Category Archives: Nursery

NNC Newsletter 01.12.23

Hello everyone

Upcoming Events
Please have a look at the parent calendar, available on our Netherlee Website, to see all the dates and times of the various events coming up.  This link will take you straight there https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/er/sandnc/calendar.

The children really enjoyed St Andrews Day celebrations. They took part in some Scottish dancing and loved listening to some Scots language in stories. Och aye the noo! Continue reading

NNC Newsletter 24.11.23

Hello everyone,

Upcoming Events
Please have a look at the parent calendar, available on our Netherlee Website, to see all the dates and times of the various events coming up.  This link will take you straight there https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/er/sandnc/calendar.

Care Home Visits
Fostering intergenerational links within our community is a key improvement priority for Netherlee this session. Visiting our local care homes create meaningful interactions between the elderly residents and our children, promoting empathy and a shared sense of community. Continue reading

NNC Friday Newsletter 17.11.23

Hello everyone,

It has been a very busy week in Netherlee!

This week, we celebrated Book Week and World Nursery Rhyme Week. Thank you so much to Mrs Greig and Mrs Morton, who led fantastic Bookbug sessions. The children (and grownups too!) just loved singing along with the actions to some much loved songs and nursery rhymes. We also had some author and writer visits too, including Mrs Cross and Mrs Strang-Roy. Thank you so much for coming to visit us! Continue reading

NNC Newsletter 10.11.23

Hello everyone,

We want to wish a Happy Diwali to those who celebrate this weekend! Also, we want to give a special thanks to our wonderful Mrs Kaur for sharing the beautiful traditions of Diwali with the children. We loved hearing about how you and your family celebrate.

Working in Partnership with Families at Netherlee
At Netherlee Nursery, we value working in partnership with our parents and carers and welcome your views. We would love to hear your feedback with regards to our transition to nursery in order to evaluate our practice. Our Settling Policy, along with others, are available to view on our nursery website. You will find some questions about this situated at our nursery doors for you to write your feedback. We would love to hear your thoughts!

Family Photographs
At Netherlee Nursery, we try hard to ensure our spaces mirror the home environment where possible. We will be continuing to add family photographs to our home and cosy corners to make these spaces even ‘cosier’. Should you wish to include a family photograph in these spaces, please send these in to nurserymail@netherlee.e-renfrew.sch.uk.

Toys from Home
We are very fortunate that our nursery has an abundance of toys and equipment for our children to enjoy playing with.  As such, we would kindly ask that no toys are brought from home to nursery unless really necessary to comfort children. Thank-you for your support.

Book Bug
Each session will take place over two dates (please see below) and we would love you to join us if you are free.  The sessions last approximately thirty minutes. Please be reminded of the dates and times below:

Tuesday 14th November
9.15am: Orange and Purple (in Saplings)
2.15pm: Yellow and Green (in Acorns)
Thursday 16th November
2.15pm: White, Pink and Red (in Saplings)

We politely ask that a maximum of two adults attend the sessions. Younger siblings are also more than welcome to attend. Should the above days/times be unsuitable for you, please don’t worry as we will run more sessions later in the year. Book bug sessions also run in East Renfrewshire libraries. Please click here to view days and times of the ERC sessions.

Winter Fayre Survey
The P6/7 Creative Group are hosting a stall at the Winter Fayre and would like to carry out some market research before starting to make our products. We are planning to make three items: slime, tree decorations and home baking.  We would like to find out if you would be willing to purchase these items and if so, how much you would be willing to spend on these. All responses are anonymous and we would ask that your response is posted by Friday 17th November using the link following link: https://forms.gle/3AHx9WB44WUEJrG16.  If you have any further questions, please email Mrs Linn at school mail SchoolMail@netherlee.e-renfrew.sch.uk. Thank you for your time.  P6/7 Creative Group

Please also see attached flyer from the PTA regarding the upcoming Fayre [removed as event has happened]

Celebrating Diwali
We hope all our families who celebrate Diwali have a lovely time celebrating this weekend. As you know, we are always looking for our Netherlee Community to share their beliefs, traditions and expertise with our children and we are very lucky that Mrs Kaur, one of our nursery Child Development Officers, is going to speak to everyone in the school and nursery about this important religious festival. Mrs Kaur has also very kindly said she will bring in a selection of delicious treats called Gulabjaman, Jalabi and Barfi to share with the children as part of the traditions if they wish to try these in school and nursery. The ingredients of these are:

  • Semolina
  • Butter
  • Plain flour
  • Sugar syrup
  • Milk powder
  • Food colouring

We have a note of your child’s dietary requirements however, if these have changed, please email SchoolMail@netherlee.e-renfrew.sch.uk or NurseryMail@netherlee.e-renfrew.sch.uk and we can update our records. Similarly, if you would prefer your child did not try the traditional treats or if you have any further questions, please contact Mrs Linn.

