Author: Alana Speirs

We are absolutely delighted to announce that last month we were lucky enough to win a VIRTUAL PANTOMINE for the children here at Catrine ECC.

On Monday 14th December at 10am both bubbles of children and staff will enjoy the fabulous interactive Christmas show performed by THE McDOUGALLS.

Children can come with Christmas jumpers on if they wish to.

As well as our Panto we would like to take this opportunity to say a huge big THANK YOU to Dino’s Fish, Chip and Ice Cream shop in Catrine. They have very kindly phoned the ECC and asked to donate an ice cream tub for every child and staff member. We thought the Panto would be a fab time to enjoy the delicious treat and so therefore Dino will be delivering it to us in time for our “interval” 🙂

Our Sweetie Balloon winner was drawn on Friday and can be found on the previous glow post. All other raffles will be drawn by the children on Monday.

Also don’t forget our party day is on Thursday morning from 9 – 11am.

ECC and school staff finish at 2.30pm on Friday therefore doors will be open from 2pm to allow for prompt pick ups and time for anyone needing to be at surrounding schools for older siblings.

AGAIN WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE FOR THEIR CONTINUED SUPPORT OVER THE YEAR AND WE WISH EVERYONE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A MUCH BETTER NEW YEAR.

 

 

We are aware that due to current circumstances, parents and carers have been unable to look through their child’s individual Learning Journals to see their fabulous comments, marks and much more.

All children will therefore come home today with their very special Learning Journal to show you over the weekend. They will be in a protective bag and should be returned to the ECC in the same bag on Monday 14th December. When the children’s Journals come back on Monday they will be quarantined until January 2021, to keep everyone safe before being passed onto their new keyworker.

Included in the Journal is a parental feedback page. We would appreciate your voice within your child’s Journal by way of a little comment to let us know how you feel your child is progressing.

Thank you for your continued support.

Alana Speirs

 

When we return to our ECC in January 2021 we will continue to operate a ‘bubble’ system in line with current COVID regulations.  To accommodate new children starting and staff changes, we need to change both our bubble groupings and our staffing structure.

Your child will come home with a letter today (Wednesday 9^th December) highlighting which bubble they will be in from January 2021, who their Keyworker will be and any changes to their drop-off and pick-up times.

We hope that the letter answers any questions that you may have about this necessary change, and, as always, please phone the ECC on 01290 551233 or email Alana.speirs@eastayrshire.org.uk for further information.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support as we all work together to ensure the highest quality of learning and teaching experiences for your child at Catrine ECC.

 

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A few pictures of just some of the fabulous experiences the children have had during Nursery Rhyme Week here at Catrine ECC.

 

Well done to all of the staff and children for a busy, action packed week.

Enjoy the weekend 🙂

With COVID restrictions in place this year Halloween might look a bit different for everyone.

This is why the staff and children here at Catrine ECC have worked hard all week to create a fun activity for the whole family to do over the weekend at a time that suits.

Each child has a paper copy home also.

Halloween Pumpkin Hunt 2020

Don’t forget to take selfies at a pumpkin with your child and send them into Jan.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 🙂

Each year we usually hold two annual parent appointment opportunities giving families the chance to find out what has been happening in the life of their little one whilst in the centre. Due to current circumstances we are having to do things a little differently this year. We still believe it is important to share information, progress and stories with you, as well as giving you the chance to ask questions or raise any concerns. With this in mind we have decided to offer 10 minute telephone appointments with your child’s keyworker next month.

Parent/carers wishing an appointment should phone the ECC office on 01290 551233 to book a time slot with your keyworker. We will also be asking you to confirm the phone number you wish to be called on to ensure we can get through. Please also note that the call will come through to you with NO CALLER ID or as a PRIVATE NUMBER.

Below you will find each keyworker’s allocated session for phoning.

Monday 16th November 2020

Bubble A – PINK GROUP – Sherrie – 9am until 11am

Bubble B – BLUE GROUP – Rena – 9am until 11am

Bubble A – PURPLE GROUP – Carrie – 1pm until 2.30pm

Bubble B – GREEN GROUP – Jan – 1pm until 2.30pm

 

Tuesday 17th November 2020

Bubble A – YELLOW GROUP – Courtney – 9am until 11am

Bubble B – ORANGE GROUP – Leoni – 9am until 11am

 

We look forward to hearing from you.

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Click on the link to read our  October Newsletter 2020

When you can’t come in to see our displays …… we bring our displays out to see you 🙂 😃 🙌

Fabulous artwork, children’s own descriptive language, beautiful comments about friends, discussions about colour, shape & size, as well as an experience to discuss emotions – all in a single painting opportunity ❤

When people say “we JUST play” – We tell them “we LEARN THROUGH PLAY”

Following on from our September newsletter which highlighted our school and ECC Vision, Values and Aims we would like your ideas on what YOU think RESPECT looks like.

Our board is set up again today for you to add your ideas. Comments can be examples/experiences relating to respect, single words to describe respect, drawings, children/parent/carer comments etc. There are no right/wrong answers and marks can be anonymous if you wish.

Please note:- all pens have been sanitised before use.

Thank you 🙂

Please click on the link to read our  September Newsletter 2020

Scotland Learns is a fantastic resource for both parents and practitioners.

