Fiona and her children explored the possibilities of a cardboard box and their wish was her command!! xxxx

Our Free-Flow children experience even more independence as their Jolly learning journeys progress.

They all love to explore the areas across both of their rooms, but their grownups are now encouraging them to make further independent choices and take their play off in their own wonderful, crazy, amazing self-chosen directions…

They are being encouraged to exhibit complete freedom within our junk modelling area and instead of choosing from a range of resources laid out on the table top by a grown up to initially inspire the play, they are now being encouraged to actively seek out and select whatever they need to begin their project/build their creation as well as using their problem-solving skills to join the materials together to create their desired models.

Lots of choosing, lots of critical thinking, lots of problem-solving, lots of discussion and communication and lots of creating as models emerged… from passengers on the train, to a climbing frame, to a princess in a boat… we had it all going on in this very exciting area… whatever next?! Xxxx

A huge, huge thank you to all our children, their mummies and daddies and Team Jollies for joining in all the recent pink fun raising awareness and money for Breast Cancer Now… we raised £174.00 in the end for this great cause. Thank you all for your pinkness and your kindness!! Xxxx

A huge thank you to one of our mummies for sharing her recent experience of her little one starting nursery life below…

“Being a first time mum the word ‘nursery’ struck the fear of god into me! I just wanted to pause time and stay at home with my wonderful little boy forever, but needs must I had to go back to work when he was one. The first nursery I visited with Patrick was Jollies (which set the bar very high ahead of the other look arounds I had booked). I knew straight away I wanted Patrick to go to Jollies without even visiting any other nurseries, but my family encouraged me to go and look around others even if it was only to confirm my gut instinct.

The minute you walk into Jollies it is like walking into an extension of you home, such a warm, welcoming, and friendly environment. First impressions that really stood out to me were; the rooms layouts, wall displays, the kitchen (all freshly made food everyday), learning and play resources, the outside space and play areas are fantastic. Another pointer that is super impressive is the length of service that Jollies staff have, I know that nurseries can have high turnover, and this was something I was particularly worried about, but it really does speak volumes about a place with how long their staff have stayed! I booked for a second look around with my partner which only solidified my decision.

There was a settling in day for Patrick before he started, which I was absolutely dreading as for a year me an P had spent so much time together, I honestly didn’t know how he (or I) would cope. He had been breastfeed, contact napped, attachment difficulties to me when he was going through any developmental leap, and very hard to settle/ or go to sleep without mummy’s milk (you get the picture). I dropped him off for first his 2 hour session and I sat in the car and cried by eyes out as I had never left him with anyone but his dad and my mum and dad for short periods of time. I felt like I had abandoned him with very nice strangers, the guilt was overwhelming. I got picture updates on the parent Elog from his settling in session which reassured me so much, he was absolutely loving life having snacks, playing outside and getting to know his key worker and little friends. When I picked him up, I cried (he didn’t) again but this time it was relief because I knew we had made the right decision and Patrick was going to absolutely love his future at Jollies. The relief factor was massive for me, as it made my return to work so muc easier, it was not focused on leaving Patrick, it was about me establishing myself back into my HR career I and finding my feet as ‘Ailidh’ again not just Patricks 24 hour mum.

Patrick now gets out of the car waving when he realises where he his (this is something he only does when we go to see his grandparents). When we go in the door he is so happy to see the AMAZING staff in his room and I know he is set for the day, off he goes and plays, which makes me so proud that he has gained so much independence and it so reassuring seeing him so happy in his room. The nursery routine suites Patrick so well, we replicate this at home now too and his sleeping patterns on a night have drastically improved. I was so worried about his naps at nursery as I thought he would never sleep there, but he has been doing 2 hour stints!! (The staff are clearly magical nap fairies). He has always had sleep struggles on a night but being at nursery is defiantly helping him link his sleep cycles better.

When your phone pings and it is the parent Elog it is the best feeling of the day! I absolutely love the picture updates that you get sent. To see him happy, settled and absolutely living his best life in the thoughtful updates, just allows me to relax and get on with my work. I never worry about how he is, or is he ok? The daily log report that you get at the end of the day is also incredible, to see what he has eaten, when he has napped are fab. The meals that they get are so varied and healthy Patrick is a real foodie so he especially loves this. It is nice on nursery days that he comes home happy and full and only needs a small supper if he is hungry. So it’s a lot less stress on timings, to not need meals prepped and ready for after pick up before the bedtime routine begins!

The staff have been absolutely incredible, I cannot stress this enough in words, to hand over your child and say see you after 5pm is massive, and I have always been able to walk out of the door reassured Patrick will have the most amazing day. When I go and pick him up, he is always busy playing or reading or climbing on the slide and stairs, he is actually never ready to come home and I never feel bad about the length of time he is there. Nothing is ever too much trouble, and you can tell all the all genuinely care about Patrick. The daily activities that they get up to are great so creative and lovely to see him learning and having a good time with all the different resources that we don’t have at home. Another thing that I love is how much time they spend outside playing, what ever the weather they are wrapped up in their suits, or in the shade with hats and sun cream on they get play time outside.

