Nursery/ELC Newsletter September 2022

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ELC Newsletter, September 2022 – PDF DOWNLOAD

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Dear Parents and Carers,

We’re now in our fourth week of term and the staff, children and families are settling into the new nursery routines.

This is our first newsletter of the new academic session (August 22 – July 23). It contains important information for new families, as well as continuing families.  I would appreciate if you read this carefully, and act on any requests.

 

We all look forward to another good year, getting to know you and supporting you all in our learning journeys together.

 

Many thanks,

 

Gillian Forbes, Depute Head Teacher

And the Nursery/ELC Team

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Staffing

Please see below details of our current nursery/ELC team.

 

Mrs Sarah Lemmon, Senior EYP (SEYP) – Monday to Friday

 

Miss Gosia Krakos, EYP– Monday to Friday

Mrs Ludmila Barkovska, EYP– Monday to Friday

Mrs Rhonda Gauld, EYP– Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and alternate Thursdays

Mrs Kirsty McKendrick, EYP – Tuesday, Fridays and alternate Thursdays

 

Miss Ellie Fraser, Modern Apprentice EYP – Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

Mrs Justyna Grzonka, ELC Support Worker– Monday to Friday afternoons

Mrs Carmen Merida, ELC Support Worker– Monday to Friday

 

A special welcome to our 2 new members of staff – Kirsty McKendrick and Carmen Merida.  They have joined the team with a big smile on their faces and have settled already.  Please say hello to them, they will make themselves known to you also.  Thank you also to the other team members – they are helping the staff in supporting/mentoring them, and answering many questions. It is appreciated ladies. 😊

 

The ELC team – student

A student from NesCol, Olivia Roy has now joined us. She will be here for more or the less the whole nursery year – some blocks of whole weeks, but mostly a Thursday and Friday all day. Welcome, Olivia! 😊

 

Key Workers, Key Groups

Our staff listed previously, are all responsible for a group of children. This is called their key group, and the staff are their Key Workers.

 

They are detailed here:

Red Group – Mrs Gauld/Mrs McKendrick

Blue Group – Mrs Barkovska

Green Group – Miss Krakos

Yellow Group – Miss Fraser/Mrs Grzonka

 

“Getting to know your Key Worker” /Staff Profile sheets are currently being updated and will be with you soon – both digitally and on paper.

 

 

Morning Routines – Stay and Play

Children line up at the start of the day in their key groups. They then walk upstairs, hang up jackets, wash hands, brush teeth, all in their key groups with their key worker. And then we all PLAY!!

 

Parents/carers will very soon be invited to “stay and play” – that is, coming into nursery with your child in the morning, and staying for a while (approx. 30 to 45 minutes) to play!

 

We plan to make this available in mornings and on a rotation basis.  Each week parents/carers of a certain key group will be invited to join us on a morning at drop off, and it will follow a cycle:

Week 1 – red group, Week 2 – blue group, Week 3 – green, group, Week 4 – yellow group.

 

We will be in touch about parents/carers “signing up” for a session very soon.

 

 

Lining up – IMPORTANT CHANGES –

STARTING TUESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER

Already, our nursery is full!  There have also been many new pupils to the primary stages. This means that lining up time is much busier than anticipated and can be overwhelming for some of our little ones.

 

So now in response, we are going to make some slight rearrangements to ease this.

 

  • We ask that all nursery children (not primary children), come and line up with their families, at 8.50am.
  • The lining up area will be directly in front of the door, in the 4 key-coloured groups. The primary classes will move further down the playground, away from the door.
  • The staff will come down for 8.50am, with the aim that all NURSERY children will be up the stairs safely, calmly and BEFORE any other primary classes. The nursery class will then be ready in the nursery playroom for a 9am start.
  • This will leave the main stairs ready for the primary classes at 9am.
  • If adults are joining in the line, we ask that you all line up on the right hand side, this will ease visibility of people in the line
  • If your child is a bit teary, please go to the back of the line with your child. This will help the nursery staff settle the other children and be a bit quieter for you and your child.

