10th May 2024
Our trip to the National Museum of Rural Life
We all had so much fun visiting the National Museum of Rural Life last week and the children did so well traveling all that way with us on the bus. We are so proud of all of them.
Thank you for waiting so patiently for these photos - we have quite a few to share with you which was a bit of a process to download and organise.
Have a look through below...
The Museum
We visited the Garden Detectives gallery and explored the different animals and insects that we might see in our gardens and nature. We saw bees, birds, dragonflies and a hedgehog. We had opportunities to create animal tracks and played some puzzle games. We even got to dress up as ladybirds and bumble bees!
We visited the Tractor Store and Tools Gallery where we looked at and talked about different agricultural tools and tractors. We thought about what they might have been used for and if we use similar tools today. We looked at lots of pictures of animals and farming in the past, and drew our own pictures of things we could see.
At the end of the day, and what some children were most excited for, was the play park. We had the chance to relax, run around and have some fun with our friends.
The Farm
We also got to go on a tractor and visit a working farm. We saw pigs, sheep, lambs, cows, calves, horses and chickens. We learned about what the farmers do to look after the animals and what they make for us, like eggs and milk. We had so much fun watching the animals play in the fields and listening to the strange noises they make!
Thank You!
This trip wouldn't have been possible without our parent volunteers - thank you so much for coming with us! We hope you had as much fun as we did. 😃
Monday - Museum
Monday - Farm
Friday - Museum
Friday - Farm
26th April 2024
Welcome Back!
We have had a lovely start to the new term and have settled back into our nursery routine so well! We hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Break and that you enjoyed having a look through your child's learning journal. If you haven't already, please return learning journals as soon as possible so that we can continue to update you with your child's learning. Thank you!
Numeracy
We have been so busy engaging in lots of numeracy learning experiences across the nursery. We have been exploring patterns and the children have enjoyed spotting patterns in the environment. The children have been using a variety of loose parts, such as buttons, counters and shapes, to copy and continue patterns and have enjoyed working with their peers to create their own patterns.
We have also begun to explore the Bee-bots which has been a huge hit! The children have loved using technology to experiment with simple directions and positions, exploring how to programme the Bee-bots and how to get them to a chosen point. We have been using language such as 'forwards', 'backwards', 'left' and 'right' to describe instructions and working with others to problem solve.
STEM Area
In the STEM area we have been looking at the life cycle of a plant. The children have been working with Helen to plant different seeds and are having lots of great conversations around how plants grow from seeds and what we need to do to look after them. We have been comparing the size and shape of different seeds and coming to check on them everyday to see how much they have grown!
Home Corner
The children have shown an interest in making food in the playdough area so we decided to create a restaurant in the house corner. In their role play, the children have created different dishes for the restaurant. We provided aprons, tables and chairs and a till and together we created a waiting area to wait until your table is ready. Over the coming weeks we will be making menus, creating signs for our waiting area and using money to pay for our meals.
Woodwork Area
A big thank you to Wood Glasgow for donating wood planks for our woodwork area. This month we introduced black line drawing. Our young learners were asked to design their models using black pens and paper and then construct it. There's been lots of ideas such as phones, houses, helicopters and even dinosaurs and robots. The children are continuing to develop their risk assessment and independence by using tools such as saws and hammers all on their own.
The national museum of rural life
We are so excited to be taking the children on a trip the Rural Life museum next week. Please see the emails from the school regarding all the information for the trip.
We will be posting all of the photos on the next Blog (10th May).
28th March 2024
Eid and Easter Celebrations
We have had a great time participating in early celebrations for Eid and Easter.
We have had many discussions and read many stories about Easter and Eid with a particular interest of how people all over the world celebrate differently.
"My Dad goes to mosque" - AL
"My Mum fast same as you, Amera" - AB
Some of the activities we have enjoyed are:
Creating and writing Eid cards in the literacy area
Designing symmetrical Easter Eggs in the numeracy area
Role playing in our Eid clothes shop
Egg decorating
An Easter egg hunt
And lots more! Have a look through the photos to see what we have been up to.
