Mrs Wendy MacPherson
Mrs MacPherson is looking forward to meeting all the Primary 1 children starting in August 2018 with their families at the Strawberry Tea Sessions on Monday 25th June 2018.
She has already spent some time meeting the children in school and nursery and visited Bright Horizons too.
If you would like to meet with Mrs MacPherson at another time then please ask at the school office and she will be happy to accommodate you.
Our summer trip this year was to St Andrews Aquarium. This was chosen by the children after they had been learning about sea creatures and ‘under the sea’ in nursery and from their learning during Beach Kindergarten visits.
We had the chance to handle visit a Bearded Dragon if we wanted.
“I liked touching the lizard. It was a bit spiky” – Samuel
“We got to see the meercats get fed. They had apple and worms”. Connor
“I liked the sea horses. They were very little” – Esmé
“I liked the sharks.They had lots of teeth” – Archie
“There was a great big tortoise. It came to see us.” William
“There was a big lobster. My daddy likes to eat lobster” – Freya
“There was a little crocodile and a big cat fish” Jack B
The nursery children were fortunate to receive a visit from a story teller Anita Peggie.
The children used props to help retell the story and played pan pipes and a special fairy drum. They thought they would like to create their own story telling chair – a future STEAM project!
Blake enthusiastically shared he enjoyed singing and using the star prop.
“I liked dancing the star fish!”
Grace and Matthew enjoyed playing the unfamiliar instruments.
” I liked playing the music pipes.”
“I liked the sound of the fairy drum.”
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As part of our transition activities the children moving on to school thought about the future careers they may embark on. This is part of our role Developing The Young Workforce. They are thinking about their aspirations for the future and thinking about skills they can develop now in readiness to reach their goals. They engaged fully as they created self portraits in their future careers for our gallery.
There were a variety of careers chosen -artist, dentist, doctor, face painter, fireman, policeman, shopkeeper, train driver, vet and working with sea creatures.
The nursery children and their families came together to celebrate the children and their learning this year at nursery. The children confidently performed “What Shall We Do With A Grumpy Pirate” which they heard on the Bookbug CD. The children who are moving on to school proudly sang their own special song. The children were delighted to receive a moving on gift from the school and were able to present their P6 buddy with a special Buddy Certificate in recognition of the support they have received already and the ongoing partnership when they begin P1.
Th nursery children and their families enjoyed morning and afternoon sports days. The children have been developing their gross motor skills throughout their time in nursery running, jumping, throwing and balancing. The P6 buddies supported the nursery children to work as a team, use their listening skills and encouraged everyone to try their best. Well done!
As part of the transition to P1 the children have been regularly visiting P1/2 for soft start and end of day soft finish. The children share the classroom getting to know the classroom environment and grow in confidence as they choose activities with their peers.
The children are taking the opportunity to practice their skills on the beach each working at their own level and stage of development. Demonstrating mark making, writing symbols, letters and numbers.
The beach offers the chance to work together on design projects.
We have enjoyed our visits to Beach Kindergarten this term. This short film gives a flavour of the fun we have at the end of each session. Thank you to all the families who have transported the children to the beach to enable our children to experience this outdoor learning.
The P6 buddies did an excellent job independently organising and resourcing all the items needed to hold the outdoor fun day.
This was an opportunity for the buddies to meet the nursery children with their families. The buddies are very important to the nursery children forming bonds and helping them to settle into school.
The nursery was lucky to have a visit from Ufton the Guide dog during one of his regular visits to the school.
The nursery have been welcoming new starts on transition visits to Balmullo Nursery prior to their start in August 2018. The nursery children have been taking on a leadership role sharing their learning and helping the new children to explore the nursery.