 

 

Lining up – Other Reminders

As we have requested previously:

  • Please stay with the children until they are in their line and you see them safely go into the building with a member of staff.
  • If your child is finding coming into nursery tricky then do come into the building with us at line time, and take your child up to nursery to help them settle. This will support your child and allow the staff to support others also.
  • Please be aware of other people and classes trying to enter/exit the building at drop off and pick up time. We have had families completely block the door, blocking lines of vision four our staff, older children and for other parents. Please remain mindful of this.
  • If nursery families arrive later than 9am, we continue to ask you to wait outside, under the canopy in front of the main reception. This will leave the reception clear for other families enquiries, etc. We ask you to wait until 9.15am, where nursery staff will come down and collect any latecomers.
  • Please do not leave your small child alone at reception or let yourself or your child into the building to make your/their own way up to the nursery. Reception staff or nursery
  • If other families enter the school/are buzzed in, please wait to let reception staff know.

 

Communication

We use:

  • Newsletters
  • Groupcall text messages/groupcall emails
  • SeeSaw: All Key Workers should have messaged you saying hello and opening up that channel of communication with you. Please use this to inform us of things or to ask any questions, if we are unable to speak at drop off/pick up time.

*If you are asked to complete forms, please ensure they are completed fully and accurately. Please inform us of any number/name/address changes. Thank you. 😊

 

 

Children’s bags and contents

Mrs Grzonka has very kindly made cloth bags for all children. These are kept in the cloakroom areas.  We ask that you provide a change of clothes, underwear, nappy/pants, which will be kept in these. Any dirty or used changes of clothes will be returned to the parents at the end of the day.  Children therefore do not need any other bag.

 

Children do not need a water bottle in nursery – milk and water is readily available throughout the day. No snacks or packed lunches are required – these are provided in nursery.

*It is important for health and safety reasons that other foods/drinks/medications, etc, are not placed in the cloth bags.  Sometimes the children play in the cloakroom area and we need to ensure the contents of each bag is safe. Thank you.

 

 

 

Snack and Lunch Routines

The children are settling in on their eating routines.

Handwashing is a very important part of this and we are “training” children up in how to do this, supervising this in the nursery as appropriate.  Please support this with encouraging handwashing at the following times at home:

  • After toileting
  • Before and after eating
  • Before and after toothbrushing
  • On coming inside/home from outdoors

 

Here are some handwashing videos that support how to do this with children:

 

 

Here are the nursery menus for you to view also:

https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2022-08/Nursery%20Menu%20Summer%202022.pdf

 

Toilet Training

We have quite a few children in our care who use nappies/pull-ups.  Please do provide us with a few nappies/pull-ups as required. Also, please keep us updated in any toilet training attempts, and we can amend care plans if required.  As taken from an NHS website, do bear in mind that most children can control their bowels before their bladder.

  • by age 1, most babies have stopped doing poos at night
  • by age 2, some children will be dry during the day, but this is still quite early
  • by age 3, 9 out of 10 children are dry most days – even then, all children have the odd accident, especially when they’re excited, upset or absorbed in something else
  • by age 4, most children are reliably dry during the day

 

Here are a few links for when the exciting time of potty training comes:

 

 

 

Useful Reminders…

 

September 2022 October 2022 November 2022
Monday 19 September – School closed for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.

 

Friday 23& Monday 26 September – School closed – local holiday weekend

 

 Friday 14 October – last day of school term

 

Monday 17 October – Friday 28 October – October holidays

 

Monday 31 October – Start of New Term

  

Friday 18 November – School closed to pupils for In-Service Training (INSET) Day

 

Wednesday 30 November – St Andrew’s Day

Thank you for your time in reading this newsletter!

Miss Gillian Forbes, DHT 😊