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Farm visit

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:20:45 GMT

Farm visit

This week, our delightful group of Butterfly children had an engaging visit to the Goat Shed in Mattishall. We began our adventure by listening carefully to our grown-ups, hopping into the car, and fastening our seatbelts, all set for a fun outing. Upon our arrival at the Goat Shed, we explored the shop, marvelling at the produce and chatting about where it comes from and the various products it can create.

Next, we ventured outside with the farmer, where we spotted the cows. The farmer shared fascinating insights about the cows’ diet and even allowed us to feed them. He explained that mother cows carry their calves for nine months, just like our own mummies. When the calves are born, they can stand and walk within hours. One child remarked, “My sister is older and cannot walk yet.”

After feeding the cows, we made our way to the goats, who were very eager to see us. Once we wrapped up, we washed our hands and happily returned to the nursery.

Library visit

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 12:57:42 GMT

Library visit

Last week, the Caterpillars group had a lovely trip to Dereham library. We observed different vehicles during our journey and enjoyed exploring books and colouring activities.
Visiting libraries is important for developing early literacy, inspiring imagination, and building social skills in our little learners. It was a fantastic experience!

Our Caterpillar children had an amazing outing!

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 10:55:30 GMT

Recently our Caterpillar children had an amazing outing!

We kicked things off with a delicious fruit snack before getting ready for our adventure. As we walked through the village towards the church, we spotted the park, the pharmacy, and the shop, along with plenty of buses and cars whizzing by. Once we arrived at the church, we gathered for a story and enjoyed singing the donkey song together. We even caught a glimpse of baby Jesus peacefully sleeping! After story time, we headed to the craft tables where we had fun with playdough, colouring, and making paper angels.

Recently Shoots went on a trip to see the residents at York House

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 10:50:05 GMT

Recently Shoots went on a trip to see the residents at York House

It was a lovely sunny morning however it was still cold so we wrapped up warm.

The residents had decorated ready for Christmas and we saw the colourful decorations and the amazing gingerbread display. We did a range of activities such as sing our nursery rhymes, we spoke to the residents and played with the cars we took with us.

The residents were really pleased to see us and we liked making them smile.

This trip encouraged the children to gain confidence in speaking to and meeting new people. We were also able to practice our listening skills when walking, crossing the road and keeping safe.

Seeds had a wonderful visit from York House Care Home

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 09:44:48 GMT

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Seeds had a wonderful visit from York House Care Home, where some residents came to experience our nursery environment.

They loved watching the children play and explore, engaging with the babies as they discovered their room.

We also enjoyed a lovely circle time filled with a mix of old and new nursery rhymes, with the residents joining in the fun. It was a fantastic morning, filled with joy and connection for everyone involved.

Look what’s new in our setting!

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 14:52:37 GMT

�� Look what’s new in our setting! ��

We’re excited to introduce our Emotion Cushions — soft, cosy cushions featuring photos of our very own staff showing different emotions such as happy, sad, worried, excited, calm and more!

These cushions are more than just comfy seating — they’re a wonderful learning tool for our early years children. ��

✨ How they support children’s development:
• Help little ones recognise and label emotions using familiar, trusted faces
• Encourage conversations about feelings, empathy and self-expression
• Provide a safe way for children to point to or choose how they feel when words are still developing
• Support emotional regulation by helping children identify what they’re experiencing
• Add a playful, interactive element to circle time, story sessions and quiet corners

We can’t wait to see the children use these to share feelings, connect with others and build emotional confidence. ��

�� Keep an eye out for photos of the cushions in action!

Shoots Trip Out To Bounce & Rhyme 🎶

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 13:23:20 GMT

Shoots trip out to Bounce & Rhyme ��

The children headed off to the library for a little trip to bounce and rhyme music session.
We walked from nursery wrapped up nice and warm and headed off. The children held Amy and Leah's hand and listened carefully to their grown ups to stay safe near the busy roads.

Once we arrived at the library we sat down on the carpet all together and listened carefully to the lady and her instructions. We enjoyed singing, dancing, bubbles and exploring musical instruments.

