The children and staff of South Morningside Nursery began the 2007/2008 term, in a church hall, more than a mile from the school itself. We had moved from Greenbank Church, a short walk from the school, to Fairmilehead Parish Church. Initially, the move was met with some trepidation but four months into the new term the children and nursery team have been welcomed and settled well into their new home.

In early November the children developed an interest in pirates which soon became obvious in every area of the nursery i.e. role-play, big bricks, art, water and sand. Treasure and maps were two of the biggest motivators. Coincidently, part of the garden was being dug up to make way for slabs. The children had the job of helping to tidy bark chips after the workmen were finished. During this work/play the children discovered their very own buried treasure, small pieces of broken toys and equipment. Excited discussion soon followed... who did the mystery toys belong to? ...how had they come to be in the garden? With the help of Mrs Donaldson, our caretaker, who had worked for 15 years with the previous nursery, the children were able to solve the mystery of the lost toys.

The discovery led on to discussions about burying our own treasure and finally the idea for South Morningside Nursery's Time Capsule. The children drew pictures, took photographs and participated fully by voting for their final choice of contents i.e. a small toy dinosaur, a tortoise, a timer used by the children to help with turn taking on the bikes and various other items. Many of the contents could be connected with the concept of time and this was recognized by the children i.e. dinosaurs lived a long time ago, tortoises were asleep at this time of year (hibernating) and of course the timer. The children are excited to think that some day in the future their toys and treasure will be found by some unsuspecting children.

Finally, on St Andrew's Day the nursery had the ideal opportunity to have a double celebration. The children and nursery team took full advantage of the special event accompanied by bagpipes, flags and tartan. Meg, the Youth Worker from the Church, was invited along and helped the nursery's very own Andrew lead the parade and bury the time capsule. Time is indeed a treasure.