World Book Day

Hello everyone ,

Its World Book Day next week - Thursday 5th March , and to celebrate we are inviting the children to bring in their favourite story to share with us at nursery next week (please make sure the books are named so they can be returned to the right person!)

We're also organising a second hand book sale . So please bring along any books in good condition that you no longer want , or come and browse next week to buy some for your home . The sunflowers will be operating the stall all next week , so please clear out your old books and buy some more! All proceeds will go to Book Aid , a charity that supplies text books to children in Africa .

http://www.bookaid.org/

http://worldbookday.com/

You will also find a scholastics book catalogue in your child's file - you can use your World Book Day token towards this - please have any orders back to us by Friday 6th March.

If you come across anything else while clearing our your old books , don't forget we have a charity(British Heart Foundation) wheelie bin at the entrance to the Sunflowers building where you can donate old toys , clothes etc  .

We have just started creating accounts for the new Parent area on the website , which will include this blog . If you haven't yet done so , please return  your email address slip to us asap so we can get everyone registered - thank you .

Don't forget that our Spring Fair will be on Saturday 25th April 12-2pm - more information on this will follow nearer the time , but please keep this date free!

Health Notice

We have had one child affected with a  tummy bug today in the Sunflowers building . Please note that the exclusion time for this is 48 hours from the last symptoms . Please collect your child as soon as possible if we call you as this is highly contagious.

We have also had one reported case of headlice - there is no exclusion time for this , but please check your child's head regularly and treat if required . For more information please see the following link

http://www.patient.co.uk/health/head-lice-and-nits

Health Notice

We have had several reported cases of a tummy bug in the schoolhouse . A reminder  that this is highly contagious so please collect your child as soon as possible if we call you , keep them at  home if they have any symptoms , and for 48 hours after the last symptoms. This is the exclusion time recommended by NHS to all  schools and nurseries .
Please also be extra vigilant with your hygiene , especially handwashing . Thank you

Safer Internet Day

Today is Safer Internet Day , something I'm sure you'll all be interested in .

Recent figures show that 1 in 3 children now have a smart phone/tablet so keeping them safe online is more important than ever. Please see the link below for information and technology that you can access to help do this

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/how-to-stay-safe-on-any-online-device-105026138.html#IXsUWRu

Spectra Festival of Lights

SPECTRA, ABERDEEN’S FESTIVAL OF LIGHT RETURNS!

Union Terrace Gardens

Thursday 19^th – Sunday 22^nd February

17.30-21.30 daily

www.spectraaberdeen.com

https://www.facebook.com/spectraaberdeen

Aberdeen City Council are proud to present the return of SPECTRA Aberdeen’s Festival of Light (SPECTRA) to Union Terrace Gardens and city centre from the 19^th  to  22^nd  February 2015. 

This year’s  festival will be even bigger and better, SPECTRA 2015 will include a variety of light installations from fire drawings to light projections and sculptures, as well as music and performance. The programme will feature artists from the UK, Norway, Iceland and Finland and aims to engage with communities from Aberdeen city and beyond.  This year’s festival promises to be a unique spectacle and a fun event for all the family!

FREE COMMUNITY  SPECTRA SESSIONS – All Welcome

In addition to the main festival at Union Terrace Gardens, SPECTRA will also host a full week of Tagtool Sessions by the Vienna based company OMAi. Tagtool PLAY is a free iPad app that allows you to paint, animate and share with everyone by projecting on facades of buildings www.tagtool.at

Tagtool Urban Interventions

All are welcome to these projection events which are being held at the following locations, either outdoors or inside if it rains. Come along to either try Tagtool PLAY or be part of the audience and enjoy seeing the spontaneous artwork with a hot coffee or tea!

Times 6-8 pm

•             17th  February at Northfield Community Centre, Byron Square.

•             18th  February  at Seaton Primary School, School Road.

•             19th February at Northfield Academy, Granitehill Place

Tagtool Workshops

If you would like to join a free workshop with the Tagtool Artists -

1-4 pm                  17 February,  Northfield Community Centre, Byron Square.

10 – 3pm              21 February, The LightBox, 9 East Terrace, Union Square – next to Hobby Craft   

SPRING FAIR and other news

Important date : SPRING FAIR - this will be held on Saturday 25th April 12-2pm . This is our main fundraiser in the year and the one time that the entire nursery gets together- its always a great event so please keep this date free - we will give more information nearer the time .

