Ministerial visit

Cathkin Community Nursery hosted a visit by Fiona Hyslop on Friday. They were celebrating St Andrew’s day witha variety of music, food, and activities. It involved children presenting a lovely framed print they had made to Fiona, a piper, singing and dancing. Liz the Head was delighted that the nursery was visited as it was a great boost for the children, the staff and the parents. As the Fiona Hyslop said “This visit made me proud to be Scottish but Scotland should be proud of all of you at Cathkin Community Nursery”. Liz was impressed to see the minister getting down and about things with the children and everyone had a great morning.

Just prior to the visit I’d popped in to say hello to Liz. As  I was leaving a parent said “It was nice to meet you Fiona”. For one scary moment I was sorely tempted in my new guise as Fiona Hyslop to announce a large injection of cash to education…… Ah the power…. But instead I just admitted I wisnae her.

Persona dolls

Liz Mercer at Cathkin Community nursery has recently had an article published in Early Years Matters on LTS site about their use of persona dolls. I was interested today when I picked up some of the feedback from her parents on this initiative. Here’s a small selection –

“The use of Persona Dolls seems an excellent idea especially in our multicultural society. It can only be good learning for the children”

“we are particularly appreciative of the cultural awareness aspect of the learning experience to be gained by using persona dolls. It is clear that using them gives learners a good headstart in life in order to tackle the constant challenges that they face throughout life.”

“It makes it easier for the kids to express themselves and foster an imagination with the persona dolls”

“Very engaging and useful method”

“Valuable life skills”