Transition – St Ninian's Primary School

P7 Weekly Round Up!

Another busy week in P7!

Weekly Highlights

This week has marked the end of our Big Build competition entry preparation. It has been a busy few weeks for the children involved, who have given up lunchtimes and any free class time to get it all organised! Mrs Scott has led this project with the P7 group and had Ian from Crudden homes in on Wednesday to discuss the progress and organise a visit to take final photos and have a presentation on the ideas behind the Big Build.

We also had our second transition visit this week with Group B – we enjoyed a science lesson with Dr McAllister and a swimming session in the pool where we made our way across the breadth of the pool and back, then competed in teams to collect the most ‘sinkers’.

In numeracy this week we continue to work on addition and subtraction and discuss, explore and experiment with different strategies, always aiming for accuracy. We finished our week by revising the rules of the standard written algorithm (tower sum, chimney sum) for addition and are beginning to use this mathematical language as we move forward. Perhaps you could have a timed challenge working out 3/4/5 digit addition against each other at home this weekend?

In literacy this week we took part in the Book Week Scotland activities by entering the Scottish Book Trust 50 word fiction competition – we used our writing lesson to recap the rules of a narrative and used the context of a conversation to write our entries. The competition is available to adults and children and the context changes on a monthly basis. If you would like to enter the competition yourself you can do so at this link;

https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/50-word-fiction

Pupil Voice

Mirren At transition we did swimming and science and it was really fun!

Aleks At transition we did lots of fun stuff in science about a bunsen burner.

Brooke We had to plug the rubber cord into the gas tap and then you push it down and turn it then the same person or the other person would light it with the lighter.

Daniel We did the 50 word story and it was fun.

Finlay In maths we used numeracy skills to do tower sums but we are calling them something different

Mirren We used leadership skills to help the nursery with PE.

Daniel We used teamwork in science (transition) when we had to figure out whether cotton, felt or bubble wrap kept the water warm (Brooke an insulator). We used a silver cup which would usually make the water cool down.

Learning at home

This weekend please take the time to read for enjoyment – we used book week Scotland to launch our new class reading challenge – we are going to try to read to the height of Mrs Conway. Every time we finish a book we will draw around the spine of it and add it to the ‘pile’ by sticking it on the wall – Mrs Conway has agreed a whole class treat if we get to the target by June!

Remember to keep up to date with us on Twitter!

Group B had a wonderful first transition experience today @StMargaretsAcad – Dr McAllister taught us all about the science labs and we had a swimming session too! #stninianskidscan #transition pic.twitter.com/0lXP3zmv2g

— Saint Ninian's PS (@StNinianPS) November 20, 2019

Nursery News

We are fast approaching the end of May !!! and what a week we’ve had!

Pond visits, Library visits and Parent consultations all go go go.

Monday was a holiday and we landed straight into Tuesday with a visit to the Lanthorn Library. The children sit and listen to a book then have the opportunity to choose a book of their own to have a look at. Children are then invited to share their learning and stand up in front of the group to talk about what they have read. On the way home from the pond we popped over to check on our baby Cygnets. They were in the water already!!

Our teaching student Miss Young joined us this morning for a two week placement, I’m sure she will love her St Ninian’s Nursery experience as much as we do.

On Wednesday we had another visit to the Swans, but this time we took them some sweet corn. We had to be very quiet and very respectful as the Swans were very anxious with us beside the Cygnets.

Parent Consultations were very well attended and a great success. Thank you all so much for your continued support and kindness over the last session.

Thursday is P.E day with Mr McCurdy, today we were practicing throwing a bean bag and the correct stance needed to throw them a long way.

Friday gave us the chance to watch the mini glee club perform their latest songs. We all had great fun listening and watching the children sing so beautifully!!

Have a great weekend everyone lots of smiles and laughter from the Nursery Team xxx

NEXT WEEK

MONDAY – TRANSITION TO P1, THE CHILDREN WILL BE OUT FOR PLAYTIME TODAY CAN YOU PLEASE PROVIDE A SMALL HANDHELD SNACK.

TUESDAY –

WEDNESDAY – WELLY WEDNESDAY

TRANSITION CHILDREN WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE A FOOTBALL SESSION WITH THEIR BUDDY TODAY.

THURSDAY – P.E

FRIDAY – ASSEMBLY PEEPs

NURSERY NEWS

What a wonderful week we have had in the nursery this week. The weather has been fantastic and has given us all great fun experiences in our garden and out to the trim trail.

Come back and play has been a great success thanks to all of the parents and carers who found the time to come along and share our learning in the nursery.

