Our nursery children have been building a house in the outdoor area using the sand and the tools.
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Parent/ Carer Questionnaire
We continually gather the views from our parent/ carers and other partners in a range of ways. We have developed this questionnaire to enable us to seek feedback on specific areas of the life, ethos and culture of our school. We will use the feedback from this questionnaire, the West Lothian Council Ethos Survey and other feedback we have, to celebrate our positives and continue on our improvement journey.
Thank you for taking time to complete this questionnaire.
Nursery Pop in and Play 4
National Digital Learning Week: Developing the Young Workforce
National Digital Learning Week is 13-17th May.
If you have a job/ career/ interest in an aspect of digital technologies we would love for you to come and work with our children during this week. This could be a chat about your job and the skills and knowledge you require, or a workshop to show a class how to use an aspect of digital technology, for example, an app, photography, coding, etc.
Please complete the form below and we will be in touch with you. (Your data will not be shared with others).
Transition from Nursery to Primary 1 for existing Children
Welcome to Pumpherston & Uphall Station Primary School. As your child is in our nursery, they will have already taken part in a range of transition activities during their pre-school year. This term we have organised some extra events to ensure a smooth transition into Primary 1, the details of which are below.
Buddy Time
During their pre-school year Primary 6 children have had weekly sessions in the nursery getting to know the nursery children. This process has allowed your child time to get to know the Primary 6 children, and has given the staff an opportunity to allocate an appropriate buddy. Your child will shortly find out who their P6 buddy will be.
Learning together:
Last term your child had the opportunity to visit the P1 classroom for play and learn sessions, this will continue this term. These sessions give your child the opportunity to experience what learning in Primary 1 will look like, meet other children and staff in the school.
Playground Pals
This term your child will have an opportunity to visit the playground at break time or lunch time to experience what they playground is like. The nursery staff have organised this in liaison with school staff allowing the visits to happen during their time at nursery.
P1 Induction Evening – Meet the Teacher (for parents):
On Tuesday 4th June at 6pm we would like to invite parents/ carers along to find out about what learning and routines are like in P1. You will also receive all your enrolment forms at this time and have a chance to visit the P1 classrooms. If you are unable to attend the induction evening, the PowerPoints will be available on our school blog and you can pick up your induction pack and forms from the office.
Meet the Teacher (for pupils) and Dine Together:
On Tuesday 11th June at 11:00-12pm we invite all our pre-school children to meet their new teacher and class. During this time, parents/ carers are invited to stay for tea and coffee and get to know the other P1 parents.
The morning pre-school children will be brought into the P1 classroom by the nursery staff. Afternoon or new children to the school should meet at the school office at 10:55am.
Following this you will have the opportunity to sample a school lunch with your child (from 12:00pm-12:30pm)A lunch order form is included with this letter, please return to school by 4th June with the money required for an adult lunch. You can also hand these forms in on the induction evening.
Best Start Grant
Best Start Grant is a new package of three payments from Social Security Scotland intended to give extra money to lower income families during the early years of a child’s life.
Applications are already open for the Best Start Pregnancy and Baby payment of £600 for a first child and £300 for subsequent children.
The new Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment is £250 for children aged two to three and a half. Applications open 29 April 2019.
The Best Start School Age payment (a one off payment of £250 available to children due to start P1) – applications open on 3 June 2019.
These grants are separate from the school clothing grants available from West Lothian Council. If eligible you can receive both.
For more information or to check if you are eligible to apply,you can contact West Lothian Council’s Advice Shop 01506 283000 option 4. Or you can apply online at https://www.mygov.scot/best-start-grant/
Nursery Care Inspection Success
As you know, in February our nursery underwent a Care Inspection under the new model of inspection.
They graded us:Â
- Quality of care and support 5 – Very Good
- Quality of management and leadership 4 – Good
Some of the positives from the report included:Â
- We found the nursery to be welcoming with a warm and friendly atmosphere.
- Children experienced kindness and compassion from staff that used physical affection, for example high fives and cuddles, to ensure children felt
supported and secure. - The service provided different opportunities for parents to stay and participate in their child’s nursery experience, including termly ‘stay and play’ sessions.
- A nursery blog, weekly newsletter and online learning journal were in place to share updates with parents.
- Children requiring additional support had individualised plans in place which were subject to regular review.
- Staff worked in partnership with other professionals, such as speech and language therapists and a link educational psychologist to ensure children experienced consistent and stable support.
- It was evident staff valued snack time and understood the learning opportunities and positive experiences it could provide. Children enjoyed an unhurried snack in a relaxed atmosphere with many different conversations and social interaction taking place.
- Children were encouraged to be active and had daily access to a well-equipped nursery garden.
- Â Staff supported children to risk assess independently by teaching them how to make judgments based on their
individual abilities. - Staff told us they felt supported by the senior leadership team and all newly appointed staff confirmed they had a mentor to support their integration into the team.
- Pumpherston and Uphall Station Community Primary School
had experienced a number of recent changes, including staff roles and responsibilities, and their overarching approach to play, learning and development. The changes had been well led and managed, and were having a
positive impact on children. - We found a strong commitment from senior leaders and staff to collegiate working within the setting and wider learning community.
You can read the full report here:
Nursery Care Inspecorate Report 2019
The positive finding of this reports reflects effectively our nursery team work together to provide high quality learning experiences and care for our children.
National Digital Learning Week: Developing the Young Workforce
National Digital Learning Week is 13-17th May.
If you have a job/ career/ interest in an aspect of digital technologies we would love for you to come and work with our children during this week. This could be a chat about your job and the skills and knowledge you require, or a workshop to show a class how to use an aspect of digital technology, for example, an app, photography, coding, etc.
Please complete the form below and we will be in touch with you. (Your data will not be shared with others).
Movies for Magale
On our last day of term Mrs Strachan and the Global Group organised a Movies for Magale Day. Children could opt into a movie they wanted to watch and also dress down in their own clothes.
We raised an amazing £200 for our partner school in Magale. A big well done to the Global Group and to everyone who donated.
Uphall Station Children’s Gala Day
Our school have been invited to take part in the Uphall Station Gala Day on Saturday 8th June. The theme this year is ‘tropical’. All children at our school can attend and walk in the parade to represent our school.
More information to follow.
