Today we all had great fun visiting Primary 4 who showed us their work on the Romans. The life size figures of Roman soldiers were particularly impressive and we really enjoyed trying out the computer games that Primary 4 had designed. We saw mosaics and amphitheatre models and heard stories about life as a Roman soldier, amongst other things.
Primary 4 were so enthusiastic at sharing their learning with Nursery children, making sure that they explained things to them in a way that they would understand. Thank you very much to Miss Cameron and everyone in Primary 4 for making us feel so welcome. We always love our visits to your classroom.
P6 were kind and helpful buddies this week when they helped us make cards for our families. Eileen, our Family Learning Co-ordinator, arranged for P6 to help children who are moving to P1 make lovely cards for their families. P6 were fantastic buddies, explaining what the task was and just giving the right amount of guidance and support to those who found it a little tricky cutting out stars to decorate their cards. We hope parents are happy with the finished product as a fond memento of their child’s move to Primary 1. The sentiments of the little poem seem to sum up how they are all feeling about the next stage in their lives.
As promised, Stan the Star took the afternoon children to Maryport for a visit last week. Unfortunately the weather was not so kind to us this time so we didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy the adventure park. Poor Stan the Star had to poke his little nose out of the bag to see what was happening as he might have been blown away by the wind and rain if he had ventured out.
However, we were very lucky to arrive just as a fishing boat was landing its catch and everyone had close-up view of a variety of fish before they were sent off to be sold. Poor Miss Kerr had smelly hands after holding the different types of fish so that we could get a closer look. She didn’t even mind the big wriggly prawns that some of us found a little scary so thank you Miss Kerr for being so brave. We were also amazed how closely the seagulls came to us as they tried to clear the nets of little bits of star fish left behind and the fishermen waving to us, as they left the harbour to go out on the choppy sea, made our day.
The aquarium, as previously, was a fantastic experience and the children were particularly excited to touch and hold the rays, star fish and crabs. Again, Stan the Star had some nervous moments as he was dangled over the ray pool but he survived the ordeal, despite one or two of the baby sharks coming to have a close look at him.
We would like to thank all the parents who helped us on our trips: without your support they would not have been possible. We also feel very proud of our children who behaved so well on both occasions. Stan the Star is resting and hopes to have quiet week in Nursery but he just never knows what’s round the corner.
Stan the Star gets a bit of help climbing the nets.
Don’t look down, Stan!
On top of the pirate ship admiring the view.
Zzzzzzz! What a great day!
All this fun can be very tiring.
This week the morning children took Stan the Star to visit The Lake District Coast Aquarium at Maryport for an end of term treat. The journey seemed to pass surprisingly quickly and everyone was excited when we arrived at the harbour. Stan the Star had a great time in the aquarium although he was a little worried when he was dangled over the ray pool for a better look. To touch star fish, anemones and rays was quite an experience for everyone although watching the octopus devour his lunch of live crab was perhaps the most memorable event.
During a walk round the harbour to see the boats and the lighthouse, some children met the coastguard who showed them his van and boat and our visit to the adventure playground completed Stan the Star’s day out. As you can see from the photos, Stan was certainly given a real adventure by everyone: he seemed to try out all the equipment as he was passed from child to child. He had no chance to sleep on the way home as he tried to spend time with as many children as possible but there were a few who did succumb to the Land of Nod after a hectic day.
A big ‘thank you’ must go to all the Mums and Dads who came with us to make our outing a safe and happy day. We are delighted to say that the lady in the café commented that we were very well behaved which made us feel very proud of everyone. Unfortunately our photos in the aquarium are too dark to show here but we have a taster of our day above. Stan the Star is resting up and hopes to go back to Maryport next week with the afternoon boys and girls.
We would like to say a big thank you to St. Columba’s playgroup staff for facilitating a visit for the children who will leave them to come to us next year. The weather was kind to us for both visits so the children were able to enjoy playing outdoors with the current Nursery children, who looked after our visitors well. We always feel a little sad when we wave off our children to Primary 1 but it’s exciting to know that we have so many new children starting with us in August. Thank you, St. Columba’s for sharing your lovely children with us last week.
When Miss Wilson spotted two very big snails in her garden she just knew Nursery would love to see them. Only a day earlier, a group of afternoon children had met Miss Wilson on a mission to find out which is the slowest creature in the world. They had been watching our caterpillars in Nursery and thought they moved very slowly so wanted to find out the answer to this very tricky question.
To help us in our investigation, Miss Wilson brought us the snails in a big tub with lots of leaves. We soon discovered that they were not as slow as we had thought because they kept climbing out of the tub, much to everyone’s amusement. Poor Miss Kerr and Miss Boyd had to keep catching them and putting them back in the tub before the super snails crawled along our drawing table and into our pen tubs. We thought they were so amazing that we took our snails to visit Primary 1 and 2 as well so they really did have a great adventure at Hecklegirth School.
Miss Wilson has now taken her beautiful and very speedy snails back to her garden: we thought it might be a bit tricky finding them on Monday if we left them for the week-end.
Our much visited flower shop has now become a hairdresser’s salon and it’s a very busy little place. Miss Boyd and Mrs. Kirkpatrick have both had “the full works” this week and came out of the experience with wonderful hairstyles, crafted by our budding young stylists. Parents and family members are welcome to come in for a visit to join in the fun: just put your name on the “Come and Play” grid in the cloakroom, as always. We can guarantee you will leave “Hecklegirth Hairdresser’s” feeling like a million dollars as the children will continually tell you how fantastic you look.
Have a look at some styles while your hair dries.
Practising our skills.
When would you like your appointment?
Browse through a magazine while you wait.
Is it dry yet?
Look carefully at the style book before you choose.
PC Leggat paid us a visit this week to talk about staying safe on the roads and “stranger danger”. Everyone already knew him from our visit to the police station so the children were very confident to talk about their ideas. We had a very interesting discussion about what a stranger is and how we know if someone is a stranger. The children demonstrated super thinking skills and most had good strategies of what to do if they got separated from their parents or a stranger approached them. Thank you, as always, to PC Leggat who has helped the children feel that police officers are friendly and helpful.
We all love visitors in Nursery and this week we had two visitors who talked to us about looking after ourselves. The school nurse and the oral health officer were very impressed with the children’s knowledge and we had great fun trying to clean a monkey’s teeth. It can be tricky getting in to the corners with that big brush but the monkey seemed quite pleased with our efforts.
The last day before our long Easter week-end brought a surprise visit to Primary 5 who had invited us to hear their fairy tales. It’s a long walk up the stairs to Primary 5 but it was well worth it as their stories were brilliant. Nursery children sat beautifully and showed what very good listeners they are and Primary 5 were wonderful story tellers. Huge thanks go to Miss Dennis and Primary 5 for their kind invitation. We had a great time.
