Important Dates - Creative Explorers Day Nursery
Creative Explorers
Important Dates
To all our families, below are some important dates in your child’s nursery calendar. Be sure your child never misses out on a single day of fun by keeping this calendar safe! We aim to ensure that all big events are held on days where the maximum number of children are present. Therefore, if your child’s usual session does not fall on a particular day in which you would like your child to attend, please just speak with a member of the team to see if there is any availability for an extra session (please note that extra sessions are chargeable and subject to availability).
If you’d like to contribute to any of the themes or events and have items you think could help in our teachings, please speak with a member of staff.
Please note that all events will take place at ALL the Baby/Toddler and Preschool sites on the same dates/times, unless otherwise stated.
Reminders are put on our Online Learning Journal – Famly and Social Media sites – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – so please follow us!!!
Please note that extra sessions are chargeable at the usual daily or sessional rate and are subject to availability
JANUARY
| Mon 1 Jan | NATIONAL BANK HOLIDAY | The nursery will be closed |
Tue 2 Jan | NURSERY CHRISTMAS CLOSURE | The nursery will be closed | |
Wed 3 Jan | INSET DAY | The nursery will be closed | |
Thu 4 Jan | Creative Explorers will be open for 2024 | ||
Wed 25 Jan | Burns Night | Burns night honours the iconic Scottish poet Robert Burns. To celebrate, please dress your child in BLUE today. Any parents with Scottish heritage are welcome to join us – we’d love to learn and hear all about how the Scottish Celebrate. | |
FEBRUARY | Mon 5 Feb – Sun 11 Feb | Children’s Mental Health Week | This week we will be shining a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health, raise awareness and campaigns for all children to have access to mental health support. This week schools, families and communities across the UK will take part in Children’s Mental Health Week. This years theme is ‘My Voice Matters’. My Voice Matters is about empowering children and young people by providing them with the tools they need to express themselves. During Children’s Mental Health Week we want all children and young people, whoever they are, and wherever they are in the world, to be able to say and believe “My Voice Matters”. |
Fri 9 Feb | Luna New Year (Sat 10) | Today we will be celebrating the year of the Dragon. In celebration of this special year, we invite any interested parents to come in and share their knowledge about the Lunar New Year. It’s a fantastic opportunity for the children to learn more about this cultural tradition | |
Wed 14 Feb | Valentine’s Day | Today is a day for love and friendship, so today we will be discussing the importance of being kind, caring and generous. Please dress your child in RED for the day. | |
Mon 12 – Fri 16 Feb | 1 WEEK HALF TERM HOLIDAYS FOR THOSE ONLY CLAIMING 15 HOURS FUNDING If you’d like your child to attend during this week, please speak with a member of the team to book extra sessions* | ||
Mon 12 Feb – Fri 16 Feb 09:00-11:30 & 15:00-17:00 Preschool Crouch End Branch | Parent Communication Week | This is an opportunity for parents to have a 1:1 chat with their child’s key person about their child’s progress at nursery. 15 minute time slots will be available throughout the week for parents to book, so please speak with your child’s key person to arrange a time. | |
Mon 19 Feb – Fri 23 Feb 09:00-11:30 & 15:00-17:00 Baby & Toddler Crouch End Branch | |||
Mon 26 Feb – Fri 01 Mar 09:00-11:30 & 15:00-17:00 Baby & Toddler Hornsey Branch | |||
MARCH
| Fri 1 Mar | St. David’s Day | Today we’ll be celebrating the Welsh Patron Saint in true Welsh style, so please dress your child in RED. Any parents with Welsh heritage are welcome to join us in learning some old Welsh traditions – we’d love to hear about how you and your family celebrate! |
Fri 8 Mar | Special Person in our Lives Day Afternoon Tea (Mother’s Day – Sun 10)
World Book Day (Thu 7 Mar) | Today we celebrate the special people in our little explorers’ life. Because mothers come in many different forms, we want to appreciate the wonderful job that all the special people in our lives do for us, so we have created a very special Afternoon Tea. This year we are celebrating Special Person in our Lives Day together with World Book Day, we invite all our special people to join us by dressing up as your favourite Book character and brining in your favourite book to read with our little explorers! £1 voluntary donations on the day will go to World Book Day. Visit www.worldbookday.com for lots of costume ideas! Please note, due to space restrictions we kindly ask that you let us know in advance if you will be attending. | |