The link below will take you to a large range of ideas, strategies and experiences that you and your child will love.

https://education.gov.scot/improvement/scotland-learns/search/?l1=Practitioner&l2=Resources%20for%20learning%20at%20home&l3=Early%20level&l4=Literacy%20and%20English&l5=Learning%20activity&SortBy=1

Can you help us by answering a few short questions in the survey below?This should only take 5 minutes maximum and will help us to make improvements on our current practice.

Thank you.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=oyzTzM4Wj0KVQTctawUZKRqhoaEMY8FHkTJQGETc2XZUOUFYQTJXVkxaUVNBUEVTMlVCVFNXU0hCSi4u

Alana Speirs

Depute Manager

 

How are you really? How many times have you heard someone say ‘I’m fine’? One in four people in Scotland experience poor mental health every year. This means that at some point, you or someone you know will need to get help; whether that means talking to someone you trust, getting information online or going to your GP. People may be afraid to ask for help so make sure to pay attention to the signs that someone might be suffering and let them know there is support available to help them through periods of distress or poor mental health. Give yourself time for the conversation and don’t be afraid to ask them directly if they are having suicidal thoughts – remember Ask, Tell, Save a Life. The Samaritans have some great resources on signs to look out for and active listening. For more useful links to support yourself or someone you know click on the NHS link below here https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/suicide/ Try some guided mindfulness techniques with organisations such as Calm or Headspace Find out more about mindfulness techniques on our Healthy Working Lives YouTube channel Difficulty sleeping? Sign up at Sleepio

Over the past few weeks staff at Catrine ECC have been working extremely hard to get all necessary procedures in place to ensure our centre and practitioners are ready to welcome both Group A and Group B back full time starting next week.

Please read the attached letter for more information and start times.

Move from 600-1140hr Letter

We hope that this helps you as a family to begin to return to places of work, training and further education when they reopen. We also anticipate that the  continuity of attending everyday will help settle the children through continuing to build on relationships as well as becoming more familiar with daily ECC routines.

Next week will be another change in routine for both staff and children, therefore we ask for your continued support during these times while we evaluate each day in an effort to continuously make improvements until we feel we have it “just right”

After a fantastic soft start approach last week we cannot wait to welcome everyone back for 2.5days this week.

Please see below for a reminder of group days and times.

GROUP A – Pink, Purple, Yellow

All day Monday 8.40am – 2.40pm

All day Tuesday

Wednesday AM 8.40am – 11.30am

GROUP B – Green, Blue, Orange

Wednesday PM – 11.50am – 2.40pm

All day Thursday 8.40am – 2.40pm

All day Friday

 

Please note that our MAIN DOOR will open at 12.15pm for anyone who wishes to collect their child after lunch. Staff may also advise shorter sessions for some children in order to help settle and support individuals, building up more gradually to a 6hour day.

If you plan on picking your up child at 12.15pm please ensure you let the ECC know in advance.

We are sooooooo excited !!!!!!

The staff at Catrine ECC worked super hard all day yesterday to get the rooms ready for your soft start week. We CANNOT wait to meet all of our new starts and welcome back our returners 🙂

Reminders for this week …….

• Wednesday 12th – 2hour visits for all children new to the centre.
• Thursday 13th – All Group B children 8.40am – 2.40pm (new starts 9.15am – 11.30am)
• Friday 14th – All Group A children 8.40am – 2.40pm (new starts 9.15am – 11.30am)

 

• Due to current guidelines we would like to remind parent/carers to adhere to social distancing markers during drop off/pick up times.
• Please keep to just 1 parent/carer per child in the playground. Unfortunately we are unable to allow parents into our building at this time – Alana and Lesleyanne will be at our door each day to welcome the children in and take them into their keyworker groups.
• We will be encouraging the children to wash their hands lots while in the ECC as well as following enhancing cleaning procedures around the establishment.
• As always we will be encouraging lots of outdoor play so remember to bring wellies and appropriate clothing for our good old Scottish weather 🙂

Again, we want to take this opportunity to thank you for all of your co-operation at this time.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to get in touch.

 

 

 

From everyone at Catrine ECC – we would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our children who are starting school this morning the very best of luck! Have the best fun ever    xoxox

Hi everybody, please click on the link below to view our CATRINE ECC VIRTUAL TOUR of the ECC. Clips of the rooms were filmed at the start of last week and actually, we feel we have enhanced them even further each day since. More resources have been added, more areas have been established and more visual signage has been designed by the staff to help aid our children in their settling in process upon our return.

We cannot wait to see all of our returning children and families, and of course we are very excited to meet and get to know our new families.

Unfortunately, at this stage we are still unable to confirm patterns of attendance in August due to the regular changes and updates in guidance at this particular time.

Please continue to follow our Twitter page, school APP and any new information here on GLOW for updates as soon as we get them.

https://youtu.be/cQsmMAYZKaM

Thank you for both your understanding at this time and your continued support throughout this challenging time.

Alana Speirs

Depute Manager

Well, I am sad to say that the way our rota for posting falls this will personally be my last home learning GLOW post before we stop for our summer holidays.

So ….. for my final challenge I would like to split it into two.

Ante pre children

 

Preschool children

(please note – due to hayfever issues and dodgy eyes I thought it best not to scare the children and try to make them laugh instead haha – these videos make me look better than I actually do in real life right now 🙂 LOL.

Have a great day everyone.

Hugs and virtual Hi-5’s from Alana xxx