Riverside Childcare Kirkintilloch

As part of our transitions between environments, outdoor safety checks in the garden, and during outings, we use the Care Inspectorate’s SIMOA approach, which stands for Safety, Inspect, Monitor, Observe and Act.
The children use SIMOA the Elephant to help carry out risk assessments before going outside. Together, they look for potential hazards and discuss how to keep themselves and others safe while they play, explore, and learn. Through SIMOA, children are encouraged to develop awareness of their surroundings, understand the importance of staying with trusted adults, and learn how we keep everyone safe by ensuring children do not leave an area unaccompanied.
SIMOA also helps us support children's emotional wellbeing. By observing and listening to children, we can better understand their feelings, provide emotional security, and respond to their individual needs. This helps children feel safe, valued, and confident in their environment.
Children are encouraged to inspect, monitor, and observe situations around them and to understand that adults take immediate action to assess risks and keep everyone safe. These experiences help children build confidence in recognising potential dangers and making safe choices.
SIMOA will also be going home with our Snowdrop families to enjoy a variety of adventures. Families are invited to take photographs and record their experiences in SIMOA’s diary, highlighting everyday opportunities to think about safety, such as crossing the road safely, applying sun cream on sunny days, or identifying ways to stay safe at home and in the community.
These shared experiences help children develop their understanding of safety in a fun and meaningful way, while also strengthening the valuable connection between nursery and home. 🐘💜 Care Inspectorate

We recently celebrated Bookbug Week Scotland 2026, recognising the vital role that stories play in supporting children's language development, creativity, wellbeing and early literacy skills. Through shared reading and storytelling experiences, we continue to foster a love of books and learning from an early age.
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to East Dunbartonshire Libraries for their ongoing support and commitment to early years literacy through the provision of weekly Bookbug sessions at Riverside. These valued sessions enrich children's learning experiences and help cultivate a lifelong enjoyment of stories, books and reading. 📚📕📗📘 East Dunbartonshire Council

🐛Life Cycle of a Butterfly🦋
The children have been exploring the concept of metamorphosis through a range of hands-on learning experiences linked to the life cycle of a butterfly. They observed the caterpillars' growth and development over time, discussed the different stages of the life cycle, engaged with related stories and visual resources, and participated in creative and investigative activities to deepen their understanding of the transformation process. The children closely monitored the caterpillars as they formed chrysalides and later emerged as painted lady butterflies. Once the metamorphosis was complete, the butterflies were released into their natural environment, providing the children with a meaningful opportunity to observe the final stage of the life cycle firsthand. 🦋

🌸🌼 Spring Fling 🌼🌸
We recently hosted a wonderful Spring Fling in the nursery garden, welcoming more than 180 guests to enjoy an afternoon celebrating the arrival of the “warmer weather”. The event provided a wide range of engaging activities for children and families to explore together, including a pirates and fairies experience in our forest area, a snack shack for some treats and relaxation space designed to encourage families to connect, as well as a planting and potion station, book swap, photo opportunities, and traditional outdoor games.
Families also enjoyed dancing along to a selection of music, including favourites from Danny Go, before ending the afternoon with time on the bouncy castle. Children were then presented with a prize in recognition of completing the various activities throughout the event.
A huge thank you to everyone who attended and helped make the day so magical 🌷🌸🏴‍☠️🧚‍♀️🎳