Rory’s Daddy came in to tell us the stories he had written using Scottish dialect. We heard about a little girl called Rosa who wanted to be a barber and enjoyed the story of a ‘moose’ who went to the moon. Rory’s Mummy was also able to explain the story in Polish to some of the children.
As a thank you we sang them the Scottish songs we have been learning which they seemed to enjoy. We would like to thank Rory’s family for a wonderful storytelling visit.
As part of our learning about Scottish culture, the afternoon children were invited to Primary 2/1’s classroom last week to learn about the fiddle. Mrs. Roberts told us about the different parts of it and how the sound comes out of it. She played us several Scottish tunes and then gave us a big surprise when she played a tune that we know. We all joined in with “Ye Cannae Shove Yer Granny Aff a Bus” then we managed to record it and listen back on to our singing on the computer which was great fun. If you turn up your volume and click on the link below you can hear the children singing along to Mrs. Roberts playing the fiddle.
Mrs. Roberts even helped some children hold the little fiddle and they were able to make some sounds with it. Maybe one day they will be able to play like Mrs. Roberts.
Thank you so much to Mrs. Roberts as well as Miss Cameron and Primary 2/1. We really enjoyed our visit to your classroom. Hopefully the morning children will be able to enjoy this experience with Primary 1 later in the week.
Two recent visits by Pam Fraser, the Financial Education Officer, have encouraged the children to think about money and what we need it for. They learned about all the different coins and enjoyed a story called “Mrs. Pirate”.
Some interesting conversations developed about what the children would buy if they had money to spend. Those of simple tastes dreamt of lots of sweets while others thought carefully and planned a quad bike, a paddling pool or a Lego castle. After Pam had gone, the helpful children even came up with suggestions for Mrs. Carruthers to spend her birthday money on. The idea of “more stickers for Nursery” and “a new scooter for our garden” did not seem so appealing for her birthday but she liked the suggestions of a “cosy scarf to keep you warm in winter”, “big earrings like you like” and “a very beautiful dress”.
As you can see from the photos below, the children thoroughly enjoyed the coin rubbing activity and were amazed when they produced pictures of the different coins as if by magic. Thank you Pam for helping us learn in a fun way.
We would like to remind you that, as part of building an awareness of Scottish language and culture, we will celebrate Burn’s Day on Tuesday 24th January. This will take the form of some fun games and a small “Burn’s Supper”.
It would add to the occasion if the children were able to wear something tartan but please don’t worry if your child does not have anything as this is a fun, informal event. We are looking forward to Primary 1 joining us in the morning and Primary 2/1 in our afternoon celebration.
Next Friday will provide the opportunity for families to come in to hear us sing our Scottish songs and see some of the work that all the Early Years classes have been doing as part of our Scottish celebrations. Details are in Miss Wilson’s recent newsletter. We look forward to a busy and fun week.
Already we have had our first full week of the new term and, as always, we’ve had lots of fun in our learning. The ice cave has been very busy: furry rugs and sleeping bags, maps, hot water bottles and flasks seem to produce lots of imaginative role play. In the garden Jack, Finlay and their team have been making lots of plans to build a tunnel to the Forth Road Bridge. They were having problems with their maps tearing outdoors but they seem to have resolved the problem so good progress is being made. We’ve produced a wall display of winter collages and paintings and have been scientists testing raincoats for teddies and finding out about what happens to ice in different temperatures. We even had a visit from a lady who was teaching us about money.
Our new children have done so well settling in to our busy Nursery and are beginning to follow the rules and routines. We hope that they continue to grow in confidence and have lots of fun in Nursery. As you can see here, some of them are looking very settled.
During our discussions about the changing seasons, lots of the children talked about Jack Frost. We talked about what he looks like and where he lives. As always, they had some wonderful ideas which we thought you’d like us to share with you.
Evan: my Dad says Jack Frost makes ice. He’s white and he makes people cold. He eats carrots and lives in the dark.
Ryan: he’s like a scary gruffalo but he’s all white like a snowman and a gruffalo’s brown. He lives on an island in his house.
Jack V: when it’s white snow, he wears white things and that’s why he’s camouflaged. If he’s the same colour as the snow no-one sees him. He lives in a white cave far away.
Rohan: he’s a green boy and looks like fog. He lives in a dark place like underground. When it’s summer he goes to the North Pole.
Layton: Jack Frost is blue and he’s a boy with spikes on his back. He’s got spiky hair and he’s got a bad smile. He lives in an ice globe and eats ice-cream. The ice-cream’s orange. When it’s summer he goes somewhere far away in a snow globe.
Mischa: he looks like a snowman with a tree on his head. He lives in an ice cave.
Finlay: he’s white and no-one can see him ‘cause he lives in the clouds. The sun makes him turn into red hot and when it’s winter again he turns very cold.
Amy: Jack Frost’s a boy. He’s got a scary face and scary eyes. He lives in the North Pole and he builds an icy thing that brings him to Annan.
Our new term starts on Thursday 5th January when we look forward to seeing all our children and their families again. We will also be meeting lots of new children and feel sure that you will make them feel welcome in our Nursery. No doubt they are excited to be starting Nursery and looking forward to making new friends.
We would like to remind you that the key workers will now move to a new group. The children will remain in the same groups but the staff will change to help us get to know all the children and their families well. As you can see, Mrs. Kirkpatrick will also now be joining us in the afternoon sessions due to an increase in numbers.
To help you prepare your child for this change, these are the key workers for our third term. This change rarely causes the children a problem but we thought that it might be useful to know before Thursday.
Red Group: Mrs. Gray (a.m.) Ms. Paterson (p.m.)
Blue Group: Mrs. Carruthers (a.m.) Mrs. Kirkpatrick (p.m.)
Yellow Group: Mrs. Kirkpatrick (a.m.) Mrs. Carruthers (p.m.)
Green Group: Miss Kerr
We look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday.
The end of term seems to have gone in a flurry of activity, ending with our party. The children planned what they would like to do and eat at the party and we did our best to provide it although we did draw the line at fish and chips. Dancing, circle games, lots of party food and, of course, a visit from Santa are great ingredients for a Christmas party and everyone seemed to have a good time. The children’s behaviour was excellent and it was lovely to see the morning and afternoon children playing and dancing happily together. We hope you all have a very happy Christmas and look forward to seeing everyone in the new term. The photos below give you a taste of our party. Don’t they all look wonderful?
Click on an image to make it bigger.
We have been learning about Christmas in Poland this week. Hannah’s Mum (a.m.) and Sara’s Mum (p.m.) have talked to us about the traditions in their country at Christmas time. We learned about putting some hay under the tablecloth, about the twelve dishes at their meal, the empty place at their table and that Santa visits Poland too. We were even able to taste the nativity wafers that they have on Christmas Eve.
It was interesting to find out that much about Christmas in Poland is similar to Scotland but that there are also several important differences. Thank you so much to both Hannah and Sara’s Mum for helping us to learn about their culture.
Yet again, Eileen Johnstone, our Family Learning Co-ordinator, has proved popular with her Christmas craft activities. Lots of children and their families had great fun last week making cards and decorations for their homes.
We look forward to Eileen’s return in the new term when she will resume the weekly activity sacks on Thursdays.
