Spring at Craigton

Hello everyone ,

we have been making the most of the spring weather recently and spending a lot of time outdoors . We have made a small mud kitchen in the garden which has been very popular indeed! We have also been gathering some aromatic herb plants all ready for our new planters which should be arriving soon , along with lots of new resources for outdoors . The children have been looking for signs of growth in the orchard and we will soon begin preparing the growing areas for planting fruit and vegetables .
Joanne from Gardening for Kids will be here next  Friday to give us her expert tips and guidance , as well as making some bird feeders with the sunflowers .

We have also been having a bit of a spring clean and have found lots of old clothes and footwear  . Can you please check the cloakrooms and take away anything that belongs to you that's not being used - many of these items will be from last year so will no longer fit . We will donate anything not claimed to charity . A reminder that all children need to have a full change of clothes including underwear , suitable outdoor clothing and footwear , and slippers or soft soled shoes for indoors. Wherever possible , all items should be named/initialled. Thank you .

Staying outdoors , Fred , our very industrious handyman, has today started preparing the carpark entrance so we can install a speed bump - this means that the entrance to the carpark is restricted at the moment and will be for several days - please enter with extreme caution as only half of the entrance will be accessible until the work had been completed .

We are happy to tell you that we will soon be welcoming two new staff to Craigton . Maria Kuruova has been doing some relief work for us recently , and will now be coming regularly . Maria has teaching and childcare experience , as well as two children of her own . Also joining us in the next few weeks will be Carly Poulson . Carly has previously been a nanny/au pair as well as teaching in France . Both will be with the sunflowers as part-time assistants so dont be surprised at the new faces!

Other staff have been involved in some exciting training opportunities too . Maureen(sunflowers) has been attending Starcatchers Creative Skills training events , while Suzanne , Charlotte , Natalie , Alison and myself have been attending Attachment training . Both of these are over a period of several months ,and include implementing new ideas into daily practice and evaluating the impact .
Maureen has been looking at introducing more creative skills including music , role play and dance across the curriculum , sharing these experiences with other practitioners and evaluating their effectiveness .
The Attachment training is a pilot scheme by the Early Years Collaborative in Aberdeen . We are one of 7 settings in the city participating , and if successful this could be implemented across the country - we are very pleased to have been invited to be involved in this project and will let you know of any developments .
Recently staff have also attended the following training:
REHIS Food Hygiene
Common Induction
Infection Control
Nutritional Guidance
Free play outdoors
First Aid
Active Problem Solving
Infant Mental Health
Silence and Stillness
Indoor Dance

We are still looking for someone to cover Katie our cook's maternity leave , so please contact me if you know of anyone who may be interested in this .
Dont forget its Mothers Day on Sunday 30th March and that the clocks go forward then too.

And finally - nursery closure dates this year are:
Easter Monday 21st April
Mayday 5th May
Aberdeen Holidays : 14th July and 22nd September
24th Dec to 4th Jan 2015 incl

Sunshine!

Good afternoon everyone ,

We are all enjoying the lovely spring sunshine as much as we can at the moment . The children have  all been outdoors most of this week , building and digging and running and jumping , chasing bubbles , making mud pies , playing in the outdoor cafe , looking out for signs of spring , and also watching with great interest  as our handyman Fred made some repairs to the garden fence and gates. They watched and questioned and made some very helpful suggestions as Fred sawed and hammered and displayed his impressive collection of tools!

Yesterday afternoon , the entire nursery was in the garden to celebrate  Mrs Mackay's special birthday . All the children had made her some beautiful cards which were much admired and discussed . As you will be aware(but Mrs. Mackay wasn't) we had a collection amongst parents and staff  and we presented her with a lovely necklace on behalf of us all , and passed on the other gifts and cards from everyone...and there were some super balloons too that delighted the children (thank you to Julie's mum!) . Huge thanks to everyone who contributed- I can assure you that Mrs. Mackay was so touched and astonished that she was (almost) speechless! I know that she will want to  thank you all personally - but we would too for making her day so memorable :)

We are due to have  a Parent Forum meeting next week , so if you have anything you'd like raised , please see any member . This year they are :  Erin Brown , Carl Gerrard , Claire Molloy , Deirdre Strachan and Madhuri Thakur- their photos are on display in each building if you don't know them , or you can always contact me directly.

In March so far we have already celebrated Pancake Day(or Shrove Tuesday to give it the proper name) - we had a lot of fun mixing pancake batter and more importantly eating the pancakes! Last week also saw World Book Day - thanks to all of you who brought in your favourite books to share with us- the sunflowers make a lovely display of all the books and the children really enjoyed looking at them and discussing the stories . It was great to see some non fiction books in the collection  too ! (dont forget to return your Scholastic orders asap and use your WBD tokens) And the celebrations continue .....on 17th its St. Patrick's Day, which for some reason we celebrate every year, and please , please , please dont forget its Mother's Day on Sunday 30th. Sadly mums may not get much of a ly-in that day as the clocks go forward then too!

Talking of mums.........our super cook Katie , is expecting a baby in June :-) while we are all delighted with this lovely  news , it does mean  that she will be leaving for a while whilst on maternity leave. If you know of anyone who may be interested in covering in her absence , please contact me for more details. We don't need a trained chef , just good basic cooking skills and interest in children's nutrition.

And finally , please note two of the nursery closure dates on the last post were incorrect - I posted 2013 Aberdeen holiday dates  by mistake - my thanks to those who spotted the error and let me know - good to know that you read the posts :-) and my apologies for the confusion . The correct dates are:

Easter Monday - 21st April
MayDay - 5th May
Aberdeen Holidays - 14th July and 22nd September
We shall close at 6pm on Tuesday 23rd Dec and re-open 8am on Monday 5th Jan 2015

 

Spring

Hello everyone ,

We have been very busy at Craigton recently- the children have been outdoors as much as possible , making the most of the lighter days and the start of spring. There was great excitement on this week , when Tony our gardener came with his big trimmer to tidy up our shrubs and hedges . The children had great fun collecting the branches and leaves , piling them into trucks and wheelbarrows and transporting them all over the garden. They were also used inside - studying the leaves , using the branches as brushes to sweep up sand and as camouflage. There have also been walks around Culter and trips to the library .
We will start planting soon - we are awaiting some new planters which will be filled with herbs and other scented plants to encourage sensory exploration , and also some new child sized sheds for storage with easy access for the children .

Don't forget that its Pancake Day on Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday- the last day before Lent) and we will be celebrating at Craigton . Its also World Book Day on Thursday - all children are welcome to bring in their favourite book to share with us - please ensure that these are named so we can ensure they go home with the right child .

And some exciting news : Petra (sunflowers) will be going to Uganda on Tuesday for 6 weeks . She is volunteering on a teaching programme including Maths , English and Science , and will also have the opportunity to go on a safari tracking chimpanzees! Sounds like a wonderful experience- best of luck Petra and we'll look forward to hearing all about it on your return . If you'd like more information , please visit   http://volunteeruganda.org

A reminder : Please do not allow your child to arrive eating /drinking or bring any food/drink into the nursery. We have several children with allergies attending- some very serious , and take great care to ensure that the nursery is safe for them- Please help us to do this - Thank you .

And finally , please note that the nursery will be closed on the following dates this year :
Easter Monday : 21st April
May Day : 5th May
Aberdeen Holiday: 8th July
Aberdeen Holiday : 23rd September
We shall close at 6pm on Tuesday 23rd December and re-open 8am Monday 5th January 2015