Milngavie Early Years Centre

A huge thank you to everyone who bought one of Mary’s beautiful blankets.  We have now sold all of them and this has raised an amazing £140 for our nursery funds.

We have made a special card with raised letters to send to Mary to say how much we appreciate all her hard work, and her kindness in fundraising for our nursery.  The children drew pictures and helped us put this special sensory card together.  She is a truly inspirational lady!

Just a wee reminder that we are having our group photo taken on Monday 13th September.  If your child does not normally attend on a Monday and you would like them to be in the photo, you are welcome to bring them at either 10.15 am or at 1.30pm.  If you bring your wee one to the Upper School, the office staff will bring you through to the School Gym, where the photographer will have set up.  You will have to wait with your child until the photo is taken. It should take less than 10 minutes. Many thanks!

Eileen has taken on the role of joint-Literacy Champion this term and has wasted no time.  Our reading area is now in the Daisy Room and Eileen has put our Mighty Writer Board there too.  We also have our Author of the Month board there – Eric Carle is our author for September.  She is also starting our Word Aware program where we look at different words each week and encourage vocabulary expansion.  Mighty Writer is an excellent resource which encourages creative writing and teaches the direction of reading, and the idea that there is a beginning, middle and end to each story.  This week Eileen has made a series of cards from The Very Hungry Caterpillar, with which she helps the children sequence the events of the story.  Once the story sequence is on the board, it is lovely to see how easily the children “read” back the story using the pictorial prompts.

Debbie has had a very busy time sorting out our boot room.  She has found a lot of lost property which we will put at the bottom of the ramp every day till the end of this week.  Please have a look, just in case there is something that belongs to your wee one, which you can take home.  We are going to keep lost property for another 2 weeks and then will clear the rail by donating it to charity.  Please, please check that your child’s name or initials are clearly on any item of clothing or footwear that they use in nursery.  It gives us much more of a fighting chance of re-uniting it with its small owner!

In Nursery we have been talking about why we need rules and what might be good rules for us all to follow.  This week we are deciding on exactly what the children feel they should be and making a wee Nursery Rules Board.  It would also be really useful if you could talk to your child about the rules you have for keeping safe and promoting harmony in your home.

Boundaries help children feel more secure – they provide an expectation of kind behaviour and also give children confidence to complain and deal with anything they feel is unfair or that they feel in any way threatening.  They also make our children aware of the need to risk assess – things like climbing trees etc are always allowed, but we ask the children to think about whether they feel safe and base how high they climb etc on this.  We make up our rules every year, and while they are generally pretty similar we sometimes get some funny ones.  One wee boy a few years ago, asked for a rule that we would always have Celebration chocolates in the home corner.  Unfortunately this did not fit with the EDC Healthy Eating policy so it didn’t make it onto the rule board-  many of us were disappointed!

Our family tree is looking good.  Our children love looking at the tree with their friends and discussing their families.  Staff are putting their families on the tree too and the branches are filling up!  If you have not yet managed to send a photo, there is still time.  You can email it to KCameron@milngavie.e-dunbarton.sch.uk and I’ll print it for you, or you can hand in a small photo for us to put on the tree.  Many thanks!

Our Family Tree is in the Nursery Hall.

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We have had a very busy couple of weeks settling back into our own building and new routine and welcoming lots of new wee recruits and their families to our nursery community.  Everyone is settling well and it is lovely to see how quickly our new wee ones gain in confidence with every visit.  The Covid restrictions still do not allow us to welcome parents into our building, but please do not let this put you off speaking to us if you have any worries or concerns about your child or would like a chat about any aspect of their nursery experience.  If you speak to the member of staff who brings your child in or out, they can organise a time for you to see your wee one’s keyworker, or have a phone call if you prefer.  We also have a Family Champion – Julie Bannerman – who can advise on any parenting issues you may encounter that you might like a bit of support with.  Parenting is a job that we all struggle with at times and sometimes it is good to talk to someone with knowledge of child development and positive parenting strategies, and who has personal experience too.

