Findlay’s Mummy very kindly brought in some frogspawn for us!

Mrs Stanners has helped the children to create a small pond in the garden.

We know that tap water has chemicals which may harm wildlife so we decided to collect some rain water.

Mrs Stanners helped the children to make rain catchers out of some recycled bottles.

The children then helped to create a risk assessment for a visit to Menstrie Burn. We walked to the Burn and collected some water from there too.

We are going to keep some frogspawn inside the Nursery and put some into our small garden pond.

We hope that they will grow into tadpoles and then grow into frogs!

Very well done to all children who participated in our sponsored cycle on Friday 3rd March!! So far we have raised over £1000!

This money will be used to develop our Nursery outdoor area.

Thank you very much to all parents who handed in the tear-off slip with their comments regarding transition to Primary 1. Mrs Stanners has used these to plan the transition activities for our pre-school children.

In order to ensure all pre-school children have the opportunity to take part in transition activities, Mrs Stanners and Miss Wright are currently working with four groups of children. These take place on Monday afternoon, Tuesday morning, Thursday morning and Friday afternoon.

All pre-school children have now started their transition. During the first week (20.2.17), Mrs Stanners and Miss Wright spoke to children about going to school and children had the opportunity to ask questions and share what they already know about school. Last week (27.2.17) the children went for a walk around the school and had a chance to meet some of the school staff including the Headteacher, Miss Henderson, and the Depute Headteacher, Mr Horsburgh. This week (6.3.17) the children visited the playground, were shown the areas they are able to play in at playtime and lunchtime and talked about some playground rules.

Soon parents/carers will receive a piece of paper which gives details of how their child coped with certain activities. All children may not be able to participate in every activity, however, we will try to ensure that they participate in as many as possible.

If you would like more information on transition from Nursery to Primary 1, please see Mrs Stanners.

To end our topic on birds, Miss Wright organised for Garry from Little Critters to visit the Nursery.

He brought three owls with him: a tawny owl named Chestnut, an Asian wood owl named Oakley and a boobook owl. Garry gave us some information about the owls and also gave us a chance to hold them.

If you would like to visit Little Critters, it is situated behind Dobbies Garden Centre in Stirling. To find out more about the Nursery visit, have a look at our community floorbook in the Nursery.

Here are just some of our photos:

This term our topic in Nursery is ‘Birds in Winter’. We have enjoyed taking part in a wide range of activities and have learned lots of new things.

We have been learning about ways of caring for birds in the winter.

Making bird cake

1. Melt some lard in the microwave.
2. Mix in some bird seed.
3. Use a spoon to put some of the mixture into a plastic cups.
4. Put the cups in the fridge to allow the cake to set.
5. Put a piece of string down the middle of the bird cake and tie in a knot.
6. Hang the bird feeders in your garden and watch out for the birds.

Instead of using plastic cups, you can also roll out the mixture and use cutters to make different shaped feeders.

Making fruit bird feeders

1. Core an apple or a pear.
2. Push a stick horizontally through the bottom of the apple/pear (for the bird to balance on).
3. Push some large seeds into the skin of the fruit.
4. Put a piece of string down the middle of the apple/pear and tie.
5. Hang the feeder in your garden.

Making cereal bird feeders.

1. Tie a stick (or lolly stick) onto the bottom of a long piece of string (for the bird to balance on).
2. Thread Cheerios on the piece of string.
3. Tie the string in your garden and watch for birds!

We have been learning about different shapes, sizes and textures and have developing our own ideas.

Making Nests and Bird Houses

In the art and craft area, the children have been discussing which materials would be suitable to make a bird nest. We explored the textures and created our own mini nests.

We have also been using recycled items to create our own bird houses.

We have been learning about different types of birds and will make comparisons.

We used posters and booklets to find out about different types of birds. Then we drew our favourite ones.

‘Birds in Winter’ Walk

Today we went for a walk in the local area to see if we could spot any birds or nests. We saw some seagulls, blackbirds and we also saw some nests really high up in the trees! As we were walking along the back road in Menstrie, we had lots of fun practising climbing and balancing. On the way back to Nursery, we collected some sticks.

Thank you to all the Mums, Dads, Grans and Grandads who came along to support us.

We have been learning about the importance of good hygiene.

Toothbrushing

As well as our Birds in Winter topic, we are also focusing on toothbrushing this term. We have been discussing good hygiene and the importance of looking after our teeth. We aim to brush out teeth once a day at Nursery.

We have been learning about Scottish traditions.

Scottish week

This week (23^rd January), as a school, we are celebrating Scottish week.

In Nursery we will be tasting some traditional Scottish foods, designing our own tartan, learning Scottish songs and poems and taking part in some Scottish dancing.

We are also looking forward to a visit from Mr Scotland who is coming to play the bagpipes for us.

On Friday, children should wear something tartan to Nursery if possible.

More pictures to follow!

