Term 5 Newsletter 2015

Transcription

1 Registered charity Rotherfield Village Pre-School Rotherfield Recreation Ground North Street, Rotherfield. TN6 3LX Term 5 Newsletter 2015 With the clocks going forward we now spring into Term 5 and welcome Mia, Harry, Bella, Jessica, Bethany, Harrison, Elise, Anna and their families. We also welcome two new members of staff; Hannah, an Early Years Practitioner, and Sandra, Katharine s mummy who many of you know already as our previous Chair. Sandra will be taking up the role of Pre-School Bursar. Vicky Cheeseman - Manager This Term we continue to focus on preparing our older children for starting school in September. Our visits to Rotherfield School start this term so that the children can get a feel for what it's like in a school environment. I still remember my first day at school and being overwhelmed by the size of the building and older children. So, over the next two terms, our children will spend time in the reception classroom with the teacher and other children; meet the teachers and teaching assistants and play in the playground. By the time September rolls round, our pre-school children will be happy and confident to start school. Even if your child will not be going to Rotherfield school, this experience will still help them prepare for starting their new school. Now we know which schools your children will be going to, we will invite all reception teachers into pre-school so that they can meet their children. Fiona has also issued you with Starting School packs to help prepare you and your child for this exciting new stage in your child s life. This term we are starting Spanish lessons on a Thursday for our older children. At this age children are like sponges soaking up 1

2 more and more knowledge making it a great time to start learning another language. With our younger children, our focus is their speech and language development and friendships. They are now entering a stage in their lives where, rather than just playing alongside other children, they are starting to talk to each other and form firm friendships. Children often need support from us to learn how to share and take turns during this time and speech is very important to enable children to communicate with others. We will be carefully listening to children to ensure that their speech is developing and will be doing short daily activities to extend their vocabulary. For example, this could be sitting together to share news or looking at books and talking about what is happening and what might happen next. Many children love to chat at this age and learn new words rapidly, however, if we feel that your child needs support with their speech (this is more common than you might think), we will speak to you and may suggest that we complete a language tracker so that we can monitor the progress of their speech. If required, we can also help you to book an appointment to attend the next Toddler Talk group at the local Children s Centre where speech therapists are based. As a team, we are always excited to be spend time with your children, teaching them; supporting their learning and sharing in those magical moments that only children can give. If you have any questions please do speak to any of us. Your key person will be the most knowledgeable member of staff about your child but we are all here to help! Vicky and the team Contact: office@rotherfieldpre-school.co.uk Message from the Chair A very warm welcome back to all of our children, parents and staff - I hope you all had wonderful Easter break and were able to enjoy the beautiful weather we had. Hopefully it will be back soon. Liz Burnett -Chairperson As mum to a boisterous boy, fine weather and lots of outdoors activities are a godsend! We are exceptionally lucky that the fantastic staff at pre-school do make the most of these lovely days and get the children out to play and learn in the fresh air 2

3 and sun. Whether it be a walk to the Millennium Green, playing on the football pitch below the pre-school or driving didi cars around the path on the top field, it's great that the children are getting the opportunity for physical exercise and lots of fun outside. Yet another reason why our pre-school has had an OFSTED outstanding rating for the last three inspections! Other than the unseasonably warm Spring weather we have been experiencing, the other hot topic of conversation at the moment is obviously the up and coming election. As the political parties and their leaders continue to make promises and rubbish those of their opposition, one of the key areas in contention is childcare. Currently, all 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to 15 free hours of childcare, with some 2 year olds also being included where the criteria is met. Each of the parties has their own offer on the table, with one party looking to double the current offer to 30 free hours a week. For working parents, this will naturally sound like an exceptional proposition, and indeed, it may well encourage many more parents back into the work place, which is what the government is aiming for. However, what many parents are unaware of is that for each free hour a child attends the preschool, there is a shortfall of 0.96 per child, per hour. Although we now make a small charge for the first 30 minutes of each child's sessions, this is only just sufficient to keep us financially viable. As a charity not a private nursery (it is being a charity that enables us keep our fees low, and therefore accessible everyone), we are a 'not for profit organisation', and any small profit that is made is invested back into the preschool. The 'extras' - the Beebot mentioned in last month's newsletter for example - are only made possible by our fundraising activities. Things like the cake sales, our quiz night and other fundraisers mean that our children can take advantage of wonderful educational toys, books and activities within the preschool. The very popular 'Percy's Shed',over the winter months, is yet another example of where fundraising cash is invested. On the subject of cake sales, a huge thank you to all of you that bought and made cakes for the end of term cake sale before Easter. We raised a fabulous amount - I will let Dawn as the POPs co-ordinator give the final figure - but it is down to all of 3

