What’s happening on Thursday 15th December….

On Thursday all children will be invited to share a lunch with their friends. St Mary’s kitchen in Polbeth will be providing a scrumptious lunch for everyone: choice of turkey, steak pie or pasta along with the tasty trimmings. Afternoon children including those who attend for their short session will be served from 12:45 pm. Morning and all day children will have their lunch at their usual time. So no change for pick up times.

Party Time on Friday 16th December….

All children are warmly invited to come along for their Christmas party being held in Addiewell Community Centre at 9:30 am. If your child doesn’t attend nursery on a Friday morning could a parent drop their child off at the community centre for 9:30 am and collect them afterwards 11:30 am at the Community Centre. For more information please see our notice board.

Last week we did….

Well, they were really busy writing their letter to Santa.
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Friday was the deadline for all letters to be posted, however, on Thursday some children posted this very important envelope filled with all those precious letters at the local post office. Lots of time for Santa to read… You never know what he will do next. Ummmmmm

Through the week children had the opportunity to practice cutting Santa’s beard as they thought he could do with a wee tidy up for the important day.

And the flutter of snow inspired us to have our own snowman however it needed some eyes, nose and buttons to make it look smart for it’s own party.

… and lets not forget decorating our Christmas tree

On that note we would like to wish everyone a happy holiday. May you all find some kindness, joy and health for the coming year.

Nursery will resume on Monday 9th January 2023

Ho… Ho… Ho…

It is that time again, where children have been slowly building up talking about Christmas. Really, it’s been from October and it has steadily grown from then. Now we are full of the festive cheer and children are very excited.

We had a special event today (Thursday) as we were invited to watch the Christmas Tree lights switch on at Addiewell Community Garden. “Santa will come now!!” and “I like the blue lights.” “Santa can see us.” So apologies to anyone who was trying to keep things a little quiet, let the fun begin…

We have also had songs playing in the background inside nursery. Some of the children have sung A few of the older traditional songs. We will be learning some songs, so if you hear singing at home join in with your child. Its great fun.

Party Time
Our Christmas party is on the 16th December and all children are invited to attend. We know it is a Friday and this year we will join P1 in school to share in the festivities. If it isn’t your child’s usual day of attendance you can drop them off and collect them at the agreed times. This will be shared nearer the time. So keep a look out for this information.

Nursery Natter Time Again

On Wednesday we have our monthly Nursery Natter at 2:30. Everyone is invited to come along for a cup of tea or coffee and usually we have a choice of biscuits too. It has been attended by a few parents however, the more the merrier.

You can hear about what’s happening in nursery! What’s happening in the village! Last time one parent is sourcing if it is possible for wee ones to play football and to see if there may be new activities/clubs for your child to attend after nursery.
Come along and see the talents you and others have and can share with each other. It’s a get together. Nothing formal. Just a friendly chat.

Christmas Potato

How is the potato growing? Can you see the green shoots? Remember to shore them up with more soil. You can wrap the bag with newspaper or hay if you have a rabbit, to protect the potatoes from the cold as the frost has finally arrived. Remember to take a photo or two to share with everyone. Our potatoes are growing nicely. Fingers crossed they will be in time for Christmas.

Hats, Hats Glorious Hats

Just a reminder, we are finding lots of hats and gloves and we would like to return them. Can we ask that names be included in all your child’s clothing as well as bringing into nursery a change of clothes for that water play accident. We have some clothes but not a lot.

If you recognise any hat as belonging to your child or you are missing one, please say to a member of staff to show you our collection.

Winter Wonderland

The PTA have kindly organised a Winter Wonderland event. This takes place next Tuesday: 6th December at 1:30 in the Community Centre. No need to worry if your child isn’t in at this time as every child will receive a gift.

A letter has been sent out to all families regarding Loose Parts requesting some bits ‘n’ bobs. This is a great time for clearing the house, making space for the arrival of new bits ‘n’ bobs. Instead of throwing away, please collect and give to the nursery. Just think how you are contributing to the maintenance of the environment rather than throwing away into landfill.

Well this week children have been talking about Halloween and Bon fire night.Both are festivals celebrated at the end of Autumn as we prepare for winter with long days of darkness.

Children have been listening to stories about witches and little monsters and they shared with us what they were getting dressed up as. They actually appeared to have a fun time going trick and treating.

