The nursery children who will be moving to Primary 1 after the summer holidays have started their transition visits. So far they have been to assembly with the whole school and a visit to the P1 classroom. The children were very excited to visit the classroom and joined in with a Primary 1 lesson. The children will have more visits over the next few weeks, as well as meeting their buddies and having an opportunity to try school lunches.
Category Archives: Nursery
The seeds of success
The nursery children have been very busy planting seeds. Last week they planted beans and this week the will be planting sunflowers. The children selected their seed, filled a pot with compost and planted the seed. We are encouraging them to water the seed and keep checking for signs of growth. The children will also have the opportunity to get planting in the nursery garden. This work links in with our “Spring” topic.
March Nursery Newsletter
Dear Parent/Carer,
The children have all settled and are confidently making new friends and learning the Nursery routines.
The children are looking are currently looking at our school vision, values and aims and deciding which ones are important in our Nursery, we will also be asking for your opinions on this. They have been designing a new logo for our Nursery, which will be used when we move into our new Nursery.
We are delighted with the progress of our new Nursery and are still hoping to be in it in the new school session. Following West Lothian guidance, we have selected the interior colours and the new furniture.
Miss Burton
Firefighters visit the Nursery
As part of our topic on superheroes, the nursery children have been learning about real life superheroes. On Tuesday the children were surprised with a visit by Red Watch from the Livingston Fire Station. The children had fun firing the hose and climbing into the cab of the fire engine. The firefighters talked to the children about their jobs and the special equipment they used. They even let the children see the flashing lights and hear the sirens.
Nursery Learning Letter
Dear Parent/Carer,
Welcome to Term 3 in Mid Calder Nursery. We had a very busy time in Term 2, looking at different materials and how we could use them to build and using vocabulary such as hard, soft, rough and smooth. We participated in several science experiments, where we investigated how a car would move down a ramp when travelling on different surfaces and we also looked at the changes in ice as it freezes and melts again in changing environments. We loved the excitement in the run up to Christmas and enjoyed sharing this special time with your children. The children enjoyed taking part in a variety of Christmas activities and we hope you agree, performed brilliantly at their Christmas show. This term as part of the school Burns celebrations the children are learning “Wee Willie Winkie” in Scots. The children are working hard to learn this and will be sharing it with the other children in the school. Please help your child to learn this poem. A copy can be found on the school blog. Please feel free to wear some Tartan to nursery on 25th January.
Kind regards,
Mrs Murray, Mrs Diamond, Mrs Aikman and Mrs Findlay.
Nursery children are preparing for the Burns Celebration
The nursery are learning “Wee Willie Winkie” as part of our Burns Celebrations.
“Wee Willie Winkie”
Verse 1
Wee Willie Winkie rins thro the toon
upstairs and doonstairs in his nicht goon,
tirlin at the windae, cryin at the lock,
“Are aw the bairnies in their beds? It’s past eight o’clock.”
Verse 2
Hey Willie Winkie, are ye comin ben?
The cat’s singin grey thrums to the sleepin hen.
The dug’s speldert on the flair an disnae gie a cheep,
but here’s a waukrife laddie that winna fa asleep.
Verse 3
Onythin but sleep, ye rogue, glowrin like the moon,
rattlin in an airn jug wi an airn spoon,
rumblin, tumblin roon aboot, crawin like a cock,
skirlin like A kenna what, waukerin sleepin folk.
Verse 4
Hey Willie Winkie, the wean’s in a creel,
wamblin aff a bodie’s knee like a verra eel,
ruggin at the cat’s lug an ravenin a her thrums.
Hey Willie Winkie! See, here he comes!
As part of our Winter Ready preparation to show that you can access our blog, can you please leave a comment below to say which other poems and rhymes you enjoy sharing with your child.
Nursery Newsletter – October
Dear Parent/Carer,
The children have all settled into the new school year and are confidently making new friends and learning the Nursery routines. We have created a community contract so that the children have an opportunity to discuss what they would like to learn at Nursery and what it should feel like to be part of our Nursery.
Thanks to all of you who attended our Meet the Teacher Session, if you were unable to attend you can access the information on the school blog: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/wl/mcps/2016/09/09/nursery-learning-letter/
You can keep up to date with our learning on the school blog by clicking on Learning Stories, Nursery: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/wl/mcps/category/learning-stories/nursery-am/
As a staff team we have been collaborating with our cluster nurseries and have visited Polbeth, St. Ninian’s and Riverside Nurseries to investigate how they are implementing new nursery planning advice and guidance.
Miss Burton
Depute Head Teacher
Nursery Learning Letter
Dear Parent/Carer,
Welcome to Term 1 in Mid Calder Nursery. I hope you have all had a peaceful and relaxing summer, and are now feeling refreshed. This term the children are enjoying settling in to the nursery. They are getting to know new friends and new staff. We are confident your child will feel happy and secure in the nursery and will aim to provide a variety of experiences and opportunities that will help your child become a confident, lifelong learner, by capitalising on their individual strengths and qualities. We look forward to an exciting term.
Mrs Murray, Mrs Diamond, Mrs Aikman and Mrs Findlay
Named Person Presentation
Nursery March Newsletter
Dear Parent/Carer,
February and March have been very busy months in the nursery. Most of the children participated in a nature walk to the wildlife area adjacent to the school field. They learned about molehills, moss and studied the birds living there. They collected sticks and used these to create stick models such as wind chimes.
A group of morning children visited the lovely Park View café to prepare for our pop in and play visits. We looked closely at the menus, the table decorations and the buntings around the walls. Some of the afternoon children visited the local Post Office to post invitations to our Pop In and Play sessions. The resulting Pop In and Play sessions were very well attended. Thank you very much to all who visited us and spent time playing with their children.
Thank you to all parents/carers who attended our Maths Curriculum Evening. You can find our presentation on how you can develop early maths skills on the school blog.
Our children are blogging about their learning on a weekly basis with Mrs Findlay. This allows your children to reflect on their learning and consider the skills and knowledge they have been developing as well as thinking about their next steps in their learning. You can read their posts on: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/wl/mcps/category/learning-stories/nursery-am/
As you know we had our Care Inspectorate inspection in January 2016 and the report has now been published. You can find a copy in the nursery entrance or on the Care Inspectorate website. The nursery was assessed against four care indicators:
- Quality of care and support – Very good
- Quality of environment – Good
- Quality of staffing – Very good
- Quality of Management and Leadership – Very good
The report recognised that staff worked hard to improve the aesthetics and create a pleasant environment in the nursery and that there are plans in place to build a new nursery building. On that note I have received an update that work on our nursery building will start at the summer.
Fiona Barber
Nursery Teacher
