Again, Autumn is one of the main interests being supported in Nursery this week.  We have a large collection of different leaves and seeds from plants and trees.  The children have been noticing how much colder the season is getting and we have spoken about the leaves falling from some trees at this time of year.

Of course the children are looking to transfer this in to other areas of discovery, creativity and learning as they used leaves and plants to decorate and make patterns with the playdough.

Another area of interest has been the fish and chip shop this week.  Children have been really interested in all things fish related, speaking about where the fish comes from and different types of fish.  This led to a role play fish and chip shop being set up in the nursery, with cones of chips, illustrations of the different species, a till and money, and opportunity to discuss how much each supper would cost.  Turn taking and sharing experiences within the roles has also been enjoyed for extended periods of time.

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The children have been looking at their own learning stories a lot this week and commenting about the experiences they remember taking part in.  They have also been noticing how they are growing and changing too.

We celebrated a birthday this week in Nursery and have been practicing spreading with cutlery at snack times.

There are lots of different activities that the children engage in daily at nursery, games, stories, story-telling, rhyming, singing, building, dancing, learning, developing skills and having fun.  We have had a lot of fun this week again.

We hope those of you who attended our information evening on Wednesday found it helpful, we were certainly glad to be able to see parents back into nursery.  Please remember the October holidays begin at the end of the day on Friday.  Have a lovely weekend!

 

Learning in Nursery is not just something that you put in a designated area or table for children to explore in a particular timeslot, when it is provided by adults.  It is very much experienced throughout the day, inside and outside and transitions with the learning experience, across different times and spaces.  These opportunities are supported by skilled adults who notice the interests of the children, are knowledgeable on child development and the curriculum,  and understand the possibilities of where learning could go next.

This week we have taken a lot of opportunities to support learning in the moment as interests present themselves.  (This is also balanced with planned adult initiated learning experiences.)

In the dark tent, one of our pupils noticed the red light and green light working like the port and starboard of a boat, this provided much discussion with other children and was a lovely learning experience.  We spoke about direction, left and right and all things boats.

Outside while investigating signs of autumn, children were using the seeds and leaves they noticed to then made a “rosehip seed soup”.  A great amount of engagement followed with children working collaboratively together to collect the ingredients, take turns mixing and discussing the recipe.  Afterwards a cafe was created to sell the soup.

Again exploring signs of autum, the children enjoyed a long walk in the community with Lisa’s dog Willow.  Willow was very well behaved and allowed different children to hold her lead while experiencing the changing weather, and noticing all the seasonal changes that are going on.  We even heard a skylark.

Children were exploring the different texture and mark making properties of “gloop” through the week.  We needed to wear our aprons, but it was great fun with lots of shapes, marks, pictures and letters made or created.

We were delighted to celebrate a birthday this week and welcomed another pupils in to our nursery.  It is a real privilege to see how kind and helpful the children and adults were in showing a new friend around.

One of our pupils had a WOW moment this week, as she learned to cycle her bike without stabilisers.  We were delighted and celebrated together in the multicourt, where she showed us how well she could cycle and we gave her a really big clap.

Most of all, we have had fun exploring and playing together as we learn.

A continuous provision, or environment that is familiar to children is an important feature or a high quality nursery setting.  It allows children to explore their surroundings with greater depth and skill development.  However, it is important for nursery staff to observe and reflect on the provision and enhance, develop or take away resources to support progress in learning at a time that is right, or when interest or curiosity presents.

There have been a couple of new additions to the nursery environment this week.  We have introduced a smaller darker tent, so children can explore light and dark.  We have also introduced some textured mark making resources in a tuff tray with shaving foam and writing implements.  The shaving foam has an interesting texture which allows children to be interested in the sensory aspects of touching and playing with it.  It also is easily manipulated allow marks to be make with a brush or finger.

We have welcomed our student into our setting this week, she will be joining us on Fridays and Mondays.

A pop up ambulance has been added to our environment too.  This is supplementing the doctor’s role play area.  Children have been speaking about being a paramedic and also caring for others as they are brought to the doctor’s in the ambulance.

After the sad news of the Queen passing this week, we have also introduced some red, white and blue playdough to our playdough area.  This has sparked conversation about colours, the Union Jack flag, the Queen and the new King.

We have made dairy free scones this week in baking with Emma.  They were delicious and of course everyone could have a try of the same recipe.

We have noticed how much colder the weather has been.  This has led us to speak about changes in the seasons and we have been looking for signs of changes in the natural environment on our community walks.

We have also been spotting shapes and numbers in the signs around our community.  We have linked this learning to shape and pattern, noticing the shapes inside and outside whilst in the setting and on the website “Topmarks” .  There are lots of super interactive games to discover for Early Years there.  Early Years – Topmarks Search

All of our usual activities in our discovery, creative, social and outdoor zones have been engaged with this week by all of our children as we play and learn together.  We solve problems, speak, sing, rhyme and communicate.  We notice things and speak bout what we notice and experience.  We work together and we have fun!