Keeping safe for Bonfire Night

This week-end is Bon Fire Night and we have given parents a copy of the firework code as well as other tips in keeping safe. We hope everyone keeps safe and enjoys the night sky with an array of colours exploding across the darkness. If you are visiting an organised site please remember to keep a safe distance and wrap up warmly.
In nursery children have had the opportunity to listen and watch Frances the firefly. An old favourite with some staff as they recall their youth.
Please see link

Some children had been talking about keeping safe at this time of year recognising “It can be dangerous.” It should also be noted not all children enjoy this time as noises and the number of people can be a little bit frightening. One child said, “I don’t like this. I get scared.” And of course if you have a pet, please keep them indoors as they get frightened too.

What is happening this week – For those of you who returned the NHS letter given out in September, a reminder that Child Smile is visiting nursery to put a fluoride varnish to protect little teeth. All children have an opportunity to brush their teeth in nursery and most children are eager to do this. They are learning how important this is in looking after their teeth.

A change in our story, as children return to the Gingerbread Man. This is a favourite for them. We see lots of animation and recall and retelling of this story using props. Ask your child if they know the story or song. No running away from this one…

A copy of the story …

Create your own Gingerbread Man, just follow the recipe and please add any comments or/and photographs you may have… go on have a shot. They’re scrumptious.

Welcome to Addiewell Nursery Bog.

We have been busy, but quietly so through the last couple of months. New families have started nursery and some are returning. Almost all children have settled in really well and are busy exploring all the areas of the nursery. Like previous years the outdoors still hold great appeal to the children as they explore and discover the outdoor environment…. you may have already seen them walking around the village.

What have we been doing…

As I said most children are settled into nursery and hopefully parents will have a link to their child’s Learner’s Journal to view and add their own child’s home learning experiences – if not please say to member of staff and we will sort this out.
What is a Learner’s Journal? This is a working document staff use to write observations about children in the nursery, capturing and recording their experiences across a range outcomes.

We have explored shapes inside and outdoors and we are discovering shapes are EVERYWHERE, and we are still learning to describe them. At home you can support your child by playing some games, like I spy… Use language such as curved, straight lines, corners. Play a guessing game, select a few objects, start of easy, and then either hide one or cover up of which shape is missing…

Addiewell Nursery are looking for further ways for families and staff to create stronger links to support each child. If you have any ideas on how we can do this please add to the suggestion box we have displayed on the nursery gate.

So far we have had…

… Stay and Play Week . It was wonderful seeing all the parents playing with their child(ren). We have other planned Stay and Play dates for later in the year.

This is a fantastic opportunity for you to come to nursery and play with your child. You can see how confident they are in their ‘own’ environment with no mum and dad to watch and see what mischief they may be making. If you haven’t signed up for any day yet, please do so. There is a form inside the entrance where you can put your name. We are allowed up to 7 adults per session and there are sessions throughout the week and available both in the morning and afternoon. If you can’t make it don’t worry there will be other opportunities throughout the rest of the year. Remember we look forward for you to pop along, it’s only for 1 hour. Keep a look out for future dates.

We are discovering Autumn and you will see us traipsing around the community looking for signs of Autumn. We will have our clip board with us to record some of our discoveries as well as bringing into nursery some of findings.

You can support this by going on your own Autumn Discovery, just remember to wrap up warmly even though there may be some blue sky it is still pretty chilly. If you do discover something, bring it to nursery and your child can share it with all their friends. It is amazing what you can find in the most unexpected places…

Addiewell Nursery are starting a new way to celebrate our children’s achievements. The name we have adopted summarises our thoughts of how brilliant children are: Addiewell Achievers. A letter has been sent home with more details asking for families to share your child’s achievements with everyone in nursery: children, staff and visitors. When you say what your child has done to make you feel proud, write it down and add it to our ‘tree’ or say to a member of staff and we can pop it down. This will then be shared with everyone during our get together time and stamped and displayed to let everyone know how great your child is. Your child will receive a sticker and a certificate – so look out for these. We will be looking in nursery for that little spark where your child may have achieved something they may have found challenging.

Nursery Natter was held at the start of October and we had some new families attending. It was great to make the connection and to build positive relationships as we all want the best for all our children. We are open to suggestions for a time and place as we understand that walking here to nursery and if your child isn’t in on at this time or day can make it rather trying to attend. One gran who is the manager of our local Addiewell Club, suggested we could may be meet there if it is more convenient. Please any suggestions are more than welcome.
We had a brilliant time after the initial introduction from staff where we discovered that though families live in Addiewell not everyone knows everyone in the village as they may be working throughout the week and then they catch up at week ends with house work, shopping etc. So this is the perfect opportunity to get to know other families. Our next meet is October 26th and it’s in the morning too, so everyone has the opportunity to come along for a cup of tea and a natter.

