Just look at the super teamwork happening here with some of the children from the Raindrop Room last term as they decided to create their own dinosaur. They had lots of discussion about what their dinosaur would look like and used a range of resources to create it. It was lovely to see them working so well together and they all had a sense of achievement once they had completed their work. Well done everyone involved.
Public Health Scotland are undertaking a COVID-19 Early Years Resilience & Impact Survey. They are keen to share this with as many parents/carers as possible to find out more about how COVID-19 has been affecting the health and wellbeing of younger children (age 2-7 years) in Scotland.
Please click on the link below to contribute your views.
Miss Campbell and Mrs. Mahon are both very much looking forward to getting to know all the new children who will be joining them in August. We thought it would be lovely if everyone moving to Primary 1 at Hecklegirth drew their new teachers a self-portrait to display in class. So get busy, boys and girls, with your pencils, crayons and pens, and draw yourselves so that your new teachers can see what you look like.
Please put your drawings in an envelope or a poly pocket and post them through the school door so that they can collect them to make a display in your Primary 1 classroom. Make sure that you or your family put your name on the drawing so that Miss Campbell and Mrs. Mahon know who it has come from. It will be exciting to arrive in your new classroom and see your drawing displayed so we look forward to receiving all your work.
We would like to share the latest newsletter from the Early Years Team who have lots of suggestions for fun activities that families can try together. Click on “Go to this Sway” to open the newsletter.
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Just look at this wonderful photo of Lily and James climbing a tree for the very first time. Very well done! You both look like you are having a great time and that is a super achievement. Thank you so much for sending us this lovely photo. We think that everyone in Nursery will be very impressed and it will be so nice for your friends to see you.
Alfie celebrated his birthday recently and his family kindly sent us lots of great news about how it went.
“Thank you for Alfie’s birthday card it was a lovely thought. Alfie had a fab time playing keepy uppy with the balloons from your card. He had a lovely day even though we had to have his bbq picnic the day before as we weren’t sure on the weather. He had lots of new things to do. We spent the day at Powfoot flying his new kite he got from his cousins James & Joshua. Then a yummy ice cream as a surprise from Drummuir.
Alfie & Niks have managed a couple of FaceTime calls. The first time they did it they face timed each other twice in a day & flattened both phone batteries. We are going to meet up when Niks’ Mum is off work & go on a river walk.
Alfie’s new school teacher has been in touch & there are plans being made to visit next week at some point.
We have been doing lots of baking during lockdown, last week we made a cake Alfie was very proud of his decorating skills. “
Wow! That is an exciting birthday Alfie. I have to say an ice-cream from Drummuir sounds wonderful – you are giving me ideas of where I would like to go. It’s lovely to hear that you have been able to chat to your friend and we hope that you are able to meet up soon. Thank you for sharing the news about your birthday. It was lovely to hear from you and it sounds like you had a great day.
We would like to share this lovely resource which may be helpful to children who are worrying about anything. “There’s a Knot Inside My Tummy” was written by Jennifer Notman who is a Cumbrian teacher, entertainer and parent who felt compelled to help children struggling with worry during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She drew upon knowledge and experience to create a catchy rhyme based on real anxiety management techniques. We think that she and her colleague have produced something positive, fun and helpful for children and their families, now and in the future, to help them recognise and manage feelings of worry.
Click on the link below to hear this catchy tune.
We all use our hands to do lots of things but how often do we stop to think about how handy our hands really are?
Young children are fascinated by their hands and through play they learn to use them in so many different ways. You can have fun with your child exploring different ways of using hands and they will begin to understand just how important their hands are.
What do I need?
• At least one pair of hands
• Pen, pencil or crayon
• Bubble wrap /sponge/facecloth/ playdough
• Paint (or water will do)
• Soap
What do we do?
Clean hands – Talk with your child about how important it is to have clean hands. Remind them of how to wash their hands properly whilst counting to 20.
Strong hands – Provide your child with opportunities to make their hands stronger, such as playing with playdough, squeezing sponges or bubble 
wrap to make it pop!
Kind hands – Talk with your child about how hands can be used in kind ways, such as stroking pets, waving to friends, clapping and using them in helpful ways.
Creative hands – Make handprints with your child. If you don’t have paint, you can use water then watch it dry and disappear. Help your child to draw around their hands using a pen, pencil or crayon. They could then decorate their ‘hands’ with different patterns.
Musical hands – Sing “If You’re Happy And You Know It Clap Your Hands” with your child. The words can be changed to include hand actions in each verse, e.g. clap your hands, pat your knees, rub your tummy, wave your hands, shake your hands, pat your shoulders, hide your hands.
What else could you do?
Handy Words – Does your child know the names of the different parts of their hands, such as fingers, nails, knuckles, and palms? They will learn these words if you use them as you play and talk together.
Clapping rhythms – Use hands to keep in time to the rhythm of songs by clapping, patting, shaking etc. To begin with, you can take the lead then your child can lead, deciding on the actions.
What a lot we can learn with our hands. Have fun!
The Early Years Team has created another newsletter with lots of fun activities to try with your children at home. These activities, created by Early Years Senior Practitioners, are particularly important at this time as they are based on “People Who Help Us”.
Click on “Go to this Sway” below to see a range of fun activities that you can do at home.
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We just love this photo of Luca who was delighted to get a letter from Mrs. Irving recently.
His Mum said, “he was so pleased to receive it he made me read it to him 5 times, it is now currently in his safe box to keep.”
Thank you so much for sending us Luca’s photo – what a gorgeous smile. It is so nice to hear that his letter will be treasured and kept in his safe box.
