After many years as a Nursery Nurse at ECPS Mrs O’Neill is now retiring. Some of us visited Mrs O’Neill today to hand over the many cards, gifts and pictures that have been handed in by both families and staff members. She really was overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity. I’m sure you would all join me in wishing Mrs O a very long and happy retirement. 
Primary 1 staff would like to say a big thank you for your lovely cards, gifts and good wishes!
We’re sorry not to have seen you but hope you all stay safe and healthy and have a super summer!
Message from Helene Rennie from West Lothian Libraries:
As we approach some lockdown restrictions being eased and your services resuming in some way I am contacting you to advise about the digital resources we have available free to children who are members of West Lothian libraries. I would be grateful if you could share this information with parents and carers please.
Every child in West Lothian can and should be a West Lothian library member and we endeavour to engage with and register as many children as possible as part of the ECALM initiative. However, if a child is not already a library member and their parents/carers are interested in their child becoming a library member then they can simply complete the online application here: http://bit.ly/Join-WL-libraries they will then be sent their child’s membership information and will have access to our digital resources and all of our libraries when we reopen.
During the lockdown we have significantly increased our collection of children’s e-Books and e-Audio books. These can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/WLlibebooksChildren
We have also purchased e-Books and e-audio books which allow multiple downloads, so there are no waiting lists for these. The latest addition is Flying Fergus, The Great Cycle Challenge by Sir Chris Hoy and this can be accessed here :https://bit.ly/FlyingFergusTgcc
The e-audio books are particularly good for younger children providing them with their own personal story times, often with famous actors or even the authors themselves narrating.
If you require any assistance on the use of these resources or library membership applications please do not hesitate to contact me. Email: helene.rennie@westlothian.gov.uk
Thank you for all your hard work completing all the PE tasks during home learning. Although it wasn’t the normal Health Week, Sports week and East Calder Marathon, I am so proud of how you accepted the challenge of PE home learning.
I hope that you have an active and fun summer. I can’t wait to see you in August and hear all about your summer adventures.
Mr. Millar
It was lovely to see so many of our Primary 7 pupils today for their transition event. Here is a copy of your video message from all of the staff at ECPS to wish you luck moving on to High School to share with your families.
Here is the Fischy Music Assembly for this week. It has a Sports Day theme this time. All the Fischy Music Team are together outside. Enjoy singing along…
Hi Everyone,
It’s hard to believe it’s the last week of term already. Our end of term has been very different this year and unfortunately we have not been able to give our nursery leavers the proud celebration they so deserve before moving onto school. Certificates are being posted on our Nursery Leavers Learning Journals this week this can be printed as a reminder of their early year’s journey (access PDF file this by pressing the options button on your child’s learning journal).
We will miss them all so much and feel privileged to have had the pleasure of watching them grow into confident little individuals at East Calder Nursery who are now ready to embrace the next exciting new journey in their lives.
Staff Changes
Sadly Mrs O’Neill will be leaving nursery as she retires this term. We wish her well as she approaches a new and exciting time in her life. She came to work at East Calder when the original nursery was opened over 30 years ago, over this time she has supported and guided hundreds of children as they took their first steps into their school lives. Many of our present parents still have precious memories of those first days in nursery and the support Mrs O’Neill gave them. Good Luck Mrs O’Neill we will all miss you.
Mrs Sharkey our Pupil Support Worker is moving on to work at the school, she will also be such a loss at Nursery and we wish her well in her new adventure.
Mrs O’Neill has kindly written a poem for the children who are leaving to start school. She will miss them dearly and wishes them all lots of happiness in their new adventure.
Leaving nursery now, full of different ideas
Onwards to school, lots of excitement and fears.
Gaining lots of confidence during the last 2 years
We had variation of emotions, laughter and tears.
Now starting to read, write and learn, continuing to grow
Transporting your thoughts and developing what you know.
The uniform for school you can wear and be ready
Everything you need in bag, but don’t need no teddy.
Old and new faces you can readily approach
A new teacher there smiling and ready to coach.
Learning in nursery will now be put to the test,
We all know you will do your very very best!
Have lots of fun, be happy, makes lots of new friends
Your learning experience can continue to extend.
Nursery, though fun will now be a thing of the past,
Now look forward to your own little special class.
New Term
We are looking forward to welcoming back our returning children and families in the new term and are busy preparing our nursery environment to make this a positive and supportive experience. You will be notified shortly of when the nursery will resume.
New Staff
We would like to welcome new staff to our team who are looking forward to meeting you all in the new term.
Mrs Murray – Early Years Officer
Miss Ritchie – Nursery Nurse
Most of our nursery team will be busy working at hubs over the summer and our nursery will close until the new term, therefore this will be the last blog post until we return. We wish all our families a safe summer and hope that you continue to enjoy making happy memories with your children. We have felt so proud when reading all the learning, experiences and achievements you have supported your children with over this challenging time and hope you recognise the great parents that you are.
A few idea’s to try at home – kindly shared by our families
Cloud Dough
This is an easy no cook recipe using just three ingredients and is great for sensory play and some hands on maths and science learning.
Encourage your child to get involved when making it and as they count and measure the ingredients and observe the change in textures as the materials combine they are experiencing learning in maths and science.
L.1. I have experimented with everyday items as units of measure to investigate and compare sizes and amounts in my environment, sharing my findings with others.
Sunshine and Ice Cream
Enjoy the outdoors with plenty of fresh air and exercise, helping your child to use up energy, discovering new places together and practising gross motor skills.
| L.1. I am enjoying daily opportunities to participate in different kinds of energetic play, both outdoors and indoors. | 3 | + |
Further support and inspiration for learning is available at https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/wl/snonursery/
EC Nursery Team
Good morning everyone!
As this is our last week I had promised you in class that we would have a fun week of experiments. The biggest request was Elephant’s Toothpaste so I will make this at home this week and I will post the video on the blog and Teams after!
Are there any fun experiments you have wanted to do at home or in school? Now is your chance! Rubber egg? Bottle rocket? Giant square bubble? Exploding volcano? Egg parachute? Dancing Raisins?
There are lots of great ideas here to try too:
ScienceSparksPeriodicTableofExperimentslinks
Share your experiments with me on Teams or email them into school.
Have fun (and stay safe!)
Mrs Beattie
Good morning everyone,
For PE this week, we will be taking part in the Youth Sport Trust’s National Sports Week. There are five different categories of activities and challenges. You can pick what categories and what activities you take part in. I recommend doing at least one activity a day as well as getting outside for walks, jogs, cycles or scoots.
I love seeing your learning so don’t forget to let me know how you got on.
Mr. Millar