School Photographer – November 4th is photo day. Further details will follow such as where they’re happening, though it will probably be in the Community Centre. We will try our very best to get family photos as well as individual ones.

Parent Consultation

In November we are planning on having our Parent Consultation:aka Parent’s Night. This is another opportunity where you can get to know your child’s Key Worker. We are continuing with how we did it previously as it appeared to work well. It is very relaxed and informal where you can have your say with your child’s key worker and they will share their findings too. This will be held inside the nursery reception area.

You may have noticed a mail box attached to the nursery fence. The reason for this post box is to act as another way for you to communicate with us. It is intended for you to pop in a suggestion, thought, comment. You don’t need to add your name so it is anonymous. Your thoughts matter to us as you know what your child wants and needs and your perspective is very much valued as to how we can support and meet the needs of all children.Post It notes can be found in the entrance way of the nursery: on one of the blue shelves.

NHS Child Smile – Just a quick reminder to return all forms for permission for tooth varnishing. This can save a lot of pain if your child ever has the need for fillings as it coats molars and gives more protection to avoid those nasty cavities. In nursery we promote Child Smile tooth Brushing programme where children have the opportunity to brush their teeth.

Dates for your Diary

Nursery Natter – October 26th 10:30 – 11:30. All are very welcome
Photographer – November 4th 2022
Child Smile – Tooth Varnishing November 10th.
Parent Consultation – November – Wk(s) beg. 21st & 28th.
December 26th 2022 – January 9th 2023 nursery will be closed for this holiday
January 9TH 2023 – We resume our usual session times

Nursery Appeal
As we all know the weather is rather chilly and rain is expected more often. Can we ask if you have any ‘good’ spare socks or other clothing can you please donate them. Children do so love puddles and mud.

Hello everyone, as school holidays quickly approach we would like to remind everyone that nursery is still open over the next 7 weeks. This includes children who are going to start primary school in August. As previously stated these children can be in nursery until Friday 12th August 2022. They will then start school on Tuesday 16th August 2022.

Over the last couple of weeks we have been really busy in nursery. Can we congratulate children for their performance last Friday (June 17th 2022) as they un-officially say goodbye to nursery and hello to starting school in August. All children were fantastic and appeared to have a fun time for their Leaver’s Assembly.

This week we have started a new focus: The tiger who came to tea, where children have been exploring outdoors in the community looking for an ideal location to hold our very own tea party…. perhaps a tiger may appear too and even an adult will be invited to this magical tea party. So when the children have discovered this magical area invitations will be sent home.

As you can see they have been trying everything out to make it fun for them and the tiger…

Children enjoyed stretching themselves and decided to create shapes using their shadows.

Some children have been entranced by this story and want it read all the time. Please feel free to read or even watch this story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkljSC9mBas

Furthermore, through this story we have been discovering about patterns (stripes) where we will be reading:
Lucy Cousin’s Hooray for Fish
This story is a great way of introducing patterns and children love to share their own thoughts and suggestions. The illustrations are big and bold and a pattern for everyone.

We will also be looking at measurement – some have already started by discovering a metre stick and comparing their own height to that of their friends. Further opportunities will continue next week as children will be making some healthy and delicious snacks before choosing what they wish for their tea party.

We invite parents to do some “homework” with their child through discovering one fact about either a tiger or a creature your child likes. We had one talking about a snake – not my favourite creature but it certainly is with this child.

We have also been learning some ball skills in the Community Hub- we may even have some future basketball players as some children has demonstrated excellent hand and eye coordination as they dunk some shots into the hoop.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ….

As summer progresses and though we may not have that many glorious sunny days, they are warmer than previously. Can we ask for those parents who have NOT supplied us with sun cream, can they do so. We are so conscious of how easily we all can get burned from the sun: especially young children that we are limiting the times which children can explore outdoors – even morning children. The sun is terrific and full of vitamin D, essential for our well-being, however by 10am harmful rays will burn unprotected skin very easily and quickly. We have no hesitation in applying the cream but we do ask if you can supply it as some brands may cause a negative reaction.

Dates for your diary –

You will be pleased to note nothing is in our diary for the near future so we are quite quiet… at the moment.
We will have new children starting from August for the next session – we wish them and their families a happy time.

Hello everyone, what a quick week it has been so far…. Perhaps finally having some warmth and sunshine has boosted us up – at least the temperature is now in double figures rather than 6 degrees I’ve experienced this week.

Boats and whales have still been focused on with some children matching different species/types to a chart which was put up to further develop their learning.

Some children were also making boats using different materials and seeing how to make them move rather than just analysing if they sink or float. Using elastic bands and a home made propeller some boats shot across the water.