Hello everyone,

We have been very busy at Craigton recently - the children celebrated Burns Night last week by making their own tartans and tasting haggis , neeps and tatties- with mixed results!
They had lots of fun in the snow yesterday building two enormous snowmen and making all kinds of wonderful shapes with all that snow - we even brought some inside to see what happened to it when it warmed up.

We are looking forward to yet more things to celebrate soon - its Valentines Day on Saturday 14th (dont forget!)  , Shrove Tuesday(Pancake day) on Tuesday 17th  and Chinese New Year on Thursday 19th when we shall celebrate the Year of the Goat .

 Also coming up is  World Book day on Thursday 5th March - you will all find a book token in your child's file to mark this , and the children will be invited to bring their favourite book to nursery to share with their friends - more info on this nearer the time .



The schoolhouse have made  a new noticeboard in the conservatory area - this will be updated monthly with information about the nursery and any new information/guidance we get from other bodies - eg NHS , Care Inspectorate , Scottish Executive , Aberdeen City Council etc

The sunflowers have introduced 'quiet time' at the beginning and end of the day . The children will be encouraged to relax in the book bothy with staff , looking at books or their folios, acting out stories with puppets , catching up with news with their friends or just having a rest - because  its hard work being at nursery and we all need some quiet time in the day!

A reminder that the orthoptisit will be visiting on Thursday 12th Feb at 2pm to carry out sight tests for those children on their pre-school year . These children will have already received information on this - if your child does not normally attend then , please bring them along at 2pm  . Please also ensure that you return the consent form for this asap- they will not carry out the test without consent. This is a Scottish Executive initiative and replaces the P1 sight tests . If your child attends a school nursery , they will be tested there .

We will soon be moving this blog onto the newly created parent area on the website . This area is password protected so only parents and staff can access this . You will soon be given an information sheet and a  form asking for your preferred email addresses for this so we can create an account for you . Please return this so we can begin the transfer . There will be a short period where both blogs  will be active , so you may receive duplicate copies for a time. If this becomes annoying you can easily unsubscribe from this blog at anytime - the link for this is at the bottom of each email . You will also be able to choose your preferences on the new blog indicating which posts you would like to receive .
Huge thanks to Carl for all his hard work on this - and to the members of the Parent Forum for being our guinea pigs!

I will not be at nursery on Friday 6th and Monday 9th Feb(that's this weekend) so emails will not be replied to on those days - please call us on 01224 733980 if you need to tell us anything - thank you .

A reminder that the nursery will be closed on the following dates this year :
Easter Monday - 6th April
MayDay - 4th May
Aberdeen holidays - 13th July and 28th September
We will close at 6pm on Wednesday 23rd Dec and reopen 8am on Tuesday 5th Jan 2016

Winter !

Hello everyone ,

We do hope you are all managing to stay warm at the moment....and its not over . Weather warnings continue to be issued for the next few days with snow and ice expected .
Please note that if there is heavy snow/ice we may need to close the carpark so please approach very slowly in case the chain is across the entrance area (there is an alternative foot entrance a little further up the hill on the LHS by the wheelie bins)- please also be careful on the driveway and paths - we are gritting/salting these , but with freezing temperatures , they may still be slippy .

This time of year also brings all manner of  illnesses - if we call you because your child is unwell , please arrange  to have  them collected as soon as possible , and to keep them at home until fully recovered. We'd really appreciate your co-operation with this as this helps to keep everyone at the nunnery as healthy as possible - thank you .

Can we also please ask that you ensure your child/children do not bring anything into nursery that could potentially harm another child . We have  children attending with allergies, in some cases potentially life threatening, and we take great care to ensure that the nursery environment is safe for them(as for all children) . This includes bringing any food/drink into nursery(or arriving eating/drinking) and at this time of year lip salves/chapsticks etc - these can cause reactions, so please leave them at home .

The report on our recent inspection has now been published and is on display in each department or you can view it on the Care Inspectorate website here
http://www.scswis.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7644&Itemid=489&bereNextPageId=ReportDataDetails_action.php&action=displayReport&repId=CS2003001752