BROOM ZOOM 
We would like to take a moment to thank all our families for their generosity when it came to sponsoring our little Broom Zoomers!
We are delighted to announce that as on 31st of October we have raised a MASSIVE £1069.50.
Spooky Scavenger Hunt
12 families braved the cold to join us on our Spooky Halloween Hunt.
Where we found witches, cats & big black bats all hiding around our school grounds!
The children and their adults all done really well working together and making memories.
We have left our spooky friends around the playground for everyone to enjoy, so if you didn’t make it along last night there is still a chance you might find a little ghost or two hanging around our grounds!
Curriculum Fayre (Adults only event)
Our curriculum fayre is set to take place this Thursday, 2nd of November. We will be kicking off our event at 6pm this is a drop in event so feel free to come along at a time that best suits you and your family. Last entry will be at 7.30pm.
What to expect
On arrival we ask that you use the main school entrance and sign in using the sign in sheet on the table straight ahead. We would then invite you to make your way in to the gym hall where you will find our curricular marketplace, tea, coffee and some sweet treats.
As you make your way around the various stalls we encourage you to ask questions, lift leaflets and take your time. We want each person attending to take away something of value to them and their families.
Stalls – Stalls will be situated in the school gym hall. Parents/carers will be invited to spend time visiting our stalls. It is an opportunity to ask questions and find out more about some of the additional agencies and supports in place, securing your children’s progress.
Esther Duncan & Linda Sheehan (Teachers) – Early Years Initiatives
Michelle Traynor (Children’s Rights Champion) – How we promote rights in Early Education
Rachael Donaghy (Family Champion) – Centre support / Deferred entry
Hayley Montgomery (Educational Psychologist) – What the role of an Educational Psychologist in Early Years
Sharon Mitchell (Supporting Families) – Support that can be offered out with the EYC for your and your family.
Robina Simpson (Health Improvement Practitioner) – Myth Buster on Early Protective Messages
Ciara MacKenzie (Speech and Language) – Strategies to support language development & communication
Playrooms
Parents/Carers will have the opportunity to explore our playrooms, where staff members will be demonstrating different ways we incorporate the curriculum throughout our playrooms
- Jess – Technologies
- Indu – Expressive Arts
- Rachel – Health Wellbeing
- Caitlyn – Science
- Erinn – RME
- Megan – Realising the Ambition
- Rebecca – Social Studies
- Heather – Numeracy
- Laura – Literacy
Stacey Greer (House Keeper) – Supporting independence and social interactions at meal times.
Interactive Sessions
We will be running a course of interactive sessions for our families, based around supporting changes in routine. In these sessions we will aim to provide ways to support children, when changes in their routine occur i.e. staying out with their family home, parties, visiting family, changes to bedtime, increase in sugary snacks, 2 weeks off nursery etc.
If you would like to attend, please register your interest below.
Supporting Changes in Routine – Register Here
PAINTS
It has been brought to our attention that families are finding it difficult to get paints out of their children’s clothing after they have attended EYC. This was not something we were aware of as the paint we order is “washable” – clearly does not do what it says on the bottle!
I have reached out to other centres and this seems to be a new, but across the board problem.
Therefore, we have reverted back to old tricks of the trade and have began to add washing up liquid to our paints. Whilst we do also offer aprons for protection, we are aware that between the ages of 2-5, short of providing a full head to toe tarpaulin wrap, there is going to be little chance of us evading every child from this at some point. We are hopeful though that with our wee hack this should help with the removal should children come home with paint on their clothing.
Parents Meetings
Pre-School – Parents meetings will be held for all pre-school children across week commencing the 20th/27th of November. Timeslots available and further information will be sent out in due course.
Anti-Preschool – Parents meeting will be held for all anti-preschool children in February this will include our 2 year olds. Timeslots available and further information will be sent out in due course.
Children’s reports
Pre-school – Progress reports following parents meetings will be shared for reference.
Anti-Preschool – Progress reports following parents meetings will be shared for reference in February.
Registering your child for School
If you are a parent/carer of children due to start P1 in August 2024 or transfer from P7 to Secondary school, the new registration period opens on 1 November to 30 November. Please ensure that you register for your catchment school during this period. Information on Registration
Bonus Year.
Whether you are considering a bonus year, or not for your child a application must be made to their catchment school.
We need to hold our hands up when we recognise we aren’t quite doing as well as we could, in order to ensure we do better!
We welcomed back Kirsty from Maternity Leave in the Summer. Kirsty has came back Part-time working on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
Erinn who had been working with us on supply for quite some time was successful in interview to become Kirsty’s other half. We are delighted as Erinn has now become a permanent fixture at Colquhoun working Thursday & Friday each week.
Caitlyn joined us from Argyll and Bute in August and has made a great addition to our team. Caitlyn is covering Rebecca’s maternity post.
During this period Laura, who carried out the role of senior job share with Kady has backfilled the position Kady vacated. Therefore Laura is now carrying out the role of full time Senior Early Years Worker within Centre.