Dates for your diary
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To all pre-school parents
It has been a pleasure to spend time with your children this term, some new and some returning but you should be proud of them all – they are doing very well. By focusing on increasing their confidence and self-esteem we believe is supports the children to feel happy to come to pre-school and for parents to leave them. If you feel it would help we are making a few suggestions of things to do at home to help your child. ….talk about pre-school in a positive way – ask them what/who they like to play with, etc ….talk about your child’s key person (and her buddy) using their name and make sure they know who to go to when they want something at pre-school - any of the staff will help but it is best for your child to know that they have a ‘special person’. ….tell your key person anything that you think would help your child to feel comfortable -we like to talk to them about what they do at home – who they see – what they play with – etc. We do have a ‘Getting you to know you sheet’ – this is a good starting point for speaking with a child and your key person will give you one this week. We are going to be doing some ‘Healthy Eating’ games in small groups so it might be good if you spoke with your child about what food they like and what they dislike. These games are not in any way judgemental - we will be encouraging the children to be aware of what foods are good for them and what food are best as treats. If you celebrate any festivals and would like us to include them in our curriculum planning please speak to any member of staff. We welcome any contributions to our planning – suggestions, support, advice, etc so please feel free to let us know if you would like to be involved. With best wishes from all of staff 
Gardening Morning
New date to follow soon We will be rescheduling our tidy-up of the nature garden - watch this space for the new date. Will still be a Friday morning. Becky Bates (mum to Daisy and Lottie) has kindly offered to co-ordinate so please see her if you have any ideas or time to offer. Many thanks! New term, new committee members! Our pre-school is committee led and with the new school year, we are looking for new members. Speak to any member of staff if you are interested in joining. We will be meeting later this month - date not yet decided. It's a great way to get to know everyone and good for your CV too!
Potty Training
We have lots of children potty training this term. Don't forget we can help with this. Please speak to your key person if your child is toilet training to work out the best way that we can support you both. Our local health visitor has given us lots of useful information and you can find this by visiting https://www.eric.org.uk/Pages/Category/potty-training or by asking a member of staff for a leaflet.
Late Collection of Children
The committee has decided that from Tuesday 1st December 2016 the charge for late collection of children will be £6 per 15 minutes or any part of 15 minutes. Therefore a child collected 20 minutes after the end of a session the charge will be £12.
This applies to parents and carers of children who are regularly collected late. This is at the end of the morning and afternoon sessions. The afternoon session are full therefore a member of staff may have to stay beyond their contracted working hours to ensure the staffing child ratios remain correct. The pre-school prospectus states - To avoid upsetting your child please return promptly at the end of the session. If for any reason you are delayed please phone the pre-school as soon as possible. An additional charge will be made if late collection becomes a regular occurrence. The Uncollected Child policy states (Available on the www.mortimerpreschool.com) § If a child is not collected at the end of the session we follow the procedures below: - The child’s file is checked for any information about changes to the normal collection routines. - If no information is available, parents/carers are contacted at home or at work. - If this is unsuccessful, the adults who are authorised by the parents to collect their child from the setting - and whose telephone numbers are recorded on the Registration Form - are contacted. - All reasonable attempts are made to contact the parents or nominated carers. - The child does not leave the premises with anyone other than those named on the Registration Form or in their file. - If no-one collects the child after the setting has closed and there is no-one who can be contacted to collect the child, we apply the procedures for uncollected children. - We contact our local authority children’s social care team. - The child stays at the setting in the care of two fully-vetted workers until the child is safely collected either by the parents or by a social care worker. - Social care will aim to find the parent or relative. If they are unable to do so, the child will become looked after by the local authority. - Under no circumstances will staff go to look for the parent, nor do they take the child home with them. A full written report of the incident is recorded in the child’s file. § Depending on circumstances, we reserve the right to charge parents for the additional hours worked by our staff. § Ofsted may be informed: Tel 03001231231 30 Hour Free Childcare Entitlement
Starting from Monday 30th October we will be offering the full 30 hours to eligible parents as we will be opening all day from 9am to 3pm on Fridays. Of course, Friday afternoon sessions will be available to all children - not just those that qualify for 30 hours. Please speak to Janet or Alison if you are interested in a Friday afternoon space. |
****Safety for your children****
This warning also applies to other fruit / veg –e.g. grapes should be cut in half or quarter lengthways, carrot should be cut in to sticks and cherry tomatoes should be cut into quarters. If you pack foods for lunch that are considered a choking hazard we will not allow your child to eat them. They will be sent back home untouched – please keep this in mind when preparing lunch for your child. End of Term
We break up for half term on Friday 15th February. We start the new term on Monday 25th February. Next Committee Meeting
Our next committee meeting will take place on Monday 25th March at 7.30pm in the back room. We are encouraging as many of our parents as possible to attend. We look forward to seeing you there.
Visit from Zoolab
We were lucky enough to have another visit from Zoolab on 26th January. We try to rotate the days on which Zoolab visits to try to ensure that as many children as possible can enjoy this super experience. We hope to have another Zoolab day soon.
The UK's No.1 Animal Experience and Lifelong Learning Company
Yes, it is real!
.... and so is this!
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