Parent Council Meeting
We are really looking forward to our next Parent Council Meeting which will take place on Wednesday, 22nd November at 7pm in our school Hub. This is a great opportunity to meet other parents and carers and to also hear about and be involved in the life and work of our Netherlee school and nursery community. The agenda for the meeting is below:

  • Minutes of previous meeting and taking of next meeting
  • Head Teacher and Staff Team Update
  • Communication – Consultation
  • PTA update – Christmas Fayre
  • SNIP Priority – Nurture and the Lighthouse
  • Membership update
  • School Report update
  • AOB: RSHP & periods, ERC Citizen Panel, Connect update, Comms Newsletter support, parking details reminder.

We look forward to welcoming new and familiar faces along to the meeting at 7-8.30pm for a cuppa, biccy and chat!

Community Events – Pro Judo are offering a 4-week, free trial for pre-school children to take part in Judo activities. Please see the flyer attached for more information. If you have any further questions, please contact Mrs Linn at SchoolMail@netherlee.e-renfrew.sch.uk. [flyer removed as event has happened].

Have a wonderful weekend,

NNC Newsletter 03.11.23

Hello everyone,

We hope that children who celebrated Hallowe’en this week had a spooktacular time! It was lovely to hear about what or who they were dressing up as, the jokes they told and all the yummy sweets they ate.

It is almost time for another exciting event this weekend- Bonfire Night! For those of you planning to attend a display, we hope you have a brilliant time. Remember to wrap up, stay safe and enjoy the show!

Thank you again to our parents and carers who attended parent’s appointments this week. We look forward to welcoming those with appointments next week to discuss your child’s progress.

Book Week Scotland
Please see the information letter about Book Week Scotland. Continue reading

NNC Newsletter 27.10.2023

Hello everyone,

We want to say a huge congratulations to two of our Netherlee staff team, who are graduating from the University of Strathclyde next week. Well done to Miss Dorran for earning her BA in Childhood Practice and Mr Strang-Roy for achieving his Master’s in Education. Your dedication and hard work has certainly paid off- we are very proud of you both!

Parent Meetings
We look forward to discussing your children’s progress at our parents and carers appointments next week. If you still require an appointment, please speak to a member of staff at pick up or drop off or call the school office.

Volunteers – We Need You
We are always looking for new ways to involve our parents, carers and families in our school and nursery events. To support us with gathering a list of regular volunteers we would like to share this new volunteers Microsoft Form with you. Some of our regular opportunities involve local walks, serving teas and coffees, parental speakers to visit classes, helping to keep our outdoor spaces and gardens tidy and helping in our new school library. If you would be happy to volunteer at one of our upcoming or regular events then please complete the form below and we will be in touch with you. There will always be a member of staff present with you and the children. There will also be QR codes located at the school office and near to our school gates where you can access the form too. Alternatively, our volunteers form can be found on our school and nursery website. Thank you so much for your continued support. We really appreciate it!

Pre-school Vision Screening
The orthopists (NHS) will be visiting the nursery to conduct vision screening on this year’s pre-school children on Tuesday 14th November. This will take place in the Saplings building. For those who are absent or do not normally attend nursery on a Tuesday, information with regards to catch up clinics will be sent directly to you from the NHS Screening Department.

Book Bug
Sharing stories, rhymes and songs from an early age helps to promote early language and Literacy skills which allows children to achieve their full potential in later life. Bookbug encourages parents and carers to share books with their children inspires a love of reading in young children.

We are delighted to announce that we will be hosting Bookbug sessions again at Netherlee Nursery. Each session will take place over two dates (please see below) and we would love you to join us if you are free.  The sessions last approximately thirty minutes.

