Good morning everyone,

After the first minister’s announcement this week we are delighted to be welcoming back all the children to the ECC from Monday 22nd February.

Our safety restrictions will still be in place, here is a reminder of these;

• Children and staff will be in two separate bubbles.
• Group drop off and pick up times will be staggered to ensure the ECC playground is not too busy.
• Children will be collected from adult in ECC playground – you MUST wait with your child until a staff member takes them from you. Please be patient as staff from different bubbles are not able to take your child.
• When collected children will be brought out to adult in ECC playground.
• Face coverings must be worn when dropping off or picking child up.
• Can we ask that only one adult enter playground to pick child up.
• All children will wash their hands when entering and exiting ECC.

Due to transitional benefits we have had a change in the group bubbles – this allows the children to mix with others and for the children entering Primary 1 this year it is good for them to get to know some of the other pre-schoolers. Our new drop off and pick up times for the groups are as follows;

We are very grateful for all our families continued support and understanding during these times.

Stay safe everyone!

Maria

maria.paterson@eastayrshire.org.uk

Good afternoon everyone,

As we end another week of home learning I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our families for their patience and understanding during this time. I have no doubts of the struggles that many of you will be facing having to work from home and may be home schooling as well.  You are all doing such an amazing job!! All the staff are here to support as best as we can so if it’s some advice, or just to have someone listen to you then we are here! Give us an email or request a phone call and you will hear from one of us.

This week we explored the importance of our children’s mental health…this goes without saying that our own mental health is vitally important also. So please always remember to find the time for some enjoyment in the house, whether this be something the full family loves or if you can find some ‘me’ time.  Settling down to watch a movie, with popcorn and snacks, an outdoor walk to park for a runabout whatever your family enjoys.

The announcements this week from the Scottish Government is hopeful for a return of Early Years from the 22nd February, this will be verified on the 16th February so please keep a watch out for that announcement. Any clarification of detail will follow on GLOW after this date.  We hope to have you all back with us soon and the journey to coming out of this pandemic will be on the move again.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and are able to get out for some fresh air no matter the weather.

Maria

maria.paterson@eastayrshire.org.uk

Good afternoon everyone,

The staff here have been very busy getting the ECC all ready for your return, which we cannot wait for.

Welcome to Nursery Lane….

Role play has many benefits for children’s learning and development;

• develop communication and language skills.
• allows children to act out and make sense of the world.
• allows children to explore, investigate and experiment.
• develops social skills as children collaborate with others.
• encourages children to express their ideas and feelings.
• develops children’s awareness of themselves and others.
• sparks creativity and imagination

We can’t wait for all our children to be back to explore our new Nursery Lane…keep a look out for even more changes coming!!

Maria ❤️

Here is some additional information to boost your child’s mental health.

8 ways to help children struggling during lockdown. 

10 things to say instead of “Stop crying!”…….

Think of your child as an emotional cup………

Some ideas…

We hope you find some of this information useful.

Maria

Good afternoon everyone,

Just a little note to say that as we enter into another week of national lockdown, it is understandable that we may be feeling a little low. Having the children at home juggling work and home learning this can cause amounts of stress and anxiety. It is imperative now more than ever that we take care of not just our own mental health but that of our children, as these changes will be affecting them also.

This week we will be exploring different ways in which if we can just take 5-10 minutes out daily and do these activities with our children this will hopefully encourage more positive outcomes.

Please click on following link for more details.

Good morning everyone,

Our home learning activity for today is a number hunt. For this activity you will need;

• Written numbers 0-10 on separate bits of paper.
• 10 objects – this can be Lego, pens, crayons, stones etc
• Numbers again written on a piece of paper.

Now put the numbers 0-10 in different places in the house.

1. With your 10 objects set aside an amount, have your child count how many is there and then go and find the number.
2. Use the second set of written numbers and they have to find the matching one.
3. For more difficult – make an addition for your child. Set aside two groups with the objects, can you child add the two together? Now go find the answer.

You could upload how well your child does on the ‘Achievements at home’ tab in their Learning Journals for children’s key worker.

Let us know how you get on.

Maria ❤️💚💙💛💜

East Ayrshire staff are offering families the opportunity to come and join us for a range of live online sessions.

These fun sessions have been designed to support your family throughout lockdown.

Information on these sessions can also be found on the app.

Join in and have fun 😁

Good morning everyone,

Throughout today all the parents/carers that completed the online form with their email addresses will receive an email from Learning Journals. This email will contain a link for you to set up a password and login pin. Once you have completed this you will have access to your child’s profile only.  The children still have their learning folders within the ECC that the staff have completed up to date, so there will be no backdated information on Learning Journals. We have put up a few observations and stories for parents/carers to look at and going forward we are trialling this out as our platform for evidence of your child’s learning.

Once the children return to the ECC you can expect to get frequent updates on your child’s learning and development.

In the mean time there is a section ‘Achievements at Home’ on your child’s profile and this is for you to upload any pictures or stories of home learning you would like us to see.

If you are having any issues or would like any information then please send me an email.

Maria

maria.paterson@eastayrshire.org.uk 

As the home learning is set to continue until Mid-February we completely understand that staying at home as well as tackling home learning with your children can be extremely difficult. As always we here at Hurlford ECC are here to support as best we can during this time.

If you are needing any additional support or advice this may be something that our community practitioner Michelle Colquhoun can help with.

Here are contact details for Michelle along with some topics that Michelle can help with.

Please get in touch if you feel you may need too.

Good morning,

I hope we are all doing well at home and enjoying some of the activities.  Please remember and email your child’s key worker or myself for check ins or specific activities to develop your child’s learning. As the hub provision is on in the ECC, staff are at some point working in the ECC so may not get back to you that day.

For today’s task is to play some board games. Playing board games are one of the best ways to encourage learning whilst having fun. Games have many benefits like developing critical thinking skills, emotional and social  development with learning about turn taking; cooperating and winning or losing a game playing with peers.

If you have a printer at home this is a template of a counting game you could perhaps print or draw out on paper if not.

first-learning-board-game-rgb-1945699

I also saw this week is Space Week on CBeebies. They will be exploring the planets, solar system, astronauts, rockets and robots at the National Space Centre. Learning about Space is always a topic the children love learning about in the ECC so may be worth allowing them to watch and record what information the children can tell you? Ask them some questions. The episodes are on at 4:50pm daily.

Monday – Rockets 🚀

Tuesday – Solar System 🌌

Wednesday – International Space Station 🛰

Thursday – Space Robots 🤖

Friday – Astronaut training 👩🏻‍🚀

These will also be available on IPlayer.

You can let us know how you get on?

Maria ❤️

maria.paterson@eastayrshire.org.uk