Category Archives: Family

Our Blog Has Moved… 🖐🏼

September 22, 2021 Mrs MacLeod Leave a comment

Dear Parents and Carers,

Busby Nursery’s blog has moved. It is now to be found in our nursery website, which gives you a wide range of information and also includes weekly lunch menus and ideas for Home Learning. You will find there all the latest photos and details of the children’s current learning, dating from August 2021 onwards.

Feel free to browse this old blog for any historical photos and posts, but all the latest will now be on our new website at this link:

https://sites.google.com/er.glow.scot/busbynursery/home

Family, Group Blue, Group Green, Group Pink, Group Purple, Group Red, Group Yellow, Imaginary Play, Mark Making, Outdoor Learning, Technology & Construction

First weeks in our Brand New Building! 😁☀️

March 8, 2021 Mrs MacLeod Leave a comment

It has been fabulous to have the children back and to watch their excitement as they reunite with friends and explore their fantastic new setting…

During the planning stages, the children voted for their choices and asked for a Sand Pit in their new nursery. Now here it is!

Lots of great team work and design & construction skills on show.

The giant touch screens and painting easels have been very popular new mark-making treats.

Outdoor investigations –
water experiments, mud kitchen, obstacle courses…

Our new bikes and scooters are a huge hit!

A cosy wee place to meet in the Quiet Room

Exploring exciting new Role Play equipment

All kinds of outdoor fun and exploration in the Spring sunshine
Artists at work: dog drawings and shell imprints

We feel very lucky to be sharing this great new learning space!

Community, Family, Videos with ELCC Staff

A Brand New Adventure! 😃

February 17, 2021 Mrs MacLeod 1 Comment

The staff at Busby have been working hard to prepare our brand new building for you. We very much look forward to sharing it with you, as we embark on this exciting new adventure together! 😃👍🏼
For a taste of what’s to come, here are a couple of sneak peek trailers:

Eco Learning, Family, Learning at home, Natural World, Numeracy & Mathematics, Outdoor Learning, Science

Bird of the Day: Blue Tit

January 26, 2021 Mrs MacLeod Leave a comment

Tuesday’s bird is the Blue Tit.

– It is a very small colourful bird.
– It likes to eat seeds, berries, caterpillars and insects.
– In Winter blue tits join up and fly round looking for food together. (If you want to feed them they like fat balls, peanuts and sunflower seeds. They are so light they can hang easily on bird feeders or fat balls and peck away.)

-There are many other types of tit in the Tit family. Here are two other members of the family. Can you spot their differences?

This video below shows all 3 types feeding in Pollok Park just last Saturday. Can you spot them all?

Who is the biggest and who is the lightest? Here are some little Maths challenges for you about the three birds:

(Clue: it’s the littlest one…)

Creative Arts, Eco Learning, Family, Learning at home, Music, Natural World, Numeracy & Mathematics, Outdoor Learning, Videos with ELCC Staff

Bird of the Day: Clever Crow

January 25, 2021 Mrs MacLeod Leave a comment

Hello everyone, we hope you have been enjoying some of the sunny weather outdoors! Maybe you spotted a few birds. Mrs Toman was birdwatching in her garden this Saturday. Take a look…

Each day this week we are giving you a few titbits and challenges linked to a different bird, in the run up to the RSPB Big Garden Watch:

Monday’s Bird is Clever Crow:

– Crow is black all over and quite big – about 50cm long.
– Crows are one of the cleverest birds in the world. Did you know that they can recognise shapes and colours? They can also recognise human faces and they have a good memory.
– Crows are also cool with tools: they can use simple tools like a stick to poke around for food.

At Busby School & Nursery, we often see Crows in our playground and on the rooftops. They like to fly down for crumbs the children drop at playtime… Crows are not fussy eaters.
There are other types of bird in the Crow Family. Some of the ones we see most often in Scotland are Crow, Raven and Magpie. (The hooded crow usually lives in the Highlands.)