Tuesday 14th November
9.15am: Orange and Purple (in Saplings)
2.15pm: Yellow and Green (in Acorns)
Thursday 16th November
2.15pm: White, Pink and Red (in Saplings)

We politely ask that a maximum of two adults attend the sessions. Younger siblings are also more than welcome to attend. Should the above days/times be unsuitable for you, please don’t worry as we will run more sessions later in the year. Book bug sessions also run in East Renfrewshire libraries. Please click here to view days and times of the ERC sessions.

Book Week Scotland
Please find an information letter attached about Book Week Scotland.
Book Sale Letter

Remembrance Day
From 30th October until 10th November, during Remembrance month, poppies will be available in school throughout the normal tuck time to allow any children who would like to make a donation for a poppy to do so at this time.

For our nursery children, poppy’s will be available at each nursery building door and parents can again make a donation at drop off or pick up times. All money raised will go to Poppy Scotland and is very much appreciated.

Parent Teacher Association (PTA) – Coming Together for Our School
Autumn Event – Pumpkin Trail

We hope to see many of you at our Autumn Fundraising Event tonight, between 6pm – 8pm!

You can come to just admire our creations, but it would be wonderful if you bring your carved pumpkin 🎃 and enter it for free into the trail and receive a free LED candle to light up your creation! The P7’s will be selecting their favourites for various categories across the year groups, with some small prizes for our ‘P7 picks’. All our pumpkin creations will feature on our social media pages.

You can take your pumpkin home after the event along with the candle!

All our events are free and there are lots of free activities for the children – young and old.

  • We look forward to welcoming our Animal Man’s Creepy Corner with creatures to see and touch!
  • Some beef and vegan sausages will be on sale as will soft drinks, beer and wine
  • There will be LED items on sale to light up these dark nights along with a pumpkin 🎃 trick or treat style tombola. (All paid activities and refreshments will cost between 50p to a maximum of £3). As always there will be free tea, coffee and biscuits
  • Colour in your world with our wonderfully talented face painters. You may know some of them.

We could only take cash at the last few events but we now have our card reader working for you to buy tokens to use in the evening.

We do hope you can join the fun!

Our fundraising target for this event is to raise £1,000. This will help fill our brand new shed in the P6/7 playground. Please read our attached leaflet for more information and if you want to support this event, please click on the link: https://localgiving.org/charity/netherlee-primary-pta/. No matter how big or small, every penny is appreciated and all money raised will go towards our school.

Last year we used funds to get new playground markings, (which you can view whilst visiting the pumpkin trail in the main playground), support end of year events along with covering subscription fees for items like Lingascope and SumDog.

This year we aim to support similar funding needs and your support helps us deliver these for our children, and by doing so maybe just adds a little fun! Thanks for your support and hope you can come along and enjoy the event!

GHA Rugby Club fireworks display
The Council has confirmed that after discussions with a number of partners, including Police Scotland, over public safety, there will be no access to Muirend pavilion playing fields during GHA Rugby Club’s fireworks display on November 5. Temporary fencing will be put up at the pavilion car park, which will be closed, and at the pedestrian access at Whitton Drive. Full information about this can be found on the Council’s website.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Yvonne Donaldson (HT) and Jennifer McCann (PT)
Netherlee Primary School & Nursery

NNC Newsletter 13.10.2023

Hello everyone,

What a fantastic week your little ones have had at Netherlee Nursery! Our young explorers have been learning many new skills, from building incredible structures in the block play area to whipping up their own playdough recipes!

It’s been a week of imagination and creativity and we cannot be more proud of their achievements. Here’s to many more weeks of fun and learning ahead.

Nursery Parent and Carer Appointments
Our nursery parent and carer appointments will take place on the week beginning 30th October and 6th November. Sign-up sheets will be made available again on the week beginning Tuesday 24th October at our nursery doors for you to choose a suitable date and time.  We look forward to welcoming you to our nursery to discuss your child’s progress.

Book Fair
Please see the attached letter regarding our upcoming book fair, and a poster too.
Book Sale Letter

Book Bug
Sharing stories, rhymes and songs from an early age helps to promote early language and Literacy skills which allows children to achieve their full potential in later life. Bookbug encourages parents and carers to share books with their children inspires a love of reading in young children. We are delighted to announce that we will be hosting Bookbug sessions at Netherlee Nursery. Each session will take place over two dates, with one morning and one afternoon session.

