News

February 2013

September 2012

We hope everyone has had a wonderful summer. The first few weeks of this term will be spent helping the children to settle in and to get to know one another and the pre-school routines.

All the Pre-school staff would like to thank all the mums who kindly took home and cleaned various pre-school items at the end of last term.

We would also like to thank everyone who took part in our sponsored bike ride last July. We raised a fantastic amount of nearly £400.00 which has enabled us to buy some great resources for the Pre-school.

Another big fund raiser for the Pre-school is the Lapworth Scarecrow Festival which is being held this weekend. Through the money raised last year, we can now shortly start work on the land to the side of the Pre-school in Yew Tree Close which will be a new soft surface playground for the children. We need to raise lots more to add more activities to the playground so please try and come along and support this event.

We follow a framework called the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) which early years professionals use to describe the time in your child’s life between birth and age 5. Please look for more details about the EYFS on the Parent’s notice board in the foyer or you can access more information on the EYFS website www.foundationyears.org.uk/parents.

We shall be having an Information Evening on Tuesday 16th October at 7.30 – 8.30 pm, for all parents to come along and find out what their child does at pre-school and have the opportunity to chat to staff.

The Preschool plan activities around the children’s ‘next steps’ in their development by taking into account their individual interests more than planning round a particular topic. We do however; have a loose topic woven into some of our planned activities, and for this half term it will be Settling in and Autumn. Planning for all three groups is displayed on the Parent’s Notice Board.

During November, all parents will receive a Progress Summary which will outline your child’s development/learning and how we will help to move them on to their next steps. There will be a section for parents to contribute to this summary.

From this September the EYFS has outlined that Progress Checks are compulsory for 2 year olds and 5 year olds. It is useful to share the Progress Check we provide for 2 year olds with your child’s health visitor. Therefore, if your child has not had their 2 year old Health Visitor check, kindly advise your child’s key worker so we can arrange for our Progress check to be done beforehand. Key workers will require at least two week’s notice to collate their observations and prepare the report. The check should also take into account parent’s comments about their child so please keep your key worker updated with any relevant details/progress that you notice at home. If your child has already had their 2 year old Health Visitor check they will still get our 2 year progress check in November.

As part of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, each child has their own Learning Journey folder which we welcome you to contribute to. (You will be given more details about this at our information meeting). If your child is new to the pre-school, please find attached a consent form for the Pre-school to collect observations on your child.

One way of contributing is by taking one of our paper celebration leaves by the entrance door and note on it anything your child has achieved or maybe for being kind and helpful e.g. helped to tidy up. These are lovely to show the group at circle time and then your child puts their leaf on the celebration tree in the foyer.

The children are now being introduced to their name mats. These will be used so the children can register their own arrival and for various activities during the day. Parents may like to help children in the Pre-school Group to collect their mat from the foyer area before entering the class room.

Some children at the pre-school do have allergies to food containing nuts and we would therefore request that any food brought into pre-school e.g. packed lunches, birthday cake etc., must be nut free.

If your child does attend another nursery/child minder straight from their session at Pre-school, please inform a member of staff as for continuity of care, it is useful to set up a diary communication system between the two settings. This would just be used to record any significant information/incidents that we feel should be passed on.

We would just like to highlight an important issue to parents. We are aware that some parents have indicated that they would not like photographs of their children to be displayed outside the Pre-school and the staff are very aware of your wishes regarding taking photographs and displaying them. However we would just like to remind everyone that at events where parents are present, we cannot guarantee that your child will not appear on a photograph taken by someone else. WE STRONGLY REQUEST HOWEVER TO ALL PARENTS THAT PHOTOGRAPHS CONTAINING OTHER CHILDREN OR THE PRE-SCHOOL STAFF DO NOT GET PUT ONTO ANY INTERNET SITES SUCH AS FACEBOOK . Please see Karen or Sally should you wish to discuss the matter further – thank you.

There are a few spaces in our morning club which runs from 8.45 am until your child normally starts their session and our lunch club which runs from 12.00 – 1.00pm for children not entitled to the nursery education grant. Kindly see Sally and Karen if this you are interested in a place for either of these clubs.

If you have any forms/payments to return to the Pre-school, kindly post these in the indoor letter box next to the disabled toilet door.

Please do not hesitate to ask any member of staff if you have any questions. We want to make sure that your child is happy and having fun playing and learning. You should have already received a letter confirming your child’s key worker. This person will be your point of contact if you have any problems or queries concerning your child or pre-school. Sally and Karen, the managers can also be approached at any time.

Thank you.