Nursery Family tree

We had to take down our family tree in the hall during the summer as our building was having a refurb.  Last year we noticed that the children really liked being able to go out into the hall and spend time looking at the tree with their friends- showing their own family photo and looking at everyone else’s.  In a time when you can’t come in to visit, it seems particularly valuable.  Please could we ask for a family photo of your family to put on the tree- a maximum size of 4×6 is ideal as we can then fit everyone on.  We don’t display names beside them, but every child knows where their own photo is.

Please could you hand your photo in when you bring your child in to nursery.  Alternatively if you would like to send one to me, I can print it for you.  My email is KCameron@milngavie.e-dunbarton.sch.  Many thanks!

Nursery Rules

Over the next three weeks we are going to be talking to the children about the things we can do together to keep everyone safe and happy in our nursery.  We will be asking what rules the children feel we need to have,  and making a pictorial display of the things that they decide on, in the hall where we can all see them.  It is important that the children understand why we have rules and also have ownership of them.  Children feel safer and more secure with boundaries and it helps us talk about kindness and managing our relationships with others.

Name those clothes please!

A gentle reminder to request that you put your child’s initials or name inside all clothing, footwear, etc that your wee one brings to nursery.  It doesn’t need to be a fancy label – initials on the label, written in laundry marker will do.  This will make it much easier for us to match lost things with their owners.  In a busy nursery it can be difficult to keep track of what people wear and who belongs to what!  We have a little rail of lost property beside the nursery ramp.  Please have a look and see if you can claim anything!  If it is not claimed in the next two weeks, we will donate anything left to a charity.

Mary’s Blankets

Many thanks to everyone who has bought one of Mary’s beautiful blankets.  We still have 9 for sale in a wide range of lovely colours.  Please ask any member of our staff to show you them if you are interested in buying one.  They cost £10 each and all money goes to the nursery fund.  They make a perfect new baby present as they are extra-soft and cuddly.

Nursery Treat Fund

Nikki, our lovely admin lady, is going to be sending emails to parents about treat fund donations.  The Nursery Treat Fund is very important and helps us provide special resources, party food and Christmas and Birthday gifts for our children, none of which would be possible from our Nursery Budget.  With our new nursery hours, we have simplified the Treat Fund and the suggested donation is 50p per day.  There are an average of 20 days nursery per month, which would be £10.

Treat fund can be paid termly

August to November – £40

December to March – £40

April to July – £40

Or £120 for the whole year.  Please hand in the money to nursery in an envelope with your child’s name on it and any cheques made payable to Milngavie Nursery Fund.

We really appreciate this money – it allows us to do lots of fun things on a weekly basis in nursery.  We buy special food to celebrate special days in nursery i.e. Diwali, Chinese New Year, Burns Day, Christmas parties and Graduation and we also can afford to buy interesting new resources and seeds and plants for our garden and polytunnel, to show how food is grown.  Many thanks!

We have recently introduced the new system of 2 sittings for Nursery lunch and it is working beautifully!  Our new Housekeeper Sarah serves lunch from our new menu to all our children in the Daisy room, from a new trolley which keeps the food warm for us.

We are using the ‘Setting the Table’ document (pictured) to develop a high quality lunchtime experience for children.

Setting the Table (NHS, 2015)

Sarah, serving up delicious soup today

We work closely with Facilities Management staff to ensure lunch provision meets the dietary needs of all children. We would like to say a BIG THANKYOU to all the catering staff at the Milngavie Primary School kitchen for making our delicious and nutritious lunches!

To  plan improvements to our lunchtime provision  our children and staff evaluated our lunchtime experiences last session and identified the following strengths:

With more children having lunch in the centre each day now due to the introduction of 1140 hours we have included developing the lunchtime experience on our Nursery Improvement Plan (21/22). We aim to strengthen links between lunch and children’s learning within Food and Health.

We are also going to explore further opportunities within lunchtime provision that promote social skills, interactions, communication skills and independence.  We aim to promote children’s ownership of the lunchtime experience. We also intend to increase our engagement with parents to raise awareness of the lunchtime experience, lunch choices and links to learning through regular updates on our blog- and lunch invitations for parents, when we are allowed to do this again!  We also intend to  enhance our children’s understanding of where food comes from by involving them in growing fruit and vegetables in the nursery garden, orchard and polytunnel and visits (when allowed) to local suppliers.

