Hello everyone, here is a look at what we have been up to this week…

We had a very cute visitor at our door Monday morning. The blue bird babies from our nest box have flown the nest but one needed a little extra hand as he got trapped at the door. We lifted him up and he flew off into the trees, but not before posing for some photos first 🥰

We had a wonderful time at forest this week as we…

• Used charcoal for mark making
• searched for bugs
• used technology to explore
• created a stage to perform dance routines for peers
• used gross motor skills to climb trees
• worked together, communicating our ideas

 

 

Children requested to make slime after being inspired by another peer. We looked up a recipe together online, gathered the ingredients and made lots of different colours.

Children are continuing to use the dressing up area to explore the school uniforms in preparation for transitioning into Primary 1.

This mornings session on the bikes focused on steering and control of the bike whilst moving at speed around a course. They needed to be aware of others moving in the other direction and needed to stop until it was clear to go. This will begin their awareness of using the roads safely when at roundabouts and junctions. The second activity focused on mounting and dismounting a bike safely and to show respect towards handling a bike. They needed to show listening skills, recall rules of the game and to celebrate others and their own achievements too. Well done to the bikers today. Afterwards they had fun racing around the schools grounds which we timed them, 31 seconds it took them .

 

Children were being creative and made their own mazes out of jenga blocks on a table top, being careful as they placed each piece.

Reminders:

• It’s sports week next Friday 12th June which means it’s sports week, we have lots of fun things planned, any questions please just ask!
• Forest is on Wednesday please meet at Waterstone crook sports centre from 9:00am
• there will be no more Bookbug or Peep this term, thank you all who attended sessions this year!
• for sports week, children are invited to wear white, blue, tartan or a Scotland football top to celebrate
• please apply suncream to your child before attending nursery so they are ready for the day, can we also ask they always have a jacket even on slightly warmer days as the weather can change at any time!

 

Have a great weekend and see you next week!
Miss McKenzie 😄

Hello everyone, here is a peek to see what we have been up to in nursery this week….

We have been watching our caterpillars grow and go into their chrysalis’. Two of our butterflies have now hatched two are still in their chrysalis’ and we have chosen their names out of a bowl. They are now called Snugbear, Italy, Bella and Cláudio Braga.

We released two of the hatched butterflies in the garden and watched them fly away 🦋

We have been keeping a close eye on the blue birds nesting in our bird box and have recently seen that they have laid a number of eggs! We have watched them come and go from the box, taking in material for bedding and food to eat. We look forward to seeing the babies🐦

The children had a great week at forest as they explored the area. We used our bird app which told us there was a long eared owl nearby! We helped with snack by grating the cheese and helped to fill up the water for drinking. We also explored the bugs and shared our skills like balancing.

Children have been exploring weighing in the garden. They use the scales to weight weights and other items. They used comparative language to discuss if the weight got heavier or lighter.

Children have been exploring The Gingerbread House as they share stories together, discussing the pictures and what’s happening on the pages.

Children worked together to make playdough by following the sequence of instructions from in front of them. They worked well as a team and showed good communication skills.

 

A child brought in some crochet birds that their auntie had made to share with the children. We took it in turns to find them hidden around the room and read their fact cards together.

 

Happy Birthday to Jude today! Hope you have a great day!🥳🎂

 

Reminders:

• Forest continues on Wednesday where we will meet for 9:00am and then head up for 9:15am
• Please remember to still pack a sun hat and apply sun cream when its coming into warmer weather
• Bookbug is on Friday just after 9:00am

 

Have a great weekend! 😊 Miss McKenzie

Hello everyone, we hope you had a lovely time off for Easter. Here is a look at what we have been up to on our first week back…

 

A group of children set up an obstacle course to play a group game of lava. They needed to complete the course without their feet touching the floor. Some found it difficult to begin with but confidence grew has they worked around the loose parts. Next the actually lava game to play after lunch.

This morning we introduced Draughts outside to the children. Some shared that they recognised the game, but still listened to the instructions before they began playing. They used a range of movements to capture their friends coloured discs, then used skills to estimate how many counters they had won without counting first.

Some children explored their creative sides as they made maps and watches very independently using familiar skills. Children also made use of the writing table outside to draw pictures and share with an adult what they had drawn afterwards.

We had a visit from the lovely Mhairi Shields, a local historian who came to share her knowledge all about Newport and the houses around the town. Children then shared their personal experiences with her as they spoke about their own houses and places they know. “My house used to be the doctors”.

Children used loose parts to create a shelter outside with very little support. They shared the space well and spoke about the layout of their structure.

The children made the most of the lovely weather outside as they all had their snack in the sun. They made use of the new teepee structure in the garden that we will be developing in the next few weeks.

