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