Literacy
In the literacy area this week we have moved the literacy area to the other side of Bay 2. The children have enjoyed working together to create a cosy space and decide how we could store and and display our small world toys and books.
We have been exploring many books about Eid, Easter and Spring and talking about the differences between fact and fiction books. the children have been asking many questions to find out information in our non fiction books.
While reading these stories and books we have focused on understanding a story and talking about the main idea. By using story bags, props and the front cover to give us context clues to support our understanding of different texts and talk about the main idea.
Construction Area
Over the past few weeks we have been experimenting with imaginative ways to represent the world around us, the journeys we make and the different ways we can travel. We have been talking about different vehicles such as cars, trains, buses, boats and even ambulances, and exploring different ways of creating them with blocks.
The children have enjoyed designing their own vehicles, discussing journeys they can make and when we might use them. The children have been able to draw on their own personal experiences and talk with their peers about times we have been on trains, buses and planes and where they have taken us. The children have enjoyed including this in their imaginative play.
Clay and playdough
The children have really enjoyed exploring clay and playdough in our malleable area. We are developing our fine motor skills, as well as practising persistence and perseverance to create something from start to finish.
We have seen many imaginative designs and creations of different objects such as shapes, fruits and vegetables, and animals. Children have loved the opportunity to discover and choose different materials to create their ideas.
Shoe share and clothing drive
Thank you so much again for all of your donations, it is much appreciated. We have been able to use these to develop our numeracy skills, for example, sorting, ordering and using ordinal numbers. We have also turned some old clothes into new items by sewing the bottom of vests to create a bag. This has allowed us to have great conversations around reducing, reusing and recycling clothing.
We will now donate all of the shoes to Clarks as part of their Shoe Share Drive.
Learning Journals
We hope you enjoy having a look through your child's learning journal and seeing a little bit of what they get up to at nursery! Please return the learning journals after the Spring break on Monday 15th April or your child's first day back following that. Thank you!
Spring Break
Nursery will now be closed until Monday 15th April. We hope you all have a wonderful break and look forward to seeing you all in a couple of weeks!
15th March 2024
World Book Day
We had so much fun for World Book Day last Thursday (7th March)! It was great to see so many characters around the nursery and we enjoyed discussing and exploring some of our favourite stories together.
Each area focussed on one book and children loved engaging in lots of learning experiences based on some familiar and some new stories - have a look through the pictures to see what we got up to!
Science Week
the STEM area has been extremely busy and exciting this week with so many new experiences to try and experiment with during science week.
We have also been encouraging the children to think about the world around us and to explore the cyclical nature of how our environment changes with each passing season.
We created weather and season wheels and talked about what the weather is like during the different season and what clothes we wear in different seasons. We also created our own tornados in a bottle!
At home - you could talk to your children about what their favourite season is and why.
Jam Dance
Over the past few weeks we have been practising our dancing skills in our sessions with Jam Dance. We have been learning how to control our body parts and link movements together to create and perform a series of dance moves. We have worked hard to develop our balancing skills and have been trying to hold balances in various ways and shapes!
Numeracy
We have continued to explore number sequences, number recognition and matching numbers and quantities. We have had a particular focus on ordering numbers 1-20 forwards, and have been challenging ourselves by working together to sequence backwards. This has led to lots of conversations around what number comes before and after a given number.
We have also continued to develop our counting skills, using 1:1 correspondence to count a given number of objects - this has been really helpful when identifying 'how many?' dots on lollipop sticks to make sure we gave the spiders back all of their legs or the sun back it's rays!
Outdoors
With the nicer weather starting to appear, we have been taking full advantage of our outdoor area with lots of children choosing to spend some of their time outside. The new bikes and scooters have been a huge hit and we have had great fun exploring how to travel around the outdoor area using our gross motor skills effectively and in different ways.
Shoe Share and clothing drive
We want to say a huge thank you for all the shoe donations, our shoe box is overflowing.
Before we take the shoes to be donated we have been using them in our numeracy area for sorting and pairing activities.