Our Elf Shanarri – Flourishing Communities

We have had Shanarri the elf who was sent by Santa come to visit us at nursery. The children have enjoyed having him in nursery and discovering what he has done each night when nobody has been here. Shanarri is based on what we have been learning at our time in nursery. We have been focusing on how to keep Safe, Healthy, Active, Nurtured, Achieving, Responsible, Respected and Included. Shanarri the elf will be giving out ‘Elf Awards’ to each child, rewarding them for good behaviour which he has seen them demonstrating in nursery.  Shanarri will be here in nursery until the Christmas party where Santa will take him back home again.

‘We need to teach him how to be good.’ – Paige

‘He pulled down all the jackets and ate all the sweeties.’ – Eva

Reindeer Dust

Reindeer dust will be on sale within the nursery and at the Nativity shows for 50p a bag. The proceeds of our sales will be put towards buying the residents of Menstrie House some gifts which we will be delivering to them on Monday 19^th December.

Hedgehog Homes

Thank you for all your help in collecting newspapers for the hedgehogs. These have now been delivered and can hopefully help the hedgehogs make a cosy home for the winter.

Recycling

Mrs Stanners and Ms Russell took a small group of children a walk to see the War Memorial in Menstrie. On their way, they passed the bin lorry which sparked off an interest in recycling. Mrs Stanners and Ms Russell spent time with these children discussing recycling and what we can recycle in each bin. They came back to nursery and found some items to recycle and went a walk back to the recycling bank.

Nativity

We hope you enjoyed our unique Nativity. Well done to all the boys and girls for all their hard work in performing their different roles and singing the songs on stage in front of a great audience. A huge thank you to Ms Williamson for all her hard work in the production of our show, teaching us the songs and giving us the confidence to perform on stage.

Thank You 

We would like to say a huge thank you to Skye’s Dad for repairing our pirate ship in the garden. He is continuing to repair other garden resources in the near future.

New Staff Member

We would like to welcome to our team, Ms Brida Moore who will be joining us after the Christmas holidays in January. She will be with us on a Wednesday afternoon and full days on Thursday and Friday until June.

Dates for the Diary

• Nursery starts back: Thursday 5^th January
• Pre-school children parents consultations: Week beginning Monday 16^th January
• Nursery will be open for a full session on Wednesday 21^st December until 3:30pm
• Vision screening: Thursday 19^th January
• Scottish week: Week beginning Monday 23^rd January
• Inservice days: Monday 13^th February, Tuesday 14^th February
• February holidays: 15^th, 16^th and 17^th February

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Menstrie Nursery Team

Literacy Week

We had a busy literacy week (14^th November – 18^th November). We read lots of stories and the P6 children came to read stories to us in nursery. Raploch Nursery allowed us to borrow their ‘Magic Storytelling Carpet.’ We really enjoyed looking at and discussing the different picture squares on the carpet. We made up our own stories in small groups using the carpet with Mrs Stanners. We used different puppets to make up stories and shared our favourite story with our friends. A huge thank you to Diane Stevens (Logan’s Mum) for coming in to nursery to read stories to us.

Children In Need

In nursery we had a pyjama day for Children In Need. Everyone wore their pyjamas and their slippers. We had a parent in the morning come in to paint the children’s faces. We decorated Pudsey biscuits with yellow icing and played lots of teddy bear activities and read bear stories at nursery. Thank you to Victoria Pyper (Jackson’s mum) for bringing in her face paints and painting our faces. A huge thank you to everyone for your donations. We raised £87.86!

Christmas Is Coming,,,

Just a reminder that Reindeer Dust will be on sale soon. It’s 50p a bag and half the proceeds are used for gifts for the residents of Menstrie House. Some of our children will deliver the presents and sing some songs.

Please look on the noticeboard for the day which your child is performing in the Nativity. Dress rehearsal dates and times are on the noticeboard in the foyer.

Dates for the Diary

• Inservice Days: Thursday 24th and Friday 25th November
• Flouride Application: Monday 28th November
• Nativity: Thursday 8th December 2pm and Friday 9th December 10:30am
• Christmas Party: Monday 19th December
• School Closes: Wednesday 21st December

Autumn Walk

This term we have been on a Autumn walk. We went a walk along the old railway, looking for different coloured leaves, chesnuts, acorns and sticks. Ms Russell told us about the different types of trees which we seen on our walk. We made a leaf dream catcher with Mrs Stanners which we put on our Autumn display.  We had to keep safe, holding hands with our friends and staying with the staff and helpers. As part of learning to keep safe, we wore the hi-vis vests to ensure that everyone could see us.  A special thank you to all of our parents helpers who came with us.

Pets

This term we have been learning about pets. Mrs Stanners set up a vets in our quiet room which we have thoroughly enjoyed. We have been discussing how to look after and care for domestic animals. We have brought photographs of our own pets to nursery and we have had visits from some of them too. We will be extending our learning to animals that hibernate during the winter. Mrs Ford will be visiting us to talk about hedgehogs etc.

