On Friday 10th of May, we took part in Early Childhood Ireland's National Pyjama Day. Early Childhood Ireland’s National Pyjama Day is the largest one-day fundraising event organised by the early childhood care and education sector in Ireland.

Pyjama day is one of the staff's favourite days of the year as they get to come to work in their pyjamas, slippers and dressing gowns. Our day started at 7.30 am when children began arriving to the creche, all cosy in their pyjamas. Some very brave parents also dropped their children to the creche wearing their own pyjamas. 

,A little later on in the day, we opened Longfield Academy's Pamper Parlour. The children came and sat two at a time in the Pamper Parlour waiting room. While waiting in the waiting room they decided on what treatment they would like; Nail painting, hairstyling, head massage or hand massage. Some of the children chose the whole package while others preferred to only have on or two of the options. Once decided, the children came in to the parlour, where they were pampered.

The children received cucumber to put on their eyes to refresh them, however some of the children felt there was a better use for the cucumber and decided to eat it instead !

Nails were painted, hair was styled and heads were massaged all day long here at Longfield Academy. 

All the clients of Longfield Academy's Pamper Parlour were very happy leaving the salon. One child even told us "this is the best day ever, I am beautiful now".

Once the children had all been pampered, they took part in a bed making race. The children raced against each other two at a time to see who could make the bed the quickest. It was great fun and the children all cheered for each other.

Many of the children brought teddies into creche with them, so we had a Teddy Bear's Picnic and story-time with the bears, followed by a DVD to end a very relaxing day!

We managed to raise over €300, on what turned out to be "the best day ever". We are already excited for Pyjama Day Next year

There was lots of masterpieces created over the two weeks by the children, who took pride in bringing home their artwork each day.  

At the end of the two weeks we revealed our Easter Competition winner and runner up. Smiles all 'round!                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

On 30th May 2018, we excitedly loaded up the big bus with our car seats, put on our hi-vis jackets and set off on our pre-school tour to ‘Pirate Adventure’ in Tramore. We were so excited to see what adventures awaited us and if we would find any pirate treasure. We sang lots of songs to help us pass the long journey to Tramore.

When we arrived at ‘Pirate Adventure’, the staff greeted us at the door with big smiles. They brought us inside and informed all the children about the fun activities they had planned. We split up into groups and the fun began.
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We played a round of mini golf first, it was very tricky trying to hit the ball around the shells and other obstacles. One of the holes was Glow in the Dark, and we were all trying very hard to get a
​HOLE IN ONE!!

​Once we completed the mini golf course, we moved to the bowling alley for a game of bowling. There were a lot of strikes!!!

​Next, we had races on the go-kart track and took it in turns to drive the go-karts. They were great fun and went super-fast. 

After our activities, we all went to the Superhero and Princess Party Areas, where we had a lovely lunch prepared for us by the staff at ‘Pirate Adventure’ and a nice cool drink to quench our thirsts. Once we were finished and had a little rest, we were ready to continue the fun in the Pirate Ship Jungle Gym. 

​Soon, our lovely bus driver returned for us and we sadly said goodbye to the staff, who kindly gifted all the children with a party bag of Pirate Treasure. We sang a few songs on our return to Longfield Academy and some of us had a little nap after our busy morning of Adventures.

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Our Mammies and Daddies greeted us with warm smiles and waves when we returned and were all eager to hear all our tales of the ‘Pirates Adventures’ in Tramore. 

We would like to introduce you to some new faces in the Longfield Academy building. Say "Hello!" to our students Maria, Sarah B, Mike and Sarah O, who are completing their professional work experience placements. All of these students are completing courses in Early Years Education. We are delighted to welcome them all to our team! :-)
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We had great fun last week planting our new garden- we have big plans for it !
We planted lots of vegetables - potatoes, carrots, curly kale and Brussel sprouts. We also planted some lettuce, so that we can enjoy fresh salad for lunch soon- yum!
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We've also planted a 'sensory garden' with lots of different smells and textures. We love to rub the leaves of the herbs in our fingers and then smell how different they all are!
We also measure the rainfall but hopefully it won'r read this high in the summer!