Marilyn Li – Page 3

10th May 2017

Nursery News April 2017 Millerfield Place

Nursery News April 2017

Spring Activities

We have had a busy month with lots of spring activities and trips! The Rabbits had a great time at East links on their Spring Trip. Thank you to the parents who came along to help out! We all really enjoyed watching our Living Eggs hatch, all ten eggs hatched giving us 5 girls and 5 boys! The Hedgehogs, Foxes & Rabbits also had lots of fun taking part in Easter crafts and our Easter egg hunt in the garden, and they did really well finding the hidden eggs.

Zoolab

Zoolab came to visit the ground floor this month. We sat really well and listened about all the creatures, we learnt about their life cycle, where they live and what they like to eat. We also got to see and touch (if we wanted to) a snake, toads, giant snails, a tarantula & big cockroaches! All of the children were very good at remembering to wash their hands afterwards!

Forest Schools at Sciennes Woodland

The younger Rabbits & older Foxes had lots of fun exploring the woodland at Sciennes. We had a great time looking for bugs with our magnifying glasses, practicing our balancing on the logs and building dens and swings using tarps and rope. Our next block of Forest schools will include the older Rabbits at Blackford Pond.

Staffing

We are pleased to announce that Katie Gibson has been appointed Deputy Nursery Manager. Katie has been with Meadows since mid 2015 and has spent most of her time on the first floor with the younger children. Katie will now be spending time on the ground floor to continue to develop her knowledge of this age group.

We will sadly be saying goodbye to Irene at the start of June as she is moving back to Spain. We would like to thank Irene for all her very good work during her time at Meadows.

Diary Dates

Wednesday 17 May – Topic session

Monday 22 May – School leavers Doodles trip

5th May 2017

Hedgehogs News April 2017

Hedgehogs News April 2017

The children have been very busy this month getting ready for the Easter bunny. We all got to paint a card for our loved ones and also paint our own bunny ears. We used feathers, sand, paint, glitter and glue to stick everything on and lots of other messy things to decorate them. We all had lots of fun making our own ears. This develops fine motor skills and hand eye coordination.

The children also enjoyed having the baby chicks in the nursery. Watching the chicks hatch was very exciting and the children loved holding the chicks.

We have also had lots of role play using our red and blue building blocks to role play transport such as a bus, train and even a tram. We all got a turn at being the driver, using paper plates for the steering wheel and little wooden blocks for the bus tickets. This is good for the children as they use their imagination and they are also learning to share with each other.

The garden has been lots of fun. We have been playing with the balls and hockey sticks which helps the children to develop hand eye coordination and gross motor skills. We have also been playing lots in our outdoor sand, with lots of measuring jugs, buckets, spades and spoons.

The highlight of the trips this month was the care home visit. We like to do activities with the elderly residents such as drawing and colouring-in, reading books together and also dancing to music.

4th May 20174th May 2017

Rabbits & Foxes News April 2017

Rabbits and Foxes News April 2017

A big welcome to Eric who has joined us in the Rabbits group!

We have been super busy over the last month in Nursery. We finished off learning all about time – this included learning how to tell the time, about the mechanics of clocks and about how to order our routine. Everyone seems to have really enjoyed this topic and have learned a lot!

We have now started our new topic of ‘How Things Grow’. We will be learning about the life cycle of plants, humans and animals. We kicked this topic off with the chicken eggs which we got to see hatch and learn how to take care of. Some of the children were really upset when the chicks got picked up – they must have bonded with them after handling them every day! The staff members will be bringing in baby-adult pictures for the children to try and match up together and we welcome parents to do the same either with themselves or their own children.

The Rabbits had so much fun on their Spring Trip to East Links – it was a very long day but it was so brilliant to spend the time with the children and some of the parents too. We saw and fed all sorts of animals as well as playing on the big fort they have – I think that this was the children’s favourite thing to do as well playing on the Jelly Belly!

The Foxes have been very busy this month, too. They have enjoyed doing their mini Forest Schools sessions at Sciennes which included building a hammock swing and looking for bugs. They have really enjoyed doing some sensory activities as well which included smelly play dough and some textured shaving foam and jelly play.

As well as all of this we have enjoyed several trips out to the Meadows and a lovely visit from Zoo Lab.

The Rabbits and Foxes are all looking forward to another exciting month ahead!

6th April 2017

Rabbits & Foxes News March 2017

Rabbits and Foxes News March 2017

Very Happy Birthday to Remi and Alasdair who both turned 3 this month and to Maisie who is now 4!

This month got off to a great start with our theme “Time”. The children have been exploring all the different topics that go along with Time, with activities that look into the mechanics of clocks and even looking at different stages of our routines here at nursery and in our homes. Various Time displays can be seen throughout the nursery on our display boards.