Children have been able to pair and match the shoes correctly and order them by size by comparing and measuring the shoes against each other.
This week we have begun creating our shoe and clothing charity shop in the nursery - we look forward to continue the conversations about the importance of reusing and recycling shoes and clothes.
Next up will be looking at how we can turn clothing into something new in our sewing area. If you have any old t-shirts (which will be sewn into bags) - please hand them in to Lee or Hannah. Thank you!
1st March 2024
Stay and Play
We have loved having lots of our parents and carers in during our Stay and Play sessions this week. We hope you enjoyed seeing what some of our day looks like and joining in with our learning experiences.
Shoe share and clothing drive
The children have enjoyed discussing why it is important to reuse and recycle shoes and clothing and how it impacts the environment.
Thank you for the shoe donations that have come in so far, we will continue to collect shoes for the next couple weeks.
If you could please have a look at the lost property clothing as this will be taken as a donation for our 'Maidenhill charity shop' if not claimed.
However, if you see something you might need or can reuse please feel free to help yourself as this has all been there for quite some time.
Creative Area
In our creative area children are discovering and choosing different ways to create images and objects. We are experimenting with different resources and creating lots of interesting pieces of art!
We are exploring various artists. This week we have been looking at Vincent Van Gogh and his Sunflowers painting. We talked about what we like and dislike about different pictures and the shapes, lines and colours the artist has used. We then used this as inspiration to create our own flower paintings.
STEM Area
Children have been learning all about forces in our STEM area. We have been exploring toys and objects and discussing whether they need to be pushed or pulled. We have been exploring how to make objects go faster (like pushing them down hill) and slower (pushing them up hill). This led on to us building bridges and looking at magnets.
After noticing a rainbow outside, we have explored the different colours of the rainbow. We have loved creating our own rainbows using lollipop sticks and even carried out an experiment using skittles to show the colours of the rainbow.
Home Corner
Following the children's interests, over the last couple of weeks our home corner has transformed into a Doctor's Surgery. Children have loved role playing and caring for their peers. They have been practising their writing skills when creating signs and writing prescriptions. They have also used their creativity and painting skills to turn a cardboard box into an ambulance. This has allowed us to have lots of great conversations about the different roles people play in our society and how they can help us.
We will continue to explore childrens interests and look at parts of the body and how our body works.
Literacy
We are exploring sounds and words and how they work together by identifying words that rhyme.
We read the story 'Oi frog' and were able to match the animal that is sitting on the appropriate item that rhymes. The children especially enjoyed the hilarious ending of the story when the 'dog sits on the frog'.
5 little speckled frogs has been the rhyme of the week where children were able to anticipate what would happen in the song and move the frogs at the appropriate time, consolidating the learning of the patterns and order of language.
This weeks rhyme if the week is 'Mary Mary quite contrary'.
16th February 2024
Lunar New Year
It was an exciting week last week celebrating Lunar New Year. The children had opportunities to create dragons in the playdough area, we danced and acted like dragons in the Gym Hall, we cooked Chinese noodles and ate it for lunch, we wrote letters and cards to put in red envelopes for our friends and family, and created lanterns in the creative area. A very busy and enjoyable week indeed.
Mini Kickers
Over the past few weeks we have been practising our ball control skills by kicking, dribbling and passing footballs in our Mini Kickers sessions. The children were able to use their listening skills to follow instructions from the coach and learn new games, working together to play with our friends.
Literacy
In the outdoor area the children have enjoyed retelling the story of "We're going on a bear hunt" by swishing through the grass, splashing through puddles, squishing through mud, tripping through the forest and of course whooshing through snow storms (which was appropriate in the wind last week).
We have brought the story indoors and drew pictures of the main events, created story maps, sequenced and ordered pictures and retold the story to our friends.
The children have loved this story and we are still seeing children explore and retell the events independently in the book area.
Numeracy
We have been developing our counting skills over the past few weeks, with a particular focus on counting using one to one correspondence and identifying numbers.
For example, children can identify a written number and then use their fingers to count out the correct number of objects or dots in a group. We are also regularly reciting numbers, practising counting to 10, 20 and beyond!