Our area manager Miss McClory was around this week and will be next week too. She is loving her time in our nursery and loves welly Wednesday!!

The children moving on to P1 had transition on Monday. The groups visited both classrooms and were given the experience of literacy and numeracy activities with Miss Boyes and Mrs Davenport.

We celebrated Sophia’s 4th birthday on Monday too.

Welly Wednesday was a bit different this week we had a play on our Trim trail track at the front of the school. We then had a picnic snack in the sunshine. Please remember to apply sunscreen at this time of the year and a hat to keep them safe.

The Swans have had Babies!! We had a walk along on Friday to see how many and give them some of our left over snack. We had a look on our smart board to find out what Cygnets like to eat. We found out they like to have sweetcorn. The children will visit the local shop next week to buy some to take with us on Welly Wednesday. The female Swan is called a ‘pen’ and the male is a ‘cob’ and they eat sweetcorn 🙂

Have a fantastic fun filled weekend!! Remember Monday is a Holiday and we will see you all back here on Tuesday xx

NEXT WEEK IN NURSERY

MONDAY – HOLIDAY

TUESDAY – 9.30 and 1.30 LIBRARY VISIT, Please dress for the weather.

WEDNESDAY – WELLY WEDNESDAY, A BIT EARLIER THIS WEEK 8.30AM AND 12.15 PM. Transition 10am and 2.15pm. PARENTS EVENING -5-8PM PLEASE contact the office if you have any issues signing up for an appointment.

THURSDAY – P.E with Mr McCurdy. PARENTS CONSULTATIONS 3.15 – 5.15.

FRIDAY – PEEPs

NURSERY NEWS

WELCOME BACK \o/

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter break and are all ready for the last term!!

We started the week on Tuesday welcoming everyone back and finding out what we did over the holidays.

Welly Wednesday was much warmer than our last one in the snow. We were joined by primary 1 in the woods to look for Goldilocks and the 3 bears. The nursery children took responsibility to look after the P1 children by telling them the boundaries we have in the woods. We had to find the 3 bears that were hidden in the woods. The children had great fun running around using their senses to find the bears. Children made their way back to the nursery garden and had pom bear snack to finish the session.

Thursdays P.E lesson was outdoors up on the field. The children were given the opportunity to take part in Athletics, a relay race and laps of the track.

Friday came so quickly, we went to the Assembly and found out about being resilient and how important it is to be a good friend and “a back up” for others in the nursery and the school.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!!

NEXT WEEK IN NURSERY

MONDAY – 3 new children will be joining our nursery. We would like to welcome Francis, Logan and Katy to our family x

TUESDAY – TRANSITION AM red and blue to P 1D for SWAY green P1B/ PM red and blue P1B SWAY green P1D.

WEDNESDAY – WELLY WEDNESDAY please ensure your child is appropriately dressed for the weather. P1 Information evening 6pm.

THURSDAY – P.E.

FRIDAY – Assembly 10am

NURSERY NEWS

The new furniture and resources have been well received by the children in the nursery. The atmosphere is very calm and the children are embracing the new learning experiences and life skills available to them. Children are now responsible for their own snack and wash their own dishes when they are finished snack. This promotes independence and confident individuals.

Transition this week gave each child making the move to school the experience of playing in the P1 classrooms. The children interacted with the P1 children and were all very comfortable in their new surroundings.

Welly Wednesday was fun this week, we were litter picking and taking care of our local environment. We also had the chance to look for signs of Spring in out local woods. We found Daffodils growing and a bumble bee!

Natural resources and independence of thinking is preparing our children to be responsible citizens of the future and successful learners at school.

Have a lovely weekend everybody!!!

NEXT WEEK IN NURSERY

MONDAY –

TUESDAY – ACHIEVEMENT ASSEMBLY, If your child has achieved any awards or certificates please bring them in so we can celebrate their success with the whole school.

WEDNESDAY – FIVE SISTERS ZOO TRIP!! ALL CHILDREN (AM AND PM) ARE ALL GOING TOGETHER. PLEASE COME TO NURSERY FOR 9AM WITH A PACKED LUNCH, CHANGE OF CLOTHES AND CLOTHING SUITABLE FOR THE WEATHER.

PACKED LUNCH SUGGESTIONS

SANDWICH
FRUIT
DRINK
SNACK

ALL CHILDREN (AM AND PM) SHOULD BE COLLECTED AT 2pm from the nursery.

THURSDAY –

FRIDAY – PEEPs

Nursery News

This week in nursery we have met our buddies, gone on a bug hunt and looked for signs of Spring. Thursday was windy ! The weather is certainly colder! The children have been using our outdoor literacy to decide what the weather is like in the garden.

