UP, UP and AWAY!

Since August 2025, staff in centre have been familiarising themselves with the Up, Up and Away document. This resource is part of the CIRCLE (Child Inclusion Research into Curriculum Learning & Education) framework, and has been created to support early years education in Scotland, by providing strategies to support the development of literacy in our little learners.

In January 2026 we will be introducing this resource into centre, focusing on our environment and using the audit tools and guidance to ensure we are creating a space which supports & promotes literacy development to the highest standards.

Here we have created a short video to explain the ‘Literacy Caterpillar’  and the components that this is made up of.

Up, Up & Away! Literacy Caterpillar

 

Also links to: Up, Up and Away – Literacy CaterpillarWhy is literacy important?What is Literacy?

 

CP NEWS – Winter Edition (2025)

Winter is well and truly on the horizon. With the change in weather we always like to remind our families to have a wee check in their children’s bags to make sure the clothes they have are suitable for this time of year.

Our children access outdoors all year round therefore we ask that they come to nursery with access to, or wearing appropriate clothing.

Children’s achievements 

We actively celebrate children’s achievements from out with and beyond centre, and value our families contributions which enables us to do this.

Our proud of me tree is where we showcase our children’s achievements for them. Help us to celebrate our little learners and share why you are proud of them ✨

What’s been going on in Centre?

Garden Maintenance

We would like to say a big THANK YOU to one of our parents William Granger & family, who took time out of their weekend to come along to centre and remove the hawthorn trees from our garden.

This act of kindness has been so greatly appreciated and will make such a difference to our little ones being able to make full use of our grassy green space.

Spooky Scavenger hunt

As always our spooky scavenger hunt was popular with our families this year, big thank you to everyone who braved the elements to come out and join us. 

 

Bookbug sessions

May be an image of 6 people and people studying

Up until now Bookbug sessions have been run in the evening. We are considering running morning sessions to enable other family members to become involved in our EYC community such as grandparents, childminders etc.

 

Is this something you would like us to trial, or would you prefer we stick with the twilight sessions?

Click the link to share your thoughts

 Broom Zoom 

Big thank you to everyone who supported our Broom Zoom this year. All money raised goes into our children’s fund.

We raised a wonderful £145 this year!

Wet suits

We used money from our children’s fund to renew our children’s wet suits. We searched long and hard to make sure they were just the right material, weren’t too boring, and most importantly they were something the children actually wanted to wear!!

Delighted to say we found ‘the ones’ it was a BIG THUMBS UP from our CP models who put them to the test!

Children’s Art – Christmas gifts

Your child’s Christmas artwork is now available to buy online.

All money raised from this goes back into our children’s fund which supports activities, events and additional resources for our children.

Progress Meetings

All families should now have been given the opportunity to meet with their child’s keyworker for a progress report. If you have for whatever reason missed this or were unable to attend the original dates, please contact us via email eyc@colqhounpark.e-dunbarton.sch.uk to arrange an alternative.

Maternity Leave

The lovely Shannon has now finished up for maternity leave. We would like you to join us in wishing her all the best as she embarks on her new journey as a Mumma of 2!! Blue heart

We are currently in the process of recruiting a new member of staff to join our team to cover. In the interim Indu & Michelle will be working together to cover Shannon’s key group alongside job-share Rebecca as designated key workers.

What’s coming up in Centre?

Wednesday 10th – WINTERWONDERLAND 

4pm – 4:45pm

5pm – 5:45pm

6pm – 6:45pm

Colquhoun Park EYC proudly present to all our families our annual Winter Wonderland, Christmas Experience.

This is a FREE event open to all children & their immediate family members (sorry Gran, Granda, Aunt, Uncle, Dug!)

Each family will be allocated a 45min time slot where they will be able to visit our CPEYC Christmas experience and meet the man of the hour SANTA CLAUS!