The children played in the garden all day yesterday as they took part in dance experiences with music, made a comfy relaxing space to lay and created their own chasing games.

Children explore the garden space by using their senses as they used the binoculars to spy birds and planes in the sky and discussed how the sand felt as they adds more water to it to cause it to stick together.

Reminders:

 

• please remember to apply sun cream to your child before coming into nursery, we can top this up during the day with our own nursery suncream.
• can you please also supply a sun hat for your child to use at nursery as we have only a limited number of hats.
• forest will continue on Wednesday where we will meet at Waterstone Crook from 9am
• Peep will continue this term on Friday 1st May where the theme will be The Importance of Support and Encouragement. This term, the Peep topics will mainly be focussed on transitions but will still be relevant to children who are staying at nursery.

 

We hope you have a great weekend

Miss McKenzie ☺️

Hello everyone, we hope you have had a great week, here is a look at what we have been up to…

 

Children have been creating potions in the mud kitchen as they use a range of items such as flowers, leaves, mud and water.

children have been using the jenga blocks to explore playing the game or creating their own symmetrical towers.

We had an amazing trip to the Science Centre Dundee where the children explored a range of areas to cover different science topics. We had compliments from the public on how well we were behaving when out and about which made us all very proud. 😊

The day after the trip, we created a mind map to discuss all of the things we learned and our favourite parts of the trip which everyone took part in.

Children found a bee lying on the ground and recognised he needed some help. We gave it space and some sugar water and when it had enough we found a safe place in the planter to put him 🐝

We have been exploring other ways to mark make and explore letters, numbers and patterns outside as we use tools in the sand outside and get creative.

Reminders:

 

• we are starting back our forest sessions on 25th March where we will meet at Waterstone crook car park between 9:00-9:15 then head up to the forest space
• parent chats will continue next week for those who have of haven’t arranged a time yet
• if you have a sun hat at home for your child that you can send in for them to wear please do and have their initials or name on the inside.
• on sunny days can you please apply suncream before your child attends nursery and we will top them up through the day with our own suncream which is Cien kids sensitive 50+. We have all permission slips back which let us know that your child can use this, if anything has changed please let us know.
• Bookbug will be next Friday which is Friday 27th March which will be the last session before the holidays
• on Monday we are celebrating World Down Syndrome Day so please come in and wear your odd socks to celebrate!

Hello everyone, we hope you’ve had a lovely week, here is a look at what we have been up to…

 

Groups of children created a bus using crates and planks of wood outside. The play expanded when the children created their own bus tickets to hand out to one another.

Children revisited the story of the 3 Billy Goats Gruff story outside as they designed and built their own bridges and houses using a range of loose parts and blocks, sharing their ideas and why they have used certain materials with others.

Children have started to explore the new Jenga game where they are turn taking and team building as they discuss which blocks they should and shouldn’t take out to help their peers to stop the tower falling down.

Children have been exploring some of their favourite stories such as Superworm where they have been looking at rhyming, feelings, pictures and characters.

Children have been keen to share their ideas for our garden development. Children shared their ideas for an adult to write on a mind map where the children contributed their mark making skills after. Some children shared they wanted to create more dens, someone said they wanted to plant pretty flowers and another shared they wanted pretty things in the house.

Children have been making use of the art resources as they create different dinosaurs and plan how they want them to look and how they can make that happen. Another child created a “little birdie” using junk modelling independently.

 

After developing our dressing up area, children have been making use of the items on show and exploring different role play experiences together.

“it’s my whole family, that’s me, mummy, daddy and my sister” children have been exploring their mark making skills as they create pictures of their family and proudly show it to others

Groups of children have been continuing their interest in UNO as they take turns, show good number and colour recognition and sharing the rules of the game with each other.

Children brought their knowledge of the story of the 3 Billy goats gruff into their play in the garden as they used various loose parts. They had a troll living under the bridge so they needed to travel across very quietly so not to wake it.

 

Reminders:

Peep on Friday 7th March 2026

If you have any permission slips please remember to bring these in within the next week for our trip to the science centre or any eye tests.

 

Have a great weekend!

Miss McKenzie 😊

Hello everyone we hope you have had a good week, here is a look at what we have been up to….

 

 

Outside, children have been exploring the tinkering tray as they use tools to develop their fine motor skills and find out what different components make up the items.

 

Some children took part in researching about ice hockey as one child had been to see their first Ive hockey game the night before. We watched the highlights from the game and discussed the rules, the score and the different teams playing. Children shared their own personal experiences relating to ice hockey and another child linked going to a football match to hockey.