Amelie was so excited to meet her buddy on Monday and show her around the nursery.

Sophie celebrated her birthday on Monday, Mrs Mushet was happy!!

On Tuesday we visited the library and brought back a book about a scared spider.

This gave us an idea to look for bugs on our welly walk this week.

We found spiders, slugs and a centipede. There were signs of Spring in woods, we saw flowers beginning to grow and will check next week to see if they have flowered.

The afternoon children decided to make signs on the path “so we know which way to come back” They used chalk to draw signs on the path and then discovered that they could make patterns in the mud with their wellies too.

We celebrated Mahnoor’s birthday on Thursday in the nursery.

and Friday?? fun fun fun and PEEPs to end off the week xx

Have a lovely weekend everybody. Snow is forecast so wrap up warm !!

From the nursery team xx

NEXT WEEK

MONDAY – RED GROUP TOP1 FOR TRANSITION.

TUESDAY- BLUE GROUP TO P1 FOR TRANSISTION

WEDNESDAY- WELLY WEDNESDAY, please come dressed in waterproof clothing

THURSDAY- GREEN GROUP TO P1 FOR TRANSITION

FRIDAY-PEEP SESSION 5

NURSERY NEWS

A fun packed week this week in the nursery. Children were busy busy all week. We have new dishes in the snack area, the children now have china cups and plates to have their food on each day. Any donations of small side plates and little cups would be great receives as we move away from plastic to a more Froebelian approach to nursery.

Transition started this week, all of the children moving on to P1 this August had the chance to visit the P1 classrooms and see where they hang their coats etc. Everyone was so excited and happy to have a look around. For world book day the children from each session visited for a story.

We celebrated pancake day on Tuesday, children had pancakes for snack and had the opportunity to toss the pancake at the end of the sessions.

On Wednesday the weather was vert wet and the children remembered the word boost word soggy as we splashed through the puddles and played Pooh Sticks at the Lanthorn bridge. Primary 3 visited us on Wednesday to share their fabulous bedtime stories with us and Thursday and Friday was World Book Day for our children we were all in our pyjamas and went to visit primary one to share a story they had bought from Waterstones the book shop.

fantastic learning experiences!!

NEXT WEEK

MONDAY – MEET THE BUDDIES

TUESDAY- LIBRARY VISIT, DRESS APPROPRIATELY FOR THE WEATHER

WEDNESDAY- WELLY WEDNESDAY, WATERPROOF CLOTHING PLEASE

THURSDAY –

FRIDAY- PEEP SESSION 4

Have a wonderful weekend !! from the nursery team xx

NURSERY NEWS

What a wonderful family wellbeing week we had as our Parents came back to play and find out more about their childs experiences in nursery. For this come back and play experience we wanted to include our values. Each day the children explored what each value meant as we discussed these in a child friendly way with parents too.

Monday was LOVE, where children painted their hands and we discussed “who they love”. Some parents got in on the action too!!

Tuesday was KINDNESS day, Children were asked “what is kindness?” their voice were recorded and are on display on our values wall.

Wednesday was FRIENDSHIP where we promoted the importance of friendship and looking after each other on our Welly Wednesday Walk, and discussed who were our friends in nursery.

Thursday was HAPPINESS day, the children were to think of what made them happy and to think about feelings. Some children painted pictures of themselves “happy” and these are now in pride of place on our Values display in nursery.

There was no PEEP class on Friday, but this will be back this week coming on Friday 22/2/19.

NEXT WEEK

MONDAY – HOLIDAY

TUESDAY- IN SERVICE DAY

WEDNESDAY – ALL RESUME, WELLY WEDNESDAY PLEASE REMEMBER WATERPROOF COATS AND FOOTWEAR

THURSDAY –

FRIDAY – ASSEMBLY AND PEEP STARTS BACK \0/

Our P1 transition programme is beginning this month with a visit to the P1 class for World Book Day, the 28th and 29th of February. This will involve all the children listening to a story read by the P1 teacher to the children. A transition booklet and letter is to follow with all the details and dates you will need for your diary.

Hope you have all had a lovely holiday weekend!!

from the Nursery Team x

Nursery News

St Ninian’s Nursery has been a hive of activity this week!

