Pre-school/Anti-pre school return dates for August 2017

Pre-school children return on Thursday 17th August 2017 for all allocated places.
Anti-pre children whom are eligible for funding from August will commence on Monday 21st August 2017.
Morning sessions commence at 8.50am and afternoon sessions commence at 1pm.

📸 PHOTOGRAPH DAY 📸

A photographer will be coming into the nursery on Tuesday 26th September 2017. Children who do not attend nursery on this day are welcome to come along with their parents/guardians to get their photographs taken.

May Bank Holiday Weekend 2017

The will be no 3-5 funded sessions on Friday 26th May and Monday 29th May.

Drive With Care 🚘

Can i please ask all parent/guardians/carers to be respectful of their speed when approaching or leaving the Nursery.

First Steps is situated in a quiet residential area and there are other families living around us. 

Many Thanks,

                        J.Reid

🎉 End of Term Party 🎉

We are holding an End of Term Party for our 3-5 room children on Wednesday 28th June at 9.30am till 11.30am.
All Ante-Pre and Pre-School children are invited even if they do not attend nursery on a Wednesday morning.

There will be no afternoon session on this day.

👩‍🎓 Graduation Day 👨‍🎓

We will be holding a Graduation Day in our 3-5room on Tuesday 27th June at 2pm for all our Pre-School children that are leaving First Steps for Primary 1.

For this day, All Pre-School children should not attend nursery for the morning session but should come into nursery for 1.45pm.

All Ante-Pre School children who normally attend an afternoon session on a Tuesday should attend in the morning, from 8.50am till 12pm, for this day.

🐣Easter holidays 2017🐣

There will be no funded sessions from Monday 3rd April till Tuesday 18th April.

Nursery will be closed for Easter Monday on Monday 17th April.

February 2017 Holidays for Funded Sessions

There will be no Funded Sessions on Friday 10th February, Monday 13th February and Tuesday 14th February.

Anti-pre and Pre-school Registration

This week (Week commencing 30/01/2017)  is registration week to register your children for our 3-5 room. If you wish to do so, can you please come along between 9am and 12pm. Please ensure that you bring along your child's birth certificate and 2 proofs of address. Thank you.

Christmas Party 2016

This year our party will be held on Friday 23rd Daecember at 10am till 12 noon. Parents please note that ALL purely funded children should not arrive before 10am.
Daycare children who pay for wrap around should come in as normal

3-5 Room Christmas Concert 2016

This years Christmas Concert will be held on Thursday 22nd December at 10.15am for the morning Concert and at 2.15pm for the afternoon Concert.
Parents please note that purely funded children should not arrive before 10am/2pm. Daycare children who pay for wrap around should come in a normal.

November 2016 Holidays For 3-5 Funded Sessions

There will be no funded sessions in the 3-5 room on Friday 11th November and Monday 14th November. Daycare children will attend as normal.

October Holidays 2016 for Funded Sessions

There will be no funded sessions Monday 10th October - Monday 17th October. Children will return on Tuesday 18th October. Children who attend Day Care should attend as normal.

September Holiday 2016 for Funded Sessions

There will be no funded sessions in the 3-5 room on Monday 19th September as this is an inservice day for staff.

2-3 Room Rhyme Time

A Rhyme Time will be held for our children in the 2-3 room on Wednesday 19th October from 12pm till 12.30pm in our 2-3 room. This is an opportunity for parents/grandparents/guardians to come along and learn some of the songs and rhymes your child has learned with us. All parents of children in our 2-3 room are invited irrespective of whether they attend nursery on a Wednesday or not.

3-5 Room Open Day

We will be holding an Open Day in the nursery for the children in our 3-5 room on Wednesday 5th October. Please speak to a member of staff if you would like to come along to this event to arrange an appointment suitable to yourself. This is an opportunity for your child to show you around their nursery and share their experience with you. A schedule for appointments is available on our notice board.

Nursery Photographer

We are having a photographer in the Nursery on Friday 23rd September 2016, from 9.30am till 4pm. They will stomper lunch at 11.30am and return at 1pm. If your child is not in nursery on this day and you wish their photograph taken please come along between the above times.

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.