Category: Early Learning and Childcare

Orchard Brae Early Learning and Childcare department have 2 developmental nurseries on 2 separate sites. Orchard Brae Nursery at Howes Road is based within the school site, while Orchard Brae at Ashgrove is based within the Ashgrove children’s Centre. Places at both nurseries are allocated on application through the Educational Psychology service in conjunction with NHS Health Visitors. Placement meetings take place in June, November and February with pupils starting in the term after their 3rd birthday, depending on the availability of spaces.

Both Nurseries have pupils with a wide range of additional support needs. The aim of the Nurseries is to support pupils to develop the skills required to allow them to reach their full potential. A place at Orchard Brae nursery does not assume a place at Orchard Brae school as many pupils will gain skills that allow them to start Primary 1 in their zoned Primary school or Mile-end ASN provision.

Celebrating Burns Day In The Ladybird Room

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The Ladybird room children and staff had great fun celebrating Burns Day.

They started off the week by making special Ladybird tartan pictures. On the day itself they had the traditional meal of vegetarian ”haggis, neeps and tatties.” Some children appeared to enjoy it more than others.

We rounded off the celebrations on Friday with children and staff dressing in tartan and dancing to ceilidh music in the hall followed by having a very Scottish teddy bear picnic. All the children had taken in their favourite teddy or soft toy and were able to join us for an indoor picnic of traditional Scottish food such as shortbread, oatcakes, and cheese.

A great end to the week and lots of fun.

Ashgrove Room 3 Ladybird Room Autumn and Winter News

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The Ladybird room at Ashgrove have had a very busy term. We have been having fun in the outdoor area whilst experiencing the changing environment as Summer turns to Autumn and then Autumn turns to winter.    We have been playing in the falling leaves and lately been able to experience the snowy conditions.

 Earlier in the term we all celebrated harvest time when we went shopping for harvest vegetables which we then made into soup for snack. We have been learning about road safety whilst out for walks in the local community and learning to safely balance and climb whilst in the hall.

Now preparations are well underway with our Christmas festivities and are looking forward to our families joining us for our Nativity on Friday.  

The Nativity – Ashgrove Nursery (Butterfly Room 2)

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After lots of rehearsals, we finally had our nativity show. Parents were invited, we all had a lovely time. The children were all beautifully dressed and performed brilliantly well. We had Mary, Joseph, the kings, shepherds, wise men, donkey, camel, an angel and baby JESUS.

We all had fun singing Christmas songs and jingling the bells. At the end of our show, we had a grand visit from a very special guest. Santa came in with gifts for every child. It was so lovely to have our parents in to share our day with us.

Orchard Brae Nursery Howes Road – November News

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We have had a busy time in nursery in November. We participated in Bonfire night activities  painting with bright colours, popping bubble wrap with our feet, hands and wheels and activating light projectors using switches to make patterns on the walls. 

The children have been engaging in a variety of activities and discovering how they can make things move or make things happen. We did this by pushing, pulling, squeezing and tapping. We used a switch to activate the food mixer and the bubble tubes and everyone had fun playing the Apps on the Magic Carpet, to make the icons disappear and reappear through movement. 

We celebrated St. Andrews day over the week. The children enjoyed playing with oats, emptying and filling and pretending to cook with them. We dressed up using tartan, and danced to Ceilidh Music in the hall. We continued our theme of pushing and rolling using vehicles in paint to make Tartan patterns and then finished off the week making oatcakes and tasted them for snack.

Celebrations – Ashgrove Nursery (Bumble Bee Room 1)

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We have been busy learning about different celebrations in Nursery.  We explored lots of different crafts to help us learn about these:

  • We printed fireworks on black paper and added some glitter for sparkle.
  • We coloured in some Pudsey’s and used fingerprints to make spots for Children in Need. 
  • Printing and sticking to make poppies for Remembrance Day.  
  • We used cars to make tartan for St Andrew’s Day.
  • We have been busy painting, sticking and glueing for Christmas.

Howes Road Nursery – Settling In and Term1

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All our children in the Nursery at Howes Road have been busy settling in this term and have done a great job of it. Well done!

Over the past few weeks we have been walking in the local community, collecting interesting items that tell us Autumn is here. We have used our senses to explore them and been creative in using them for art and craft activities such as conker rolling and hedgehog making.

Ashgrove Nursery Room 1 – Term 1 and Settling In

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It is lovely to have all our returners back and we have welcomed some new friends too. 

We have been busy exploring our new Nursery Playroom since returning after the summer holidays.  Fun activities include: going out for walks and trips to our local park, weekly drumming sessions with Keith and making playdoh which involves getting very messy!

We are focusing on Myself this session, and are learning about our body parts through singing, sticky kids, painting with our hands and feet and learning how to brush our teeth.

Last Week Of Term

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We have had a wonderful activities week as we prepare for the summer holidays!

On Tuesday we enjoyed an Orchard Brae ‘Proms In The Park’. Unfortunately, the weather meant that we couldn’t enjoy a picnic outside but as you can see from the video below, everyone had a great time listening to the live music provided by the Fyvie Folk Club.

On Thursday, we all took part in our Animal Themed Sports Day. Use the QR code or link below to view a Thinglink showing all the fun!

www.thinglink.com/scene/1596498655605424129

And finally we would like to wish you all a very happy and relaxed summer holiday. Have lots of fun and we can’t wait to hear what you’ve been up to what you’ve been up to when we return in August!

End of Year Celebrations at Ashgrove Children’s Centre

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We welcomed Mums and Dads, Grannies and Grandads to our end of year celebrations. The children moving onto Primary 1 graduated from nursery with a Graduation Certificate, Graduation hat and a book.

Our guests had juice and biscuits and Mrs Thomson visited and handed out the Graduation Certificates.

The children returning next year received bubbles and at the very end were surprised with helium filled balloons bringing big smiles to their faces.