Trip to Dundonald Castle

During our topic on Castles we went a trip to Dundonald Castle on the bus.

We found a letter from a Knight and a Princess asking us to look for some things they had lost

We found a high heel shoe

and a tiara

and a magic wand

and a sword

We had a fantastic time and learned all about King Robert who used to live in the castle.

December Newsletter

First Steps Nursery

December Newsletter

It's that time of year again! Seasons Greetings to everyone.

I would like to welcome to First Steps any new children and their parents/guardians. We hope that you will enjoy being with us and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Christmas Party

Our Christmas Party will be held on Friday 20th December at 10am and we would invite all children in our 2-3room and our 3-5room to attend this event even if they do not normally come to nursery on a Friday. There will be two special guests this year, one being "Silly Gilly" and the second being the man in the big red suit. He will arrive at approx 11.30 for the 2-3room and 12 noon for the 3-5room so if you would like to see your child receive their present from him please ensure that you return to nursery by this time. As all anti pre and pre school children will attend in the morning there will be no afternoon session on this day. Children who normally come to our 2-3room on a Friday afternoon will have had their session in the morning. If you require a place in the afternoon please speak to Lorraine, Cherry or Nicola.

Christmas Concert

The children in the 3-5room have rehearsed a concert for their parents and will perform for them on Thursday 19th December. This is for all children in our 3-5room. Please check the list in nursery for the time of the performance your child is in. The show will last for approx 30minutes.

Nursery closing times over festive season

Monday 23rd December               Nursery open as normal

Tuesday 24th December               Nursery closes at 5pm

Wednesday 25th December          Nursery closed

Thursday 26th December              Nursery closed

Friday 27th December                  Nursery open as normal

Monday 30th December               Nursery open as normal

Tuesday 31st December               Nursery closes at 5pm

Wednesday 1st January                Nursery closed

Thursday 2nd December              Nursery closed

Friday 3rd December                   Nursery open as normal

Christmas Dinner

Our Christmas dinner will be served on wednesday 18th December for all children staying for lunch on a Wednesday.

HMIe Inspection

As I am sure you are all aware we will be having a visit from Education Scotland and Care Inspectorate week commencing 9th December. We hope you will all express your feelings about your child's experience with us to these inspectors.

Photographs

Thank you to all who supported this in the nursery. I hope you are all delighted with the final product.

Pyjama day for children in need

The nursery raised the sum of £100.00 which was sent to Children in Need. Many thanks to all who participated.

Lending Library

This is now fully operational in our 3-5room. Can I please ask parents to encourage their child to use this facility. It is currently running on a Friday but if your child does not attend on a Friday please speak to a member of staff.

Recycling

First Steps Nursery is a Eco Nursery and encourages children to bring along to our recycling point paper, plastic or tin. Can I ask parents to please encourage their child to take part in this venture.

Pick up / Drop off

Staff are always available at these times to listen to any needs for the child for the day ahead or to report on their day however I must ask that if you have any queries or concerns or wish to speak to key workers at length, you contact the nursery and make an appointment to speak to either myself or the relevant person in private in our parents room. Due to the issue of confidentiality it is not always possible to offer this in the playrooms at these times.

Collection of Children

Can I please ask parents / guardians to ensure that their child is collected on time at the end of their session. if you are unable to collect your child yourself please ensure whoever is collecting them knows what time they are to be picked up. The nursery closes at 6pm and I would therefore ask that you arrive at nursery to collect your child by 5.50pm and vacate the premises by 6pm.

On behalf of management and staff I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

Outdoor learning area

We are planning on revamping our outdoor learning area in order to provide an enriched, stimulating learning environment for children to explore. The Scottish Executive, (2007) states that they are convinced that outdoor learning offers unique opportunities to extend the potential of our children and young people. They believe that nurseries and schools need to offer different and challenging experiences to children to stimulate their learning and development. Learning beyond the classroom, in all it's forms can make a huge difference. Education Scotland, (online) states that outdoor experiences provide a rich learning context that enhances other ongoing improvement work. We plan to provide many learning experiences for children to explore outdoors including: water play to investigate capacity, natural resources for activities such as sorting and matching and counting, materials for digging in order to explore the wonder of nature in their natural environment, a washing line to develop children's fine motor skills, opportunities for mark making such as stucks in mud, brushes in water, chalk, paint, sand. We are also planning on creating a mud kitchen outdoors for the children to explore in order to use their imagination and act out real and imaginery situations.


References:

Education Scotland. (online (1) Building your curriculum: outside and in, @http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/b/buildingyourcurriculumoutsideandin.asp last accessed 5/7/2013.

Scottish Executive. (2007) taking learning outdoors: partnerships for excellence, Learning and Teaching Scotland, Edinburgh.

Going to School

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our children leaving us to go to school the best of luck. Many of the children progressing onto school this year have been with us for a number of years and we have thoroughly enjoyed helping them in the early stages of their learning and development and hope that you all come back and visit and show off your new school uniforms.

Ante Pre - Pre School Registration Aug 2013-2014

Can I ask parents if you have not yet registered your child for their Ante Pre or Pre school education to please do so as soon as possible.  It seems a long way off but the allocation of places will be starting after the easter holidays.  To ensure you receive the nursery of your choice you must register.

Childrens Safety

We have been informed of a Public Safety - Stranger Danger issue in the Town.

We would ask parents to ensure their children know not to speak to or go with strangers.
Staff in the nursery have had a talk with the children and we would ask your help in ensuring
your child remains safe at all times.

Open Day

We will be holding an open Day in the nursery sometime in April.(Date to be confirmed) Please watch our notice board and webb site for further details.

The Tattie Boogle Man

We will be having a visit in the nursery from the Tattie Boogle man in conjunction with this month leaning experiences of Farms.  The Tattie Boogle Man is a Scarecrow and we would encourage the children to dress up for this visit.

He will be coming on Friday 15th March for the afternoon session.  Morning children please do not worry.  If this proves successful we will have him return for a morning session at another time.

We look forward to a fun afternoon.