We have been going on lots of outings this month, exploring what is in our community. This includes our Forest Schools block and our Care Home visits, along with keeping active by doing lots of running around at Enjoy-a-Ball.

The Foxes have been doing loads of water play recently. We have even brought out the water tray in the garden with the nicer weather. We also had some sensory activities with ice and jelly to engage the children in the messy play.

All of this month has been filled with lots of crafts with celebrations like Mother’s Day and Red Nose Day. We baked lots of special treats to raise money for Red Nose Day and everyone came dressed in something red. The children all enjoyed preparing fun things for us to do on this day. Thank you to everyone for your donations for a great cause due to this – we managed to raise £63.36!

5th April 2017

Hedgehogs News March 2017

Hedgehogs News March 2017

Birthdays

We would like to wish our friend Matilda a very happy 2nd birthday

Animal room

This month in the Animal Room we have been very busy doing lots of fun messy play. We have been exploring different dry and wet sensory items such as feathers, sponges, jelly, rice, paint, and porridge oats. We all like getting messy, as well as splashing around in our water tray. Most of us end up getting all wet and have to change our clothes. Playing with the sand is fun too, we like to explore wet and dry stand with buckets and spades.

Tree Room

We have had lots of fun and making great progress with the baby walker this month which helps us to practice walking and balancing. We also like to zoom around which is great fun. We also had a range of fun table top activities such as puzzles, colour sorting and threading.

The Bird Room

We have been very busy making lots of noise with our musical instruments in the Bird Room this month. We are learning about the different sounds, shapes and sizes of instruments. We have also been using the different shape mirrors to look at our reflection.

Garden

This month in the garden we have been doing lots of fun activities. With help from our teachers, we are able to climb and walk along our crates, wooden logs and balancing beams. This is great for us to practice balancing. We have also been reading books, drawing and playing in our outdoor sand pit.

Trips

We have recently been out on a trip to the park where we swung back and forth on the swings, and went round and round on the roundabout too. We also enjoyed running about and climbing up onto the climbing frame and sliding down the slide. These outdoor activities are good for the children as they used their gross motor skills and develops relationship with each other.

5th April 2017

Nursery News March 2017 Millerfield Place

Nursery News March 2017

Policy of the Month

Our policy of the month for April is Supervision of Visitors and Security.

We would ask parents to please be mindful of letting people into the building. On a few occasions, delivery men and agency staff have gained access to the nursery by parents holding the door open for them. If you do notice somebody behind you trying to gain access to the building, we would be grateful if you could let a staff member know so we can greet them at the door.

This safety measure is to ensure that our children and staff are kept safe at all times.

Parent Involvement

We would like to thank Meriam (Loueϊ’s Mum) for reading a story in French to the Foxes and Rabbits. The children really enjoyed hearing the story and asking Meriam lots of questions. If any other parents wish to come in and share your hobbies, songs or stories with the children, please let us know.

Parents Evening

Our Parents evening will take place on Thursday 20 April. Please find a sign-up sheet in the front hall should you wish to make an appointment. If you have any questions regarding parents evening, please feel free to ask.

Music Time

The Hegdehogs, Foxes and Rabbits have been having great fun at our daily music times with Sophia and Lizzie this month. We have been signing our Song of the Week and our favourite action songs along to the piano, guitar, ukulele & clarinet! We have all really enjoyed using percussion instruments to play along with Lizzie & Sophia and the older children are doing well at trying to keep the beat.

Shop Trips

We have been taking weekly trips to our local fruit shop to top up our supply of fruit & veg for snack. The children have been learning about the different types of fruit & vegetables we can buy for our snacks and the older children have been doing great at helping to count out our pennies! All of the children have been good helpers while preparing the fruit and veg for snacks. We have been discussing which foods are healthy and why, as well as which foods are unhealthy and the effects of consuming too much of these.

Diary Dates

Wednesday 19 April – Rabbits Spring Trip

Thursday 20 April- Parents Evening

3rd March 2017

Nursery News February 2017 Millerfield Place

Nursery February 2017

Lost & Found Baskets

We have a Lost and Found basket on each floor to collect children’s clothing that isn’t named. If you are missing an item of clothing that did not have your child’s name on it, please have a look in the basket. We would be grateful if clothing could be labelled as this allows us to identify who it belongs to.

Policy of the Month

Our policy of the month for March will be Child Protection. The child protection policy applies to any child who has experienced or is likely to experience neglect, physical injury, sexual abuse or emotional abuse. All staff have undergone Child Protection training and are required to have Disclosure Scotland clearance. Two references are requested for all new members of staff

Activities & Trips

Our first block of Forest Schools with the Foxes and younger Rabbits went really well. The children had great fun building dens and looking for beasties in the woodland! Our next block of Forest Schools will be at Blackford Pond with the older Rabbits.

