The children again had a wonderful time exploring the local woodland today.  The AM session counted aeroplanes in the sky, listened for interesting sounds and climbed a mountain.  The PM session looked for Stick Man and his Family Tree, listened for new sounds and found an enormous muddy puddle.

This will be the last walk this term, due to the Christmas Singlaong and Party. However, we plan to resume our woodland adventures in the new year.

Thank you to all the volunteers that help to make our walks possible.

 

 

‘Tis the season to be Jolly and we have lots to be jolly about here at nursery.  We are busy preparing for our nursery festivities and have some important dates for your diary:

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

Wednesday 5th December.  Children to attend their regular session.

CHRISTMAS SINGALONG

Monday 10th December          morning session 10 AM

afternoon session 2PM

Tickets:   £1 per adult     Children Free

All children should now have a song sheet and we would appreciate if you could practice the songs at home.  A copy of the song sheet is enclosed below.

We will holding a raffle at each performance.  Tickets cost £1 per strip.  We would appreciate any donations to our hampers.

PANTOMIME

Tuesday 11th December

There will be one performance in the school that ALL CHILDREN are welcome to attend.  Children from the morning session who wish to attend should be dropped off at the nursery by 1.40 and picked up at 3.15.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

Monday 17th December

There will be one party that ALL CHILDREN attend.  Children who usually attend the afternoon session are asked to be at nursery for 9am.  Parents and carers are welcome to come along and see our special visitor at 10.45.  There will be no PM nursery session this day.

CHRISTMAS JUMPER DAY

Thursday 20th December

All funds raised in the nursery will be donated the Save The Children

Last Day of Term    Friday 21st December

All Resume                Monday 7th January,2019.

 

CHRISTMAS SINGALONG SONGS

Harps, Halos

(Sung to the tune of head shoulders knees and toes)

Harps, halos, flap your wings, flap your wings,

Harps, halos, flap your wings, flap your wings,

For we are angels, hear us sweetly sing,

Harps, halos, flap your wings, flap your wings.

 

10 Little Reindeer

(Sung to the tune of 10 little Indian boys)

1 little, 2 little, 3 little reindeer,

4 little, 5 little, 6 little reindeer,

7 little, 8 little, 9 little reindeer,

10 reindeer pull the sleigh.

 

Jingle Bells

Christmas Eve is here, as we go off to bed,

As we climb the stairs, nod our sleepy head.

Take our stockings off and hang them in a row.

Then jump quickly into bed and off to sleep we go.

 

Oh! Jingle Bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way

Oh what fun it is to ride on a one horse open sleigh,

Oh jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,

Hurrah for good old Santa Clause,

Hurrah for Christmas Day.

 

We wish you a merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a happy new year

 

Twinkle, Twinkle, Christmas Star

Twinkle, twinkle, Christmas star
Way up high is where you are
Up above the tree so high
Like an angel in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle Christmas star
How I wonder where you are.

 

When Santa got stuck up the chimney

When Santa got stuck up the chimney,

He began to shout,

You girls and boys,

Won’t get any toys,

If you don’t pull me out.

There’s soot on my back,

And my beard is all black,

My nose is tickling too!

When Santa got stuck up the chimney,

Achoo, Achoo, Achoo.

 

Five Mince Pies

Five mince pies in the baker shop

big and round with a star on top

Along came ……….. with a penny one day

Bought a mince pie and ate it right away

Four

Three

Two

One

RHYME

This week we have been busy learning about rhyme and playing rhyming games in the nursery. The children have been trying to find words that sound “the same” and “ not the same”.  It is very tricky but the children are doing great.  You can help at home by talking about words that sound the same e.g. spoon and moon,  dog and frog,  and by listening out for rhyming words in your Big Bedtime Read stories.

 

PUMPKIN FEEDERS

The AM session very kindly took our Halloween pumpkins up to the back field, so that the local wildlife could eat them.  They spoke about the different types of woodland animals in our local area – fox, badger, birds and bears 😉.  They also discovered a mole hill which they explored. I am sure all the creatures had a wonderful feast.

 

BAKING MUFFINS

On Tuesday, the children had the opportunity to bake some banana and choc chip muffins for snack.  This was an opportunity for them to learn about measurement, following a recipe and how food is made. They did an amazing job and the muffins tasted delicious.

 

PEEP

The nursery PEEP group has begun and we would like to welcome all parents /carers to participate.  It is a fun way to participate in and encourage your child’s learning. The group runs on a Wednesday and we would love to see you there.

