Confident Individuals

Happy Hunting

At the end of term we were learning to identify letters and numbers. We talked about what we use them for and where we see them. We decided to be detectives and look round the school for letters, numbers and pictures. It was great fun finding them everywhere and sometimes the children were able to find signs that we hadn’t even thought of. We learned that a “P” and a “1” together means “Primary 1” where lots of us will go next year. Lee found the school motto, “Aim High”, up very high on the wall and Layton worked out that the numbers on a poster must be a phone number because they had a picture of a phone beside them. Learning was literally round every corner.

Arcimboldo Art

Arcimboldo is not an easy name to trip off your tongue when you’re three or four years old but our children tried very hard to say the name of the famous artist as we learned a little about his work.

We made the long journey upstairs in school so that we could see his works of art on the interactive whiteboard. “Summer” and “Autumn” were of particular interest as we have been learning about Autumn. The children were certainly amused by his use of food in these portraits and many commented on what they saw.

Caleb: I like the “Summer” one best ‘cause it’s very juicy.

Eleanor: They’re all summery and fruity and vegetabley.

Jaylin: I like them. It’s funny.

McKenzie: I like the ears on the “Autumn” one.

Zak: I like the grapes very much.

Back in Nursery, we decided to make our own portraits using food which was great fun. We hope you like these examples from our display.

Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Autumn Apples

As some children brought apples to add to our Autumn display, we decided to make apple crumble. A simple apple crumble can provide so much learning: the importance of hygiene and safety in the kitchen, fine motor control, counting and chopping skills and the effect of heat on the apples. Most of all, it’s great fun and the children have certainly been excited to take something home that they could eat.

Spoon the biscuit crumbs on the cooked apples.

Autumn Has Arrived

As Summer slowly fades away, we have been learning about the signs of Autumn. We have enjoyed a variety of activities in Nursery and have spent time with our families, collecting things in nature which tell us that Autumn is here.

The children have been excited to show us their finds and most have shown confidence to sit in the Star Seat to talk to everyone about their Autumn “treasure”. We loved one little boy’s description of “going adventuring” to find chestnuts and brambles.

Here are some of the children’s thoughts on how we know it’s Autumn:

Lee: the leaves change colour

Katie: it’s windy and a bit sunny.

Rhiannon: the weather gets dull.

Jaylin: leaves curl and go brown.

Struan: the leaves are red, yellow and orange.

Ryan: leaves fall on the ground.

Mya: flowers go and it’s windy.

Turn up the volume and click below to hear our voices .

Autumn 1 Autumn 3 Autumn 2

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, We Love You

As we were so good at helping Miss Young to tell the story of “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”, she invited our teddies in to Nursery to try out the cave where Honey, her teddy, was living. The teddies all seemed excited to try out the cave although some needed a little encouragement so we were very brave and went in to the dark cave with them.

Everyone showed good listening and talking skills as each person talked about why their teddy was so special. We thought you might like to hear some of their comments and see some of the very special bears who visited us.

Caleb He’s a boy teddy. He’s wearing a jumper so he doesn’t get cold.

Lee My teddy’s name is Ashleigh. He’s a boy. He always wears his jumper. He feels nice and soft.

Reece He’s got a black nose the same as his fur and tail.

Jordy He likes bouncing on the trampoline with me when it’s sunny. He’s called Daddy Bear. He can bounce very high.

Mya It’s Ruby the teddy. I sleep with him quiet at night in my bunk bed. He’s got nice eyes and a pink tongue.

Sam L. I bought him at Tesco when I was a baby. I cuddle him at night. He disappears when I cuddle him.

Finlay He’s called John Wayne. He usually likes running and jumping out the window but not if it’s wet outside. He likes jumping on the bed.

Miley I bought him from a shop. His name’s Red Ted. I cuddle him lots of times and I have lots of teddies in a bag.

Ryan It’s a boy. He’s a special agent. He helps people when they don’t know what to do.

Mischa He’s called Jake. He’s old. It shrinked when I was wee.

We love our teddies.

What a happy teddy he looks.

The teddies loved visiting Honey’s cave.

Is that a Santa teddy?

Nana gave me it.

My Granny knitted Clarence’s suit.

The House That Hecklegirth Built

At the end of last session the children and their parents held a secret (and very rainy) sponsored walk which resulted in us being presented with a beautiful weather vane and bench for the Nursery garden, as well as a very generous cheque to spend on equipment.

We decided to use this money to buy a playhouse and there was great excitement when it arrived this week. There was no shortage of volunteers to help when Miss Kerr and Miss Boyd set about the task of building our new house. They did have a few teething problems with their apprentices who were keen to carry off doors, walls and even those fiddly screws to different parts of the garden but once the rules of the workplace had been established, we saw some good teamwork by the morning children and they were delighted with their efforts. By the time the children arrived for the afternoon session, the building team had constructed a fantastic playhouse.

Thank you so much again to all those who contributed to provide us with these super additions to our outdoor play area. We hope you are happy with how we have spent your generous donation.

It’s amazing the games you can play with a big box.

After less than two weeks in Nursery, most children are growing in confidence in their new environment. We are establishing the rules and the children are developing into confident and happy Nursery pupils, as you can see from the pictures below. Later in the week we will send home a note of the Nursery rules and how we are teaching the children the days of the week, to help keep you informed of our current focus.

We feel sure that you are all very proud of the way your children have settled so well in to Nursery in such a short space of time because we certainly are.

Ruby Rabbit

This week Ruby Rabbit has been meeting all our new children. It was such a surprise when she popped out of her basket to say hello. Some people guessed it would be a football, someone thought a pig and some people thought it might be a fairy in the white basket but everyone was very surprised to meet a shy little rabbit. So far, Ruby Rabbit’s ears have only started to hurt and go red once, when we forgot to use little voices, so she is very happy with all the Nursery children. Well done, everyone!

First Days

What a delightful start we have had to our year, getting to know our new children and their families, as well as welcoming back the familiar, smiling faces. The children are beginning to settle in to the Nursery routine and, as the coming weeks unfold, they should grow in confidence in their new environment. If your child takes a little while to feel comfortable, please give them time to take things at their pace: we, as adults, cope with change in different ways and at different rates and children are exactly the same. If you have any concerns about your child, please speak to staff who can offer you advice based on their experiences.

Most children have had fun and been adventurous in trying out a variety of activities. Once we have blog permission slips returned, we will be able to put photos here to encourage children to show their families and friends at home. In the meantime, we thought you might like to see a few of the first drawings the children have produced this week.

Click on the photos to make them bigger.

What have you enjoyed in Nursery?

As many of our children prepared to leave us for Primary 1, we talked about what they had enjoyed most in Nursery. Here is a sample of their thoughts below.

Olivia: I liked playing the piggy game on the computer ‘cause it was funny.

Mason: the red bike outside was good – it’s like a motorbike.

Cerys: the house corner – the castle was the best ever.

Dylan: I liked playing doggies.

Poppy: running and playing with everyone outside.

Becky: the Three Bears Cottage.

Jack: lots of painting for the Mummies.

Liam: the Chinese restaurant was good with all the food.

Aidan: the computer game with clowns.

Finlay: playing on the bikes and going in the pink castle.

Ruby: I liked having snack and puzzles. I liked the castle and the Three Bears Cottage. I just liked all of it.

Corey: I liked drawing and cooking in the house.

Aedan: playing scooters.

Maisie: drawing pictures with Ruby was the best.

Ola: playing with Zuzanna.

Jack: going on the big slide.