Shoe Share
Next week we are starting a learning experience where we are involving the children in how we can play effective roles in our community and be active participants in making change with a focus on sustainability.
With the nursery and Primary 1 children we have decided to run a Shoe Share. we are looking for donations of old and used shoes to participate in Clarks shoe share scheme.
We will be having discussions on what happens to our shoes when they no longer fit us, the impact of shoes and clothing on the environment and what we can do to reduce this impact.
If you are able to donate we will be collecting shoes in the nursery on the week of the 19th February.
2nd February 2024
Languages Week
We have had such a lovely time this week welcoming parents into the nursery to mark Languages Week. It has been great to hear stories, nursery rhymes and songs from all over the world and celebrate the diversity in our community. Thank you to everyone who was able to come in and share with us, we really appreciate you giving up your time to help us celebrate!
Burns Day
On the 25th January we had a fantastic time and a lot of fun celebrating all things Scottish and the life of Robert Burns.
We danced a Ceilidh, made shortbread, sewed tartan sashes, painted purple thistles and weaved paper to create a tartan.
Playdough
The children were interested in reading a dinosaur book and making a jungle where dinosaurs can live. They made the green playdough to make the grass and dinosaur footprints, talking about and comparing the different sizes of footprints. The children were then keen to make the animals and their homes in the playdough area. Amera made green and blue playdough and we talked about whether animals would live in the 'grass' or the 'sea' - "Fish don't live in the grass", "sheep don't swim".
Sewing and Weaving
Children have been learning new skills and have recently started using the sewing machine to create designs. We have been developing our hand eye coordination and fine motor skills when threading needles and working on our numeracy skills when measuring fabric.
We have been very lucky to have a few visits from a child's grandparent, who has showed us how to make a coaster and a drawstring bag. We have also been using our mark making skills to create designs on paper which we then transferred to fabric, making clothes for dolls and themselves.
Sand and Water
The children love spending time in the sand and water area, developing their gross and fine motor skills when searching for various items in the sand e.g. letters, loose parts, and more recently, using rolling pins to make dinosaur eggs. We have been exploring the different resources and talking about their shape and how they move.
The water tray is always a hit where the children have been using language to describe capacity by filling and emptying containers of various sizes and shape and exploring whether different materials sink or float.
19th January 2024
Learning Journals
We have had a great start to the new term and have settled back into our nursery routine so well! We hope everyone had a wonderful winter break and that you enjoyed having a look through your child's learning journal. If you haven't already, please return learning journals as soon as possible so that we can continue to update you with your child's learning. Thank you!
Outdoors
We have been using loose parts and natural materials to explore shape and patterns and create transient art. The children are able to use the materials to explore texture and shape and design and copy ways to put the pieces together.
We then introduced a line of symmetry to create identical patterns or to copy each others patterns and designs.
Home Corner
The children decided that they would like to create a shop in our home corner. They enjoyed their role play and used loose parts as money. They demonstrated co-operation and turn taking skills and communicating and sharing their ideas with their peers.
We introduced environmental print such as Asda and Tesco’s logos which many of the children could recognise. The imaginative play extended from the shop into our home corner kitchen for example where they needed to buy butter for the pasta. The children talked about shopping lists and used pens and paper to write their own lists.
Numeracy
The children have been learning through a variety of activities within the numeracy and loose parts area to recognise numbers and understand quantity.
Such as using shells and loose parts to place the correct amount on a number, using gems to form numbers 1 to 10 and matching irregular dot patterns to a number.
STEM
The children have continued to have an interest in Space within the STEM area exploring light, light from stars and galaxies appears as a variety of colours, including white, yellow, red and blue.
Using the colour blocks to build our rockets the children are developing an understanding of light passing through showing the colour reflecting on the floor.
We have also been exploring the different properties of the planets in our solar system and developing a knowledge of the moons surface being "rocky" "hard" and "bubbly" and enjoyed making "moon dough" to create the moons surface.
