Committee News – November 2007
Changes to routine
You
may have noticed that the coat racks are now back in the lobby and that we have
some new pegs mounted on the back of the junk modelling unit. These are for the
children to hang their coats on so that they will still have easy access to
them for when they want to go outside. When your child arrives at Pre-School,
can you therefore please hang any other items on the coat racks in the lobby
(such as bags, changes of clothes etc) and then encourage your child when they
come into the main room to bring in their coat and hang it on a peg by the fire
doors. (Packed lunches should continue to be brought in as well.)
During
the winter months, children will need to have a pair of named wellies in
Pre-School. We suggest that you leave a spare pair here permanently but you are
welcome to bring them in daily/weekly if you prefer. These will be kept in a
basket by the coats.
Louise
would like to emphasise that there is no need for parents to dash off straight
away. Do feel welcome to stay and settle your child into an activity.
Parent Helpers
A reminder that we do ask parents to stay and help for
two sessions each term. In the past, parents were assigned sessions that were
not always convenient to them, so recently we have started putting up a list of
sessions for parents to sign up against. If you cannot help yourself, do you
have a friend or relative (over the age of eighteen) who could help instead? It
gives you an opportunity to see what your child gets up to in Pre-School and
helps create more time for the staff to do what they’re paid to do: leading and
observing activities. We are also on the lookout for people with specific
skills they can share with the children – please see the notice board in the
lobby. If you really cannot do your parent helper sessions then please speak to
Louise to discuss other ways you might be able to help the Pre-School – perhaps
you might like to join the committee instead?!
Snacks
Pre-School provides healthy snacks for your child to
eat each session. We do ask parents to make a voluntary contribution each week
to cover the cost of these snacks – we suggest approximately the equivalent
cost of providing a few items of fruit. Recently, the amount of contributions
being made has dropped significantly. We are therefore considering whether we
should revert back to the old system of asking parents to provide snacks for
their child (as happens at St Laurence’s). Our understanding was that most
parents preferred the new system, as it was a lot less hassle in the mornings –
please let us know if you disagree.
Outdoor area
In the New Year we will be focussing on improving the
outdoor area. There are lots of exciting things we could do to enhance it:
mounds, gulleys, shrubs, trees, a growing area and a ‘digging’ area, for which
we will be bringing in support from outside agencies. In the meantime there are
some very simple ways of making it a better learning environment. We are
therefore keen to hear from anyone who could donate any of the following: milk
crates; wheels; large cardboard boxes; small ladders; baskets; plastic tubing;
torches; pebbles/shells; large logs; a wooden hut; wheelbarrows; wind chimes;
bird tables; bulbs and planters; guttering and pipes; tyres; small hammers,
nails and wood. On the subject of donations we are also looking to expand our
resources for our very youngest children so we would gratefully receive any
donations of old toys (in good condition), particularly: complete sets of
stacking cups; a trolley and bricks; hammer and peg boards; shape sorters;
plastic tea sets; a toy ironing board; Small World play sets. Finally, remember
before you throw rubbish out we can always make use of any left over fabric,
ribbon and wool and we use old cereal boxes and yoghurt pots for junk
modelling.
Xmas Bazaar
The village Xmas Bazaar is on Saturday 1st
December at the Greet Hall from 2pm to 4pm. We’ve done very well in managing to
put our name down for the cake stall (which raised over £100 for us at our Open
Day in the summer). We are also going to be running a kids’ tombola. We are
therefore reliant on our usual band of cheery cake bakers. Please could you
bring a cake into Pre-School on Friday 30th November? Also, as you
make room for all those new Xmas presents, please could you check whether you
have any old toys or unwanted presents that are still of sufficient quality to
be able to be used as prizes in the tombola.
Pre-School Xmas Dinner
The committee are organising a dinner for staff and
parents (current and ex-) – basically anyone who wants to come – at the
Kingfisher on Friday 7th December. More information including the
menu is on the notice board in the lobby. If you want to come, please get your
cheque and menu choices to me by Monday 26th November.
Nativity
This year the Pre-School and Class 1 are combining to do
a joint nativity play. Details are still sketchy, including the date, but
rumour has it that it may be performed twice: once in a sharing assembly and
once during a morning in school. We will let you know further information as
soon as we have it.
Xmas Party
The Pre-School Xmas Party will be taking place during the
morning session on Thursday 20th December. If your child does not
usually attend on a Thursday please let staff know whether or not you wish them
to come, as we need to ensure we employ sufficient staff to meet the required
ratios. (The fee for the additional session will appear on next term’s
invoice.) Traditionally, Father Christmas manages to squeeze in a visit to
distribute presents.
End of Term
To keep our hours in line with those of St Laurence’s, we
shall be ending the afternoon session at 2pm on the last day of term, Friday 21st
December. Unfortunately this early closing was not taken into account when the
invoices were produced at the beginning of term. For those people affected, the
money will be credited to next term’s account. For those not familiar with St
Laurence’s hours, they finish at 2pm at the end of every ‘old’ term, that is,
at the end of terms two (Xmas), four (Easter) and six (summer holidays). We
apologise for the short notice – if this causes childcare problems for anyone
please speak to a member of staff.
Uniform
We are now fully stocked up with polo shirts and sweaters
again. There have been some more enquiries about the waterproof jackets
(similar to those worn by the staff). I’m afraid they cost too much (£15) for
us to be able to afford to carry any in stock but if you are interested in
getting one please let me know. We can place a new order once we have enough
interest for it to be cost effective.
Contact Details
Please see the attached sheet, which has on it the
contact details that we currently hold for you. Please update and return it if
appropriate.
Summary of dates
Monday 26th November – last day for signing up
for Xmas Dinner
Saturday 1st December – Xmas Bazaar (cakes and
prizes please!)
Friday 7th December – Xmas Dinner at
Kingfisher
Thursday 20th December – Pre-School Xmas Party
Thursday 20th December – St Laurence PFA
Lantern Walk
Friday 21st December – Last day of term;
Pre-School (and school) closes at 2pm
Monday 7th January – Start of new term
Kate Croudace (Chair) kmc@btinternet.com 01865 858014