 

Children have been exploring books together independently as they use the pictures to tell the story and point out the different features in the book. Children are becoming more confident when exploring books alone or with a small group of peers.

Children made use of the junk modelling in the art area as they created models using different materials. The children shared the resources and their ideas to make their structures.

 

Children have been building an enclosure for the dinosaurs in the sand tray. They shared that they pushed all of the sand to the side to make an area for them to eat from and an area for them to walk in, they are sharing the space and their ideas well 🦕

Children have been following dance workouts and routines on the smartboard. The children could coordinate their movements and also performed them from memory from the previous day. What started as two children then grew into a bigger group who were inspired by their peers dancing and laughter.

Following on from an interest in the weather conditions and finding ice around the setting. An are a set up that incorporates frozen water balloons, a range of tools, paint, flour etc to encourage the children to investigate and explore the water ice balloons. They used creative skills to decorate the ice sharing their findings on how it peels off. They used hammers to smash the ice to discover ice crystals, they found that one balloon was hollow inside and they could see through. We heard lots of language to describe what they were doing, finding, and to make predictions on what might happen. His interest also discussed how we froze the balloons, linking to freezers and electronic equipment. Also how some countries have lots of snow and ice with penguins and polar bears, recalling their previous interest.

 

 

Reminders:

• most of you will have taken home/your child will have in their bag a learning wall sheet all about Homes and Houses. If you could please fill this out with your child by either drawing a picture or doing some writing to show what your child already knows about the topic or questions for things they want to find out 🤣
• please ensure your child comes dress or has spare clothing for the colder/wet weather e.g wellies, waterproofs, hat, gloves, scarfs and cosy clothing.

Hello everyone, we hope you have had a good week. Here is a look at what we have been up to……

Children enjoyed playing in the art area. They put their creative minds together and used different junk modelling, paints and loose parts to create different models and pictures.

Children continued their interest of the train track and used their imagination and creativity to make a ramp demonstrating the car needed pushed up it to allow it to move. They also discovered that if they let go of the car at the top of the ramp it would just slide down without any force.

Children showed great mark making skills as they used paper to create different drawing using different shapes and colours to take home to their families.

Children worked together in the block area to make a bed and a wall for “the worm”. One pretended to be a worm as the others placed the carpets over her as a blanket.

Children worked together to build a den. They used their knowledge to discuss how to stay safe using the helmets and high visibility vests. They worked together with Fraser recognising how many sides the den has and why they needed that number of sides.

Outside this morning, children were observed exploring the water tray area using a range of weighing equipment and non standard measuring intentions. They used problem solving skills to explore ways to move the water from one place into the bucket to see how heavy the water was.

Children have been coming and enjoying a balanced snack this week of lots of mixed fruits and either crackers, rice cakes or breadsticks. The children were able to independently decide if they wanted snack and could recognise the number of each items to take based on the display boards.

 

We made a special trip to the library for a Bookbug session. We picked out some stories to read there and some for taking back to nursery. The children learned some new songs and the actions to go with.

 

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Reminders:

• Next week is our last week at nursery before the Christmas holidays we are in for a regular full week
• the nursery Christmas sing along is on Tuesday 16th December at 2:30 in the huts where we will sing songs and then come back to nursery for some Christmas themed activities
• the nursery Christmas party is on 18th December in the afternoon after lunch time

 

Have a great weekend, see you all next week ☺️

Hello everyone, we hope you have had a good week. Here is a look at what we have been up to in nursery…

To start off our Monday morning, we had a visit from our friend Mr Robin who wanted to come inside to get warm from the cold weather. We safely caught him and released him outside. We see him everyday in the nursery garden where he is getting closer and closer to use and we often watch what he is up to.

Children have been in the block area showcasing their team work and building skills as they build a range of structures together. They have built things from dinosaur showers to rockets.

Children have been using the outdoor space to explore tinkering with the tools and old electronics and building using the loose parts and cardboard boxes. Children were also using the foam dice to explore number and developing their awareness of subitise.

We had a short forest session in the bottom garden where we had a fire and enjoyed some beans and pitta bread. The children also created a pipe system where they looked at transporting stones to see how to get them to the other end.

The boys have been creating their own den using covers and items to weigh them down to stop them from falling.

Children have been exploring their creative and expressive sides as they use the art area to use wool to wrap around resources. Children have been exploring the xylophone to make louder and quieter sounds and children have been using the picture cards to create their own stories and characters. Two children were using their senses to play in the sand and describe how it feels as they make a waterfall together. Children also made ghosts in the art area so they could make them into kites and fly them in the wind outside.

The children have been enjoying some Danny Go today as they follow along to the instructions and moves and discuss their favourite song to dance to.