22nd December 2023
Nativity
Thank you so much to everyone who was able to come and watch our nativity last week. We had so much fun preforming for you all and hope you enjoyed it too!
Christmas Party
On Monday afternoon we had our Christmas party! We had a great time playing games like 'Musical Statues' and 'Corners', and showing off our best dance moves. We enjoyed a lovely Christmas snack, and even got a visit from a very special guest. We got to chat with Santa and ask him lots of questions - we had so much fun!
Block Play
Over the past few weeks we have become construction workers during our block play. We have been exploring different ways to design and construct models, drawing plans for our building ideas and then working together to bring them to life!
Creative Area
Recently, we have been learning about shapes in our creative area. We have been making pictures and patterns using different shapes, and describing what we have used and made to our peers. We have also been creating lots of Christmas art work, decorating and making our nursery festive.
Thank You
Thank you so much to you all for your festive wishes and gifts - they are very much appreciated. We hope you all have a lovely holiday and happy New Year. See you all in January!
1st December 2023
Stay and Play
Thank you to everyone who was able to come to one of our Stay and Play Sessions. The children have loved showing you round their nursery and we hope you enjoyed seeing some of the things they get up to each day.
Outdoor Play
With the weather turning colder we have had children all suited up and in their outdoor gear for outdoor play. At times their feet can get cold or wet in their wellies and so if you could please please please pack extra socks in your child's bag that would be extremely helpful.
We have run out of spare socks and spare trousers so if you have any that you no longer need and could donate to the nursery please send them in, we would really appreciate any extras.
Literacy
We have been learning how to make our own books in the literacy area. We have discussed key parts of a book such as the title and author. We have been using our imaginations when creating our own characters and stories and thinking about what kind of pictures and marks to include.
Baking day with Mrs Manif
the children enjoyed having Kian's mum in the nursery for a lovely baking session. we measured out the ingredients, we counted the cupcakes trays, we took turns to mix and stir the mixture and watched as the baking mixture was transformed and baked into spongy cupcakes.
Thank you to Mrs Manif for giving up your time and teaching us your baking skills. We so look forward to decorating Christmas biscuits with you next time.
Nativity
We have been practising already for our nativity show and can't wait to sing for our parents and families. Remember to please get your tickets through your Parent Pay account.
Thursday, 14th December
10:15 show - Owls, Squirrels and Rabbits
14:00 show - Foxes, Hedgehogs and Badgers
Below you will find the words to the songs just in case you would like to practise and sing along at home.
Song 1 (tune of London Bridge)
1. I have got some special news,
Special news, special news,
I have got some special news,
My fair Mary
2. You will have a baby boy,
A baby boy, a baby boy
You will have a baby boy,
My fair Mary
3. I have got some special news,
Special news, special news,
I have got some special news,
My fair Mary
Song 2: (tune of Keel Row)
We must go to Bethlehem
To Bethlehem, to Bethlehem
We must go to Bethlehem,
To Bethlehem we’ll go.
Song 3 (tune of London Bridge)
You have got a baby boy,
Baby boy, baby boy,
You have got a baby boy,
My fair Mary
Song 4 (tune of 3 blind mice)
3 wise men, 3 wise men,
see how they run, see how they run,
they follow the star to Bethlehem
they follow the star to Bethlehem
3 wise men, 3 wise men
Song 5 (tune of London Bridge)
We have come to meet your son,
Meet your son, meet your son,
We have come to meet your son,
His name is Jesus!
Song 6 Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you re.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Song 7 : We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
And a happy new year!
Good tidings we bring,
to you and your kin
We wish you a merry Christmas
And a happy New Year!
17th November 2023
Stay and Play
We have loved welcoming families into the nursery for our Stay and Play sessions this week. If you have not yet signed up and would like to attend, please speak to a member of staff who can help you sign up to a session over the next two weeks.
Sewing Area
We have been exploring the ‘Gingerbread Man’ story within the weaving area. The children were involved in discussion about the story and were retelling it through the use of provocations i.e. used loose parts for “eyes” and “big buttons like the gingerbread man” on cut out paper dolls. They also used some needles and thread and working on their fine motor development to sew the thread around the edges of the doll.
