Category: 2011-2012

“We Painted Matchstick Men …”

As we have been learning about the buildings in our community and thinking about what happens in them, we decided to take a look at some of the work of the artist, L. S. Lowry. It was great to see his paintings on our new Promethean board and we had some interesting discussions comparing the buildings he portrayed with the ones we see in Annan. We thought that the painting of the schoolyard, in particular, was very different to our school playground. 

As well as singing along to the song “We Painted Matchstick Men and Matchstick Cats and Dogs”, lots of children were keen to participate in making a street scene similar to Lowry’s work. Some lovely charcoal drawings were also produced to add to our display.

Our New Board

Earlier this term we made an application for funding when an opportunity arose for Early Years classes throughout the region. The result of this, as you no doubt have noticed, is our wonderful new Promethean board and desktop computer which will greatly enhance learning and teaching across the curriculum. 

Already the children have been enjoying looking at photos after visits out in our community and it provided lots of discussion of what we saw. We have also recently been able to bring the work of L. S. Lowry to life for the children rather than everyone trying to see pictures in a book. Lots more fun learning will be provided by this valuable resource in the future and we look forward to developing its full potential in our Nursery.

Another aspect to our funding application was for the translation into Polish of some of our documents and letters to help us communicate with parents of our Polish children. This is ongoing work and we hope to have these available soon to improve our communication with you. Again, this is an exciting development which we have wanted for a long time and we are delighted that our application was successful, allowing us to provide this helpful service.

Photographer

 We would like to remind you that Angus Leigh, school photographer, will be in Nursery on Thursday of this week (22.3.12) to take group photos of the children.

Morning children should attend as normal and their photo will be taken during their Nursery session. We ask that all afternoon children wishing to be in their group photo are brought to the school office for 10.30.  Thank you for your co-operation in this as Mr. Leigh is unable to wait in school until 12.30. We hope that this will provide a lovely memento of the children’s time in our Nursery.

Parental Consultations

We would like to remind you that parental consultations are available over the next two weeks.

If you have not already booked an appointment, the suggested times are still on display in the cloakroom area for those who wish to speak to key workers. If these times are not suitable, please speak to staff who will accommodate you at a more convenient time. We look forward to discussing your child’s progress and development with you.

More Visits in our Community

Our recent visit to the police station was another fantastic learning experience for the children. PC Leggat and PC McGoldrick gave us the opportunity to learn about what being a police officer entails and many tried out the uniform which they found surprisingly heavy. They also showed us round the cells and the various areas of the police station used for interviews, CCTV and fingerprinting. Some of the children were brave and closed the door on the cell but most agreed that it would not be very comfy to stay there for long. The police van, on the other hand, had great appeal and we could have stayed there for hours trying out the siren and sitting in the back of the van.

Thank you to everyone at the police station, especially PC Leggat and PC McGoldrick, for making us feel so welcome. As well as learning about your jobs, it is so important that the children see police officers as people who can help them and we feel sure that you will be getting a few waves whenever the children see you out and about in the town from now on.

Our Special Books

The children’s “special books” will be sent home this week, prior to our parental consultations. The personal learning plan is a shared document between children, parents/carers and the Nursery staff to celebrate the children’s learning and development during their time in Nursery. We ask that you record any achievements from home that you feel are important for your child.

We would like to remind everyone that these books are on display to browse at any time. The children often look at them during the Nursery session and love to show them to their families. However, we hope that everyone enjoys having their “special book” home for a few days.

A list of available appointments for parental consultations is now on display in the cloakroom area. If these appointments do not suit you, please speak to your child’s key worker to make alternative arrangements.

Fire Fighters of the Future

Our visits out and about in our community continued this week with a visit to the fire station. Fortunately the weather was very kind and we enjoyed a lovely walk there in the sunshine.

The story about staying safe near fire held everyone’s attention particularly when we got to make funny faces and fly around with our newly grown wings. After some fun games, lots of us tried out the fire fighter’s uniform and agreed that it was very heavy although several children still thought they might like to be fire fighters when they grow up. Of course, no visit to the fire station is complete without getting an opportunity to sit in the fire engine and try out the big hose.

Thanks go to the fire fighters who looked after us all and made our visit such fun. The children learned a lot about their job and showed a good understanding of the dangers of fire.

Our Community

Last week we visited the sorting office as part of learning about our community and the jobs people do. Colin talked to us about his job and we enjoyed finding out about some of the equipment. We were even able to see where the letters go in the sorting office before they go to our houses.

World Book Day

World Book Day was great fun as we dressed up as our favourite characters and brought our favourite books to Nursery. To top off a special day we visited Annan Library where we were read some super stories. Thanks to the library staff and to all the parents who came with us on our visit – we really appreciate your help.

As you can see from the photos, everyone had fun taking part. Click on photos to make them bigger.

Dora the Doggy Visitor

Last week we had a special visitor in Nursery when Dora the dog came to see the morning children. Dora’s family told us how she was very special because she is a rescue dog and we all certainly agreed that she was wonderful.We learned how to look after a dog and Dora even brought everyone a present from the dog refuge so thank you very much to her and her family for being super visitors.

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