Sun 10 Mar – Mon 8 Apr (Inclusive) | Ramadan | During the month of Ramadan Muslims won’t eat or drink during the hours of daylight. This is called fasting. The end of Ramadan is marked by a big celebration called ‘Eid ul-Fitr’ (The festival of the breaking of the fast). We will be learning about Ramadan throughout the month, so please feel free to join in or share how you and your family celebrate, we’d love to know! | |
Fri 15 Mar
| St. Patricks Day (Sun 17)
| We’ll be celebrating in true Irish style so please dress your child in GREEN today. Any parents with Irish heritage are welcome to join us in learning some old Irish traditions – we’d love to hear all about how the Irish celebrate. | |
Mon 25 Mar | Holi Festival | The festival of COLOURS! This bright festival and day is a celebration of ‘good over bad’. We would love to see your child dressed in their most colourful outfit to celebrate with us. Please note that Preschool will be hosting a colour run session with the kids where coloured powder will be thrown around the garden so, please do not dress your child in their best attire! | |
Thu 28 Mar | Easter Bonnet Competition | What better way to celebrate Easter as a family than to spend some creative time at home making an Easter Bonnet for our Easter competition. Parents are asked to design and make an Easter Bonnet out of anything they like, with their child. Entrants must be in by Wed 27 Mar. Be as creative and wacky as you dare! There will be prizes for the best Bonnet made by a parent AND their child. The kids will even host a fashion show to their fellow friends to showcase their designs. | |
Fri 29 Mar | NATIONAL BANK HOLIDAY | The nursery will be closed | |
APRIL | Mon 1 – Fri 12 Apr | 2 WEEKS EASTER HALF TERM HOLIDAYS FOR THOSE ONLY CLAIMING 15 HOURS FUNDING If you’d like your child to attend during these 2 weeks, please speak with a member of the team to book extra sessions* | |
Mon 1 Apr | NATIONAL BANK HOLIDAY | The nursery will be closed | |
Wed 10 Apr | Eid al-Fitr Celebration | Eid or Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan. It kickstarts the month of Shawwal, which begins with a feast to end the period of month-long fasting. The celebration is a public holiday in many Muslim countries but is not one in the UK. If any of our parents are free to come in and teach the children about Eid, please let us know, we’d love to hear all about how you celebrate. | |
Mon 22 Apr – Tue 30 Apr | Passover (also known as Pesach) | Throughout this week we’ll be joining millions of people around the world celebrating Passover. We’ll be learning how the Jewish celebrate, so please feel free to join in or share how you and your family celebrate – we’d love to know more. | |
Tue 23 Apr | St. George’s Day | Today we’ll be celebrating the English Patron Saint in true English style, so please dress your child in RED and WHITE for the day! Any parents with English heritage are welcome to join us in learning some old English traditions – we’d love to hear how you celebrate. | |
MAY
| Mon 6 May | NATIONAL BANK HOLIDAY | The nursery will be closed |
Wed 15 May 8.30 – 11.30 AM Hornsey Branch | Nursery Photographers | If you’d like to supply us with a change of clothes for your child to put on during the shoot, just speak with a member of the team. If your child is not in on the day, please speak with a member of the team about booking a slot with the photographer so your child can still pop in and have their photo taken. In addition to this, if you’d like any siblings to join in then let us know too. | |
Thu 16 May 8.30 – 11.30 AM Crouch End Branches | |||
Mon 27 May | NATIONAL BANK HOLIDAY | The nursery will be closed | |
Mon 27 – Fri 31 | 1 WEEK HALF TERM HOLIDAYS FOR THOSE ONLY CLAIMING 15 HOURS FUNDING If you’d like your child to attend during this week, please speak with a member of the team to book extra sessions* | ||
JUNE | Tue 4 June 16:00 – 17:30 Baby & Toddler Hornsey Branch | Sports Day | Join us for a morning of fun and adventure. We will require parents to take part in various races, so get your trainers at the ready and keep this date free! Timing and location TBC nearer the time. |
Wed 5 June 16:00 – 17:30 Baby & Toddler Crouch End Branch | |||