Tuesday 14th November:
9.15am: Orange and Purple (in Saplings)
2.15pm: Yellow and Green (in Acorns)
Thursday 16th November:
2.15pm: White, Pink and Red (in Saplings)

We politely ask that a maximum of two adults attend the sessions. Younger siblings are also more than welcome to attend. Should the above days/times be unsuitable, please be assured that alternative days and times will be provided for the sessions to follow. Book bug sessions also run in East Renfrewshire libraries. Please click here to view days and times.

October Break
The school and nursery will close this Friday for the October holiday and Monday 23rd October is an In-service/ Training Day for staff only. We look forward to welcoming all of our Netherlee children back again on Tuesday 24th October.

Have a lovely week.

Yvonne Donaldson (HT) and Jennifer McCann (PT)
Netherlee Primary School & Nursery Class

NNC Newsletter 06.10.2023

Hello everyone,

Your little ones have had a fantastic week at nursery! They have been engaging in the world around them, noticing the seasonal changes. It has been lovely to see their wonder, curiosity and appreciation for nature!

Nursery Parent and Carer Appointments
Our nursery parent and carer appointments will take place during week beginning 30th October and 6th November. Sign-up sheets will be made available from next week at our nursery doors for you to choose a suitable date and time.  We look forward to welcoming you to our nursery to discuss your child’s progress at nursery.

Celebrating Wider Achievements at Netherlee
Recognising and celebrating children’s achievements is an integral part to Curriculum for Excellence and what we do in Netherlee. We currently share and celebrate our children’s achievements through our Nursery WOW Wall. For example, this may include winning a medal, taking part in a competition or simply have learnt a new life skill.

We also understand that recognising the achievements of the special adults in our children’s lives help to inspire our children to reach their goals and model the importance of resilience. We would also love to display the achievements of parents and carers with our children’s achievements on our WOW Wall for all to see! If you or your child has an achievement they would like to showcase, please send a picture of this with a small description to our email nurserymail@netherlee.e-renfrew.sch.uk.

We look forward to hearing about you and your child’s achievements and celebrating them at Netherlee.

Home Learning and Google Classroom
Learning at home for nursery aged children should take place through everyday activities including play and general family life, such as food preparation, gardening, setting the table, sorting washing and cooking. It can also happen through curriculum related activities, home learning, reading and sharing books. Activities at home can be specifically designed to help you engage in your child’s learning and build upon playful learning experiences from nursery.

Each month, we will post a home learning experiences grid (previously known as ‘learning links’) on Google Classroom. This will feature some suggestions of fun, play based learning experiences that you may wish to complete with your child at home. These experiences will also give an insight into the children’s interests, learning focus and/or seasonal or cultural festivals.  The home learning experiences grid for October has now been posted to your child’s google classroom, which can be accessed via this link: https://sts.platform.rmunify.com/Account/SignIn/glow

PTA “Coming Together for our School and Nursery” – Reminder
Pumpkin Festival: Start planning your pumpkin entries for display at our Pumpkin Festival on Friday, 27 October between 6pm and 8pm. Bring the whole family, and your neighbours.

If you want to chip in and help, please email netherleepta@gmail.com Thank you to everyone who has already done so. You will find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Give us a follow and stay up to date with all we are doing. Thank you!

Community Events/Information Please See Various Below:

Culture & Leisure
East Renfrewshire Culture & Leisure have a wide range of activities on offer for children. Please see the attached leaflet with more information.

Community Events – Pro Judo
Pro Judo are delighted to host a free block of extra-curricular activity for the Williamwood Cluster primary schools. The sessions will held at Parklands Country Club, home of Pro Judo, led by the club’s coaches. The club will run on a Monday on the following dates: 30/10; 6/11; 13/11; 20/11.
5:45pm – 6:30pm (4yrs – 7yrs)
6:30pm – 7:15pm (8yrs – 12yrs)

You can sign-up using the following links by selecting book trial option and select the 30th October start date.
Under 8’s – 5:45pm – 6:30pm – https://projudo.classforkids.io/info/1121
Over 8’s – 6:30pm – 7:15pm – https://projudo.classforkids.io/info/1148

East Renfrewshire Equalities Forum: Outside the Box is working with people and organisations in East Renfrewshire to create a community-led Equalities Forum. Please see the attached poster, this is a great opportunity for parents/carers to have a voice in wider Equality issues in East Renfrewshire Council.
Equalities Forum

Let’s Talk About Campaign: Please see the leaflets regarding the support that we have available to help with mortgages, debt and energy bills.

