Catrine Early Childhood Centre

The children in bubble A have had lots of fun at their Halloween Party.  We started the day with the Winnie the Witch story and then played some party games. Once the games were done we went for a Halloween snack which included the edible witches hats the children had made yesterday. After snack some children then went on to explore the slime and green spaghetti to see what bugs they could find whilst other children made some Halloween crafts. We also dooked for apples and danced a lot.

Here are some pictures of the fun activities we have done today .

The children within bubble B hosted their own Halloween party today where they came dressed up and we got to do lots of fun and exciting things!

Today, we have read spooky stories, played party games, had a Halloween themed snack, dooked for apples and participated in lots of fun activities such as toilet paper ghosts, collage, walk the spiders web, creepy frozen hands and the exploding pumpkin.

This was our Halloween themed snack. We got to eat crisps, a little sweetie and also our witches hats that we made yesterday! Oh, and don’t forget our special juice box.

We read a Halloween spooky story called ‘Witch’. It was so funny, especially with Jan turning the ladies into toads and cats. We all laughed so hard.

This was our huge spiders web floor. We got to walk along it to see if we could keep our balance. We also got to dance in it! Here we are playing musical bumps.

From next week the children will have the opportunity to learn about how their bodies are private to them and that there are ways to keep themselves safe.  With the friendly help of the NSPCC dinosaur called Pantasaurus, the children will learn in an age appropriate approach, how to stay safe from abuse.   We have lots of fun activities that we do, like designing our own pair of pants as well as watching the Pantasaurus video.  The children have plenty of opportunity for discussion to reinforce their learning.  There is lots of information available on the website for parents/carers who would like to reinforce this at home.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/

You can access the Pantasaurus song in the link below. Grown ups beware – this song is very catchy!

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?

Within the ECC we will be discussing who we can trust and who we can talk to about our worries. 

Parents/Carers any questions?  I will be at the door each day at pick up and drop off times, feel free to ask ♥

In group B the children had been interested in learning about the farm and they started to ask about the various foods that we can get from a farm or grow.  They have really enjoyed the opportunity to explore a range of fruits and vegetables, discuss how it was grown and why these are healthy.

 

 

 

 

 

Exploring foods in the tuft spot. 

Using the foods in our home corner for role play

We then took turns practicing our cutting skills, ensuring that we were staying safe using the safety knives before adding the vegetables to our witches cauldron to make spooky spells

I would really love to hear your feedback in regards to how you feel health and wellbeing is promoted within the ECC, thank you for a few minutes of your time ♥

 

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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Soon we shall be creating our new ‘Healthy’ character and looking at what health means to us in early years.  What I would love to know is what it means to you, how would you define the term and what is of most importance in your family?  There will be a board outside for you to leave your ideas – this would be very helpful.  I will also be creating a survey soon and it will be accessible through GLOW.  The children come up with fantastic ideas in their floor books and we’d love to hear some of the grown ups ideas too.

“the foundation for achieving a person’s realistic potential: enabling them to become all that they are capable of becoming”

We are going to explore our danger box this week, in small circle times the children will have the opportunity to discuss dangerous objects or substances that they may find in their home setting or whilst out in the community.  We shall talk about why these could be dangerous and what to do if they come across any of these objects 💕

This could be discussed at home and the dangers could be reinforced. Keep an eye on our Health and Wellbeing board for updates and children’s comments.

Click on the link to read our  October Newsletter 2020

Today the staff brought in some games from home, the children enjoyed playing hungry hippos, crocodile dentist, operation, twister, poopyhead and  dominoes.  There was lots of laughs and it was a great opportunity to develop listening and turn taking skills as well as communication and numeracy skills.  I hope everyone enjoys the October break, What games could you play at home? and we will see you all soon 💕

 

A huge well done to Lukas and his family who climbed the Black Craig Hill to raise money for the charity, Bliss.  You have raised a generous amount for the charity and what an achievement!👏

I love the superhero masks!

When you are waiting and are first in line at drop off or pick up time please feel free to listen to the children’s comments recorded and displayed on our Health and Wellbeing board.  The children will be encouraged to leave their comments about what they have been learning in regards to their Health and Wellbeing.  There will be a sanitiser available, please sanitise hands before pressing, thank you 😊

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If you have any concerns regarding your child’s speech and Language development, East Ayrshire’s speech and language therapy team will be available offering virtual drop ins for parents and carers.

Please read the information below

Group A have been out in the community this week on their walk in the search for natural objects.

They used a clipboard with a checklist to help them on their search, they found worms, a snail, a spider, flowers and leaves🌸

The children and the staff enjoy the opportunity to get out into the community in the afternoons.   This week Group B had fun going out a walk down the farm road, it was a lovely day.

The children discussed the marks that the tractor had made in the field.

We found some brambles, picked them and explored the texture, colour and smell.

We have been discussing strangers and safer strangers with Safe Sandra this week.  How do we know who a safer stranger is? Is it someone who wears a uniform or whose job it is to help us? What should we do if a stranger approaches us? The children have had some very good answers and are starting to show a better understanding of ‘safer strangers’.  Keep an eye on our health and wellbeing board for updates on our learning 💕

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”

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Look who came to visit us today. Group A have been learning about pandas. Can the children share any interesting facts with you at home? Continue reading “Panda fun in group A”

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 🙂

Here at Catrine ECC we encourage the children to celebrate their achievements and success.  We discuss and recognise achievement and what this means.  We have started using our tree to recognise daily achievements such as, following the golden rules, being kind and respectful and eating all our lunch.  We would now love to hear what the children have been achieving at home.  Have they been getting dressed on their own? Have they been sleeping in their own beds all night? Please let us know about home achievements, we can display these within the ECC.  Please bring in any pictures, certificates or any comments from home for us to see 💕