 

Reminders:

• Bookbug will be on Friday 28th December from 9:00am in the huts, we look forward to seeing you there.
• Forest will be on Wednesday morning, can you please ensure your child is wrapped up warm, it’s better to have too many layers as we can always take these off.
• Please speak to a member of staff if you would like to sign up or a parent chat with your child’s keyworker which will take place the first week in December.

Have a great weekend! Miss McKenzie

Hello everyone, we hope you have had a great first week back, here is a look at what we have been up to in nursery this week…

 

Children have been exploring their mark making skills this week as they write stories and lists about different things. One child wrote about a speed boat and how they wanted one for Christmas and another child was writing about his mummy. The children were using letters and words they already knew from memory and wrote these independently.

Children were also extending their mark making skills as they used the smartboard to draw pictures for their families. They were helped to find out how to select the pen colour and how to use the different functions.

 

The children enjoyed some spooky themed stories at the forest as they listened to Room on the Broom to identify word patterns and predict what was going to happen next. We then noticed a red squirrel up in the trees. Children then suggested we go on a squirrel hunt and we saw a further 3 red squirrels which had never happened at the forest before.

 

Children have been continuing their interests in animals and birds as they choose to do some bird watching outside. The children collected the resources that they thought they would need to help them such as a book about birds and pen and paper to document what they find.

 

Children created their own treasure maps to  use around the garden. The children drew a layout of the garden and asked the adult to put an ‘x’ marks the spot somewhere on the map for the to search.

 

Children noticed the rain gauges had started to fill up in the garden and spoke about what they were for. The children recognised, with a little support, that the rain had filled up to the number 30.

 

Children have been using their imaginations this week as they create models using the snap n’ play and use wooden sticks for rockets. The children with the snap n’ play created machines and added different elements. The rockets were launched into space and the children spoke about different planets they were going to land on.

We had a group of builders using the loose parts in the garden as they worked together to make dens using the tarpaulins and crates. They shared their knowledge of keeping safe, what clothing they needed to wear whilst on site. “We wear these so we can see people” “ The helmets stop our heads from getting hurt”.

Reminders:

• Our forest sessions are on a Wednesday morning where we meet at Waterstone Crook carpark from 9:00-9:15am where we will then make our way up to the forest.
• We have provided a leaflet to go home for clothing at the forest to support your child with the changing weather, please ask if you have any questions.
• Our Peep group will start next week where we meet every second Friday beginning Friday 7th November at 9:10am. We will meet in the room after drop off and adults will head over to the huts where the children will come shortly after to join for activities. Please speak to Miss McKenzie if you would like to join or have any questions. The Peep session runs for roughly 1 hour.

 

We hope you have a great Halloween weekend, see you next week 🦇

We hope you have had a great week. Here is a look at some things we have been up to…..

 

Children have been exploring the outdoor area to create dens and develop their fine motor skills through cutting and chopping in the mud kitchen using scissors and freshly picked lavender. Children have been collaborating their ideas on how to make a good den using materials and crates.

A group of boys used the wooden blocks to make a track for the toy cars. They weaved the track around the room adding to their design as they went and listening to what others had to say to develop their ideas.

Children have joined in with a colour pattern game as they have to copy the patterned structure on the picture. Everyone worked really hard to match the colours and could recognise when they had made a mistake and worked to correct it with little support. The children requested trickier structures as they went. This opened up the conversation about positional language, height, colour patterns and symmetry.

 

The children have taken an interest in the tinkering table outside as they develop their fine motor skills through using the screwdrivers and unclipping pieces of circuit boards.

 

 

We had our first session this year at the forest which the children thoroughly enjoyed and spoke fondly of. Children were role play9ing that they were selling ice-cream, finding a forest monster made from wood and created their own games together. We also tried cooking pesto pasta for the first time which went really well and the children shared their liking for it.

When we got back we had lots of discussions on what went well and what everyone’s favourite thing to do at the forest was and what they request for snack on the fire next week which will be beans on toast or soup!

 

Children have been linking in nursery to learning at home as they bring in items to share with peers and adults. This has extended our learning wall for animals as children brought in bird books and shells from a recent holiday.

 

Reminders:

• Our forest session is on a Wednesday morning where we will meet at Waterstone Crook car park from 9:00am until 9:15am where we will then head to the forest location, please remember to pick up your waterproofs and wellies the day before.
• Parent chats will be happening next week, if you need a reminder of your time please just ask.
• We will be able to add faces to the blog as soon as we have received confirmation of all permissions for photos.

We hope you have a great weekend and we will see you next week ☺️

The nursery team x