Stephens Memorial Hall, 620 High Road, London N12 0NU

Tel: 07903803992

November2017

Dear Parents/carers,

This term, we welcome our new children and their parents/carers: Fatima, Taha and Wera.

This half-term quote:

“Stand aside for a while and leave room for learning, observe carefully what children do, and then, if you have understood well, perhaps teaching will be different from before.”

Loris Malaguzzi

Pre-school phone numbers

07903 803 992

07570 125 183

0208 446 5755 (hall)

Please make a note/save them on your mobile.

If your child is ill or unable to come, please ring or send a text to one of the above numbers as soon as possible.

Topics for this term –

Remembrance Day, Guy Fawkes, Fire Station, Baby clinic, Hanukkah, Winter, Christmas.

Staff Trainingsattended:

Forida: Enquiring Minds, Developing Expressive Arts and DesignProject

Alenka: Preparation for Ofsted

Veronique and Alenka: Meeting for schools and pre-schools across all networks

Sponsored Autumn Walk in Victoria Park:

Thank you to all the parents who have brought in their donations. So far you have raised £76!

If you haven’t already brought the money for the sponsored walk, please, bring it in as soonas possible, so we know the final amount and canstart ordering items to improve our Literacy resources.

Dates for your diary:

Annual General Meeting (AGM)

Wednesday 29th November at 9:30

Church Visit for Christmas

Tuesday 12th December at 10.30

Arts Depot–The Tiger Who Came to Tea

Thursday 14thDecember at – See following letter for details.

Christmas Party

Friday 15th December

Annual General Meeting

All parents/carers are invited to the meeting which will take place behind the stage during pre-school hours. The meeting usually lasts about 1 hour/ an hour and a half as there will be the election of the principal committee members. Other important things will be discussed and decisions made. Please come and see how you can get involved in helping to make the pre-school better for the children. The list of items to be discussed will follow. Check on the doors.

Church visit

As ever, all parents/carers are invited to join us when Dave, the vicar, will give a little talk about Christmas and we will share mince pies and tea and coffee afterwards.

Arts Depot

The pre-school has booked tickets to go and see the play ‘The Tiger Who Came To Tea’.

We will need some parental help to take the children there, however, there is a limit on the number for this outing.

The pre-school will be open as usual and children will need to be on time as we will have to leave shortly after 9.30am.

There will be further information coming out nearer the date.

Christmas Party:

The children will come as normal to the pre-school and will have games and party food for the morning. The possibility of hiring an entertainer will be discussed at the AGM.

A list of items to bring will be up on the door the week before the party.

Father Christmas will be coming to visit the pre-school and will bring presents for the children. Can you please bring a wrapped present (maximum value of £5) with your child’s name on it, by Thursday 14th December.

At the beginning of the 2nd half-term, we have made a Pumpkin Pie with the children. The recipe is included at the end of this Newsletter.

Early Years Requirements and Funding

Children receiving funding from the borough to cover their nursery place must attend their full 15 hours per week. A maximum of 10 days absence for sickness and holiday per term is allowed. Any days over this are chargeable.

In order to follow the borough’s Code of Practice, individual late drop In/late pick-up/absence forms are on the office table and must be filled in by the person dropping/picking up the child.

MOBILE PHONES:

Parents staying during the session (no matter how long) must, as per policy, put their mobile phones and other personal belongings into the locked cupboard by the Office table.

Refreshments reminder:

Children should only bring fruit and vegetables in a box with their name.

Please make sure you do not include any nuts for allergy reasons.Raisins or other dry fruits are all right to bring, but please, no biscuits/ crackers/ yoghurts/ drinks,cheese etc. as those will be left in your child’s bag to be taken back home.We provide drinks (milk/water) for the children.

SAFETY NOTICE

Following incident in the news, please note that due to choking risk:

Grapes should be cut in half lengthwise

At the pre-school, we are continuing to use Makaton. We have a Makaton Lead Practitioner (Alenka), who is fully trained. The rest of the staff attended two Makaton workshops and have good knowledge of many Makaton signs and symbols.

FACTS ABOUT MAKATON:

DID YOU KNOW?