Thu 6 June 16:00 – 17:30 Preschool Crouch End Branch | |||
Wed 12 June
| Special Person in our Lives Day Afternoon Tea (Fathers’ Day – Sun 16)
Barnardo’s Big Toddle | Today we celebrate the special people in our little explorers’ life. Because fathers come in many different forms, we want to appreciate the wonderful job that all the special people in our lives do for us, so we have created a very special afternoon walk! As part of the Barnardo’s Big Toddle, we invite our special people to join us in the Big Toddle walk where lots of feet will make a difference for those children, young people and families across our country who need our help! A little voluntary donation will hugely be appreciated! If you would like to find out more, please visit https://www.barnardos.org.uk/ Please note, due to space restrictions we kindly ask that you let us know in advance if you will be attending. | |
Wed 26 June | INSET DAY | The nursery will be closed for compulsory staff training | |
JULY | Wed 3 Jul (TBC) 10:30 -11:30 AM Preschool Crouch End Branch ONLY
| Police come to visit | We will be exploring the role of a real police officer by either visiting the local Police Station or they will be visiting us! TBC (Please note: As an emergency service, the Police could be called out to an emergency at any time before, during or after the visit, so please expect that there might be changes to the timing stated. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause) |
Tue 9 Jul (TBC) 10:30 – 11:30 Baby & Toddler Hornsey Branch | Fire Brigade come to visit | We will be exploring a real fire engine as the Hornsey Fire Brigade come to visit us.
(Please note: As an emergency service, the Fire Brigade could be called out to an emergency at any time before, during or after the visit, so please expect that there might be changes to the timing stated. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause)
Preschoolers will be commuting to Hornsey Fire Station for their open day mid 2024 (Date TBC). If there are any parents who would like to join us, please let us know!
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Wed 10 Jul (TBC) 10:30 – 11:30 Baby & Toddler Crouch End Branch | |||
Thu 11 Jul (TBC) 10:30 – 11:30 Preschool Crouch End Branch | |||
Wed 17 Jul 12:00 – 13:00 Preschool ONLY
| Graduation Ceremony | Before our Pre-Schoolers officially fly the Creative Explorers’ nest and embark on the next big adventure in their young lives, we would like to invite all the parents and their families of those children who will be moving to school to join us for their first EVER Graduation Ceremony. Bring your cameras and tissues as this will be a very special day for our young go-getters! | |
Mon 22 Jul – Fri 30 Aug | 6 WEEKS SUMMER HALF TERM HOLIDAYS FOR THOSE ONLY CLAIMING 15 HOURS FUNDING If you’d like your child to attend during this week, please speak with a member of the team to book extra sessions* | ||
AUGUST AUG | Mon 12 Aug – Fri 16 Aug 09:00-11:30 & 15:00-17:00 Baby & Toddler Hornsey Branch | Parent Communication Week | This is an opportunity for parents to have a 1:1 chat with their child’s key person about their child’s progress at nursery. 15 minute time slots will be available throughout the week for parents to book, so please speak with your child’s key person to arrange a time. |
Mon 19 Aug – Fri 23 Aug 09:00-11:30 & 15:00-17:00 Baby & Toddler Crouch End Branch | |||
Mon 05 Aug – Fri 09 Aug 09:00-11:30 & 15:00-17:00 Preschool Crouch End Branch | |||
Sat 10 Aug 11:00 – 15:00 | International Food Celebration & Summer Party | Help us celebrate our ‘All Around the World’ theme by exploring all the different cultures in our nursery. Join us for our SUMMER PARTY and enjoy great food, music and dance. We ask parents to get involved by bringing in a dish from your country and/or dressing up in your native clothes! Please let us know in advance what item of food you will be bringing and from which country, so we can reserve a place and flag for you at a table. Please note – this is an outdoor event which will be held at our Pre-School site, so it will be weather permitting. | |
Mon 26 Aug | NATIONAL BANK HOLIDAY | The nursery will be closed | |
SEPTEMBER | Thu 5 Sept Time TBC Baby & Toddler Hornsey Branch Baby & Toddler Crouch End Branch ONLY | Visiting Alpacas | An amazing opportunity for your child to get up close and personal with real life Alpaca’s. Please note the Alpaca’s can be stroked, hand fed and cuddled with supervision, so if you’d prefer that they didn’t, please let us know!