Creative area and Junk Modelling
The children were exploring pattern and symmetry last week when learning about the celebrations of Diwali and creating their own Rangoli patterns. They used prints and various materials to create their own symmetrical Rangoli patterns.
The junk modelling area is always very popular. There have been many rocket ships and robots and other imaginative creations. We so appreciate all the junk modelling and recyclable materials that are brought in for us to use and we are always looking for more and are happy to take them off your hands.
Small World and Block Area
In our block area children have been showing an interest in building houses and talking about their families. They have been playing with small world family figures, which led to children talking about their own families and who is in their family. Thank you for all the family pictures that have been handed in, the children have loved pointing out their picture and sharing stories with their peers.
3rd November 2023
Learning Journals
We hope you enjoyed having a look through your child's learning journal over the October break and seeing a little bit of what they get up to at nursery!
Can all learning journals please be returned to the nursery so that we continue adding photos and experiences to their learning journey this term.
Stay and Play
Stay and Play sessions will be starting from the 14th - 30th November at various times.
This is an opportunity for you to visit the nursery and spend some time in the play experiences with your child.
Please sign up at the nursery door for a preferred time and day or ask a member of staff if you have not yet had chance to sign up.
Gym Hall
On Tuesdays we have been visiting the school gym hall and taking part in gross motor and physical play experiences. The children are always looking forward to this time and taking part in games to develop how they can stop, start and move in space and move their bodies in different ways.
We have a few games related to movies and a specific one they love is Pup Pup Boogie Warm Up which is based around to Paw Patrol. The children have to move in certain ways related to the Paw Patrol pups we call out. For example: pretend to climb a ladder when calling Marshal or run very fast on the spot when we shout Chase. The children enjoy moving in different ways and deciding on other ways to move their bodies for other characters.
Working Families
The children have settled so well into the nursery and have enjoyed talking about what their parents and family members do while we are in nursery and developing an understanding of the world around us,
The children were able to identify various job roles such as teachers, nurses and bakers and discuss different aspects of those jobs. They could mark make and draw their families at work and discuss what they would wear or what they would need.
1st November 2023
Home Learning
Below you will find a few learning experiences that you can try today while you are at home. You can also find some online suggestions under the Home Learning tab.
Enjoy,
Lee and Hannah
13th October 2023
Our Restaurant
Recently, we have been busy creating and running our very own outdoor restaurant! We have worked together to design our restaurant and come up with a name, Donald's Restaurant Bash. We have been using our mud kitchen to make lots of different meals and drinks, developing our measuring, counting and mark making skills along the way. We have also been using our talking and listening skills to take orders from our peers!
Froebel's Gifts
The children love exploring Froebel's gifts and using them in their open-ended, imaginative play. They are developing their creativity and experimenting with different shapes, sizes and patterns. We have seen lots of wonderful creations, from flowers to rockets to houses!
Family Photos
Within our literacy area as well as our block and small world area the children have been interested in building homes and talking about their families and developing their understanding of where people work. If possible, we would love to include some of our children's family photos or photo's of you in your work uniform. If you're happy to have your family photos displayed in the nursery, please bring in a copy.
Donations
We are looking for any recyclable materials to build up our junk modelling store. The children love to be creative, build and stick with various materials and we would be so grateful if you could help us with our collection. Examples are: cereal boxes, any small cardboard boxes, egg crates, bottles, bottle tops/caps/lids, yoghurt pots or anything you think the children could use with their imaginations. Thank you in advance.
Learning Journals
We hope you enjoy having a look through your child's learning journal and seeing a little bit of what they get up to at nursery! Please return the learning journals after the October holidays on Tuesday 24th October, or your child's first day back following that. Thank you and we hope you all have a wonderful October break!
28th September 2023
Home Learning
Our last day of Home Learning. We are excited to see you all again tomorrow.
Lee and Hannah
27th September 2023
Home Learning
Please find some more learning experiences you can try at home today.
Have fun!
