The Blackbirds team has reflected on what a success the transition has been for those children who moved from the Blackbirds room to the Seagulls space in January. Those children have done very well in settling into their new environment and have built warm relationships with their new key person. We love catching up with these children in the shared garden space. The team has reflected on the success of these children's transitions and we will be sure to bear in mind the forms of support that was offered leading up to their move, when planning for the rest of the Blackbirds move to Seagulls in September. This will involve children visiting their new key person and new nest spaces regularly during term 6. Communication between the Blackbirds team, Seagulls key people and parents and/ or carers is vital during this time, to ensure a continuous reflection on each individual child’s well-being.  

As a result of a group of 3-year-olds transitioning to the Seagulls room, Blackbirds has been busy welcoming and building relationships with new children and their families this term. So far, our new friends have settled well into the daily routines and are becoming increasingly confident and independent within the setting. It has been lovely to see friendships beginning to form, with many children enjoying playing alongside one another, sharing resources and immersing themselves in rich learning opportunities during group times. We have admired how the existing cohort of children have been so kind and welcoming, helping our new friends to feel included and a part of our Blackbirds family. We recognised how this term can be a big adjustment for our children for various reasons but, again, the team are very proud of how wonderfully the children are becoming increasingly engaged in nursery life.  

Block play has turned into a very important part of our provision this term. This all began when a small group of children repeatedly enjoyed sitting, standing on and moving large wooden blocks in the room. The team observed this group of children's patterns of play, with the blocks, and reflected that the children were craving more space to expand their block design. One morning, during an environment set up, an adult recreated the children's design (taking inspiration from a photo of the block play that was created the day before). This photo was also included in the set up for the children to see.  However, this set up was now spread across most of the room and other resources such as planks of wood, chalk and smaller blocks were added, as an option for children to use if they wish. We believe in ensuring that children have the opportunity to come back to resources they have played with previously, allowing for further exploration, problem solving and social development. This sparked the interest of many other children, further creating a beautiful piece of collaborative block play and a shared learning experience. We look forward to seeing how the children's block play develops further next term, as they develop their confidence, creativity and early problem-solving skills through building and construction.  

This term we welcomed Isabel who is a University of the West of England (UWE) student, specialising in Early Years Education. We are very lucky to have Isabel with us every Tuesday for 10 weeks. She is very eager to immerse herself into our very special and unique Redcliffe community and play alongside our wonderful cohort of Blackbirds children. We are also fortunate to have Jeanette, who offers regular support in the Seagulls room, join us on a Tuesday and Wednesday going forward. Jeanette has already started to build warm relationships with the children due to her supportive and empathetic nature.  

Luna New Year – Tuesday 17^th February 2026 – Year of the Red Fire Horse:  

As the Luna New Year falls during half term, we are looking forward to celebrating Luna New Year at nursery on our return and would love for families to get involved. This is a wonderful opportunity for children and adults to learn about different cultures and traditions, and we would be especially grateful to learn from families who celebrate Luna New Year. If you are happy to share any ideas, traditions, stories, music, clothing, decorations and/ or special foods (where appropriate), we would love to include these into our nursery celebrations. Please feel free to speak with your child's key person and/ or Kerry and Alex if you would like to contribute or suggest ways we can make this celebration meaningful and enjoyable for our children. Thank you in advance.  

A gentle reminder to please label your child's clothing and belongings. We have experienced a lot of wet days here at nursery which can result in children needing to be changed to feel comfortable again. Occasionally, it can be hard for the team to distinguish which coats and bags belong to who, so we would appreciate it if you could label your child's belongings. Although we have a peg system in place, coats and bags can become muddled up. Thank you for your co-operation with this.  

Overall, the children continue to show us that they feel safe and secure in their environment, building trusting relationships with not only their key person but with all the adults in the Blackbirds team and further developing a strong sense of belonging.  

We are very grateful for your continued support. Warm wishes from the Blackbirds team - Kerry, Alex, Lou, Maddy, Natasha, Antonia, Laurie, Helen, Yasmin, Zoe, Layla, Jeanette and Basra 

Easter Holiday Club:  Thank you to everyone who completed our online form to express an interest in our Easter Holiday Club.  We hope to be able to provide you with further details after the half term break.

We are going cashless!  As of the 1^st April 2026, we will be a cashless nursery school.  Please can we ask that any payments are made online via bacs or by card at reception. 

Reminders:

I would like to give you some important information reminders

• Please ensure you bring a bag in with multiple spare changes of clothes and wellies, as well as shoes, hats, gloves and scarves especially if it is raining and now the weather is getting colder.
• Please provide water in your child’s water bottle – no squash
• Mobile phones are not to be used once you have gone through reception into the Seagulls or Blackbirds rooms.
• Please can you fold down your buggies or take them away if possible. We need to keep the main entrance walkway clear at all times as this is a fire exit.
• Parking - please note that the car park is for the residents and a tow scheme is in place. We recommend using the on road pay and display bays for free 30 minutes to drop off and collect your children.
• Please check Facebook, Instagram and the website regularly. We are aiming to post photos (non-identifiable) of what the children have been enjoying each week.

Dates for your Diary:

• We will finish for the Half Term break on Friday 13^th February 2026 and return on Monday 23^rd February. Nursery will be closed to all children during this time.
• Wednesday 18^th March – INSET Day Nursery will be closed to all children

Bristol will have a new Best Start in Life Plan from 1^st April 2026. This plan is about making sure every baby, child, and family gets the right support from pregnancy to age five. Family Hubs, midwives, health visitors, speech and language teams, nurseries, schools, libraries and community groups will all work more closely together so families can find information and help more easily.

We want to hear from you so we can shape this plan together. Our early idea for our shared vision is: "Partners taking steps together so families belong and thrive.”

We would love to know what this vision means to you, and what

We would love to know what this vision means to you, and what you think should be most important in the plan.

Please find the link here: Best Start in Life: Family Survey

This survey should take 2–3 minutes. It would be great if you could respond by 5pm on 17^th February 2026!

Warm wishes,

Head Teacher