Flourishing Communities

This term we have been focusing on ‘Responsible.’ We have been looking at ways in which we can be responsible. We decided that we can tidy up after ourselves once we have finished playing at an area and we can help the staff to tidy up with our groups at end of the session. We should be kind to each and helpful towards others. We are learning to follow nursery rules and the difference between right and wrong.

Halloween

We had a great time at our nursery Halloween party. We all dressed up in our Halloween costumes and went Trick or Treating round some of the classes in the school. We played Halloween games; spiders in gloop, dooking for apples, pin the nose on the pumpkin, Kim’s game and had a spooky Halloween story. We also played dancing games and had a special Halloween snack.

Halloween Visit to Menstrie House

The longer learner children who attend nursery for a full day went to Menstie House with Ms Russell and two helpers to visit the residents for Halloween. Together they played Halloween games, made Halloween crafts and had snack. Both the children and residents thoroughly enjoyed this.

Bonfire Night

Ms Russell dressed up a scientist to experiment with Cola and Mentos to make an exploding firework! We had lots of fun watching this. We had a fire-pit where Ms Russell, Mrs Stanners and Mrs Boyle made toast for us to try. It was delicious. We spoke about keeping safe around the fire-pit and Ms Russell drew a huge green circle on the ground to act as a safety barrier.

Dates for the Diary

• Literacy Week: Week beginning Monday 14th November – Friday 18th November
• Mrs Ford coming to talk about hibernation: Tuesday 15th PM
• Children In Need: Friday 18th November
• Inservice Days: Thursday 24th and Friday 25th November
• Flouride Application: Monday 28th November
• Nativity: Thursday 8th December 2pm and Friday 9th December 10:30am
• Christmas Party: Monday 19th December
• School Closes: Wednesday 21st December

Harvest

We have had a busy first term back at Nursery. We have been busy learning all about Harvest. We made bread with Miss McEwan, helped pick apples from our Nursery garden and helped Ms Williamson make apple crumble. We will be making soup using the leeks, potatoes and turnip which we have grown in our garden. We are looking forward to a visit from a storyteller to tell us the story of ‘The Enormous Turnip.’ This will be a nice ending to our Harvest topic.

Keeping Safe

In Nursery we have been discussing how to keep safe. We decided to go on a ‘safe’ walk to Menstrie Main Street. Before we left we spoke of how important it was to hold hands, stay next to an adult and to keep safe near roads. We also took a walk to Menstrie Burn where we were learning about safety next to and near water. We have been discussing different ways of keeping healthy. We have been out for a walk along the old railway. We have picked fruit and vegetables from our garden which we have tried and made delicious apple crumble with. We have been brushing our teeth and talking about healthy and unhealthy foods. Please have a look at our information board in the foyer where you can find out about our learning.

Jungle

The children have shown an interest in jungle animals this term. We decided to turn our ‘quiet room’ into a jungle with lots of different animals and fun games to play. We went a ‘jungle walk’ in Menstrie to try and find animals hiding and hanging from the trees. Thank you to all the parent helpers who came along.

Flourishing Communities

A small group of children took some apples from our nursery garden up to Menstrie House for the residents.

Storysacks

We are lucky have Storysacks in our nursery. Two children from each group will be taking these home for a week at a time. Please feel free to give us feedback and take photographs of your child using these (if you wish)

Balanceability

Just a reminder that Balanceability will begin on Monday 17th October PM and Wednesday 19th October AM. Please ensure if your child is taking part in this that they wear either joggys or leggings and trainers.

Halloween Party

Our Halloween party will take place on Monday 31st October. We ask that your child does not wear masks as some children are unsure of them.

Parents Appointments

We will be having parents appointments for the pre-pre children on the week beginning Monday 7th November. Your child’s key worker will have an appointment sheet at their sign – in area week beginning Monday 31st October.

We hope you have a lovely October holiday and look forward to seeing you when we return.

Menstrie Nursery Team

We would like to welcome back all of our returning children and welcome our new children and families who have or will be joining us. This is a busy term for the staff settling in returning and new children!

Harvest

The children are beginning to harvest the vegetables that were planted before the summer holidays. This is an exciting time for the children as they use their senses to touch, smell and taste the produce. We have picked, washed and tasted the plums, carrots and potatoes so far. We are eagerly watching the turnips, leeks and apples grow and ripen.

Childsmile

We have had a visit from Childsmile and Elvis the dog. We were learning how to brush our teeth properly and what foods are good for your body and teeth.

Flourishing Communities

During this term we will be focusing on the meaning of ‘safe’ and ‘healthy’ with the children.  This is the beginning of various workshops which will be ongoing throughout the school year and will cover the meanings of:

• Safe
• Healthy
• Achieving
• Nurtured
• Active
• Respected
• Responsible
• Included

Some of the children visited Menstrie House where they took some nice chocolates for the residents and sang some songs. Both the children and residents enjoyed the visit and we hope to do this again soon.