To support the smooth running of our lunchtime experience we are inviting children to make their lunch choices in advance using an online order form.  Parents will receive a link to the form in an email later this week. If your child has allergies or dietary requirements please contact the nursery to discuss their needs.

We have a very special fundraiser for the start of the new term.  Julie’s mum has a neighbour called Mary, who is 93 and completely blind.  Her hobby is making soft, cosy, chenille blankets which she knits with her fingers!  We have lots in nursery and use them in the story corner, the home corner and for our “babies” who rarely wear any clothes and who like to be cosy.

Last week Mary gave Julie a big bag of 15 blankets and said we should sell them to raise funds for the nursery.  There are lots of different colours and they are all gorgeous.

They measure approx 105 cm by 70cm and are ideal as a cot or pram blanket, or as a snuggly for older children.  Mary makes them with the softest chenille and they really are a labour of love.

We have lots of different colours: pink, mauve, cerise, lavender, cream, lemon, and some lovely multi-coloured ones.  If you would like to buy one please ask any member of staff or call the nursery – 0141-955-22532.  As there is a limited number it is first-come-first-served.

The blankets cost £10 each.  All the money will go to our nursery fund.  We are making a special sensory card with the children to say a huge thank you to Mary – a kind and thoughtful lady, with a very special talent.

Lots of colours and designs to choose from.

Each blanket is super soft and cosy

Taupe – showing the reverse side of the pattern

Pink, cream and beige pattern

blue, pink and white

cream

pink

mauve

beige, cream and black speckle – almost like animal fur!

lavender

cerise

Dear Parent

Welcome to the Milngavie EYC community!

Please see below a letter for new children starting nursery in August 2021. Please share this letter with your child.

We are really looking forward to seeing you soon.

Thank you.

Caroline, Lynn, Kate and all the team at Milngavie EYC!

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Dear Children

We are really looking forward to welcoming you to our nursery and introducing you to new friends.

Our nursery is a fun place to be!

It is time for us all to have fun learning all sorts of new things together.

There are lots of things to see and do in the nursery. There is a playground, a garden and two playrooms!

Here are some photographs of  things to do in the playrooms.  We take good care of our fish Bubbles. Can you find him in the photograph?

Our fish Bubbles is happy swimming in his tank.

What will you do on your first day? Would you like to listen to a story? Would you like to draw a picture?

There are lots of things to explore in the garden. We have a pond, a sandpit, two slides, a boat, a castle, a stage, a playhouse and swings! Let’s go on an adventure!

Here are some photographs of our garden.

Our bark area makes sliding and climbing safer.

Our playground is an interesting place! Do you like our beautiful flower pots? Can you spot something you would like to play with?

Having lunch in nursery is fun and the food is delicious. You can choose a hot meal or a sandwich. All the children are offered soup and yoghurt/ fruit too. Here are some photographs of  lunch in the nursery. We can’t wait for you to have lunch here with your new friends!

We are looking forward to seeing you very soon.  Everyone is very friendly. We will look after you until your grown-up collects you. You will have a lovely time!

Love from Caroline, Lynn, Kate and all the staff at Milngavie EYC

We are excited to start the new 2021-22 session on w/c 2nd August! Here is the Early Years Calendar for session 2021-22.  We are looking forward to welcoming our new children and families to the Milngavie EYC community!

From Monday 5th July our service will be based at Oakburn EYC on a temporary basis while some refurbishment work is carried out in our own building.

An email has been issued with more information about the arrangements.

Key points to remember!

Milngavie EYC children will access Oakburn EYC via the garden gate on the left hand side of the building. A member of staff will be at the gate at session start/ finish times. If you arrive to drop-off / collect your child outwith these times please remain outside the garden gate and call .

The phone number for Oakburn is  0141 955 2210.

We are really looking forward to our time at Oakburn EYC !

We will return to our freshly decorated and improved Milngavie EYC building w/c 2nd August!