeks. If you have any items relating to dinosaurs such as books or pictures that could be shared with the other children, please bring them in. please make sure you have your child’s name on anything you bring in especially if it is a dinosaur figure.
Our focused vocabulary will be – footprint, horn, enormous, roaring and stomping
Makaton signs will include – dinosaur, big and frightened
Our book of the week will be – Dinosaurs Love Underpants
Focused vocabulary will be – Tyrannosaurus Rex, Cavemen, huge, torn and snatched
Upcoming Events/Dates for your Diary:
Next Payment Date (for fee paying children) - Monday 23rd February
Half Term Break – we will be shut from Monday 16th February to Friday 20th February 2026.
World Book Day – Thursday 5th March
Last Day of Term – Thursday 26th March 2026
First Day of Summer Term – Tuesday 14th April 2026
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Sound of the Week
This week we will be looking at the phonic sound of ‘n’. To help with learning this sound, we use a Jolly Phonics rhyme with the children. This week’s rhyme is sung to the tune of ‘Skip to My Lou’.
Hear the aeroplane,
Nnn
Hear the aeroplane
Nnn
Hear the aeroplane
Nnn
Making lots of noise.
Action: Pretend to be a plane, with your arms out like wings and say nnnnnnnnnnnnnn
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Online Safety
Many children enjoy playing online games. As children get older, this often involves speaking with others online and with this comes the potential risk of grooming and exploitation. Speaking to your child from a young age about who they are talking to online and helping them recognise when a conversation may be putting them at risk can help to keep them safe from abuse. The NSPCC has published advice on how to start age-appropriate conversations with your child. In a recent survey carried out by Ofcom, it was reported that 6 in 10 children aged 3 -17 (57%) used live streaming platforms to watch online content. The research found that the platforms used most to watch live streams were YouTube and Tik Tok. The NSPCC has published guidance to help parents and carers understand some of the risks associated. Contact NSPCC online for more information.
Childnet also has internet safety resources for parents and carers with key online safety topics, advice and activities to share with your child.
www.childnet.com/paretn-and-carers
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Drinks
At Cornerstones Pre-School, we promote healthy eating which includes drinks. The British Nutrition Foundation states that water and milk are the best drinks for children as they do not contain free sugars. Drinking sugary drinks can lead to tooth decay and weight gain. Water is a good choice throughout the day because it hydrates without providing extra calories or risking harm to teeth. So, please provide only water in a named drinks bottle. Many of the drinks bottles are the same or very similar, so they need to have your child's name on them.
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Sizes
There’s so much you can do about learning about sizes and measurement in a play based way. It is important to use lots of different terms to increase your child’s mathematical vocabulary as well as their understanding. Vocabulary you could use includes, long, longer, shorter, short, wide, narrow, big, little, huge, immense, giant, minute, tiny, teeny, same, taller.
Activities
Find your dolls, teddies, play figures etc. Line them up from the tallest to the shortest.
How tall are you? Can you measure your height? Children often like playing with tape measures. Let them experience and explore. They could also play with rulers and see how long things are.
Use a spoon as a measuring device. Go around and see if things are the same size, shorter or longer than the spoon.
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