In Scottish, we sometimes call crows “craws”. We often sing the song “Three Craws” in nursery, especially today, which is Burns Day. Why not sing along today with the Singing Kettle, and don’t forget the actions… Click on this link to join in:
https://youtu.be/Io6ZXgSbyW8

You could even make some Craw puppets to use whilst you sing, perhaps using cardboard from an old cereal box. Just cut a big circle, draw on some eyes and a beak and stick on some wings made from black paper. Here are some other ideas for crow crafts:
Have fun, and look out for Clever Crow outside!

Creative Arts, Family, Learning at home, Mark Making, Outdoor Learning, Science

Shadow Art ☀️

January 22, 2021 Mrs MacLeod Leave a comment

Here is a great Sunny Day idea from Miss Baikie: ☀️
She has a little activity to inspire you to explore the rays of sun and the wonder of Science outside – Shadow Drawing.

You’ll need some paper, pens or pencils. Can you find an interesting object, maybe your favourite toy like a dinosaur, or you could use your hands to be creative and make different shapes – or even your whole body. You can try it at different times of the day as the sun moves across the sky and see what different patterns it creates.
– Do the shadows stay the same?
– How do they change with the time of day?
– Do your objects’ shadows change size?
This link will give you a bit more information:
https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/137133/how-to-make-shadow-art-with-kids/

You could also try taking some shadow pictures with a camera:

We look forward to seeing how your investigations turn out.
Maybe you could also use some sticks to make a frame for your artwork. All you need is 4 interesting sticks tied with string, and then decorate your frame with any natural materials you can find outside, like leaves or loose flower petals etc.
Have a great fun in the sunshine!

Community, Eco Learning, Family, Health & Wellbeing, Learning at home, Natural World, Outdoor Learning, Science

Birds Spotted today (Friday Jan 22nd)

January 22, 2021 Mrs MacLeod Leave a comment

Hi everyone, has anyone seen any birds out on this lovely sunny Friday? Miss Lawson spotted some Mallard Ducks and a Coot at the pond at Queen’s Park today. Here they are:

And in the woods by Greenbank Gardens Mrs Macleod noticed something very unusual – five green parrots in the trees!! Can you believe it?
They are a small kind of parrot, known as parakeets. Normally they live in the jungle and hot countries like Africa and Asia, but they might be pets that have escaped here and are now living happily in the wild. I hope they don’t mind the cold Scottish winter…
Here are the Greenbank Parakeets on video:

Have a Good Weekend and Happy Bird Watching!

Eco Learning, Family, Fun, Learning at home, Natural World, Numeracy & Mathematics, Science, Videos with ELCC Staff

The Big Garden Bird Watch 🐦

January 20, 2021 Mrs MacLeod Leave a comment

Hi everyone! At the end of January there is a special event taking place. You can watch this video for a little introduction:

I wonder if you have seen any birds from your window or when out on a walk recently. In Winter it can be easier to spot them because there are less leaves on the trees to hide them, and they are often out searching for food in the cold. If you are able to feed them then that is even better. Perhaps like me you noticed some bird footprints in the snow recently:

Every January, the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) holds a Big Garden Bird Watch. It has been doing this for 42 years.
It asks us to watch the birds outside our window for one hour and record the number of different birds we see on a chart like this:

The results are counted and they help to work out which birds in our country are doing well and which ones might need a bit of help.
If you would like to take part, you can find out more at this link:
https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/

It’s a great way of practising your counting skills, as well as learning about Science & Nature!

Even if you don’t do the Bird Watch, you can still have loads of fun watching birds and working out what they all are. This video I took in Pollok Park this week shows how close you can sometimes get to them…

In the run up to the Big Garden Bird Watch we will be posting some fun facts about different birds and how you can spot them, as well as activities linked to our feathered friends.
Keep your eye on the blog and Google Classrooms!

Family, Learning at home

Welcome Back!

January 20, 2021 Mrs MacLeod Leave a comment

Hello again and Happy New Year to all the children and families at Busby Nursery
We hope you had a good holiday and have enjoyed some of the snowy days we had. We have been missing seeing you, but whilst we continue to stay safe at home, we are trying to help by offering some ideas of things to do at home if wanted:

Each day our teacher, Miss Lawson, is posting a few learning ideas linked to Literacy, Numeracy and Health & Wellbeing, which you are welcome to try out if you wish. These are available in Google Classrooms, which also allows you to share photos & comments with your group’s Key Workers and receive feedback and messages.
There will also be regular opportunities to chat in person with your group’s Keyworkers & teachers online via Google Meet.
Additionally we will post a theme of the week with related ideas, which you can check either in the blog or on Google Classrooms.

