City of London School Highlights - May 16th, 2025

🍼 Baby Dragons Weekly Highlights – City of London Nursery

Our youngest learners explored the world through sensory play, Mandarin, and outdoor adventures—laying strong foundations for early childhood education.

Modern languages

This week we’ve learnt the mandarin words for some farm animals. We learnt the animal cow (niú), sheep (yáng), horse (mǎ) and pig (zhū). We learnt this by doing sensory play using cereal, scarves and toy animals.

Curious about our approach to early years learning? Explore our City of London nursery and what makes us unique.

Outing

This week, the Hatchlings ventured out to Salters Gardens, where they were surrounded by lush greenery and the sights and sounds of nature.
The children eagerly put their gross motor skills to work as they practiced climbing up to the bench — building strength, coordination, and confidence with every step.

Regional activities

Our curious hatchlings took a magical journey to India as they explored the magnificent Taj Mahal , one of the Seven wonders of the world. Inspired by what they learned, the children let their creativity shine by designing their very own colourful interpretations of the Taj Mahal. This supported their creative expression using colours and design and cultural awareness by learning about a world-famous monument and its significance.

Festivals 

This week, the Hatchlings took part in Mental Health Awareness Week with a heartwarming and creative activity, making a Friendship Pie! We spent the afternoon talking about what makes a good friend and how being kind and caring can make others feel happy. Feeling connected, included, and supported helps children build confidence, develop empathy, and manage big emotions. Our Friendship Pie was filled with thoughtful ingredients: a ‘handful of love’ (pom-poms), a ‘sprinkle of hugs’ (coloured rice), a ‘pinch of sharing’ (playdoh) and ‘lots of kindness’(shredded paper).

The Hatchlings celebrated International Day of Families with warmth, joy, and a touch of language learning! We talked about the special people who make up our families and explored how to say their names in Mandarin. The children were excited to practice new words like Bàba (爸爸) – Dad, Māma (妈妈) – Mum, Gēge (哥哥) – Older brother, Dìdi (弟弟) – Younger brother, Jiějie (姐姐) – Older sister and Mèimei (妹妹) – Younger sister.

We celebrate global festivals as part of our commitment to international observances and cultural education.

Mental Health Awareness Week

Continuing our Mental Health Awareness Week activities, we embraced creativity through art therapy! Using vibrant coloured foam, we tapped into our imagination and expressed ourselves in unique and meaningful ways. Creative activities like this not only inspire self-expression, but also support mental well-being by promoting relaxation, mindfulness, and emotional connection.

Sensory activities 

The hatchlings engaged in a sensory-rich sand tray activity featuring farm and jungle animals. The children practiced naming different animals, which supported their language development by expanding vocabulary and encouraging verbal expressions. The tactile experience of the sand met their sensory needs, providing a calming and engaging way to explore through touch. This hands on activity also promoted communication and imaginative play, as the children interacted with the animals and each other.

Looking for fun-filled seasonal learning? Check out our Holiday Childcare experiences.

Specialist teachers 

We were thrilled to welcome Miss Molly back for another joyful session of music and movement! The Hatchlings sang along to some of their favourite songs, including ‘Miss Polly Had a Dolly’ and ‘The Wheels on the Bus’.
One of the highlights was a fun and energetic firefighter song — made even more exciting with bright yellow firefighter hats for everyone! The children were full of enthusiasm, joining in with the actions and showing off their listening and coordination skills.

🐉 Blue Dragons Weekly Newsletter – City of London Nursery

From henna crafts to volcano science, our Blue Dragons embraced culture, creativity, and hands-on nursery learning through play and discovery.

Regional education

As part of our theme of the month: India and Southeast Asia, we brought the beauty of henna art to life through a special craft activity.
Inspired by the vibrant and intricate designs of India, the children created their very own henna hands using patterns, colours, and lots of imagination. It was a wonderful way to explore cultural art and express creativity!

Outdoor activities

This week, the Blue Dragon group enjoyed a lovely outing to the green area near our nursery. We made sure to lather ourselves in sun cream and made the most of the beautiful sunny weather!
The children had so much fun chasing bubbles, crawling through the play tunnel, and running around in the fresh air. It was a joyful afternoon filled with laughter, movement, and sunshine!

Extend the learning through culture and language with our Weekend School sessions.

