Newsletter-June 2017
All the staff and committee hope you have had a good half term break and ready for the second part of the term. I hope the great weather we have had the delight of enjoying in the half term break continues now that we are back.
What we did in May
The children continued to observe the caterpillars in their chrysalis. We were very surprised when one afternoon a butterfly made its way out and was flying around.
The children really enjoyed making the bird food and hanging it in the Pre-School garden or taking it home. The children stood in the garden observing the birds whilst they ate some of the food they had made. After the first weekend the children were amazed to see that all the food had gone. Some of the children said “greedy birds.”
We have been extremely lucky to have had the oral hygienist come to visit the children twice, morning and afternoon.
During the morning session,the children helped to sort foods out into piles of what is good for our teeth and what is bad. The children listened to a story called "grub" which helped two children make healthy decisions about food as it made 'grub' big and strong.The children also used the melody of 'here we go round the mulberry bush' to eat certain foods.
During the afternoon session Slyvia (Oral Hygienist)talked to the children about healthy and unhealthy food. The children took it in turns to select food from her bag and place it on the healthy or unhealthy pile. She read the children a story called "Oliver’s Fruit Salad" about a little boy who liked helping his grandad grow fruit but thought he didn't like to eat fruit until he tried a fruit salad. Sylvia also had a large cloth showing lots of healthy foods and the children took turns to place food on the matching pictures.
For more information about the Oral Hygienists visits please take a look at the parents board. There are song words displayed for you to take away and learn with your children.
During May we have also been t
talking about healthy and
unhealthy foods. We made our
own fruit kebabs for snack,
fruit salad and
having fruit smoothies.
In addition to this the children
used celery and potatoes to
make marks on paper using paint. The
children also were able to explore and participate in jelly play.
What is coming up in June
Whilst walking through the school grounds on our sponsored walks we will stop to look at the different areas, e.g swimming pool, school hall, playgrounds and the classrooms from the outside. We will begin to talk to the children and enforce 5 star sitting when having register and story as this is something their new teachers will continue to work on whilst at school. School transitions will be a large part of the next 2 months with the children being invited to story sessions at Rackham Primary School with their new teacher, change over day, tours and a picnic which the school themselves are organizing and you have details for in your school packs. Any children who are not going to Rackham Primary School we will liaise with their Primary school and hopefully school teachers will come to visit your child at Pre-School.
We will be busy the week beginning 12th June making something for Father’s Day to bring home and give to Daddy’s.
As well as the sponsored walks, school trip, Father’s day and school transition talks we will be getting the children to help plan the activities we do within the creative room at Pre-School.
A big thank you to all the parents who added observations to tapestry of their children exploring and observing nature. These pictures and comments have been added to the large display board in our creative room.
At home you could:
In June we are going to be talking about starting school. Whilst we are on our sponsored walks we will be looking at the local primary school and talking about how this is different to Pre-School.
In preparation for school please could you help your child develop and build on their independence skills e.g getting themselves dressed and putting on their shoes and socks.
For all the children who are going into their Pre-School year in September please could they develop their independence skills in putting their shoes on.
Please place any observations taken on Tapestry so that your child’s key person can see the progress which is being made.
Term Dates
Monday 19th June-Tea towel order forms need to be returned.
Wednesday 21st June –Pre-School Summer Trip to Shepreth
Wildlife Park. There are still some spaces on the coach.
Please return your slip with the correct money by Friday 9th at the latest.
A letter giving more information is going to be sent out this week outlining
times and activities on the day.
Tuesday 4th July 2017- Pre-School will be closed for afternoon session
as we have invited all new children starting in September to come and
have a play at Pre-School and meet their key person. Lunch club will
still be available, however all children will need to be collected by 12:20pm.
Tuesday 11thJuly 2017 (4-5pm ) Wednesday 12th July (7-8pm)-Parents evening. Sheets will be placed onto the parents board on Monday 3rd July for you to book a time slot with your child’s key person to talk about your child’s development and any concerns you may have. If your child is a school leaver , this parents evening will be to discuss your child’s school report and to talk about any concerns you have with your child’s key person.
Thursday 20th July 2017- Graduation will be held in the afternoon session. A letter outlining more information will be sent out at the end of June.
Friday 21st July 2017 am &pm- Leavers/ End of term party More details will be sent out in the July newsletter and a separate party letter in July.
Friday 21st July 2017- Summer Term End
Term dates for the next academic year will be placed into trays withinthe coming month. The Christmas and Easter Concert will be provisional dates.
Fundraising
The sponsored walks will be held on these dates:
- Thursday 8th June PM session
- Wednesday 14th June AM session
The Sponsored walk will be held during normal session time, only those who attend on these days & sessions will be provided with a sponsorship form. All those who participate will be given a medal and a certificate.
All sponsorship forms were sent out before half term, please return the form and sponsorship money on the day your child is participating on the walk.
Please ensure that all children come in appropriate foot wear; no crocs or sandals, as well as having a sun hat and having had sun cream applied (if the weather is forecast to be sunny)
On Saturday 24 June 2017, Carole one of our play leaders will be abseiling 80
metres in free space down the ArcelorMittal Orbit in London’s Olympic park to
raise money for Pre-School. The ArcelorMittal Orbit is the UK’s tallest
sculpture. If you would like to support Carole and raise some funds for Pre-School, you can ask a member of staff or find our sponsorship page at:
Thankyou from the Pre-School staff and Committee.
Reminders
1. We are seeing an increase in teddies coming into Pre-School,
we are aware that some children’s comforter is a teddy bear.
As part of getting ready for school, we ask for teddies to be left
at home (for school leavers) however if they do come into Pre-School
with the child please could they be placed into their tray to help with
this transition. We feel we need to start this earlier this year due to the
high number of teddies coming into Pre-School at present.
2. If your child isn’t going to be at Pre-School due to being unwell (cough,
cold, temperature, sickness bug) or spending time with family please can you make sure that you call Pre-School to inform us. If on the day your child doesn’t turn up and we haven’t heard from you we will make a call after an hour in to the session to make sure that your child is okay.
3. The weather is now getting warmer (hopefully it sticks around) therefore please can we remind parents to provide their child with a named sun hat to wear, to help protect them from the sun as well as applying sun cream before their child arrives at Pre-School. If your child is doing a full day at Pre-School and needs a specific sun cream please could you provide this and a member of staff in the afternoon can apply this, otherwise staff will use the Pre-School Nivea factor 30 sun cream to ensure they are protected for the afternoon.
4. Since returning after half-term we have noticed that a large proportion of water bottles are not named, with the weather getting warmer and the children likely to take their bottles outside to keep them hydrated please could a sticker with their name on be placed onto the bottles to help the staff and Pre-School ensure the correct bottle is being used by the correct child. Please do not worry if you do not bring your child with a water bottle we do provide fresh water and milk throughout the session.
My Name tags
My Name tags is a company who create labels with your child’s name on which can be used on any item (shoes, drinks bottles, clothes, books, pencils etc). These help minimize lost property.
There are some leaflets within the entrance corridor which give you information on making a purchase. My name tags also helps to raise funds for pre-school as long as you quote our school ID number.
Our School ID is : 15511