Bearing fruit !

Good afternoon all ,

We are continuing to battle through winter at Craigton - although the snow has mostly gone now(its still stubbornly hanging around in some places) - we are now being warned of stormy conditions - rain and very high winds are forecast for later today and overnight . Despite this , we are still spending some time outdoors when possible - the babies had a lovely walk all around the village yesterday  , while the sunflowers ventured to the library to return some resources . Last week everyone joined in building snowmen and sledging in the garden, digging up ice and watching it melt in the water trays ...and even some path clearing!

Late last year , the sunflowers (with some expert advice from Jo - Gardening 4 Kids) put together a plan for creating an orchard at Craigton . This involved identifying a suitable site , measuring the area and making detailed plans , assessing the soil quality and any other factors that would affect fruit tree growth . It was a long project and all the sunflowers contributed to the plans. These were submitted to Grounds For Learning , who were offering free fruit trees and advice to the successful applicants . I am delighted to tell you that we have heard today that we have been accepted for this scheme and  will be taking delivery of our saplings next month :-) There will be a lot of work ahead to create the Craigton Orchard , but we're all looking forward to it very much . The progress of the orchard will be documented and will be posted on the GFL website - we'll keep you updated!

Looking ahead - it will be February this week and there's a lot going on then . We have Chinese New Year(the Year of the Snake) on 10th , Shrove Tuesday(that's pancake day!) 12th , Valentines Day(dont forget!!!!!!) 14th . My,  that's going to be a busy week! If you and your family celebrate a festival or event that you think we should know about , please tell us ...we like celebrations here ! Speaking of celebrations....congratulations to Catherine(French specialist) and her husband , on the safe arrival of their baby daughter recently . We're all looking forward to meeting her very soon :-)

A reminder to ensure that you close and chain the garden gates every time , and please don't open the doors of the building to anyone - even if you know them - staff need to be aware of who is in the buildings at all times . And please avoid using your mobile phones on the premises .
A request too for sunflower parents - when dropping off/picking up , please go into the main classroom to talk to staff rather than in the lobby area - the staff need to be in the room with the children , and we are trying to discourage the children from leaving the room - this is very tempting for them when there are adults just outside - Thank you

Finally , the nursery will be closed on the following dates this year :
1st April - Easter Monday
6th May - May Day
8th July and 23rd September - Aberdeen holidays
We shall close at 6pm on Monday 23rd December and re-open 8am Monday 6th January