Acorns News
October/November 2016
Dear Parent/Carer
A couple of weeks ago we had our Ofsted inspection and I am incredibly pleased to say that we achieved a ‘Good’. The inspector was extremely positive about the staff and the progress that the children are making, especially those children with additional needs, which she considered to be a particular strength. The first thing she said in her feedback was that the children were “happy” (the most important thing in our eyes), “safe, and engaged,” which seems to me to be all that really matters.
I would like to therefore, say a huge thank-you to the staff team, who do a wonderfully dedicated job every day to create the environment that makes sure that those above comments are consistently true.
The report is not yet on the Ofsted website, despite the fact that we have had it emailed out to us. I will let you know when it is available through email and on the Acorns Facebook group.
Facebook Group
We have created a nursery Facebook closed group. This is for Acorns parents only and is a way of communicating with you and keeping you informed about what is happening in the nursery on a regular basis. Please return your permissions slip for photos if you have not already done so. Please find the group on Facebook by following this link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/acornscirencester/
Cake Bake
I would like to thank you, the parents for buying all the cakes that the children and staff made for the MacMillan’s coffee morning. We are thrilled to say that you have raised £72, which Acorns will make up to £100.
Acorns term dates. Here is a reminder for 2016-2017:
Term 1: Monday 5th September – Friday 21stOctober
Term 2:Monday 31st October – Friday 16th December
Term 3: Tuesday 3rd January – Friday 10th February
Term 4: Monday 20th February – Friday 7th April
Term 5: Monday 24th April – Friday 26th May
Term 6: Monday 5th June – Tuesday 25thJuly
Diary Dates
We are looking forward to the Parent information evening on Wednesday 2nd November. This will be an opportunity for you to find out how we plan for your children’s progress, the activities they are involved in, to look around the nursery, chat to the staff team and to look at your child’s learning journey.
It is also a great opportunity to meet other Acorns parents and we will be offering wine and nibbles too! We would love to see you there. Please email Helen on to let her know that you are coming.
Christmas Performance: This will be in the Parish Church on Tuesday 13th December at 10 o’clock. It will involve the Toddler and the Pre-school children.
Christmas Lunch and Parties: These will be on Wednesday 14th December. Father Christmas will be making an appearance at the parties and we have a lovely, if mildly chaotic time having our Christmas lunch all together. If you would like your child to attend the parties and the lunch and they don’t usually attend a Wednesday we will be sending out a form closer to the date. The charge for the lunch in this instance is £5.
Photos
Tanli-Joy has taken some wonderful shots of the children; the proofs will hopefully be with us this week.
The Acorns Office
Just a reminder of who is in the office and when. Aimee, the nursery manager is at Acorns Monday to Friday. However, her office hours are only as follows: Monday all day and Tuesday to Friday from 2.30pm. The rest of the time Aimee is in the nursery working with the staff and the children. Caroline Herrington and Jill Cox are our administrators. Jill works on Tuesday and Caroline works on Wednesday and Friday. We always endeavor to answer any queries that you have as promptly as possible. Helen is in the office on Monday and Wednesday.
Your Turn
Around once a term, your child will be a focus child for a week. This means that they will have several observations made by all the staff team during that week. You will then receive a feedback report about your child and a copy of the observations which will be given to you during a 10 minute catch-up meeting.
You will be informed the week before that your child is going to be a focus child so that you can either bring in or email us some photos for your child to talk about. Please do try and send photos in as the children love looking at them and talking to their friends about what or who is in them.
Here is an interesting link about sharing books with your child:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/neuroparent/201609/neuroscientist-how-really-read-kids
Piazza Fortuna
This lovely Italian restaurant next door to the Acorns Castle Street entrance, is offering Acorns families a 10% discount Monday to Thursday. There is a menu on the noticeboard in the carriageway.
Babies
This month the babies will be looking at Autumn. We will be going for Autumn walks, looking at the different colours, collecting leaves, conkers and sticks to use in our art work. We are also going to be exploring pumpkins, feeling and tasting them. We will be using bright colours to create firework pictures and will also have fun using instruments and pots and pans to make loud firework sounds! In the garden we will use the wheelbarrows to collect sticks and build our own bonfires.
Pre-School
We have been talking lots about Autumn. We walked to Cirencester park and the Abbey Grounds. We found lots of leaves and conkers. When we came back to nursery we talked about hedgehogs and hibernation. We have also been scooping out pumpkins to help develop our motor skills and have been counting the seeds that we found inside. We cooked Rice Krispie pumpkin cakes.
We are now reading our new story, Stone Soup and are making our own soup using seasonal vegetables. We are also looking at the Magic Porridge Pot and will be making porridge and talking about sharing and helping people who are poor.
Toddlers
We are beginning to look at a different story each month. From this we are linking our story to all the different areas of learning. Last month we looked at Goldilocks and the Three Bears and this month we are reading the Three Little Pigs. We will be creating a display board so that you can see what we have been doing. We will also be thinking lots about Autumn and fireworks!
Please can we ask that the children do not bring toys in from home as they are not able to play with them at nursery and they may get lost. This does not include a ‘transition’ item if your child needs it; something special to them that creates a link from home to nursery. Once at nursery, this item should stay safely in their bags.
Please make sure that your child is appropriately dressed for spending lots of time outside. We do not require you to send wellies, as we have these at nursery for the children to use.
Emergency Contacts
Please make sure that all emergency contact information that we have for your child is up-to-date. Similarly email addresses and any change of address details.
Parking
We would like to remind parents that off-peak parking permits are available that enable you to park in any car park before 10am and after 4pm. Also, the Brewery Car park is free after 3pm daily. Follow the link for permits: http://www.cotswold.gov.uk/residents/environment/parking-and-public-toilets/car-parks/season-tickets/
Please do not hesitate to contact us if there is anything you wish to discuss.
Helen Guerrini