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Mon 9 Sept | National Teddy Bear Day | Teddy Bears have feelings too, that’s why we’re inviting all Teddy Bears to join us at our BIG TEDDY BEAR PICNIC. Teddy Bears of all shapes and sizes are welcome. | |
Thu 19 Sept 09:30 – 10:30 Preschool Crouch End Branch ONLY | Zoo Lab come to visit | An amazing opportunity for your child to get up close and personal with all sorts of creepy crawlies, snakes, lizards, and giant African snails. Please note that the children will be able to touch some of the minibeasts (with supervision), so if you’d prefer that they didn’t, please let us know. | |
Thu 26 Sept
| Macmillan Coffee Morning | The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is Macmillan’s biggest fundraising event for people facing cancer. The first ever Coffee Morning happened way back in 1990. It was a rather small affair with a simple idea: guests would gather over coffee and donate the cost of their cuppa to Macmillan in the process. Creative Explorers LOVES coffee, tea and cake, so what better way to indulge in all three than by hosting our own events – This year we will be hosting 2 coffee mornings at both sites to raise vital funds for MacMillan. There will be a voluntary contribution on the day which will go direct to MacMillan. | |
OCTOBER | Tue 1 Oct – Thu 31 Oct | Black History Month
| Started in 1969, Black History Month celebrates important events and people across the African diaspora. We will be working with the children to learn and understand the importance of Black History. Any families that would like to share their stories or culture with the children will be more than welcome to join – please let us know. |
Fri 4 Oct | Special Person in our Lives Day Afternoon Tea Grandparents Appreciation Day (Sun 6 Oct)
Humphrey’s Pyjama Day | Today we celebrate the special people in our little explorers’ life. Grandparents’ Day was first introduced in the UK in 1990 by Age Concern. Since October 2008 it’s been celebrated on the first Sunday of October annually. To celebrate this special day, we’d like to invite all our lovely grandparents in their pyjamas to join their grandchildren and their teachers for a special ‘Grandparents Afternoon Tea’. The children will be making the cakes, so be warned! Sometimes it’s just no fun getting dressed in the morning, so let’s not bother for the day and instead bring your child into nursery in their PJs! We will be raising money for The Children’s Trust who are a charity that help children with Brain injury. Please note, due to space restrictions we kindly ask that you let us know in advance if you will be attending. | |
Mon 14 Oct (TBC) | National Practitioner Day | Today we will be celebrating our Early Years Educators for their efforts and contributions towards the children’s learning and development. | |
Mon 21 Oct – Fri 1 Nov | 2 WEEKS HALF TERM HOLIDAYS FOR ONLY THOSE CLAIMING 15 HOURS FUNDING If you’d like your child to attend during this week, please speak with a member of the team to book extra sessions* | ||
Fri 18 Oct | International Chef Day (Sun 20) | What better way to celebrate this day than to cook something ourselves? Our chefs will be having a cooking session with all the rooms today. Don’t forget your chef outfits! | |
Thu 31 Oct | Halloween | Get your spooky Halloween hat on and come up with a spooky Halloween costume for your child to wear to our spooky Halloween party. | |
