Couldn’t resist…

The mud kitchen has proved incredibly popular again today with our Morning Group.  Most of that group have now had a go, and several were desperate to get back in there today!  I couldn’t resist taking more video to show you just what a wonderful learning experience this is.  Many thanks to Max’s Dad who turned up with an old microwave today, so we can pretend to cook our pies!  It will be interesting to see how this changes the play next week.

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud!

We got to use our new mud kitchen for the first time today and as you can see from the video it was a huge success. In order to keep the nursery and their clothes clean and dry, the children must wear waterproofs and wellies. Putting these on and taking them off independently will enable the children to get the most out of this nursery experience. Mums and Dads please help by sending your child to nursery in shoes they can take off and put on all by themselves (i.e. with Velcro fastening unless they can manage laces without help) and by encouraging your child to practice getting on and zipping up their own coats.

We would welcome donations of wooden spoons, bowls, metal/enamel cups or goblets, balance scales and old towels (preferably not white ones!) to supplement our equipment.

Our mud kitchen is almost ready to use! We can’t wait!

We have been planning our mud kitchen for some time, and consulted with children and parents to give us their ideas. Two massive bags of topsoil were unexpectedly delivered yesterday, and needed to be moved into the nursery garden. Some mums and dads came to help us this morning and worked really hard. We had to spend some of the money raised from our sponsored obstacle course on replacement willow screening (to block out our view of the boys’ toilets) and the topsoil. We have organised a little-used area of the nursery garden with a place to store soil, and some surfaces to work on. We will have plants growing that can be picked and added to the mud pies. We still need some small stones/pebbles to add, and some off-cuts of turf or grass if anyone is able to help us.

For more information on mud kitchens and ideas for what equipment is used (all donations gratefully accepted!) please check out the Muddy Faces website.  Their publication on Making a Mud Kitchen is particularly interesting.

Some photos of the Morning Group hard at work!

Primary School Autumn/ Winter Lunch Menu

The AUTUMN / WINTER menu will be available from Monday 28 October 2013 until Friday 4 April 2014. The new menu is on a 3-weekly cycle with a choice of seasonal dishes.  The new menu includes dates which should make it easier to plan for your child’s eating preferences.

MENU & PRICES
The autumn / winter menu includes familiar family favourites as well as new tastes to try. The price remains at £1.90 for a 2-course primary school meal (soup & main course or main course & dessert) with bread, salad and a cold drink.

Autumn-winter menu 2013-2014

Primary 1 Enrolment Session 2014/2015

Thursday 21st November 2013 – 9.15am to 10.30am

Please bring the following documents with you:

  • Birth Certificate
  • Most recent Council Tax Assessment Letter as proof of address
  • Utility Bill, dated within 6 months
  • Baptismal Certificate (if appropriate)

The catchment area for Loretto RC Primary is Musselburgh, Wallyford and Whitecraig.  If you live outwith the catchment area, you will need to make a non-district placement request.

If this date and time are not suitable, please contact the school to make alternative arrangements on 0131 665 2572.

Increased Entitlement to Early Learning and Childcare Across Scotland from August 2014

Currently in East Lothian, nursery aged children are entitled to 12.5 hours of nursery provision every week of the school year (total 475 hours per year). The Scottish Government are proposing to extend this to 600 hours of early learning and childcare. For more information on these proposals please click here. East Lothian Council is keen to gather the views of parents/carers in East Lothian on how best these additional hours could be used. This survey is confidential and should only take around 5 minutes to complete. Please provide answers to all the questions, this information will help them to work out possible options within your area.  Click here to start the survey.

Baby Bear’s Birthday

The Nursery Morning Group wanted to have a party for Baby Bear’s birthday.  Over the last two weeks they have worked hard making invitations and presents, which they then wrapped.  Gift tags were written, hats were created, cakes and sandwiches were made in readiness for the party.  Today they brought their own teddies from home and we had the party.

Since the start of term we have read lots of different stories about Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  One of our favourites has been Mr Wolf and the Three Bears by Jan Fearnley.  In the story Grandma Wolf makes some delicious recipes and there is a surprise ending!

Unfortunately the slideshow is ‘flash’ so cannot be viewed on Apple devices.

Teddy Bear’s Picnic

The Afternoon Group have enjoyed hearing the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We brought our own teddy bears to nursery today. We danced with our bears, and we had a picnic with sandwiches and cakes (unfortunately indoors because of the very windy weather!)

Unfortunately the slideshow is ‘flash’ so cannot be viewed on Apple devices.