Rhyme of the Week – Twinkle Twinkle and Christmas Songs

We shall begin the week by singing Twinkle, Twinkle.

Christmas begins in the nursery on Thursday 1st December!  We shall be learning the songs we’ll be singing at our Christmas Show over the next 3 weeks.  The show will be on Tuesday 20th December at 9:15am.  Both the Morning and Afternoon Groups will join together for the show.  

The words for the songs will be on a handout in your child’s pigeonhole later this week, so you can help them learn the songs at home.

Bookbug Picture Book Award – Voting Results!

And the winner was……..

Shark in the Park with a total of 17 votes (7 morning, and 10 afternoon)

The Hare and the Tortoise got a total of 11 votes (7 morning, and 4 afternoon)

The Bear on the Chair got a total of 8 votes (6 morning, and 2 afternoon)

We will submit our results online and when the votes across Scotland have all been added up, we will share which book was the overall winner of the Bookbug Picture Book Prize.

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Bookbug Adventure Bag Gifting

Thanks to all the dads, mums, grannies, granddads, uncles, aunties, brothers, sisters and friends who came along to our special story time this afternoon.  The children who joined our Afternoon Group since August received their Explorer Bookbug bags.  We listened to two stories from the bags – The Disgusting Sandwich and Owl Babies.  The recipe for the delicious biscuits made by the children can be found below the photographs, as several of you have asked for it!

 

Oat and Raisin Biscuits

Makes about 32

250 g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

175g porridge oats

250g block margarine, at room temperature

200g caster sugar

½ teaspoon real vanilla essence

50 g raisins, dried sour cherries or dried cranberries (or chocolate chips!)

Mix the flour with the baking powder and oats.  Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy.

Using your hands or a wooden spoon, gradually work in the flour mixture and dried fruit.  Knead the mixture until it comes together.

Roll it into balls about 3 cm across.  Place the balls well apart on the baking sheets, and then flatten them slightly with your fingers.

Cook in a preheated oven at 180 C/Gas 4 for about 10-12 minutes until firm enough to transfer to a wire rack.

Leave to cool completely, then store in an airtight container and eat within 1 week, or freeze for up to 1 month.

PEEP at Loretto

We are coming to the end of the current block of PEEP.  We have had good fun!  Some of the subjects we have covered this block are: A Sense of Order; Helping to Understand and Manage Behaviour, Imaginative Play with Puppets; Becoming a Good Listener; The Importance of Support and Encouragement and Becoming Me.

A new block of PEEP will run for 8 sessions starting on Friday 20th January.  Spaces are limited to 6 families.  If you want to sign up to attend for the block, or want further information, please speak to Mrs Gaunt or check out the PEEP page on the website.

 

Rhyme of the Week – Three Craws

This week’s rhyme of the week will be ‘Three Craws’ – a traditional Scots rhyme.

Three Craws

Three craws sat upon a wa’,
Sat upon a wa’, sat upon a wa’, aw, aw, aw,
Three craws sat upon a wa’,
On a cauld and frosty mornin’.

The first craw was greetin’ for his maw,
Greetin’ for his maw, greetin’ for his maw, aw, aw, aw,
The first craw was greetin’ for his maw,
On a cauld and frosty mornin’.

The second craw fell and brok’ his jaw,
Fell and brok’ his jaw, fell and brok’ his jaw, aw, aw, aw
The second craw fell and brok’ his jaw,
On a cauld and frosty mornin’.

The third craw, couldnae flee at a’,
Couldnae flee at a’, couldnae flee at a’, aw, aw, aw,
The third craw, couldnae flee at a’,
On a cauld and frosty mornin’.

The fourth craw wisnae there at a’
Wisnae there at a’, wisnae there at a’, aw, aw, aw
The forth craw wisnae there at a’
On a cauld and frosty mornin’.

Spots in the Nursery

Today the children came to nursery dressed up in their spotty clothes to raise money for Children in Need. The children enjoyed creating dotty patterns with paint.

Bookbug Explorer Packs – Family Story Time

We shall be having a special family story time for the Afternoon Group children, on Wednesday 23rd November 15:15-15:45.  Dads, Mums, Grandparents, big and little brothers and sisters (and anyone else!) are welcome to join us for this event.  The Bookbug Explorer Packs will be gifted to children at the story time.

Children who received the Bookbug Pirate Pack earlier in the year will not be eligible to receive a pack, unfortunately.  We hope you will still come and join us for the stories and home baking!

Bookbug News

Book Week Scotland 2016 is taking place from Monday 21 – Sunday 27 November 2016.  We shall be casting our votes for our favourite book shortlisted for the Bookbug Picture Book Prize during this week.

We have already started reading the stories.  Ask your child which their favourite is! There are links below to hear the authors reading their stories.

There's a Bear on My Chair cover Hare and Tortoise cover Shark in the Park cover
There’s a Bear on my Chair

by Ross Collins

Watch the video

Hare and Tortoise

by Alison Murray

Watch the video

Shark in the Park on a Windy Day!

by Nick Sharratt

Watch the video

Our younger children will be gifted their Bookbug Explorer Packs during this week too.  All Afternoon Group families are welcome to join us for a special story time (with home baking!) at 15:15 – 15:45 on Wednesday 23rd November to see the children receive their packs.   Bookbug have provided some translated information for families where English is not the first language.