We recently took part in the Marie Curie Mini Pots of Care fundraiser. Mini Pots of Care is a fun and creative way for children aged 3 to 11 to learn about science, nature and the work of charities. While we were learning we raised money to help Marie Curie Nurses care for people with any terminal illness. We planted our daffodils in November and helped to care for them and water them. Once they were ready we decorated our pots and took them home. We raised a fantastic £137.46 Thank you to everyone who made a donation and well done.
Author: Mrs McNee
Fairtrade Fortnight
We have been learning about Fairtrade and Foncho the Fairtrade Banana Farmer and can now recognise Fairtrade products by the symbol on them.
We ate Bananas all week at snack. Banana Smoothies, Banana Sandwiches and homemade Banana Cake it was delicious.
We decided to have a Fairtrade Coffee Morning and made our own posters to advertise our event.
On the day we helped to serve our parents and carers tea, coffee and cake and retold them the story of Foncho.
We celebrated our learning at the primary school assembly last Friday morning by telling the boys and girls of Foncho the Banana Farmer.
Stay and Play
This week in nursery we invited our parents and carers into the nursery to stay and play and share our learning. We had a fabulous time reading stories, painting, buiding in the construction area, using computers and beebots and having snack together.
Thankyou all for coming along and we look forward to seeing you at our next stay and play session.
January
Last month our learning focused on developing our story telling and rhyme reciting skills during our Story, Rhyme and Song time. We have been listening to traditional tales such as The 3 Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the 3 Bears and The Gingerbread Man and have participated in retelling the story using role-play costumes and puppets. We have been learning and reciting different nursery rhymes and songs including Old MacDonald, Hey Diddle Diddle and the Row, Row, Row your Boat.
During our Scottish Week focus we learned many different Scottish words to describe our clothing, including our semmit, breeks and bunnet and used our art and craft skills to design our own tartan kilts. We held our very own Burns Supper where we tasted Haggis, Neeps and Tatties and entertained our parents and carers with an impromptu Scottish Singalong with songs including Wee Willie Winkie, Yi Cannae Shove Yir Grannie, and the children’s favourite, The Midge.
Home-Link activity sheets and booklets supporting the children’s learning in Nursery Rhymes, Traditional Tales and Scottish Songs are available in the cloakroom.
Group Time activities take place at 9.30am and 1pm where the children engage in key learning opportunities to develop their listening and talking skills through sound matching and rhythm games or activities such as cutting, drawing, throwing and catching to develop their gross and fine motor skills.
A small snack is served mid-session. We have introduced an opportunity for the children to practice their fine motor skills using a knife and fork as well as offering tasting sessions for the children to try different foods.
We have also been learning to cook and have really enjoyed making our own Krispie cakes.
Christmas
We have been very busy in the nursery learning about all things Christmas. We used our painted hands to make Christmas cards and a variety of a paint and glitter to create the perfect tea light candle gifts.
The Christmas tree was put up and decorated and shiny paper chains made to decorate our party room. Many Santa letters were also written. Hopefully we will get what we are wishing for.
Last week we really enjoyed having a Christmas dinner of turkey, sprouts, sausages in bacon, stuffing and roast potatoes, it was lovely and most of the children tried it.
We have been learning all about the Christmas story and the children have worked really hard to learn their lines and perform their version of the Nativity. Everyone has a role, whether it be an actor or a member of the angel choir. Our Bethlehem scenery was created by the children using their drawing, painting and cutting skills and I’m sure you’ll agree it looks fantastic. Well done to everyone.
We will return after the holidays on Tuesday 7th January 2014. Have a lovely holiday and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all the staff at Knightsridge EYC.
Road Safety
We had fun making lollypop STOP sticks and we learned that the road crossing patrol help us to cross the road and they stop traffic so we can cross the road safely. We were also busy making red, amber and green traffic lights which also help us to keep safe on the roads. Some of the children dressed up in bright clothing which helps the cars to see us when we are out walking especially at night. We also read some lovely stories about Ziggy the Alien which helped us to understand about keeping safe on the roads.
Students
We welcome two students working with us in the nursery at the moment, both from West Lothian College. Miss Stephanie Ritchie and Miss Mica McLaren. We also welcome Mrs Shona Todd who is with us on supply at the moment.
From left to right
Mrs Todd, Miss Ritchie and Miss Mclaren.
Autumn
We have been learning all about Autumn. We have been talking about the change in the weather and how all the leaves are now turning red, green, orange and brown and falling from the trees. The children even made an autumn tree with their painted footprints which was very messy and lots of fun. The children have been making Autumn pictures with glue and tissue paper. They have enjoyed going on a walk and collecting lots of leaves which they had great fun playing with in the garden. The children have also been exploring conkers in a large tray using scoops and tongs to help improve fine motor skills. Some of the parents and children made scarecrows at home as Sam our scarecrow was feeling lonely. The results were fantastic and well done to everyone took part and made our Sam very happy.
Halloween
Zoolab
Recently in the nursery we were very lucky to have a visit from Zoolab. We were learning about nocturnal animals and how they like to come out at night time. Ian brought us along a rat, a snake, a tarantula, giant land snails and a tree frog. We learned what they like to eat and where they like to live. We all had the opportunity to look at and touch the animals and some of us were even brave enough to touch them!