The trip to the library gave the children the opportunity to meet new people and explore the local amenities.

We had a blast

Autumn woodland walks

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 09:11:59 GMT

Over the last few weeks, Pip's children have been out in the community on small autumn woodland walks. We all wrapped up nice and warm and put on our hi-vis jackets! We then all got into the pushchair and walked down to Neatherd Moor!

Whilst walking there, we all waved and babbled to the cars and buses as they passed! When we got to the park, we were all very excited to see the ducks. Some of us clapped and said "Quack."

We then continued our walk to the woods, where we collected lots of leaves, conkers, acorns, and flowers for treasure baskets, sensory bottles, and messy play!

Pip's children all had an amazing time and can't wait to explore the natural resources they collected!

Kitchen News

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 15:14:08 GMT

Over the weekend our kitchen has been through a full renovation. This includes new flooring, wall panels, worksurfaces, we wanted to share this exciting new project with you.

Breckland Council regularly completes inspections and has always scored our kitchen with the highest grade of - level 5!

Grand Opening of Our Shared Library!

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:35:07 GMT

Take a book – Share a book

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are thrilled to announce the grand opening of our Shared Library, a space created for our children to discover the joy of reading, imagination, and learning.

We recognised at the beginning of 2025 that our children would love a library outside of the nursery to explore, and this NEW library would not have been possible without your generosity. A huge thank you to all families who donated books and to everyone who helped raise funds during our recent Garden Day. Your support has filled our shelves and created a wonderful resource for all of our Little Footsteps children.

Today all of the children have had a chance to visit the library with us, and they are all very excited to show you at collection time, and choose another book!

Library rules;
This is a book-sharing concept. Families can borrow a book, read it, and then return it when they are finished, or they can replace it with another book instead. This is a great way for children to increase the number (and types!) of books they have access to while also developing their passion for reading.

Children who borrow books don't have a set borrowing time or a limit to the number of books they can take. Instead, this project works on the honour system. The children also don't have to give back that specific book, if they've found one that they really love. Although if you have some books at home that you would like to donate, please pop them into the library so we can keep the book sharing going, and the library resourced.

Why Reading Matters for Children

Reading is more than just a nursery school skill—it is a gift for life. It helps children to:

Spark imagination and creativity by exploring new ideas.

Strengthen vocabulary and communication skills.
Develop focus and concentration.
Build empathy by experiencing different characters and stories.
Nurture a lifelong love of learning.

Thank you once again for your incredible support—we couldn’t have done this without you! Let’s celebrate this new chapter together and watch our children’s love of reading grow.

Macmillan Coffee and Cake Sale

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:24:02 GMT

Thank you for supporting our Coffee Morning!

Your fundraising has helped Macmillan do whatever it takes for families affected by cancer.

We raised £167 at our last count and still some more to be finalised.

Thank you to our lovely staff for all the yummy cake donations. And thank you to all those who donated your pounds and pennies.

Thankyou again from everyone here at Little Footsteps!

The Caterpillars had a great time exploring the community hub in Mattishall.

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 13:34:49 GMT

The Caterpillars had a great time exploring the community hub in Mattishall. We donated some books and brought some back to nursery to share with our friends. During our visit, we spotted two tractors that beeped their horns! We waved as they passed by and were thrilled to have a tractor book to read together afterwards.

Active Futures Approved!

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:25:04 GMT

We've recently received our Active Futures Approved certificate - take a look!

Exciting News

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:19:56 GMT

We’ve made our flourish pledge to help Norfolk’s children and young people flourish!

We have pledged to ‘Develop and improve our children’s mathematical understanding and use of numbers during their time with us. We will introduce daily number-based games and activities, develop our garden area and encourage our staff to use mathematical language’.

To achieve our pledge, we will be keeping you all updated with our new strategies and activities that will be put into place to achieve and complete our pledge for 2025!

New Specialist Baby Room Opening September 2025

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:16:45 GMT

As of September 2025, Dereham setting will be opening a new specialised baby room called ‘Pips’ for babies 6 weeks – 15 months. Now taking bookings for September 2025, January and April 2026.