The Hedgehogs had lots of fun developing their gross motor skills in the garden this month. The children have been really interested in using our obstacle courses and beams as well as moving the long pipes to make ramps for their balls to run down!

Diary Dates

Thursday 2^nd March – World Book Day

Wednesday 15^th March – Topic Session 4pm

Wednesday 6^th April – Parents Evening

3rd March 2017

Hedgehogs News February 2017

Hedgehogs News February 2017

We would like to say a big welcome to our friend Dylan who has started at Meadows Nursery this month.

We would also like to wish Misha and Otto a very happy 2nd birthday!

This month in the Animal Room we have been exploring the different colours of paint. We have decided to put cling film over the table as most of the children seemed to like to paint the table instead of paper! The children really enjoy this activity, using their imagination to explore with the paint, glitter, foam and different assorted sponges.

The children were interested in playing with the garage, cars and puzzles this month. We had great fun rolling the cars down the ramps and made our own big ramps using guttering in the garden for our cars to roll down. We have put out a variety of different puzzles along with cars and another garage. This is lots of fun.

The children also enjoyed our new shape sorters. We spent lots of time matching the shapes and putting them in and taking them out of the sorters. This is a great activity for the children to play with as it helps to develop their hand-eye coordination skills.

3rd March 2017

Rabbits & Foxes News February 2017

Rabbits and Foxes News February 2017

A big welcome to Malcolm who started his settles with us this month, as well as Charlie, Branwen, Isabella, Reuben, Chunyi and Pearl who have moved down from the Hedgehogs group!

Also a welcome to Denisa who is our new teacher in the Rabbits group.

Happy birthday to Gigi who turned 4 and Lara who turned 4!

Now that we are at the end of February, we have finished our topic on Scotland and other cultures. The children learned a lot about the country that they live in – this included the story of Robert Burns and Greyfrairs Bobby. We also enjoyed learning about different foods and drinks we have in Scotland and we looked at healthy eating. The Rabbits put together their own plates, using clippings from magazines, of their favourite foods to eat. They then told us if they thought that these foods were healthy or unhealthy.

To round off this topic the older Rabbits went on a trip to the Storytelling Museum and Edinburgh Museum where they got to see a short video on the history of Edinburgh. It was lots of fun! After we came back, the children used the Lego and Duplo to build their own cities – their creations were amazing.

We have also just started our Observation week for planning. We have been listening to the children’s interests and thoughts for us to base our 4 weeks of activities on. At the moment the children are interested in clocks – including the mechanics of them – as well as Spring.

The Foxes have been busy exploring different textures and colours. They have been getting crafty with these and have produced some amazing pieces of artwork. As well as this they have been joining in with our baking activities where they have practiced their measuring and numbers.

The Foxes have also just finished their block of Forest Schools where they enjoyed den building, rope tying and many other things up at the Sciennes woods.

All the children have been thoroughly enjoying Tatty Bumpkins, Enjoy-A-Ball and our Care Home visits and we are already looking forward to the new blocks.

3rd February 2017

Rabbits & Foxes News January 2017

Rabbits and Foxes News January 2017

A big welcome to Sarah, Peter and Sizuo who started with us at the beginning of the month!

Also, very Happy Birthday to Sophia and Dasha who turned 3 this month.

We have been very busy since we came back from Christmas, settling back into our routines and finding out what everyone has been doing over the Christmas break. We have discussed our New Year Resolutions – it was great to hear the children’s own resolutions. Our group resolution is tidy up our rooms after we have finished playing!

We are now focusing our learning around Scotland. In the run up to Burns’ Night, we learned a lot about Robert Burns’ story, about Scottish food and types of Tartan. Everyone was busy making Tattie Scones, Shortbread and their own tartan. Whilst making their tartan, the children told us which patterns they were making and how many strips of paper they were using for each colour. We have also been focusing on some Scottish nursery rhymes and songs. Our favourite seems to be Coulter’s Candy/Ally Bally. We also had a really fun tea party – parents and siblings came along to do some ceilidh dancing and have some of our Tattie Scones and Shortbread!

We have just started to discuss a little bit about Chinese New Year. We have seen pictures of Chinese costumes, food and festivals and we discussed why this is at a different time of year from ours. The children have also seen come Chinese lettering and had a go at copying it with black paint.

The Foxes have been looking at their colours and have been exploring different objects in messy play. They have also been having a look at our story stones – these are stones with different pictures painted on to them – we have been discussing what these are and are building up to try and string together some of them.

Our extra activities are back into full swing with Tatty Bumpkins, fruit shop shopping, music with Lizzie and Sophia, Enjoy-A-Ball, Forest Schools and our Care Home visits now happening regularly.