Please be reminded that we are closed on Monday 19th September.  Have a lovely weekend everyone!

We have been singing lots of songs and rhymes this week, which has given us a chance to express ourselves a bit more in movement and dance too.  Emma and Hayley were able to put a band together this week, and the children were moving and singing to provided songs as well as given a chance to create their own music.  We also were singing along with Mr Travins in music this week.  The “chick- a-dee-dee song” and “the wheels on the bus” were very popular.  Our song of the week has been “heads, shoulders, knees and toes.”

We have been expressive with our bodies in movement while using the gym hall too.

Emma has been baking banana muffins with the children this week, they were delicious!  The ingredients were explored, smelled and mixed before the cooking process began.  The tasting part was enjoyed by most.

Carrying on with the theme of our healthy body, we have had a close up look as what our bodies look like underneath the skin.  This has been interesting to see and speak about.

We have been outside such a lot this week.  The water ways have been in use, and children have been using their problem solving skills to connect pipes and buckets as they observe the water’s movement.  We are getting better at putting on our own suits too.

We have had such a lot of fun learning and playing together again this week, and we hope you have a lovely weekend.

 

Another busy week in Nursery has already passed!

We have set up a hospital space this week, which has been well explored and used by children and adults together in role playing experiences.  There are x-ray pictures and a light box to help display these.  Lots of clip boards and mark making materials are being used.  Bandages have been applied, appointments and surgeries have been given and attended, even some of the animals have been helped back to full health! It’s been a lot of fun.

We were all delighted to see Linda this week, when she popped in for a visit.  She played for a little while in the hospital, spoke to all the bairns and read some stories.  She made us all smile and we hope to see her again soon.

We have managed to go on a couple of walks and spend time in the big play park this week.  We met Peter who showed us some of the seeds inside a rose-hip.  We also got to see the swans on our Tingwall Loch.  We are hoping for more nice and midgie free days as we love being outside so much.

This morning was very exciting for one of our Nursery pupils, who had been to The Marts with his parents to sell 50 lambs.  We were able to get a live link up to the sheep sale, hear the auctioneer and find out a little bit more about what happens at The Marts from his news and the filming.  It was really exciting hearing how fast the auctioneer spoke!

 

Nursery bairns have been making models with wooden pegs and lollipop sticks.  After creating and using fine motor skills to fix the models together, the children were asked to count how many things they had used in their models.  When we were speaking about numbers in play, we were able to see if we could match the number counted to the number on the stick.  Lots of learning about numbers through a variety of experiences has been going on this week.

Our playdough has been used to make face pictures, while we were thinking about what parts of the body are on our faces.  Some lovely creations were illustrated and spoken about.

Lots of opportunities to cut, stick, paste, draw, create, paint, transform, solve problems, carry, lift, count, play and learn together this week.

Will be updating “personal plans” and make sure the “all about me” sheets are updated in the coming weeks.  It is really important that we are working together with parents to support our children to feel welcomed and a sense of belonging in our setting.  More information is available about “Realising the Ambition: Being me” on line.

This is our national guidance document for early years, and very much places the children at the centre of our quality practice.  We hope to give you more information in the coming weeks about an information night for parents, and look forward to working together with parents on documents such as our Outdoor Play Policy.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

 

 

Lots of photos for families to see this week, as we have been so busy! What an engaging week the children have had as the routines of the nursery day start to become more familiar.

Again we have had visitors in to the nursery, Elizabeth from Childsmile has been in this week, reminding us about how to have healthy teeth and gums, and the importance of good regular tooth brushing.

We have had music and gym this week.  There is no need to bring short for gym at the moment, the children can just wear clothes that are easy to move around in (as they do most days).  We are often climbing, running, jumping, visiting the park and using the equipment there, and sometimes follow some stretches on-line too.

In number work this week, we have been making our own dice games and seeing if we can recognise dice patterns.  This has also allowed us to look at double and near double numbers in our counting.  We have been adding how many spots all together on two dice and collecting the correct number of counters to match.

We have been exploring our fine motor skills to pick up small things and place accurately, we have been drawing and painting picture with paints as well as pens, pencils and chalks.  We are lucky to have a variety of materials and surfaces to practice on.

We have been exploring shapes in the blocks and in the construction area too.

In the water tray, the children have been using their imaginations, and exploring the properties of water.  There has been a coffee machine, which made so many different types of coffee in the indoor outdoor cafe.  The same resources were used to make a shower for the divers.

Our creative ideas and thinking extends through all areas of the nursery.  On Tuesday, “The ewes escaped” and some of our bairns spent a long time trying to round them up again.  It was hard work and a bit frustrating at times, but thankfully the quad came out in the end and they were all safely back in their park before we went home.  We sand about “Old MacDonald” and Lee helped us to sign as we sang.

Snack time is a super opportunity to take time to chat as well as progress our skills in spreading and using cutlery.

