After a call out to receive your good news, celebrations and fun activities, we received lots and lots of My Under 5 submissions, which is excellent! Sadly, we’re unable to fit them all in February’s feature. Worry not, though, as we’ve kept hold of them and will be featuring some in March’s My Under 5, so keep your eyes peeled.

In December, Bacton Under Fives celebrated Pat Chapman and her amazing 44 years of dedicated service to early years with a surprise party!

Pat, understandably emotional at saying goodbye, nevertheless thoroughly enjoyed her surprise party, where she was presented with a lovely carriage clock (something she’d always joked about getting when she retired!), two beautiful pieces of Poole Pottery (which she collects), and a voucher for her favourite bed and breakfast on the North Norfolk coast – all from the generous donations from families and friends of the setting, as well as past work colleagues. Around 60 people came to celebrate Pat’s retirement, which featured a buffet spread that staff and committee members had put together. The evening also involved the previous deputy manager, Wendy Mills, who’d worked alongside Pat for 37 years and is now also retired. The night was a resounding success, arriving on the heels of a ‘Good’ Ofsted inspection. What a fantastic way to end a storied career.

Everyone at Bacton Under Fives – staff and little ones – misses the wonderful Pat very much!

One way that Centre Place Day Nursery incorporates British Values into its learning environment is to, each half-term, allow children to choose a book for the two-five group to focus on during morning and afternoon circle times. This not only helps to demonstrate to the children democracy in action and promote respect for one another, but it also makes sure that each child is given an opportunity to express their opinions and preferences.

The Three Little Pigs came out as the winner for this half-term. From this book, the children are learning about: different homes here and around the world; families and who lives in their homes; what homes are and can be made of; and the animals involved. It's created lots of opportunities for children to express themselves and be proud of their heritage, sharing information about their own families and learning new vocabulary.

At Toad Hall Nursery in Haslemere, Surrey, the pre-school children have been learning all things eco – from recycling to planting. As part of this, the children planted a seed carpet, speaking about the different elements needed to help the flowers grow. They’re very excited to nurture them to see what wildflowers will sprout! The children also installed their own bee house in the gardens to provide shelter for the bees who will help the flowers to thrive, with discussions helping the children to learn new words such as germination and pollination.

At Jack & Jill Community Pre-School in Wiltshire, staff have been teaching the power of calm via Sound Journeys for the children! Trained facilitator Mia Macallister visits the pre-school on a Wednesday morning, sets up all her instruments – ranging from a large gong to sound bowls – and prepares a story thread for each session. The children can choose to lay or sit comfortably, engrossing themselves in the sounds and breathing exercises, and feel the sound vibrations in their bodies. Then, once each sound journey is complete, the children get to experiment with some of the equipment themselves!

These sessions have been helping the children to be more aware of their bodies and feeling – physically and emotionally – providing both calming and breathing techniques for dysregulation. Not only do the children love these sound journey sessions, but staff also do, too!

What have you been up to?
Under 5 wants to know! To share your own stories, please email editor.u5@eyalliance.org.uk with the subject line ‘My Under 5’.