4 you for baking, then buying and letting the children eat lots of the lovely cakes. I hope the Mums got a look in too! If you would like to have a more involved role in the preschool, we are always looking for parents who can spare their time and expertise to join the Board of Trustees. The Board meets once a month, and is instrumental in the running and decision making processes that affect the pre-school. It is a fantastic way of becoming involved in the heart of the preschool and contributing to this amazing setting that the children love attending. If you are interested in becoming a Board member, please do catch me for a chat at drop off or pick up, or me lizburnett36@hotmail.co.uk. If you don't feel able to commit much time, please do remember that POPs is run on an informal basis and Dawn would love to see as many of you as possible at both the coffee mornings at the Courtyard and the evenings at The Kings Arms where we discuss future fundraising ideas. Both occasions are a great way of socialising with the other Mums at pre-school and if you are the able to get involved with the organisation and running of an event, so much the better. The pre-school wouldn't be what it is without the incredible staff we have working here. It is their creativity in setting up different play scenarios, craft sessions and play areas that means our motto "making it good for every child, every day" really does ring true. We do have a Staff Suggestion Box in the lobby, so please do let the staff know that you appreciate all the hard work they put into making the pre-school so special for all of our little ones. Liz Contact: lizburnett36@hotmail.co.uk POPS News PARENTS OF PRE-SCHOOL What an incredible end to last term with our end of term cake sale. I would like to thank all that helped out or made and bought cakes as we made a fantastic 86.10, bringing our fundraising total to 1, so far. Thank you all. Dawn Squance - Secretary & POPS co-ordinator Our objectives this term is to raise money to enrich our outdoor play area. Making more of our outdoor space is 4

5 invaluable and essential to create the best possible learning environment. With a well-planned educational approach, we could further create high quality learning opportunities for all our children. We still have a way to go to reach our fundraising target and as ever need your help and support. I've now put up a 'POPS diary' poster of all the events, meetings and gatherings for the rest of the academic year, so please come along and join in. Our current fundraising plans for the rest of the year are: Blossoms sponsored walk and professional, end of year photographs. Throughout the week of May 18th, you will have the opportunity to have a school portrait shot - with your child, their friends, or even bring in sibling. You will soon receive a form in your book bag to fill out your requests. You will also have the choice to buy a print or the digital file. I would really welcome your input for future events. I am thinking about putting on a pre-school party, one weekend, for the children as well as a Nearly New Sale. I would love to hear your feedback so please me dawn.squance@yahoo.co.uk with your thoughts or let me know when you see me! On 2nd May Blossom Evans from The Courtyard tea rooms is doing the Isle of Wight Challenge and we still need to raise sponsorship. The link to her fundraising page is or you can click on the link on the home page of our website. A selection of educational toys purchased last term with the fundraising money Looking for an easy way to support Rotherfield Village PreSchool? Raise money for us every time you shop online with Amazon, M&S, Tesco and many more! Whenever you purchase anything on the Internet, access the site through easyfundraising.org (Rotherfield Village Pre-School) and a small percentage of your purchase will be donated to the preschool. We are setting up a new page and button for this on our website. Grown-up fun The morning social at The Courtyard went down a storm last term, so I propose we make it a monthly occurrence with the 5

6 next one planned for Friday 1st May after drop off. Hopefully see you there! Finally, the next POPS evening meeting will be on 7th May at the Kings Arms at 8pm. I would love to welcome any parents who fancy coming along to join in - the more the merrier as it really is good fun. Dawn Contact: dawn.squance@yahoo.co.uk Dates for your diary MAY 1st Coffee morning The Courtyard Rotherfield from 9am 2nd Blossom Evans Isle of Wight Challenge walk 7th POPS The Kings Arms at 8pm Week of the 18th - Preschool Photos 22nd End of Term Cake Sale and last day of term JUNE 1st Start of term 11th POPS The Kings Arms at. 8pm 17th Coffee morning The Courtyard, Rotherfield from 9am 20th Rotherfield Primary School Fayre JULY 7th Coffee morning The Courtyard, Rotherfield from 9am 22nd Leavers do PicnicTerm times 6