Cherrytrees Newsletter
Spring 2014
Spring has arrived here in Cherrytrees Dunbar! We have welcomed some lovely weather over the last week or so and look forward to seeing more of the sunshine and spending more time outdoors. Our lovely daffodils have grown and we are getting ready to plant some flowers and vegetables in our gardens.
We have lots of fun things coming up over the next few months, our annual Spring fair will take place on Saturday 26th April from 1pm-3pm. we will have a bouncy castle, face painting, egg hunt, hook the duck and much more to offer on the day.
On the 17th May we are taking part in a sponsored walk from John Muir Country Park to East Linton to raise money for a SMART board for the nursery, we invite you to join us at 10am on the day, bring a packed lunch and we will stop for our picnic on route.
June also holds some exciting activities, this year sees the return of the Cherrytrees sponsored cycle ride, where Doreen from our Melrose nursery along with her husband Michael, set off on a 3 day cycle around each of the 4 Cherrytrees nurseries to raise money for a SMART board for Cherrytrees and also the sick Kids hospital in Edinburgh. Starting on Monday 2nd June, Doreen and Michael will start from our nursery in Hawick and cycle to our Melrose nursery. Then on the 3rd June, the cycle will continue from Melrose through to our Edinburgh nursery then on Wednesday 4th June the final stage of the cycle will be completed from Edinburgh to our Dunbar Nursery arriving on the 10th Birthday of Cherrytrees Dunbar.
Staff from each nursery base will join Doreen and Michael on the way. We are pleased to announce that Debbie Rendall our nursery cook will accompany Doreen and Michael on the Edinburgh to Dunbar route.
On the 4thJune Cherrytrees Dunbar is 10 years old! We are going to have a garden party to celebrate and will let you know the details in Due course.
On the 14th June, Cherrytrees Dunbar will take part in this year’s Civic Week parade, we hope you will join in and support us in this fun filled venture. Details will again be given in Due course.
Room News
Under 2’s
Ashley Wood – Room Coordinator
Toni Somerville - Practitioner
Elaine Lugton – Support Worker
Kasia Brandys – Support Worker
Over the past month we have said goodbye to Daisy Hamilton who was working in the under 2’s. Daisy has decided to stay at home with her little girl for the time being and we wish her well for the future.
We have also said hello to Toni Somervillewho has joined the under 2’s from the Tweenie room. Toni is enjoying her move to the under 2’s and getting to know all the children.
The Under 2’s have been enjoying looking at the first signs of spring and making some lovely pictures for the display. We have also introduced a black and white area for the younger children as part of our sensory development.
Tweenies
Michelle Buglass/Danielle Sackree – Room Coordinators
Simon Bell – Support Worker
We welcome Simon Bell to the Tweenie room. Simon is a familiar face around the nursery and has worked in all of the rooms in the nursery but has now become a permanent member of the Tweenie room along with Michelle and Danielle.
The Tweenies are enjoying learning about different types of transport and we have set out a transport area with our transport toys. As a group, we are also looking at different shapes and shape recognition.
3-5’s
Angela Appleby/Lisa Hannan – Room Coordinators
Lauren Hughes – Trainee Practitioner
The 3-5’s have been very busy with a pirate topic. We have made our own pirate ship and treasure maps along with pirate hats. The children were interested in islands and looking at them on the globe and were asking where pirates live.
We are now moving on to a space topic as the children have shown interest in planets and stars.
OOSC/Flexible Cover of rooms
Kerry Lugton – Childcare Manager
Angela Appleby – Asst Childcare Manager/3-5 coordinator
Holly Jenkins – Trainee Practitioner
Anna Wood – Support Worker
Amanda Mitchell – Support Worker
OOSC have been busy making a spring time display using lots of different craft materials to make Easter Bunnies, and Sheep with their lambs. We have also been enjoying the holiday club over the Easter holidays with lots of fun activities taking place. The children have been swimming and had fun at the park and also enjoyed a day trip to Edinburgh via the train to visit the National Museum of Scotland. We saw lots of things from animals to sharks, Formula 1 Racing cars to Robots that could spell out our names. What a fun day was had by all
Staff News
We Welcome Amanda Mitchell and Kallie McMIllan to the staff Team here at Cherrytrees.
Amanda has 20+ years experience with Children and families and is a Foster carer with East Lothian Council. Amanda will be working between all the rooms but at the moment has enjoyed working with the OOSC.
Kallie is a qualified Practitioner who has joined our team and some of you may remember Kallie from her student placement which she did with us. We are very happy to have her back as a fully qualified Practitioner.
Important Dates for Your Diary
Saturday 26th April : Spring Fair open day
Tuesday 20th May: graduation Photographs
Monday 26th May: Formal Parents evening (6:30-8 by appointment)
Mon-Wed 2-4th June: Cherrytrees sponsored Cycle ride
Saturday 14th JuneDunbar Civic Week Parade
Thursday 4th July: Pre School Graduation