Recent staff comments that have made me smile from just this week are ‘he was born to be outside and free, he is so independent, ‘he has done really well with his fork today, I guided his hand when loading his food’. Just little things like provide affirmation that they know him so well and spend time having fun and helping him develop.

I hope it comes across, but I absolutely whole heartedly know I made the best nursery choice for Patrick, and I cannot wait for him to spend the rest of his pre-school days at Jollies, loving life having fun and learning with his little friends and staff

Thank you so much Jollies!!!”

Patrick, Ailidh and Eddie

Should you be considering starting nursery in the future and you’d like to come and visit and see if we are the right place for you and your little one please go to our website and click on the ‘enquiry form’ button and we’ll be back in touch soon xxxx

What do I look like? Our children have been drawing self portraits for a display that Stephen is creating within their room to reflect their wonderful selves and how they come together to form a fabulous group!

Before drawing Stephen and his children talked about their facial features after looking closely in the mirror; discussing their eyes, their nose, the shape of their mouth etc, and they also chatted together about what these were all used for… Stephen asked them “How do we hear and listen to sounds?” and “How do we talk and make sounds?” and other similar questions.

This then enabled the children to really think, and learn, all about their different facial features and consider where they were located so they could then draw their face in the most accurate way possible on their paper.

Stephen also asked the children what colour eyes they had and what their hair colour was too, to get them really thinking about the colours they were choosing and using after looking closely at their reflections.

Whilst the children were all drawing themselves Stephen observed them VERY closely and he studied which hand appeared to be their dominant one, precisely how they held their pens… did they have a particular/preferred grasp or grip? He also looked at their finger/hand strength and manipulation and whether they were exhibiting control of the pen throughout to create different movements/motions and also how they managed to hold their paper still and whether they turned it when they were drawing and colouring in…

It is truly fascinating to watch early drawing and writing skills emerging and really hone in on fine motor skills as well as participating in interesting discussions about what makes them ‘them’ and chatting about their senses too

What a clever bunch of observant, amazingly artistic children we truly have here at Jollies… they are all definitely UNIQUE and wonderful!! Xxxx

At nursery sharing and taking turns is important, and intrinsic in everything we do and teach, so that our children can play happily together without conflict.

Recently one of our children was wanting a bike that a friend had been whizzing around on… and Stephen, after observing him standing to the side looking and beginning to look a little frustrated, encouraged him to simply ask his friend nicely if he could have a go.

In the next moment he’d gone up to his friend and asked “Can I have a go on that bike please?”. His friend smiled and then got off the bike to let him have a turn!

By encouraging our children to use their voices to express their wants and needs politely their friends are then able to relate to them and empathise and adjust their behaviour/responses/take turns and share etc accordingly.

If our children listen to their friends and their requests and are taught to value the importance of kindness and taking turns the likelihood of snatching from one another or simply getting frustrated and into conflicts reduces as politeness and manners cost nothing and IT’S ALWAYS GOOD TO BE KIND… xxxx

Autumn is calling!!

The pinkness has now gone (although the collection box is still sat next to the front door for anyone still wishing to pop in some pennies for Breast Cancer Now it’ll be there until the end of this week) and Autumn has arrived in our entrance hall.

Can you spot and hiding in our ‘all year round’ tree?! Xxxx

Our babies are splashing in the tub!!

xxxx

At Jollies it’s all about the strong bonds and ‘tuning into’ what our children really desire… and this was illustrated perfectly through a recent interaction between Laura and one of her children.

They brought her over some material so they could play peek-a-boo!! They were making their intentions very clear to her as they instigated this game…

So Laura decided it would be even more fun to do it together… so they then both hid under the blanket.

This was found to be extremely funny and the little one just kept giggling and all her friends around her were entertained and soon joined in too.

When they then pulled the material off their heads together (…….after the anticipation of building this moment up!) they found it even funnier and the giggles soon turned into full on belly laughter!!!!

Magic moments spent playing together here at Jollies xxxx

Emma got little fingers strengthening and hand/eye coordination growing recently when she set up an invitation to play in the messy tray.

Our children threaded straw pieces onto spaghetti to create their structures and there was lots of discussion of colours and patterns and also naturally tonnes of counting too!!

Yet all the while their physical skills were being developed as fine motor control and coordination was very much the name of the game… along with extreme focus and concentration!

Pasta pieces and containers also lurked beneath in the tray and these captured little imaginations too as our children emptied and filled and whilst doing so they naturally compared quantities and developed their understanding of capacity! They all definitely tried to get as much into their boxes as they could…

One tray…. Sooooooooooo much learning taking place xxxx