There will be a maximum of 15 spaces on each time slot. These will be allocated on a first come first serve basis. Where your first choice slot is not available, an alternative will be offered.

**This event will be ticketed, ALL spaces should be booked before closing date on the 3rd of December**

** This event will take place on Wednesday 10th of December **

Winterwonderland – Bookings

 

Tuesday 16th December 10am – 11am   – Christmas crafts stay & play

Thursday 18th December 2pm – 3pm  – Christmas crafts stay & play

If you would like to attend any of these sessions please use the link below to register.

FAMILY ENGAGEMENT – REGISTRATION

Wednesday 24th December 10am – 12:45pm – Festive Fun Day / Centre closes for Christmas

This is open to all our children in centre, whether it is their typical day to attend or not. This morning will be a of Christmas craft, games, hot choc and movie kind of vibe.

We are hopeful that this will give some of our families, who may need it, a couple of extra ‘get ready for Santa’ hours.

Christmas attendance

Many of our families take their children out of nursery when the schools stop with most, if not all, who continue to attend, opting for an early finish on Christmas Eve.

We would like to ensure that we continue to deploy our staff effectively over the festive period, therefore we ask that families inform us as soon as possible of their intended patterns of attendance during the run up to Christmas.

Monday 5th January – EYC reopens 

Wednesday 18th February – INSERVICE day (centre closed)

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to keep up to date with all the daily going’s on in centre.

CP NEWS – September Edition (2025)

Children are leading their learning at Colquhoun Park EYC 

A vote was cast and animals won. We are now 3 weeks into learning all about the animal kingdom. Here’s a snapshot of what we have been up to.

 

How to feed the birds

Animals that live on a farm   

 

 

 

Natural Habitats

 

Animals that no longer live

 

 

 

If you would like to see more please take a look at our learning walls in the playroom where you can find and follow our whole journey!!

Mini Explorers

Our introduction programme to Mini Explorers kicked off. Children had the opportunity to take part in a variety of different experiences over a 2 week period such as;

Risky business – children learn to identify and manage risk.

Den building – working together children collect resources to build dens.

Bug hunt – children use visual prompts to find bugs in and around our grounds

Clay modelling  – children made bugs and insects out of clay

The Animal man came to visit centre. All children were invited in to take part in this show. Children had the opportunity to learn, see and even touch the

animals. We got to see a chicken called Nando, a tortoise called Michelle, snakes, cockroaches, leaf insects, and even a tarantula!  

We were all super brave and loved every minute! This experience was only made possible thanks to our families contributions to the children’s fund.

For more information on our children’s fund, how to make your contribution and what its used for please click on the link.  Children Fund Letter

 

Stay & Play sessions 

Big thank you to all the families who joined us in centre for a morning/afternoon of play. We we delighted to have you and our children are always so excited when their adult comes to visit.

 

Upcoming Events calendar

October 2025

Wednesday 1st – Book Bug (5pm – 5:30pm) – Bookbug sessions explore stories, song and rhyme with our children and their families.

Week commencing 13th – Ante-pre progress meetings – Parents/carers will be invited into centre using a booking system to discuss their child’s progress.

Week commencing 20th – 2yrs progress meetings – Parents/carers will be invited into centre using a booking system to discuss their child’s progress.

Saturday 25th October – Gardening Day (11am to 2pm) – Children and families throughout our school community are invited along to take part in our gardening day, helping to get our early years centre and school ready for the season ahead.

Week commencing 27th – Sponsored Broom Zoom – Children will raise money for the children’s fund by zooming round our grounds on broomsticks!

Week commencing 27th October – Introductory tours (3:15pm onwards, by appointment only). Prospective new P1 families are given the opportunity to arrange a visit to our school and take part in a tour around our building.

CPPS P1 families invite for tour

Spooky scavenger hunt 30th (5pm-6pm) – Children and families are invited to take part in our spooky scavenger hunt around school, we use our torches to search high and low for our Halloween surprises.

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