Newsletter November 2009

Welcome To:
Precious Jeke, Jake Dexter, Amelie Jaquenoud, Lily-Anne Keogh, Tilly Hicks, Ella Moore and Connor Bloomer. We hope you settle in well and enjoy your time with us at Pre-School.

Dates to Remember
Christmas Fun Day 29th November - Christmas Party 8th December - Christmas Concert 17th December … Letters will soon be sent out to all parents giving details of each event.

Christmas Fun Day!
We are looking forward to our first taste of Christmas on 29th November! This term we are fundraising for computer trolleys, big books and movement area equipment. Please can you have a rummage in your cupboards, as we need items for the tombola, cakes for the cake stall and any offers of help on the day will be much appreciated. Grab a committee member in the queue or email to let us know how you can help. If nothing else, please bring the whole family along to join in the fun on the day!

Keyworker Meetings
Over the next few weeks there will be a list of each keyworker staff member together with a list of the children they supervise on the noticeboard at both sites. Please book in to see your child's keyworker by putting your name on the rota duty board, so you can come in and discuss your child's progress when your child is in session.

We need your help to get free sports equipment for the Pre-School
We have signed up for the Haven free sports equipment for Pre-schools (in association with the Pre-school Learning Alliance). All you need to do is register your support for us on their website: www. havenfunfitness.com/school.asp?id=15357. We need to hit a certain target to get anything, so please get friends and grandparents to sign up too!

Toners and Cartridge Recycling
Please don't bin your empty toners and cartridges or old mobile phones - we can get cash for them! Please bring them in to Pre-school or give to Claire Murphy (07919 448254). Thank you!

New Logo and New Website
Our new logo was launched at our AGM at the beginning of term. We felt that our identity needed a bit of a face lift as there are several groups and pre-schools in the area with the building blocks as their logo. We love our new logo and hope you do too! It is a long process to get all our branded items switched over to the new logo, so we will be using both logos throughout this year. Along with our new logo the new website was also launched this Autumn. Please have a look at it and let us know how we can use it to help you and your children.

Uniforms
The Pre-school has a non-compulsory uniform that we have also now updated with our new logo. These uniforms help raise the profile of the school whilst keeping the children's home clothes away from the wear and tear of a pre-school session! We do have a few of the old logo uniform bits and pieces left; we are selling these off cheap - download an order form from our website…or grab a bargain at the fun day.

Contact Details
It is extremely important that all Parents/Carers ensure all contact details are up to date! Especially if you change your phone numbers and other emergency contact numbers. Otherwise we can not contact you if we need to in case of an emergency.

Door Staff
Please can parents not talk to staff member on door duty. If you need to discuss any issue please find the supervisor or session leader in school, as the member of staff on the door is responsible for the childrens’ safety.

Parent/Carer Rota
We would love to encourage you all to attend at least one full session with your child each term.  You will really get an insight into the fun we have during the sessions.  Please look out for the rota which will be displayed by the entrance and fill in your name for the day you would like to come in.

Jocks Lane Mobile Phone Number
Due to the great outdoor space at Jocks Lane the children are often outside. If you need to contact a member of staff in an emergency please call 07982 436247.

Jewellery
Wearing of jewellery is not permitted except stud earrings.  This is due to health & safety issues especially when children are playing on the larger pieces of equipment.

Weather report
Please dress your child in lots of layers of clothing rather than just a shirt and a thick coat, as this makes it easier to adjust the children's clothing if they are warm from being active. Please also remember to bring wellies - named inside (to both sites), gloves and hats.

Pre-School Fees
We would like to remind you that invoice payments would be appreciated promptly.  If you have any queries, please direct them to our Treasurer whose contact details are on your invoice and listed below, we will try to assist in any way we can.  On this note, parents who have online bank accounts can pay their invoices direct to our Pre-School’s account.  Our account details will be detailed on each invoice. Your invoice number should be used as a reference so we can match it up to your child, and allocate it in our files.

Interest Items
Please can all small toys coming into the Pre-School for ‘Show-and-Tell’ be labelled, as this helps avoid any confusion.

Children’s Clothing
Please bear in mind when dressing your child for Pre-School that they are in comfortable and easily removable clothing, as this helps the staff at toilet and nappy changing times.

Please also ensure that the children have a change of clothes in their school bag, and if required, nappies, wipes and nappy sacks.

Shoes and Bags
Can parents label shoes and bags, as several children have the same styles and they sometimes end up with the wrong ones?

Many thanks for your ongoing support.

Whats Happing this term in session!!!
This term we will be changing the way we plan activities for the children. Instead of having one theme for the whole term, we will divide the term into blocks of about a month, each with its' own theme. We hope this will enable us to be more flexible in offering a wide range of activities and experiences for the children to enjoy. For the remainder of this term the themes we will be thinking about are:

Winter; 2 Nov - 27 Nov: Seasonal Celebrations; 30 Nov - end of term.

Do please let us know if there are any relevant songs, books or stories that your child enjoys, so we can try and include them when we plan each theme in detail. Also, please bring in any suitable items for the interest table, at the appropriate time. The parents' notice board at each site will have further information about the activities we will be doing for each theme.
Regards,  Sharon & Judy,  Session Leaders