Luchd-Orachd nan Tràth Ìrean | Early Years Staff

Mrs Sandra NicNèill - Neach-Obrach nan Tràth Ìrean | Early  Years’ Practitioner (GM)

Mrs Emma Micski- Neach-Obrach nan Tràth Ìrean | Early  Years’ Practitioner (GM)

Mrs Jasmine Threlfall - Neach-taic nan nan Tràth Ìrean | Early Year Support Worker (GM)

Uairean Fosglaidh | Opening Hours

Diluain - Diardaoin | Monday - Thursday: 0855 – 1530 

Dihaoine | Friday: 0855-1235 

Ar n-Àrainneachd | Our Environment

Bun-sgoil Shlèite Sgoil-àraich and Nursery are housed in a new purpose-built building completed in 2021, within our school grounds.  We have 2 rooms, one for our Gaelic medium provision and another for English medium.  The building is modern, light and airy and has beautiful views across the Sound of Sleat.  We have free flow to an enclosed garden giving children direct access to the outdoors for most of the day. In addition to the garden, we have a very well-developed woodland play area which the children use daily.

From our school grounds we have access to a small beach which is well used by the Early Years all year round.

The Early Years have access to school facilities including the Gym/Dining Hall, where they take part in weekly activities and where they eat their catered lunch daily.

Cluich | Play

‘…play at this time is not trivial, it is highly serious and of deep significance’ (Froebel, 1826)

Play is at the heart of our practice in the early years.  Through play, children can learn to answer their own questions, learn new skills and learn to work collaboratively with other children or adults (Realising the Ambition 2020).

In our setting, children spend the majority of the their time engaged in self-directed, freely chosen play.  We have a wide variety of quality, open-ended resources that the children can access freely.  Our staff are constantly observing and supporting play and responding to children’s interests and changing needs. The child-centred space of the early years gives children the time and environment they need to challenge themselves, be curious, form relationships and pursue their own thinking.

A’ Bhlàr a-Muigh | Outdoors

At Bun-sgoil Shlèite we embrace and promote a love and connection with the natural environment amongst our learners.  Outdoor play is very much part of daily life in the Early Years.  In addition to daily opportunities for outdoor play, our learners enjoy Còmhla sa Choille | Forest School each Friday in the school garden.   We don't let the weather hold us back; with proper clothing our Early Years children thrive even on the soggiest Skye day!

Luchd-Obrach | Staff

Our Early Years Practitioners are all fully qualified and have many years experience working with children in the early years. Each child has a keyworker who will be your point of contact while your child is with us. Relationships are at the centre of our practice and all of our staff work hard to build a partnership with our children and families from day one.

Mrs Wight (Headteacher) is the manager of the Early Years and holds overall responsibility.

Bogadh ‘sa Ghàidhlig | Gaelic Immersion

Within the Sgoil-Àraich, Gaelic is the language of use. We offer an immersive experience for our learners helping them develop their language through songs, stories, play, cultural experiences, practical activities and daily routines. Many children who come to our setting do not have Gaelic in the home, but this not a barrier to their learning.  We encourage all parents to engage in Gaelic learning themselves to support their children through their education. We aim to support parents to use the Gaelic they have with their children in the home no matter their level of fluency.

Curraicealam | Curriculum

We follow the Curriculum for Excellence Early Level Curriculum in the Early Years.  For more information about the curriculum please visit the Education Scotland Website: https://education.gov.scot/documents/All-experiencesoutcomes18.pdf

Realising the Ambition: Being Me (2020) is our national guiding document for good practice in the Early Years.  

https://education.gov.scot/media/3bjpr3wa/realisingtheambition.pdf

Feumalachdan a bharrachd | Additional Support for Learning

We are an inclusive setting catering to the individual needs of all children. Children who have additional support for learning (ASL) needs sometimes require more time and more encouragement to think, to process what is wanted and work through to reach a solution.  We always work in partnership with parents first and foremost to understand and support our children as best we can using the GIRFEC framework model to identify, plan for and support needs in our setting.

Additionally, we work closely with partner agencies to support children in their learning and development. We work together with our Health Visitors, Speech and Language Therapists, and Educational Psychological Services amongst others to seek support and advice for our families and children when the need arises.