Bells Brae Nursery

Gardening Club at the polytunnel

The children have had the opportunity this term to spend time each week at the school polytunnel with staff along with the guidance of our helpful Janitor who takes care of the polytunnel and Dave from the Salvation Army who is helping the children to learn about all aspects of growing plants including vegetables and fruits. Children are having the opportunity to repot smaller plants into bigger pots, plant seeds, learning how to take care of them and watch them grow.

“Water make them grow”.    “The seeds are small”.    “I did it”.

“We’re planting so I needed to put the seeds in and after I cover them up”.

“I’m filling up my bucket”.

The children are enjoying observing the changes in the polytunnel each time they visit, they are amazed at how much the plants have grown each time.

“Plants need water and food”.    “We planted these”.

Children also spent time taking turns to photograph the plants using an ipad.

“That’s my one I planted”.    “It’s growing”.    “I can smell the flowers”.    “We saw a wiggly worm”.

The pre-school children have been learning about the importance of keeping our private parts private by following the Wir Ain Peerie Bodies project which is used in Early Learning and Childcare settings across Shetland. The children have learned the names of body parts and the importance of privacy and keeping safe.

We drew around a child to give an outline of a body before labelling the main body parts.

We read and discussed a variety of children’s picture books which explored the themes of body parts, privacy and keeping safe as well as the importance of talking to someone if we are worried about anything relating to this topic.

After reading Pantosaurus and the Power of Pants, the children were keen to design their own pair of pants which we pegged onto a washing line.

‘Look at my pants design.’

‘Pantosaurus told us about the power of pants.’

‘What’s in our pants is private.’

‘We don’t let people see inside our pants.’

‘Remember to say no and tell someone you trust.’

Week Beginning: 2nd June 2025

Our story of the week is Noah’s Ark by Lucy Cousins.

Click on the link below to view and listen to the story.

Our song of the week is The Animals Went in Two by Two. Click on the link below to sing along to the song.

Our Signalong sign of the week is Eat.

Folk Festival Concert

“Songs”.    “The lamp was spinning”.    “I remember about the funny songs”.

The children moving onto school after the Summer had the opportunity to attend the Folk Festival early years concert at Mareel.  We walked there together wearing hi-vis vests and had some family members as helpers.

The children listened to the music and could clap, dance and sing along if they wanted.  The children were helping to identify all the musical instruments they could see on stage.

Many thanks to our adult helpers who came along on this trip with us.

Week Beginning: 26th May 2025

Our story of the week is Jack and the Beanstalk by Richard Walker.

Click on the link below to view and listen to the story.

Our song of the week is Fee-fi-fo-fum! Click on the link below to sing along to the song.

Our Signalong sign of the week is Break.

Week Beginning: 19th May 2025

Our story of the week is One Goose, Two Moose by Kael Tudor.

Our song of the week is Ten Little Numbers. Click on the link below to sing along to the song.

Our Signalong sign of the week is Say.

During a discussion with the children about ideas for outdoor play, they came up with suggestions for items they would like to play with and to add to our outdoor area. They helped to create this poster which is displayed in the Nursery entrance with suggested resources which we would welcome donations of.

Week Beginning: 12th May 2025

Our story of the week is That’s My Flower! by Alice Hemming.

Click on the link below to view and listen to the story. Please note that the title in the link is different (Don’t Touch That Flower!) but it is the same story.

Our song of the week is Sing a Song of Flowers. Click on the link below to sing along to the song.

Our Signalong sign of the week is Give.

A walk to the flower park

A group of children enjoyed a walk to the flower park where we used our senses to look, smell and feel all the different types of flowers.

“I can see a purple one”.  “What’s this one”?  “That looks like a pom pom”.

“Some of them need water to feel better”.    “That’s a pink one”.    “Smells like purple”.

We used technology to take photos of the flowers and plants and checked on an app to give us information to tell us what they were called and if they were healthy, the children found this very interesting and this provided lots of information and discussion.

During together time after the walk the children were able to speak about their experiences and discussed the technology used to find out information about the flowers and plants.

“We went to the flower park”.

“Daffodils”.    “Bluebells”.    “The daffodils smell beautiful”.

The children practiced their road safety skills during their walk. “Stop, look and listen”.

On Monday we had a visit from Niall and Laura who are both paramedics. They talked to us about their job and the uniform that they wear. We learned that they help people who are ill and how an ambulance is used to transport them to hospital. They reminded us about phoning 999 in an emergency and how important it is to know our address so that the emergency service we need will know where to go in order to help us. The children listened very carefully during the talk and were keen to share their own experiences of the emergency services.

‘I’ve been in an ambulance before.’

‘My grandad is a paramedic.’

‘I’ve seen blue flashing lights.’

We then took it in turns to go outside in two groups to see the ambulance which was parked in the playground. The children had the opportunity to go inside the ambulance and Laura explained what some of the equipment is used for. She showed us the oxygen tanks and some of the children were keen to have their oxygen saturation levels measured by having a small device clipped onto their finger. The children were able to see their readings which were displayed on a small screen.

‘My number is going up.’

‘The ambulance is very clean and tidy.’

‘What’s inside the cupboard?’

The children enjoyed having the opportunity to lie down on the ambulance trolley. Once they were strapped in, Niall raised them up and down by pressing a button. He also demonstrated how certain injuries are treated using a leg splint or by applying bandages.

‘I liked going up and down on the trolley.’

‘I am going to keep my bandage on all day.’

We watched from the window as the ambulance left and saw the blue lights flashing and heard the siren. The visit provided a great learning experience for the children and inspired their play later that day and for the remainder of the week.

‘Quick, there is an emergency!’

‘I’m calling 999 because we need an ambulance.’

‘The police will be here soon.’