Sound School Nursery

The nursery trip took place on Tuesday 18th June. We began our day at the King Harald Street play park where the children enjoyed the opportunity to run around and play on the equipment.  The drizzle did not dampen the children’s enthusiasm.

After being at the play park, we went to Islesburgh Community Centre where the children had snack. The bouncy castle was very popular and while each key group waited for their turn, there was the option to use the soft play equipment or to complete some colouring in. We then had a tasty pack lunch which was prepared by the canteen staff.

After lunch, we walked to the Lerwick Library and went upstairs to the children’s section where Mrs Sutherland led an interesting Bookbug session. The children listened very well while the story was being read and were keen to join in with the nursery rhymes.

Aimee Budge from Bigton Farm visited the nursery with two caddy lambs.  The children were excited to see the lambs who were very friendly.  Aimee brought bottles of milk and some of the children got the chance to feed the lambs.  This was a great learning opportunity for the children and we appreciated that Aimee gave up her time to come and visit us.

The children visited the Sands of Sound Beach recently in two groups.  They enjoyed the outdoor learning experience and were keen to explore the beach while engaging in a variety of activities such as mark making in the sand, collecting shells and pebbles, building dams across the burn, looking in rockpools and digging in the sand.  The children also enjoyed having their snack on the beach.  We had a great day out and the children had the opportunity to develop the meta-skills of curiosity, creativity, communicating, collaborating and focusing.

Here are some of the literacy activities that the children have enjoyed recently. They have been developing their mark making skills and letter recognition as well as exploring books.

The children have also been busy developing their numeracy skills by taking part in a variety of activities involving measurement, 2D shapes, patterns, number recognition and sequencing.

The children had a great day outdoors planting seeds to grow herbs (chives) and flowers (nasturtiums). They listened very well and followed the instructions they were given when putting compost and seeds into pots. The herbs and flowers were then transferred to the polytunnel.  The children are watering the seeds regularly and checking their growth.

The children have also planted carrots and tatties are they are keeping a close eye to see how they are growing.

The meta-skills of focusing, communicating, collaborating and curiosity were developed by the children while planting the seeds.

The pre-school children went to see a concert at the Mareel auditorium. They enjoyed listening to the performing act and were actively involved by dancing and clapping along to the music. Through their live audience participation the children were developing the meta-skills of communicating and feeling.

Bookbug sessions with parents during reading week.

Having fun completing obstacle courses in the gym hall.

Making Easter crafts.

Setting up a party in the quiet room.

We have made the most of the snowy weather by encouraging the children to play outside while learning and having fun. The cold weather has given us the opportunity to explore the properties of snow and ice. The children have also enjoyed making snowballs and building snowmen. Mark making in the snow proved to be a popular activity.

The four and five year old children at nursery visited the galley shed on Thursday 25th January. Like our previous trip to Mareel in October, travelling on a big bus proved to be very popular once again. The children enjoyed being able to look at their surroundings from a higher vantage point. It was interesting to hear them chat to each other about what they could see.

At the galley shed, the children were split into two groups with Graeme Garrick showing one group around while Gary Smith took the other. The children were very keen to climb inside the galley and enjoyed pretending to be Viking raiders. We also got to see the meeting room upstairs and had the chance to sit in the Guizer Jarl’s chair and hit the wooden gavel to get people’s attention. Many of the children were fascinated by the bear skin that was on display. We also had the opportunity to watch a short video of last year’s procession with several children singing along to the well-known Up-Helly-Aa song.

We spent a very interesting hour at the galley shed and when we returned to the nursery many of the children were eager to draw pictures relating to the visit. Sound Nursery is very fortunate to have a small galley which was given to us a few years ago. The galley is a great resource and has contributed to lots of imaginative role-play throughout the week.

The Junior Jarl, Oran McCulloch and his squad visited the nursery on Up-Helly-Aa day. The children were very excited to see the squad.  We also had a surprise visit from some members of the Senior Jarl Squad later in the week.  The children enjoyed having the chance to try on helmets and hold shields and axes.

December was a very busy month in the nursery. The children showed great enthusiasm for the variety of Christmas and winter themed activities on offer which was based on their interests. Mark making was particularly popular with many of the children choosing to make and write cards before posting them in the Christmas post box. Our Christmas performance was a huge success with lots of positive feedback from family members. The Christmas party was one of the highlights of the term. We had a surprise visit from Santa before enjoying a special snack and playing lots of different party games. Unfortunately, our Christmas Bookbug Session did not go ahead as planned due to the school closures for weather at the end of term.