We enjoyed a rainy walk on Wednesday, then were singing “I hear thunder” before our lunch.  We investigated the rose hip on the rose bushes, and have spoken about the seeds we are starting to see at this time of year.

Playing, learning and growing together has been great fun at Tingwall Nursery this week.  We are looking forward to more of the same next week.

 

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

It has been so lovely to welcome back both our returning children and some new starts this week.  The older children have helped to show the younger ones where things are kept, and around our environment.  Children have explored the blocks, painting, the new workbench and tools, numbers, making marks and of course all the skills that going along with being in a larger group play environment.

We have also welcomed our newest member of staff Rachel Morris to our team this week.  Rachel is a Practitioner, who has replaced Linda after her retirement.

There was a very friendly visitor this week to the nursery, who had beautiful blue eyes, as well as being soft and fluffy.  We were delighted to meet Anya’s new cat.

It has been super to be outside together playing and learning.  We have discovered raspberries growing in the garden, as well as taking the opportunity to measure some of the wild flowers growing.  “Which one is the longest?”  “How does this flower smell?”

Both of the outside space have been explored and developed with the changing play this week.  We have had window washing, that developed into a car wash!  We have rediscovered the mud kitchen, that developed into a “clear out” of some of the things needing to go to the “recycling bins” before we could make dandelion soup!

We have had quiet time relaxing outside, as well as time to jump, run, chase, throw and catch.  We have been very busy.

We have heard a lot of “big questions” this week.  Whilst 2 boys were outside playing in the water area, one of them commented “I wonder where the water comes from?”

It is such a privilege to work with this age and stage of learners, as they are so curious, enquiring and they have so much they want to communicate to the noticing adults around them.  We will continue to capture these big questions and the learning opportunities that arise, in the children’s learning journals.

These will be sent home each term for parents to see what they have been working on.  We will also be sending home some “more about me” sheets, so we can work in partnership with parents and carers about what features in their bairns’ learning and development at home too.  The children’s “personal plans” will be updated again, so this is another area that we work closely with parents and carers on.  Please be in touch if you have any comments or questions about any aspect of Nursery life.

We look forward to working well within our community in this new session.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

 

 

 

 

Of course the grand finale of the year has been the graduation celebrations that we had yesterday.  We will miss all of our pre-school children as they transition into Primary 1 after the summer.  There have been such a lot of transition experiences engaged with over the term, we are sure everyone is now feel much more at ease with what will be the new surroundings and trusted adults.  What a pleasure it has been to share your learning journey with you over your time in nursery.

The children’s Learning Journals or stories are being passed on to Primary 1 for the moment, however they will go home again for good once they are more settled into Primary 1.  In the meantime, here are some great pieces of advice from the bumps to bairns website, which will support any family with a child transitioning into Primary 1 after the summer.

We will be back in nursery, looking forward to seeing returning children and new starts on Wednesday 17th August 2022.

Have a wonderful summer everyone!

Wow, what a week for our last few days of term before the summer holidays.  It has been an emotional week as we say goodbye to 2 very much appreciated, key members of our nursery staff.  Mrs Spofforth and Linda are both retiring today, and we wish them all the very best in their next adventures.  We hope they will both keep in touch and be able to visit us if they can.

The bairns have had lots of photos taken as keep sakes and memories of their time together in nursery. Particularly lovely to have all their handprints on such a unique and special gift.

We welcomed Care Inspectorate staff to Tingwall Nursery this week in an unannounced visit.  The experience was helpful and well balanced, our visitors were approachable and reassuring to staff and we feel this has been a positive end to the year.  The final report will be made public in due course.

Other visitors have been welcomed this week too.  Louise, who works with us on a temporary basis also works at Tesco.  She was able to pop by the nursery and show our bairns what her other job involves when delivering food orders to customers.  It was really interesting to think about the jobs that people do and how people can help us with their roles. Thank you Louise!

 

We had some 4 legged visitors this week too.  The children were so careful and used gentle hands with these visitors.

We also had a visit from a baby sister this morning, and it was so lovely to see how gentle and caring her big brother was with her.

The children have been aware of the changes that will happen after summer and have enjoyed spending time together as a cohort as they continue to play and learn and explore together.  There have been interesting finds in the nursery garden as well as creative opportunities in the potential of a cardboard box.  We have also celebrated another birthday this week!

As we draw closer to the end of term, we are reflecting on another busy week.

The children have been exploring magnetic construction, as well as dens and block building.

There has been a real interest in exploring water play with the new outdoor taps in the school.

The sensory playdough has been really well used and enjoyed as the smell of the rose petals has added another aspect to explore.

Lots of reading books, singing songs learning and playing together. We have celebrated special days and had some very special visitors.

We have found creatures that live in the nursery garden and tried to count how many legs!  We have also learned about Road Safety from our Junior Road Safety Officers.

Next week is our last week all together. We hope you have a wonderful weekend everyone!