Fortrose ELC

Welcome to Fortrose ELC

Click on the image to see a short video introduction to our setting

Welcome to Fortrose Pre-School
Come and have a look inside!

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Location

Black Isle Leisure Centre

Deans Road

Fortrose

IV10 8TJ

Telephone

07831 735169

Email

[email protected]

Opening Hours

8am – 5pm Monday – Thursday

8am – 4pm Friday

(Term time)

What we do

We create a warm and stimulating environment where learning is fun.

We promote an atmosphere where children’s curiosity and awareness of their world can be cultivated and extended.

Through play and exploration, we encourage children to grow in confidence, self- esteem and become independent learners.

We believe every child is an individual who has needs that should be met in an atmosphere that celebrates diversity.

Manager:

Anita Sooos

Telephone: 07801249066

Email: [email protected]

We are registered with Care Inspectorate. Click on the button on the right to access our most recent report

Our registration number is: CS2003008603

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Handy Parent Guide for Fortrose Pre-school

This booklet has been designed to provide parents with a quick guide to all useful information about starting at our setting.

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Our latest news

Use the forward/backward arrows on the right to navigate through our most recent posts.

August 2023

We are very excited to be back after the Summer break and the children were too on their first day back in the setting. Here are some of the highlights of our day:

Imaginary play and role play: The children used their creativity and imagination within the home corner. One of the children said, “I like cooking – I will make lunch for everybody!.”
Small world play: The children explored different themes and scenarios using miniature figures, vehicles, and props. They played with animals, dinosaurs, cars, trains, and dolls. They also made their own small worlds using materials, such as pasta, cornflakes and rice. One of the children said, “I like playing with dinosaurs – I can make them roar!”
Active play outside in the garden: The children enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine in our spacious garden. They ran, jumped, climbed and balanced on our outdoor equipment. They also played and built with tyres and crates. One of the children said, “I like playing outside because I have fun with my friends.”

We are looking forward to a busy term, playing and learning.

May 2023

The children and staff of Fortrose ELC have recently enjoyed a visit to the local Eilean Dubh Care Home. Play supports learning about both you and the world around you, so shared play experiences such as parachute games, singing songs and looking at story books are a great way to construct valuable relationships between the children and the older generation. The intergenerational interactions improve social skills, physical and cognitive development, and emotional wellbeing, as well as making everybody smile.

The children and older people enjoyed each other’s company, and a very special and happy time was shared together, strengthening the sense of community, and promoting understanding and inclusion.

“Sometimes, when you get old your legs don’t work so you can sit in a wheelchair”. “I loved the people – they could read stories really well and knew the words to the songs!” “They were kind”.

April 2023

March 2023

We can’t believe that we are halfway through March already – fluctuating between warm Spring sunshine and the last of the Winter snow. The children chose to learn about vehicles and transport over the last couple of weeks. We have been lucky enough to have visits from a rally car, a lorry, a tractor, a motorbike and a camper van so far! The children have loved having the opportunity of having a good look at the vehicles and even, on some occasions, climbing into the driving seat!

We have also taken delivery of some crates for the garden, which the children have been busy turning into tractors and racing cars. They also used them with the pipes we already had to send cars, water and balls down. “when the pipe is higher my car goes faster!” The loose parts in the garden create a rich environment for the children, allowing them to follow their interests and use their curiosity.

January 2023

December 2022

We have enjoyed a busy and festive few weeks at Fortrose ELC. The children chose the theme of ‘The True Meaning of Christmas’ for their Christmas performance for parents, grandparents and carers. They visited places within their local community looking for clues; starting at the library where they found books and stories about the Nativity. We then visited the local Care Home and sang Christmas songs to the senior citizens and found out how they would be spending Christmas together. The final visit was to the Academy where older pupils played instruments and sang together with our children, their older siblings and staff. Most of the children agreed that the true meaning of Christmas was ‘love’ – being with those we love and with those who love us.

Fortrose ELC would like to take this opportunity of wishing all our families and our local community a very happy Christmas and look forward to seeing you all on

Monday 9th January 2023.

November 2022

We have had a very busy few weeks at Fortrose ELC – children have had the opportunity to join in with Halloween stories and songs, baking, a ceilidh with live music where we learned about the fiddle, the penny whistle and even a visit from an ambulance!

From our SHANARRI wellbeing indicators, we are taking a close look at health which was very relevant and cohesive with the fun the children had at our ceilidh, some or the children’s comments included:

“my heart is beating faster now”

“I need a drink after cause I feel so hot”

We also used the opportunity to link health with a visit from the ambulance. Children got to go into the ambulance and look around, they tried on the paramedics helmets and jackets as well as see the blue lights flash!

30th September 2022

We have had a busy day with a visit from Ailsa a dental nurse and Bungee her Kangaroo friend. The children were learning all about the importance of brushing our teeth. The children sat and listened really well, some made comments which were relevant and asked questions ” don’t share your brush because of germs” “brushing your teeth is healthy” . They watched Bungee getting his teeth brushed, watching and modelling the circular motion. Some of the children understood how toothbrushing could be associated with the SHANARRI values of Safe and Healthy. The children all received a toothbrush to take home too!

Childsmile daily supervised toothbrushing programmes in education settings improve the oral health of children in Scotland. If you would like to find out more about childsmile go to www.child-smile.org.uk

27th June 2022

May 4th 2022

26th April 2022

29th March 2022

16th March 2022

Spring has sprung at Fortrose Preschool this week! With the warmer weather, the children have spent most of the days outside. They have built dens, climbed in the hedges, held picnics with their friends and done some digging in the garden. It is stated in Realising the Ambition guidance that ‘outdoor play experiences have a direct and positive impact on children’s physical, cognitive, social and mental health and emotional development’ most importantly it makes learning fun!

The children have enjoyed looking at our frog spawn, thinking about the lifecycle of frogs and singing ‘ten little speckled frogs’ at the top of their voices whilst bouncing around the garden.

Long may the sunshine continue so we can plant out our new bulbs, seeds and plants.

2nd March 2022

The children chose and have been enjoying playing and learning about money – values, sizes, appearance, how you get it, and how to spend it!

The children enjoyed matching coins to pictures and adding coin values together to ‘spend’ in their café and shop.

When asked where the money came from some of the answers we had were, “from the shop”, “from Mummy’s purse” and “from the bank”. Most of the children understood that they had to earn money – they enjoyed carrying out jobs around the setting such as sweeping up, laying the tables, etc, they then enjoyed ‘buying’ their lunch and snacks.

Handling the tiny coins supported fine motor skills and the use of the money to buy items was good for numeracy and social interaction.

10th February 2022

1st February 2022

Vision, Values and Aims.

We have been doing some work with our children and families on our Vision, Values and Aims – we asked everyone to give us one word to describe their vision for our setting. Here are everyone’s thoughts!