National Sleep Helpline: Please see information regarding a wonderful free resource that can help parents and children to learn more about their sleep and develop better bedtime routines. Sleep is essential to brain function, by helping children to sleep better, we can help them to succeed in school.
Sleep Helpline

Childcare NC Opportunity from West of Scotland: Please see the information regarding a National Certificate in childcare that takes place during school hours – 2 days in a placement and 2 days at college – 1 day online. More information can be found here: https://www.westcollegescotland.ac.uk/courses/childcare/nc-childhood-practice-school-hours-november-start

Have a lovely weekend.

Yvonne Donaldson (HT) and Jennifer McCann (PT)
Netherlee Primary School & Nursery Class

NNC Newsletter 29.09.2023

Hello everyone,

Although it may seem a distant memory now, we hope you had a lovely September holiday weekend.

We want to thank you, most sincerely, for your support during the recent industrial action. We understand the challenges this situation may have presented for your family and your partnership and support has been invaluable – thank you.

Parent and Carer Volunteers
Do you have a particular skill or interest? The children and staff would really love to learn from you!

We are welcoming parent and carers who would be willing to volunteer to come to the nursery to carry out an activity with our children based on particular skills or interests you might have, such as sewing, playing a musical instrument, dancing, gardening or woodwork.

Also, it is always interesting for the children to find out about professions such as any emergency or health care services so if you have a profession you think you could share with the children please do let us know. For example, this may include a visit from a dentist to talk to children about looking after their teeth.

It would be lovely to hear from parents and carers who would be willing to come in and share cultural or religious festivals or experiences with us too – for example, showing photos of celebrating the Hindu festival of Holi, teaching children how to use chopsticks or write numbers in Chinese, sharing stories in different languages or helping to teach the children Irish dancing. If you are interested, please get in contact with Jennifer McCann (Principal Teacher) via email nurserymail@netherlee.e-renfrew.sch.uk or by telephone 0141 570 7260.

Celebrating Wider Achievements at Netherlee
Recognising and celebrating children’s achievements is an integral part to Curriculum for Excellence and what we do in Netherlee. We currently share and celebrate our children’s achievements through our Nursery WOW Wall. For example, this may include winning a medal, taking part in a competition or simply have learnt a new life skill.

We also understand that recognising the achievements of the special adults in our children’s lives help to inspire our children to reach their goals and model the importance of resilience. We would also love to display the achievements of parents and carers with our children’s achievements on our WOW Wall for all to see! If you or your child has an achievement they would like to showcase, please send a picture of this with a small description to our email nurserymail@netherlee.e-renfrew.sch.uk.

Gaelic Medium Education Information Event
Please see attached information about an upcoming Gaelic Medium Education information event. Gaelic Medium Education is now open to all children entering P1 in East Renfrewshire and no prior knowledge of Gaelic is required.
Gaelic Medium Education Information Event

Have a lovely weekend.

Yvonne Donaldson (HT) and Jennifer McCann (PT)
Netherlee Primary School & Nursery Class

NNC Newsletter 21.09.2023

Hello everyone,

The weeks are flying by so quickly and the weather has definitely got a little cooler! Despite the rain, the children have been enjoying lots of time both indoors and outdoors. They have been listening to the pitter patter of the rain, splashing in the puddles and discussing the changing colours of the leaves.

September Weekend and Proposed Strike Action
The school and nursery will be closed for the September weekend on Friday 22nd and Monday 25th September.

As of yet, we have not heard any further updates in relation to the planned 3 days of industrial action next week and I would therefore ask you to please check ERC social media for any updates with regards to this.  If industrial action is called off later today, or over the weekend we will look forward to welcoming all children back to school on Tuesday.

What to bring
A bit of rain does not stop us here at Netherlee Nursery! Please be reminded that it is helpful if wellies are brought to Nursery each day and a suitable outdoor jacket. Many of our children enjoy and benefit from getting messy with mud or water whilst playing outdoors. We have a small supply of spare nursery clothes but we would be grateful if a spare change of clothes could be brought to nursery if at all possible. Thank-you for your support with this.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Have a lovely weekend.

Yvonne Donaldson (HT) and Jennifer McCann (PT)
Netherlee Primary School & Nursery