AM Group   10.15 – 11.00

PM Group     2.30 – 3.15

 

 

 

The children (and staff) had a spooktacular time at the nursery Halloween Party. Their costumes were fantastic and we would like to thank all the parents and carers for their cooperation.

As part of the Halloween topic, we have been learning about staying safe when trick or treating, how to use a knife safely and increasing our vocabulary through songs and rhymes.

PEEP will be resuming on Wednesday 7th November. Please speak to a member of staff for more information.

As the weather is beginning to turn colder, could we please remind parents and carers that we do go outside in all weathers and ask that the children have appropriate clothing ( hats, gloves, scarves, etc).

 

 

As you are aware, in the last week we have said goodbye to Mrs Ross and Miss Renwick.  We wish both of them all the best in their new adventures and look forward to meeting Miss Renwicks new family member soon.

We wish to welcome Mr Barrowman, our new Acting Head Teacher, to Blackridge and our nursery class.

The children have been very busy over the past two weeks.  They have been learning about some of the creatures who live under the sea, tasting harvest vegetables and playing firefighters.

Nursery Parents Evening takes place on Wednesday 10th October and all appointment times have now been issued.  If you have any queries, please speak to a member of the nursery staff.

The Parent Council will be hosting a movie evening for the school on Thursday 11th October.  The nursery children will be given the opportunity to watch a movie during their session on Tuesday 9th October for the PM session and Wednesday 10th October  for the AM session. The children will be given a treat of popcorn during their movie.

October Break

Term ends                 Friday 12th October, 2018

Pupils Resume        Tuesday 23rd October, 2018

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Thank you to all those who attended our Smart Start sessions last week.  The children enjoyed showing you round the nursery and having you visit us to play.

We will notify you of the next event, once it has been confirmed.

Please could we remind parents and carers that the snack fund is not subsidised and nonprofit making.  It is funded solely by the parents/carers and we kindly ask that accounts be kept up to date to allow us to continue providing  this service.  For your convenience, payment can be made directly to nursery staff or via the iPay impact service.  The weekly cost for snack is £1.50, with an optional 50pence donation to our nursery toy fund.

 

This week in nursery the children are exploring colour.  They will  be participating in a variety of activities that will encourage them to match, mix, name and sort colours.  They will also be learning about shades of colour (light and dark).

Here are a few ideas so you can join in with this topic at home.

Colour Walk 

This is an easy, no preparation activity.  Simply talk about the colours you see when out and about, either in the car, at the shops or the park.  You can talk about the colours of cars, flowers, front doors, things you are buying from the supermarket. The list is endless.

Scavenger Hunt

You can hide items of your chosen colour, indoors or in the garden, and ask your child to find them.  If your short on time, you can do this activity without hiding anything.  Simply choose your colour and wait to see what objects your child brings back.

Colour Mixing

If you are feeling adventurous, why not get the paints out and experiment with colour mixing. We have included a chart to help.  Remember, it’s OK if you end up with a dark brown splodge.

The most important thing is that you and your child have fun.

 

September Break

Nursery will be closed on Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th September, 2018.

We hope you all had a lovely summer and would like to welcome all our returning children, and their families, back to nursery.  We had a fun first week back with weddings, building, painting and even a bus trip to Bathgate for the PM session.

Over the next few weeks a number of new children will be joining the nursery and we look forward to welcoming them.

Diary Dates

September Holiday

All break                         Friday 12th September, 2018

Pupils resume                Wednesday 19th September, 2018

October Holiday

All break                        Friday 12th October, 2018

Pupils resume              Tuesday 23rd October, 2018

 

Christmas Break

All break                       Friday 21st December, 2018

Pupils resume             Monday 7th January, 2019

 

 

 

 

 

Well done to all the children who participated in our end of year celebration and all the parents, carers, grans, granddads and special people who came to support the children.

The staff would like to wish all the children moving on to P1 all the very best. We know you will all love your new adventure, although nursery won’t be quite the same without you.

To all our returning children, we look forward to seeing you after the holidays and are excited about all the fun we are going to have together next year.

We would like to thank  all the parents and carers for all their support over the last year . Your participation in Box Clever, PEEP, the Big Bedtime Read and our stay and play sessions has been tremendous and very much appreciated by both the staff and the children.

Have a great summer.

 

 

The children from the afternoon session had great fun participating in their Sports Day.  They were all great competitors and ran, jumped, bounced and hopped brilliantly.

A big thank you to all the spectators who cheered the boys and girls on, helping to make the day extra special for them all.