NOVEMBER | Throughout Oct and Nov (Collection Date TBC) | Shoebox Appeal | Each Christmas thousands of shoeboxes filled with presents are delivered to some of the poorest people around the UK. Received with smiles, laughter and even tears of joy, these presents help build bridges with communities and show people who have been rejected or are living in poverty that they are loved. Creative Explorers would love to have your family’s support in creating a special shoebox for someone in need. Your presents will make their way to children and families living in state care, difficult conditions, women’s refuges, prisoner’s children, housebound elderly people, and refugee centres. Shoeboxes must be made way before Christmas to allow for plenty of time to reach their receivers. Please look out for information as we start the process of collecting over Oct and Nov. |
Fri 1 Nov | Diwali | Diwali is a Hindu holiday and is about the ‘light triumphing over the dark’, and ‘knowledge over ignorance’. It is a very ancient and spiritual festival where Hindus around the World celebrate by making divas and lighting candles with their loved ones. If any of our parents are free to come in and teach the children something about Diwali, please let us know – we’d love to hear all about how you celebrate. | |
Tue 5 Nov | Bonfire night – Guy Fawkes Day | Today we will be lighting up sparklers to celebrate Bonfire Night also known as Guy Fawkes Night. Babies and Toddlers will be lighting sparklers at the allotment at 17:00. We would love our parents to join us! Preschool will be having a real fire lit in their garden while sipping on some hot chocolate! | |
Mon 11 Nov | Remembrance Day | Remembrance day is a national opportunity to remember the service and sacrifice of all those that have defended our freedom and protected our way of life during World War one! Please join us in celebrating this very special day by dressing your child in RED as we make poppies with the children. | |
Fri 29 Nov | St. Andrew’s Day (Sat 30) | Today we’ll be celebrating the Scottish Patron Saint in true Scottish style so please dress your child in BLUE. Any parents with Scottish heritage are welcome to join us in learning some old Scottish traditions – we’d love to hear about how you and your family celebrate! | |
DECEMBER | Mon 9 – Fri 13 Dec | Christmas Menu | Throughout the week we’ll be cooking up a delicious healthy Christmas menu, which will include the Grinch’s special Green Thai Curry, Christmas Ragu and of course a traditional Christmas lunch with all the trimmings. Yum! |
Tue 17 Dec 14:00 – 16:00 Preschool | Nursery Christmas Party | Santa will be here to meet all our Creative Explorers, so put your child’s favourite Festive outfit on and join us for a special meet and greet photo session with Santa. Mums and Dads why not join in the Christmas spirit and wear your favourite Christmas Jumper too. | |
Tue 17 Dec 16:00 – 18:00 Babies and Toddlers | |||
Mon 16 Dec – Fri 3 Jan | 1 WEEK CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS FOR THOSE ONLY CLAIMING 15 HOURS FUNDING If you’d like your child to attend during this week, please speak with a member of the team to book extra sessions* | ||
Mon 23 Dec | NURSERY CHRISTMAS CLOSURE | The nursery will be closed | |
Tue 24 Dec | NURSERY CHRISTMAS CLOSURE | The nursery will be closed | |
Wed 25 Dec | NATIONAL BANK HOLIDAY | The nursery will be closed | |
Thu 26 Dec | NATIONAL BANK HOLIDAY | The nursery will be closed | |
Fri 27 – Tue 31 Dec | NURSERY CHRISTMAS CLOSURE | The nursery will be closed | |
JANUARY | Wed 1 Jan | NATIONAL BANK HOLIDAY | The nursery will be closed |
Thu 2 Jan | INSET DAY | The nursery will be closed for compulsory staff training | |
Fri 3 Jan | Creative Explorers will be open for 2025 | ||
Get in touch
Contact us
Rear of Holy Innocents Church, The Annex: 134 Tottenham Lane, London, N8 7EL
Rear of 101 Tottenham Lane, N8 9BG
02033407885
Creative Explorers Harringay, Unit One, Magnus Heights, Hampden Road, N8 0EL,
0204 505 6770
