As part of our improvement plan at Boddam ELC, we have been working hard this session on raising attainment in literacy. We have had a focus on developing phonological awareness skills using assessment feedback from P1. We have also been thinking of ways to get children interested and motivated in literacy learning. EYP Mrs Alexander’s Mum knitted a very special teddy for nursery, and the children called him Boddam Gruffalo. Project Boddam Gruffalo was born!

The children have been busy creating their very own Boddam Gruffalo story and have been drawing and describing their character, planning where to take Boddam Gruffalo on our outings, thinking about how we keep Boddam Gruffalo safe in the community and drawing/writing a thank you card for the Little Lighthouse Bakes Cake Shed owners. Boddam Gruffalo has been joining us on our nursery outings and visiting all the lovely places in Boddam with the children. We have linked our learning across the curriculum to enhance and maximise the children’s learning experiences. We visited the local shop to buy some things for snack which tied into our intentional planning around money, we visited the local harbour to see the boats and through stones in the water looking at safety in the community, we visited the local lighthouse and learned how the Boddam lighthouse keeps the boats safe and we visited a very special local cake shed where the owner had made some yummy treats for the children!

We created a special presentation of the children’s work including their voice telling their Boddam Gruffalo story and describing their activities and presented this recently to the whole school at a special Nursery Learning Assembly. The children all earned Certificates of Achievement against the school and nursery values. The children have all taken part in this project, and it has inspired the children in all aspects of literacy learning.

We are planning on sharing the presentation with all the parents when they join us in nursery for an end of term celebration at the end of the month.

Here at Crombie Nursery, we have been extending our intergenerational links with the community.
We invited some of the residents of the local sheltered housing, to a stay and play session. We usually visit them but thought it would be nice for them to come and play with us. The manager organised the dial-a-bus for them to visit.

We also held our termly ‘grandparents stay and play’ session.
The children really enjoy having their grandparents their and feedback from the adults is they enjoy it too.

Having the grandparents in to the setting, started a collaboration with the local ‘Men’s Shed Band’. One of our grandparents is a member of the band and was keen to collaborate with us in some way.
The band joined us for a ‘sing along’ session where they sang nursery rhymes and other children’s songs.

We plan to build on these intergenerational links, by collaborating with the ‘Men’s Shed’ and the local ‘She Shed’. By building on these intergenerational experiences, we will continue to develop and build our links with the community.

As a team we recognised that we needed to do more to engage with our families.  To do this we invited our families in for a tea, toast and blether session where some families shared their struggles with sleep and fussy eaters.  One parent mentioned she had previously moved to the village and was delighted to meet other parents and they invited her along to a local group. 

Mrs Purcell, EYSP and Mrs Ruxton, EYLP approached the Health and Wellbeing Team to see if they could come and speak to our parents about sleep and fussy eating, but they shared they do not come out to the villages.  Mrs Purcell then approached Homestart and they came to a couple of meetings to share information about their Mellow programme.  Parents seemed reluctant to sign up for an 8-week course, so Mrs Purcell asked Homestart if they could come and do a single session on fussy eating.  This was a huge success and attended by many of our parents.  Following feedback from parents we are now offering a session on “Understanding Feelings and Behaviour” on 15 June which we hope parents with supporting their children’s behaviour during the school holidays.  We have also invited our new parents to join us.

Other family sessions we have offered are Bookbug on a regular basis which have been well received, including a session for dads.  We have held a music session; stay and play sessions with Christmas Craft and Easter Messy play where parents discussed their child’s All About Me’s and progress to date.  Some parents recently attended a mark-making/pre-writing session with our EYSP/EYLP and P1/2 teacher where they gave a presentation on what skills children need to develop before they engage in writing and  showcased ideas that parents can do at home cheaply with their children, to get them interested in developing their gross and fine motor skills.

Staff also have strong bonds with their key worker families and parents who come to them for advice and help on a regular basis, which allows us to work closely together to give our children the best start in their learning journeys.

We are now planning a family picnic and considering inviting dad’s to a football kick about session. 

Please watch the short video below to see the inspirational journey toward quality Digital Pedagogy undertaken by the team at Crombie ELC.

The team at Strichen ELC have been working hard this year to embed Digital Pedagogy across their setting. Click on the images below show their exciting journey so far!