We enjoyed the last session in the nursery garden with a Teddy Bear Picnic.

Thank you to all of the families who have supported the nursery staff throughout the year. It has been a privilege watching the children develop and grown in confidence at the start of their school journey.

Have a lovely summer!

The nursery children and their families came together this week to celebrate another year of learning in the nursery. The children performed ‘Turtle Tim’ which is a current Bookbug favourite. The children moving on to Primary 1 sang ‘Bright’ which had a beautiful chorus.

We said a big thank you to the P6 buddies for the important role they have played in supporting the nursery children  and celebrated this work with a Buddy Certificate. The children starting school were welcomed into the school by Mrs Coggins and gifted a special gym bag containing a book about starting school and some items that they will find useful.

The children returning to nursery in August were delighted to receive the Bookbug Explorer Bag after an impromptu visit and song session with Bookbug. It was lovely to have all the families sing together.

Thank you to all the families who were able to join us this term. We shared lots of learning activities with families able to interact and benefit from sharing ideas with other families in the nursery.

In the session Exploring Stories Through Play – we used everyday objects to retell familiar stories.

“The more stories children hear, the more they will come to understand how stories work, and the more fun they will be able to have when playing with them.”

PEEP Learning together programme topic handout.

In the topic Exploring Measures we explored

“Children learn about size, length and weight by exploring everyday objects during playful and practical situations”

PEEP Learning together programme topic handout.

We used different sizes of boxes, jugs and bags as we discussed volume and capacity.

In the topic Exploring nature 

“Being outside and exploring nature helps children grow and develop as they learn about the natural world around them”

PEEP Learning together programme topic handout.

Using loose parts found in the natural environment -shells,stones and sticks the children created transient art, repeating patterns and symmetrical structures.

After enjoying our morning at the Botanic Garden we demolished our picnic lunch. Thank you to all our helpers who embraced the joy and excitement of the whole experience supporting the children in this adventure.

We then embarked on another adventure walking through the woods beside the Laid Burn to Cockshaugh Park. The children used their risk assessment skills to protect themselves and others as they demonstrated their knowledge and understanding of potential risks. They built confidence as they used their gross motor skills accepting new challenges and celebrated their success.

Olivia shared how she assessed a new tricky challenge which she was unable to complete.

“I just climbed back down again. I’m going to try again next time.”

An excellent example of growth mindset and self assessing risk. Well done!

“It looked really hard! I climbed all the way to the top and held on with two hands!”

Carter acknowledge the challenge he conquered and celebrated his accomplishment.

“Unstructured play improves learning and social and physical development. Providing a variety of play options, improved play access and fewer restrictions can encourage children to engage in physical activity with peers in line with their imaginations.” www.playscotland.org

The children had the opportunity to consolidate their learning about butterflies with a visit to the Butterfly House at St Andrews Botanic Garden.

” I saw a stripey caterpillar it was that size (holding hands wide) !!! It turns into a cocoon and then a butterfly.” Ruby confidently demonstrated her knowledge.

There was great excitement as we followed the ‘Gruffalo Trail’ searching for clues on a walk through the woods. The trail ended with the challenge of building a den for the Gruffalo. Working together the children and families used their STEM skills.

” A caterpillar was so big! Nanna came. It was good – she said it was fun! Nanna liked the Gruffalo and I liked it too!” An excited Gracie S shared her highlights of the day.

We extended a familiar experience of engaging with a story and developed our learning during a transition visit to Primary 1. Mrs MacPherson read ‘Handa’s Surprise’ by Eileen Browne and we shared the experience with the P1/2 class. We tasted different fruits from the story.

This was a relaxing way to become more familiar with our new class environment and get to know our future classmates and our new teacher. We built confidence turn taking answering questions and sharing our thoughts about the story.

The children extended their literacy experience of ‘Oliver’s Fruit Salad’ by  Vivien French. We prepared and tasted the different fruits from the story discussing the different textures and flavours building our vocabulary.

 After reading ‘Oliver’s Fruit Salad’ we made our own fruit salad for snack.

” If you use a knife you have to be careful not to cut your finger.” Explained Sofia.

“The apple is very hard to cut!” Exclaimed Jack.

“This is very easy to cut because it is soft!” Sam described cutting the kiwi fruit.

We recorded our experiences in our ‘Stories and Rhymes ‘ learning book. Please come and share and discuss the learning with your child.

We saw lots of happy faces in the lunch hall as the children starting school in August had the opportunity to experience a lunch with the support of a family member assisted and guided by their buddy. Mrs Coggins the Headteacher was able to answer any questions parents had about the routines.

The catering staff were lovely and supportive of the children as they collected their meals. Afterwards the children showed their appreciation with thank you pictures.

The children starting Primary 1 in August have continued to build their relationships with the Primary 6 buddies and visited the playground. They are building confidence as they experience more independence in the playground and interact with the other school children enjoying a piece of fruit for snack and sharing games.

” I played ‘Hide and Seek’. ”  Shared an excited Maisie. “Me too.” Joined in Rory.

“We all played ‘Hide and Seek’ – I played it with my buddy Sophie!” Jack added.

“We played ‘Tig ‘ and ‘Duck,Duck,Goose’ with the buddies and my brother Josh and his friends!” Gracie shared happily about the experience.

Thank you to all the families who helped to celebrate Bookbug Week. The children enjoyed bringing a special friend from home to share the experience. They were delighted to receive a special rainbow pencil from Bookbug to use at home to draw pictures inspired by the stories they enjoy.

Bookbug will resume in August please invite families you know in the community all are welcome to attend.

Over the holidays you can access the Bookbug App the children love to lead their own sessions singing to siblings, teddies and extended family.