February 2017
We are now well into this term. All three rooms have been extremely busy welcoming new children and planning exciting activities. The work on the new building is continuing at a rapid pace. The children are enjoying seeing various construction vehicles regularly.
Allotment
We have secured an allotment on station. Toddler and preschool children will be growing their own salad and vegetables. Mrs Shelley Disdel and Miss Chloe Palmer will be leading with the allotments. If you have any spare time or resources that may support our allotment please speak to a member of staff. At the moment the allotment needs a lot of care and attention to bring it to an area the children can visit so any help would be appreciated.
NDNA Awards
Are you satisfied with what we do? Please show your support for Maple leaf Day Care and our fantastic team by voting for us in this year’s NDNA Nursery of the Year Award. We have also entered ‘Practitioner of the Year’. All of our staff work exceptionally hard but one member of staff stands out. Noelle Robb (Baby Room Leader) has shown complete dedication to her key children, the staff team and Maple Leaf overall since joining us in January 2016. Please see the attached leaflet for more information on how to vote.
RAF Digby Vintage Day
RAF Digby Vintage Day is on 8th April 2017. We are looking for donations of tombola prizes for both an adult stall and a child stall. If you have any unwanted gifts please bring them in and they will be passed onto the Vintage Day Committee. We are also selling raffle tickets on behalf of the committee. There are many fantastic prizes to be won. If you would like to purchase the raffle tickets attached please write your name and contact details on the back of the ticket and return with the money to a member of staff. Please keep the other side of the ticket for your own records. Tickets are £1 each.
Pen pals
We now have several pen pals from America, Canada and Australia. We will be sharing creative pictures and writing letters to our pen friends. Please look out for the letters we receive, all rooms will display these near the entrance to the room.
Illnesses
If your child is showing signs of being unwell, please consider if they are well enough to be in the setting. Recently we have had children arrive that are clearly not well, which results in parents being called to collect and can also spread any bugs to other children and staff. We have a strict 48 hour sickness and diarrhoea policy. Children should not return to the setting until 48 hours after the last episode of sickness or diarrhoea.
Arrival/Collection
Please use car park B when dropping off and collecting children from Maple Leaf. Many parents are driving down through to the staff car park directly outside the setting which is causing a hazard to all users. This area is for disabled access and staff ONLY. Any vehicles driving into this area will be reported.
Library Books
The children love to choose a book from the setting and take it home on a Monday and sometimes get upset if they do not get to choose one because they have not returned the one from the week before. Please can you try and remember your child’s library book and return them on a Monday. Baby and Toddler Room children will have the opportunity to change their library book once per week.
Packed Lunches
Please ensure items in your child’s packed lunch box are ready prepared for your child to eat. This includes cutting the food to a suitable size to avoid any choking hazards (ie slicing grapes). Meal times are very busy and staff are unable to watch every child if they have to leave the room to prepare/cut food.Please note, we promote healthy eating and we will not serve chocolate/sweets in children’s lunchboxes. This is explained in our lunchbox policy (copies available upon request). Remember we are a nut free setting so please do not send any nut products in your child’s lunch box.
Session Times
The setting opens at 7.30am and closes at 5.30pm (by prior booking only). Can you please ensure you do not arrive outside of these times, or your child’s allocated session times as staff need time to set up in the mornings and have to leave at 5.30pm in the evenings. We appreciate there are occasions when you may be late, please contact us if a situation arises where you may be late so that we can arrange staff cover. Our morning session begins at 9am, at the beginning of the day we have circle time when we discuss what we have planned for the day. As you will appreciate with such young children, arriving late can cause them distress when they see their friends already sat down. Please try to arrive on time to prevent disruption to the room.
Open / 0730 hrsBreakfast / 0730-0830 hrs
Morning Session / 0900-1200 hrs
Lunch / 1200-1230 hrs
Afternoon Session / 1200-1500 hrs
Dinner / 1545-1615 hrs
Close / 1730 hrs
Learning Journals
Your child’s learning journal which the staff complete on their development are kept in the registration room. They are available for you, as parents, to have a look through and take home at any time (we just ask you let a member of staff know you have it) and where you can add to them if you like.
Home to school Journal
These journals are a weekly record for preschool children and a daily record for Toddler Room and Baby Room children of what your child has been doing throughout their day. We would be very grateful if you could take some time to write in these about what you have been doing at home with your children as this is valuable information to us. Preschool children should please return them on a Monday so that the staff have them available to write in them on a Thursday and Toddler Room and Baby Room children should bring them in daily.
Barney Bear (Pre-School Room), Bertie Bear (Toddler Room)and Binky Bear (Baby Room)
Each room has a take home bear; the staff choose a child to take home the bear for the weekend/on holidays. Each bear has its own backpack with a book in it for you to write/put photographs in of what your family got up to with him over the weekend/holiday. The children then share with their friends their story of their time with the bear. Each child will get to have a turn it may just take some time to get through them all.
Gym Visits
Every Thursday we take the children to the station gymnasium where we provide age appropriate physical activities and games for the children to take part in. Please ensure your child is wearing suitable footwear to run around in. Wellies can cause the children to trip and we would therefore ask to avoid these if possible on a Thursday.
Our Facebook page has up-to-date information for families on current topics/activities we are planning. This page can only be accessed by parents and staff. Please take a look at:
Please do not contact members of staff via Facebook. Please use the pre-school email address
Clothes/Bags
Can you please ensure that your child/children’s name is written in their clothes, shoes and bags to prevent the item ending up in the lost property basket or being taken home by another child by mistake. This can, in some cases, cause un-necessary distress to the child when they cannot locate their missing item. To promote independence can you please dress your child in something they can easily take down if they are toilet training. Many children become distressed when they cannot do personal care routines independently.
Parent Volunteers
We value your contribution to your children’s learning and in support of this we would welcome your involvement with us in your children’s learning and development within the setting. If you have any skills which you feel confident in sharing with the children or if you simply would like to help in a more general way throughout the session please contact us to arrange a suitable time for you to come in. This can be as often or as little as you would like or are able to.
Uniform
We have Maple Leaf logo polo shirts, sweatshirts, fleeces, book bags and backpacks available for order online at Tesco.
Parent’s Noticeboard
Our parents’ noticeboards are situated in both entrance hallways. There is a variety of information available to you. It provides details of events around the Station as well as information about the local children’s centres and much more.
Jolly Phonics
Jolly Phonics is a fun and child-centred approach to teaching literacy through synthetic phonics. We cover the single letter sounds, appropriate to the age and stage of development for the children in our care. This involves singing a rhyme and learning accompanying actions for each sound. If you would like more information regarding Jolly Phonics this can be found on
To link in with our sound of the week, we have Show and Tell on a Wednesday morning. The children are invited to bring a small toy or item from home which begins with the sound of the week to share with their key group. If your child does not attend on a Wednesday, then they are most welcome to bring their Show and Tell item in on anyday of the week that they attend.
Week Commencing:
- 06/02/17 Ll
- 20/02/17 Ff
- 27/02/17 Bb
- 06/03/17 Jj
- 13/03/17 Zz
- 20/03/17 Ww
- 27/03/17 Vv
Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter and for your continued support, if you wish to discuss any items on here please feel free to speak to a member of staff, the manager and or your parent reps (Collette Sutton and Kerry Rodgers).
Michelle Randle (Manager)