Our boys and girls who are off to school in August have had an exciting week! On Tuesday, there were transition carousels in P1 classes – this gave the boys and girls a feel for how they will learn when they get into P1. The P1 pupils did a great job of modelling, showing them the ropes in the big school! There was much excitement during these activities, which helps to build the transition to P1 into a positive time of change in our children’s lives! We have also had buddy visits this week – this is a highlight for our boys and girls, who regularly ask ‘is my buddy coming down today?!’. It has been lovely to watch the relationships between the children and their buddies blossom over the weeks 🙂 next week, we have PLAYTIME for transition! On Tuesday, the P1 boys and girls (and buddies) will come to the nursery garden for a ‘playtime’. And on Thursday, they will go to the infant playground for a ‘playtime’, again with the P1s and their buddies. Preschool children should bring a small snack on these days to practice eating, playing, chatting all in the one! A drink is not necessary as they will have milk/water available in nursery beforehand, and when they get to school they will be able to have a water bottle in their classroom and milk after playtime.

In addition to all of this, the P1 classes have been finalised and the children now know which teacher they will have in August 🙂 Miss Boyes and Mrs Davenport (who used to be called Miss Meechan!) are very much looking forward to meeting their new pupils and their families.

Our interest in the garden has multiplied since the beginning of this beautiful weather spell! We have more than made the most of the lovely sunshine as we have scooted, climbed, ran, rolled and chalked all over the garden! Our welly Wednesday focus this week was chalk drawings.. we love to look at mark making in different ways and chalking was one of the suggested activities for our welly Wednesday sessions! By the end of the day there wasn’t an inch of garden that was untouched by chalk! We look to build mark making skills from basic shapes and lines, to more controlled written numbers, letters and detailed drawings. Which stage is your child at? Have they access to mark making materials at home? Share your views with your child’s key worker to see if, together, we can help them build their skills and confidence in this area 🙂

Jelly proved to be a very popular snack this week! The boys and girls loved talking about how it felt, with some of the AM boys and girls keen to play with it! On Friday we had jelly play and a sensory walk in the garden. The language and vocabulary around this play was fascinating – gooey, cold, gloopy, slidy! Great job boys and girls, maybe this type of messy play will make a reappearance sometime soon!

Make sure to consult our weekly update for all the details about wellbeing week next week – parent and child bootcamp begins at 8am on Monday morning on the school field. Mrs Conway and Mrs Martinek will be attending with their own children – will you join them? Letters will come home on Monday about our family wellbeing festival on Thursday evening (6-7.30pm) – it is set to be a highlight of the term with lots of interesting activities planned – make sure to get you choices handed back asap to ensure you get your first choice of workshops!

Have a lovely weekend!

Transition – Initial Sounds

As part of our Nursery-P1 transition programme, we begin to build children’s awareness of some initial sounds. A ‘sound’ is how we describe learning letters of the alphabet, with a focus on how the sound is made, as opposed to the capital letter name. Over the coming weeks, we will have a fortnightly ‘sound’ focus to expose children to the building blocks of reading and literacy development.

This video, until around 1m 30s, explains ‘phonics’ and gives an insight into how children can be taught to read;

Children show awareness of and interest in sounds and letters from various ages, some children keen to find letters in their name, some begin to form letters when drawing. All children make sounds when they speak, some finding it easier than others. When we speak about ‘sounds’ we are talking about the sound the letter makes; the letter ‘M’ makes the ‘mmmmmmm’ sound, but is called ‘EM’. Some children can name capital letter names, but are unaware of the ‘sound’ a letter makes; we focus on sounds to aid children in the beginning stages of reading.

The below video illustrates the importance of not adding an ‘uh’ to the end of the sounds; although we don’t use this resource to teach phonics, it is interesting to hear how the pure sounds are made…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYx1CyDMZSc

The purpose of our focus on initial sounds in nursery is not to ‘teach’ children about them ,but to offer them exposure to this exciting learning context and allow them to begin to hear and understand the language of literacy learning. Over the coming weeks we will look at the following sounds;

18/04/18 M

02/05/18 C

16/05/18 P

30/05/18 S

The reason we choose these sounds to begin with is that each sound is made with a different part of the mouth. When you make the ‘sound’ you will feel that you use different parts of your mouth, we will begin to show the children that these sounds are made in different ways. Making the sound and hearing the sound in nursery will help to focus children on the formal learning of initial sounds when they enter P1 in August, where these sounds will be recapped in various active learning environments.

How can you support your child at home?

Answer questions they have.. ask a member of the nursery team if you are unsure about anything, we are happy to support in any way we can.

Play games with them.. I Spy is a great one for initial sounds, or even asking the question ‘Can you find something that starts with mmmmmmm?’

Draw, read, talk – expose your child to sounds in the environment, do they know what letters are in their name? Do they know a ‘s’ looks like a snake? Can they make the sounds with the right part of their mouth?

Children all learn at different paces and in different ways, look at where your child is in their acknowledgement and engagement with initial sounds and join them there 🙂