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Our challenge for them and you is to see if you can make your own boat and see if you can make it move. I have attached a short clip to get you started.

Make your own boat

Buddies

We had a surprise visit this morning from P6/5 as they joined us for a fun time in the garden. As you can see both the primary children and our own had a great, even an amazing time. I’m not too sure though who enjoyed the nursery more. I heard one older child saying “I came here and it wasn’t like this. This is fun.”

We’re sure you agree all children looks like they had a super time.

Buddy Visits

From next week and until the end of the school year, P6/5 will visit children on a Wednesday afternoon and a Thursday morning so hopefully everyone will have a chance to meet, greet and mingle with their buddies.

Holiday’s

It seems like it was only a short time before schools were closing for their holidays last year and in a few weeks it is that time again. As you know we are remaining open for your child to attend if you chose to do bring them. Our Central Team has sent out a quick answer form asking if you have any planned holidays. Thank you to all who have either completed the form or said to a staff member where we will forward this information.

For parent’s whose child will start school in August, we would like to say your child can attend nursery until Friday 12th August or their usual last day for this week. They will start school on Tuesday as Monday is generally an In-service day.

As we expecting sunny weather – my fingers are continuously crossed (all year), it is essential for children to have the correct clothing and be protected from the harmful rays of sunshine. Could we therefore ask if you can supply us with sun-cream for us to apply this lotion throughout their session. We can add their name so there will be no mix up. We do have some sunhats with a neck cover to provide some protection and we do watch times children are out. But we all know applying sun-cream is the best protection.

Transition

All parents whose child is going to school will have had their forms from the school. Mrs McGregor has asked if you are intending to buy a school uniform from us, could you hand in your order forms asap if you want your child to attend their first day wearing a school uniform. It does take some time for uniforms to arrive.

More details as to the Leaver’s Assembly will follow in next week’s Blog. It is on Friday 17th June and hopefully it will take place in the school hall.

Nursery Natter

Tuesday 7th June is our “natter” time. If you wish to join us that will be fantastic. We will let you know if we are meeting face to face for a cup of tea and biscuit or perhaps on Teams. So if you have that question you wish answered or something to share, please come along. This is your time to meet everyone. We can share ideas or suggestions to help move things forward. What time ? Well it is at 2pm!

Hello to everyone,

This week the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears has been in all areas of our nursery. Children have been exploring porridge, measuring how many spoons it takes to fill the three different sized bowls. They also discovered it is absorbent as they first “fed the fish” in the water tray and then continued this by adding water to the tray of porridge and then continuing to add water- “Yuk!” “It’s sticky!” “It’s stuck to me” and “What happened?” was frequently heard. Though their hands were covered in soggy porridge they did enjoy this experience.
Children retold the story in the home corner, using puppets and other props to create their own Bear’s house. Let us not forget the outdoor area as crates have mobilised to make chairs for the bears and children still retell this wonderful story. This story also focused on the language of mathematics with differentiation of sizes such as big and biggest or small, middle and large.

Continuing from our water focus children have been creating boats and testing them out to see if they sink or float. Those who made boats out of paper/cardboard recognised that their boat floats to start off with but depending on size will sink “’cause it got wet and the water made the paper all soft.”

The primary schools had invited Jidel Judo 93 into the community centre and we were lucky to be be included too for a wee taster session in the morning. Most children were very keen to participate and were certainly enthusiastic in following instructions. John was the instructor and Anna supported him in demonstrating some of their moves such as “Link sausages”. Both John and Anna were impressed how children worked collaboratively to do this as it requires concentration and team work. Well done everyone.
Children thoroughly enjoyed their time and left saying, “That was great, I really enjoyed it!” and “That was super cool”. Though John doesn’t do Judo for under fives, he was impressed with the hall and said he may start up a class on a Tuesday night in August – we have some flyers if anyone is interested.

Our snack menu is changing from June 6th 2022 as we can longer buy supplies from Tesco. But don’t worry our food will still be fresh and nutritious as we continue to follow the guidelines in place from the NHS Setting the Table.

Dates for your Diary

Monday 30t May Parent Consultation starts for the next two weeks.

Friday June 3rd 2022 nursery will be CLOSED for celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee. This is the last time the nursery will be closed until December.

Thursday June 2nd 2022 a change to our Lunch Menu as West Lothian Council kick off this event with a royal theme meal.

Friday 17th June Leaver’s Assembly (Graduation) for children going to school in August.

Good day to everyone, thankfully the weather started off cold and miserable, hardly showing that next month will be summer!but it has ended with with the promise of warm sunny weather.