Lee and Hannah
26th September 2023
Home Learning
Below you will find a few learning experiences that you can try today while you are at home. You can also find some online suggestions under the Home Learning tab.
Enjoy,
Lee and Hannah
21st September 2023
Outdoor Area
The children love exploring our outdoor area and are developing lots of skills.
Many children have been interested in measuring. We have investigated how tall we are and discussed who is taller and who is smaller. We've built great towers and looked at who can build the tallest!
Children have also loved using their sorting skills to create their own "Ice Cream Shop". We used pom-poms as ice cream scoops and enjoyed role playing as servers and customers.
We have continued to have lots of fun during water play and experimenting with lots of different resources to move water from one place to another.
Outdoor Gear
Please can we ask that all our children have appropriate clothing for outdoor activities such as waterproof suits and wellies. As the weather gets colder scarves, gloves and hats can be brought in too. Spare clothes in bags are also useful for changes after wet play, including spare socks! Please label everything and thank you in advance!
Woodwork Area
We have opened our wood working area! Before we start with real tools we have been discussing how we can be safe in the area or when using tools. For example, the children already know that only 4 children can enter at one time and we only enter with an adult. We have moved on to how to safely hold a hammer and how to take turns and tidy our resources.
While learning these skills we are developing our fine motor, concentration and hand-eye coordination while balancing marbles onto pegs, building objects and characters with clothes pegs and lolly sticks and hammering golf tees into cardboard.
Toys
We would like to kindly ask that we begin to refrain from bringing toys into the nursery. While we understand that toys can be a source of comfort and entertainment, it often leads to other children wanting to play with them, causing upset feelings when they can't. Toys also tend to get lost in our large nursery which can be distressing for both parents and children at the end of the day. Thank you for your understanding.
Family Photos
Within our literacy area as well as our block and small world area the children have been interested in building homes and talking about their families and developing their understanding of where people work. If possible, we would love to include some of our children's family photos or photo's of you in your work uniform. If you're happy to have your family photo displayed in the nursery, please bring in a copy.
Donations
We are looking for any recyclable materials to build up our junk modelling store. The children love to be creative, build and stick with various materials and we would be so grateful if you could help us with our collection. Examples are: cereal boxes, any small cardboard boxes, egg crates, bottles, bottle tops/caps/lids, yoghurt pots or anything you think the children could use with their imaginations. Thank you in advance.
Home Learning
Please keep an eye on the blog. If the industrial actions are going ahead next week, we will be posting home learning experiences and ideas for you to try at home on this space.
8th September 2023
It has been lovely welcoming back our returning children this year. They have settled back into their routines so quickly and have been welcoming and kind towards our new starts. We have enjoyed getting to know all our new children who have done so well adapting to this big transition and getting to know the nursery environment. The nursery has been filled with chatter, excitement and lots of fun learning again!
Staff:
We would like to welcome a few new staff members. Jannette Black has joined Maidenhill as our Depute Head Teacher. Hannah Guy will also be in the nursery as a second teacher. Debbie Heron has joined the Owls group and Jo-Anne Welsh has joined our Badgers group.
Please see the staff tab on our nursery website for all our staff details.
Groups:
We have added a few more groups in our nursery this year. This has certainly been fun to try and memorise but we will get there in no time. The key workers for each group are as follows:
Owls - Cassie, Debbie
Badgers - Claire, Jo-Anne
Hedgehogs - Catherine, Amera
Rabbits - Maria, Megan
Squirrels - Ciara, Helen
Foxes - Sehba, Jade
Donations:
We use newspaper to line the junk modelling table and painting easel. We would be so grateful if you could donate any used newspapers that are no longer needed at home. Feel free to drop any into the nursery throughout the year.
Snack and Lunch:
The children are getting into a routine and have enjoyed eating snack and lunch together. They are socialising with their peers, trying new foods and talking about what they like and dislike. See a few photos below…
Learning Journals
We hope you enjoy having a look through your child's learning journal and seeing a little bit of what they get up to at nursery! Please return the learning journals after the Winter break on Monday 8th January, or your child's first day back following that. Thank you!
Friday Museum