Learning through Play forms the basis of the pre-school education we provide.   It incorporates many familiar play activities such as crafts, role-play, construction, music and movement, set in the context of the Scottish Government's Curriculum for Excellence.   A child's Nursery experience should allow them to discover the enjoyment and excitement of learning and lay the foundation for a lifelong positive attitude to education.

Additional Support for Learning

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Blackhall Nursery welcomes children who may require additional support for learning and will work to meet individual needs with the assistance of parents/carers and, when required, specialists for example speech and language therapists and educational psychologists.  

Our Additional Support for Learning Policy can be read in full in the Nursery or you can request a copy.  

Personal Learning Planning

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As part of Curriculum for Excellence, children are encouraged to take greater responsibility for their own learning and for the choices they make.   Personal Learning Planning is a key part of this process, which we have developed through "All About Me" books and eLearning Journals.   Each child is involved in recording their own learning in the form of pictures, photos and writing.   Curricular pages will record when each child reaches the learning goals he/she has helped to set, such as recognising his/her name, which may then progress to writing his/her name.   The children get a great sense of achievement as these steps are celebrated in their books .

The Nursery staff assess and update the children's progress continually.   This is summarised in the form of a Transition Record and given to parents in May/June of the child's pre-school year.

Individual Parent Consultations are held twice during the school year (usually in October/November and in May/June). 

Visual records of the children's activities, such as projects and artwork, are on display throughout the year in various parts of the Nursery building, and the theme for the week can be found on the Weekly Plan (on display at the Nursery entrance)