As was mentioned last week children have been focusing on creature under the water. Children have been exploring the Artic and the Antarctic as they touch on Penguins and Polar bears. Most recognise penguins are ‘down the bottom’ ( South of the equator: Artic) and polar bears are ‘up on top.’

All children had the opportunity to explore squids and their cousins octopus. Most children were saying “Yuk!’, ‘It’s disgusting!!” or “It smells”. However some children were highly engaged in investigating these creatures. Lots of interest and learning occurred as you can see from the photographs.

As you can see they discovered both the squid and octopus has two teeth (one lower and upper) and it looks like a parrots beak. Their arms have only one row of suckers and the octopus will actually eat their cousins along with crabs, mussels etc. They also learned that both are invertebrates and they are challenged to discover other creatures which are also boneless. You can support them by giving some answers.

Further learning took part as children explored ice and water linking it to penguins and polar bears living on opposite sides of the world.

Addiewell Community Garden

Huge thank you for Liz and Robert from our Community Garden. They kindly invited us last week to bring children to plant bulbs in their garden in a raised bed.
Liz and Robert and they have planned this amazing garden. You can certainly see lots of work has gone into this and they rely on volunteers (which they are looking for more) which they have two others from the community so far. The garden is beginning to flower with some bulbs and plants.
On a beautiful and sunny day all the children freely explored and discovered activities which they played with sitting on picnic benches having a great time. All children planted and watered a bulb and hopefully we will soon see more colours in the garden. It is hoped the garden will be open to everyone in the community where they can sit, relax and be calm in the this idyllic area. Thank you again for a wonderful time.

Transition
This is going really well as most children met P6 children who will be their buddies from August. They also had another visit into the classroom where all children were excited going and returned with huge smiles. On Wednesday 25th at 6pm parents are invited to an information evening where Mrs Brown will share information about transition and starting P1. All parents are very warmly welcomed.

Sunny Weather

Please because of the sunshine can we ask for parents to bring into nursery some sun cream for your child. If you could add your child’s name that would be great however we can add a label.

Please remember we are OPEN on Monday 23rd even though schools are closed.

This is the song I can hear children singing by themselves or in small groups this week in nursery. This song links to our current focus of creatures under the sea/water or lives beside the water or maybe a little bit of both. It’s all about the water and what you can find in it. Children have been highly engaged in discovering and learning about the vast range of creatures. Penguins were the start children needed to start our focus and from there it has grown.

Next week we look forward to discovering more about penguins and perhaps the South Pole.

Children are also learning article 8 from the UNCRC where they are becoming aware that everyone has the right to an identity. Last month it was learning about all children having the right to play where we had some interesting discussions where some thought they could only play one game rather than having time to be free to play. Play promotes learning as we know we are keen to do something if we find it fun.

Transition

We are under way for our transition for children and their families who will be starting school this August. Primary 1 teachers from both schools have already popped in to visit the children so they are becoming familiar with each child and vice versa. Today is the first visit to school where they will stay for an hour (Children who don’t attend nursery on a Friday morning can be collected @ 9.45am). Most children appear to be a little nervous however very excited. Some comments from their return include, “I saw my sister, Abigail”,”I got to play”, “There was playdough”.
Visits to the school will continue for another three weeks. Also, children will visit during the school closure in July so hopefully there wont be any anxious children – just parents.There is an opportunity for parents to visit school on Wednesday 25th May from 6:00 pm to hear about transition.
Please can children be collected from nursery before this time if they are going to school in August.

Baking

With the abundance of strawberries and the fresh taste of pineapple, children had the experience of baking a cake featuring these two ingredients and then eating it as part of our snack. A big thumbs up was the answer from some of our children. All this was thanks to Miss Thomson as part of her college course. She took the additional time of tweaking this recipe so children can enjoy making and eating. She was kind enough to share the original recipe which as you can see includes an assortment of nuts. So if you wish you can bake this at home and share your results on your child’s Learners Journal page.

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Our communication tip for this month is repetition.

Communication is Key calendar 2022 May
A copy of this leaflet can be found in the entrance door of the nursery where you can take a photo of the QR code linking their site to further support our learning through these very useful tips.

Dates for your diary–

Monday 23rd May we are OPEN. Schools are closed for this Victoria day holiday but we remain open.
Wednesday 25th May School Transition Night – parents only.
Friday June 3rd we are CLOSED for today only – Queen’s Jubilee.
Tuesday 7th June Nursery Natter
May/June Meet your child’s key worker (parent’s consultation) DTBC