Makaton uses signs, symbols and speech to help people communicate.
Signs are used, with speech, in spoken word
Using signs can help people and children who have no speech or whose speech is unclear
Symbols can be used to support communication

WHAT WE DO:

Display signs and symbols (depending on the theme of the week)and the Makaton alphabet for everyone to see and practice
Sign during the session, so the children can learn new signs and practice what they already know
Use Makaton during End Session to sing Mr Tumble’s HELLO Song and many other nursery songs & rhymes.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

If your child uses the signs at home, we would be happy to hear about it
Any ideas regarding Makaton use in the setting are welcomed and appreciated by all members of staff
Have you tried signing with your child?

THIS MONTH’S SIGNS ARE:

SYMBOLS:

Teaching your child literacy

Hip Hop Hen is a website created by teachers to teach children the letters of the alphabet and their sounds with flash cards and games. Have a look:

Health and Safety/Illness and Infection Control

The pre-school follows the Guidance on Infection Control in Schools and Childcare Settings from the Health Protection Agency.

A copy of the sheet is displayed on the pre-school notice board showing the recommended periods for children to be kept away according to individual diseases.

As a quick reminder, in cases of diarrhoea or vomiting, children must stay away for 48 hours after the last bout of diarrhoea or vomiting.

Please read carefully.

If there is anything else, you would like us to include in the Newsletter, please let Alenka or Veronique know.

Fundraising:

As Gainsborough Pre-School is a charity organisation, we can only survive with fund-raising effort. Each term we need to raise £300. It would be great if you could think about fund-raising ideas.

EASYFUNDRAISING

The pre-school is registered with Easyfundraising.org.uk which is a very easy way to raise money for Gainsborough Pre-school.

If you haven’t done it yet, please register with the site. It is easy to use.

Shop with any of over 2,700 retailers online and a percentage of what you spend is donated to the pre-school at no additional cost to you. Retailers include Amazon, John Lewis, eBay, Tesco and many more.

g.uk/causes/gainsboroughpreschlondon

Please think of using it if you are buying your Christmas presents/supplies or anything else online

Parent rota:

The rota is on the notice board. Please,make sure you check the week your name is put down to wash the aprons.

Your donations and WISH LIST

Thank you for helping with the Wish list. The wish list helps with the financial running of the pre-school, which is always appreciated.

Please check on the door for items that haven’t been ticked, or speak to Veronique or Alenka.

Please bring the items you’ve chosen to donate as soon as possible.

CONTACT DETAILS

Please, make sure we have the right

contact details (mobile and home

numbers/ address/ people allowed to

pick your child up/ etc.) on your child’s file, as it is very important to be able toreach you in an emergency.

Clothing and Shoes

Children play outside whatever the weather, so please provide your child with appropriate clothing, Wellies and rainproof jacketsfor rainy weather. As the weather gets colder, the hall loses some of its heat when the outdoors are open, please put layers of clothes on the children to keep warm. Sometimes, children get wet and the pre-school has a few spare clothes to change them into. Please, make sure to bring them back washed as soon as possible.

INFORMATION LINK ON HOW CHILDREN DEVELOP:

Here is the link to the Foundation Years website for parents. It has a lot of information on how children develop and how to support them from pregnancy to Reception class.

FINALLY

If you have any special skills, such as crafts, singing, music…. or would like to show the children something that is special to you and/or your child, please talk to Veronique or Alenka to organise a time to share it with the children.

Thank you all for your support and commitment to the pre-school.

PLEASE NOTE:

Last day of this half-term for the children is:

Friday 15thDecember 2017.

We are back on

Tuesday2ndJanuary 2018.

Term dates for the whole year are on the next page of this newsletter.

Registered Charity No 1016576

Stephens Memorial Hall, 620 High Road, London N12 0NU

Tel: 07903803992

Registered Charity No 1016576

Stephens Memorial Hall, 620 High Road, London N12 0NU

Tel: 07903803992

Pumpkin Pie

For a small pumpkin:

2 eggs

175ml double cream

60g caster sugar

1 tsp ginger

30ml black treacle

Ready-made shortcrust pastry

Saucepan, potato masher, rolling pins, pastry board and cutter, spoons, four individual pastry tins.

1. Dice the pumpkin and boil for 20 mins. Add the other ingredients. Let the children mash everything.

2. Show the children how to roll out the pastry. Give them a small ball each to roll out for their pie.

3. Help the children to line their greased tins with their rolled out pastry. Trim the edges.

4. Let them spoon the filling into the pastry cases and cut out leaf shapes to top the pastry.

5. Cook in the oven at 180°C for 40 mins (350°F, Gas Mark 5).

Registered Charity No 1016576