STEAM activities

 This week, our Blue Dragon group turned into little scientists with a super exciting exploding volcano experiment! 
Using baking soda and vinegar, we created our own mini volcanoes. Each child had a chance to add drops of vinegar into the baking soda and watched in amazement as the bubbly eruption began!
The children were fascinated by the fizzing reaction – there were lots of smiles, giggles, and curious questions as they saw the volcano "explode." It was a fantastic way to explore early science concepts like cause and effect, chemical reactions, and observation. This Session supports our STEM learning approach through this experiment.
A messy, magical moment full of learning and laughter!

Specialist teachers

Miss molly

This week in Blue Dragon, we had a busy and exciting time full of imagination and mindfulness!
We transformed into firefighters—putting out as many fires as we could around the room! The children loved using their creativity and teamwork to spring into action and save the day.
We also had lots of fun popping bubbles, laughing, chasing, and watching them float through the air. It was a joyful, energetic part of our week!
To balance out all the excitement, we spent some peaceful moments during mindfulness time with Miss Molly. We sat quietly, surrounded by soft lights and glowing stars, taking time to relax, breathe, and simply be still. It was a beautiful way to unwind and reconnect.
Thank you for a wonderful week, and we look forward to more fun and learning next week!

Sporty minis

This Tuesday, our Blue Dragon group had a fantastic time during a sporty mini session! 
We kicked things off with some gentle stretching and movement exercises to wake up our bodies and get us ready to play. Then, we played a super fun game where the children raced to collect cones of the same colour – a great way to build teamwork, coordination, and colour recognition!
Everyone had so much fun, and we were proud to see such great energy and enthusiasm from all our little athletes!

✨ Dragon Flight Highlights – City of London Preschool

This week, our preschoolers dived into phonics, Mandarin writing, and cultural celebrations—building confidence through enriched early years development.

Ready to join our nurturing community? Apply for a nursery place.

Regional Education: Discovering India and South Asia

As part of our regional theme, we journeyed to India and South Asia—a colourful exploration that sparked the children's creativity and curiosity. The children learned about Rangoli, a traditional Indian art form made from bright powders and intricate patterns, often created during festive celebrations like Diwali. They created their own Rangoli-inspired artworks using paint, sand, and coloured paper, learning about pattern, symmetry, and cultural significance.
We also introduced the children to a Diwali song, which quickly became a favourite. Through music and movement, the children connected with Indian traditions, developing cultural awareness and rhythmic skills.

Creative Expression Through Colour & Emotion

The children expressed their feelings through painting, mixing colours freely and using their creations to talk about emotions. This open-ended activity encouraged self-expression and supported their emotional literacy, allowing them to explore how colours and shapes can reflect how we feel inside.

Sensory-Based Literacy and Numeracy

Our Dragon Flight group engaged in a sensory-rich literacy and numeracy activity using individual sand trays. Children practiced tracing and copying letters and numbers with their fingers, promoting early writing skills and strengthening fine motor development in a fun and engaging way.

Group Game Activity - Mental Health Awareness Week

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, we played a group game that helped children explore and understand emotions. Through different scenarios, they were encouraged to match feelings—such as happy, sad, angry, or surprised—and discuss them with their peers. The children showed empathy, took turns respectfully, and even shared their own real-life experiences, enhancing their emotional vocabulary and social awareness.

Mandarin & the Chicken Life Cycle

• Egg – 蛋 (dàn)
• Chick – 小鸡 (xiǎo jī)
• Hatch – 孵化 (fū huà)
• Chicken – 鸡 (jī)
• Hen – 母鸡 (mǔ jī)
• Farm – 农场 (nóng chǎng)
• India – 印度 (Yìn dù)
• Rangoli – 拉戈利图案 (lā gē lì tú àn)

Specialist Teacher Sessions

Our specialist teachers continued to bring engaging enrichment to our week:
Sporty Minis had the children developing their coordination and teamwork skills through tennis-based activities. They learned how to strike the ball with control and practiced passing to one another, helping to build physical confidence and a team spirit. Physical sessions like Sporty Minis are part of our outdoor and sports education programme.
In Mandarin, our lessons were closely tied to what the children were experiencing in real time—from learning new vocabulary about chicks and farms, to integrating cultural terms related to our regional focus on India. These sessions support early language acquisition through song, repetition, and real-world connections.