How to Use Google Classrooms:
To log into google classroom visit the Glow sign in page, using the link below:

Glow Sign In Page

Sign in with your child’s glow username and password. If you have forgotten any of the glow details, please complete this form and a member of staff will be in touch to help.

Digital Assistance Form

Once you have signed in, click on the google classroom tile on the launchpad page and that should take you to your child’s google classroom.

Some ideas, videos and fun activities will also still be posted here on our blog for you to access anytime as you choose.

Our brand new building is finally just about finished and some of our staff have been busy preparing it for when we go back – you can view a virtual walkaround with Mrs Toman in the Google Classrooms.

Until we meet again, let’s keep in touch. Please feel free to use the online learning facilities offered as much or little as you choose, depending on your preference and individual circumstances.
Have fun exploring, playing and learning!

Here is a taster of Miss Lawson’s Daily Home Learning Ideas
from this week:

Literacy – Watch the video of Axel Scheffler reading the book ‘Stick Man’. He is the illustrator of this book! If you have this book at home, you could read along with him.
https://youtu.be/OFhJrLVu3T0

Using any resources you have, (maybe lolly sticks/wooden pegs/pipe cleaners/tinsel/leaves) create a family of stick characters. Give each of your characters a name. Think about what makes each family member different? For example, Granny Stick could be very bossy and Baby Stick might love to sing.

Numeracy – Collect some sticks from outside. Compare their length and line them up in order from shortest to longest. Which one is the shortest? Which one is the longest? Are any the same length? If you can’t find any sticks you could try this activity with pencils, pens and crayons or pieces of string.

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been fabulous to have the children back and to watch their excitement as they reunite with friends and explore their fantastic new setting…

During the planning stages, the children voted for their choices and asked for a Sand Pit in their new nursery. Now here it is! Lots of great team work and design & construction skills on show.

We feel very lucky to be sharing this great new learning space!

The staff at Busby have been working hard to prepare our brand new building for you. We very much look forward to sharing it with you, as we embark on this exciting new adventure together! 😃👍🏼 For a taste of what’s to come, here are a couple of sneak peek trailers:

Tuesday’s bird is the Blue Tit.

This video below shows all 3 types feeding in Pollok Park just last Saturday. Can you spot them all?

Today is Burns Day which is a day when we celebrate a famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns. For dinner tonight I will be having veggie haggis, neeps and tatties which is a traditional Scottish meal. Will you be having the same tonight? Enjoy the day!

Literacy – Have you ever read The Gruffalo in Scots? Listen to the story linked and see if you can translate the Scots words into English words. Did you already know some of these words? Have you read any other stories in Scots? https://youtu.be/Kk9Gq62-de0

Here is a great Sunny Day idea from Miss Baikie: ☀️ She has a little activity to inspire you to explore the rays of sun and the wonder of Science outside – Shadow Drawing.

You could also try taking some shadow pictures with a camera:

How to Use Google Classrooms: To log into google classroom visit the Glow sign in page, using the link below:

Keep up to date with what we're getting up to in nursery!

During the planning stages, the children voted for their choices and asked for a Sand Pit in their new nursery. Now here it is!

Lots of great team work and design & construction skills on show.

The staff at Busby have been working hard to prepare our brand new building for you. We very much look forward to sharing it with you, as we embark on this exciting new adventure together! 😃👍🏼
For a taste of what’s to come, here are a couple of sneak peek trailers:

Literacy – Have you ever read The Gruffalo in Scots? Listen to the story linked and see if you can translate the Scots words into English words. Did you already know some of these words? Have you read any other stories in Scots?

https://youtu.be/Kk9Gq62-de0

Here is a great Sunny Day idea from Miss Baikie: ☀️
She has a little activity to inspire you to explore the rays of sun and the wonder of Science outside – Shadow Drawing.

How to Use Google Classrooms:
To log into google classroom visit the Glow sign in page, using the link below: