Harrietsham Pre School Newsletter

Sept – Oct 2009

Welcome and a ‘Big Thank You’
Welcome back to Pre School after what I hope was an enjoyable summer break. We are all looking forward to listening to the children’s news about places they visited or friends they saw during the school holidays. Please let them bring in any photo’s or small memento’s and we will help them to take care of their possessions either in their bags or on a safe shelf.

I would like to say a very big thanks from all the staff to all our families (those that left us in July and those returning) for all the ‘happy holiday’ wishes and the many presents and cards which we received. I know our homes certainly resembled a cross between a Florist and ‘Chocolate Heaven’! – Many thanks.

We have 15 families returning to Pre School this term and expect to settle in about 10 new children during September and October. Please take a few minutes to introduce yourselves to one another as part of our Pre School community so we can start the process of children’s friendships and working together for their social and learning benefit.

Pre School Room
The room underwent a thorough clean and clear at the end of last term. This was only achieved by the considerable help of committee and parent volunteers. Thank you to Sonja, Nicola, Mel, Sharon, Jude, Sam and Darragh (and of course to all staff) who found missing puzzle pieces, small building bricks and collage seeds in the most unusual places!
We have slightly changed the layout of the room by using a central storage unit and table to divide the room, helping to mark more clearly areas of different use.

Free access resources have been given a facelift by stocking small and medium sized boxes and bags with open ended resources for use by individuals or small groups of children. For example:
-Some tesselation shapes to encourage pattern, counting and orientation skills,
- Some animal finger puppets to encourage sounds, narrative and imagination,
-A few football figures and goals to encourage co-operative play and imaginative expression,
-Threading materials to encourage hand -eye coordination and
-Small pieces of paper with crayons to encourage fine motor skills in manipulation and mark making.
-Alongside these child chosen activities we have our usual ‘areas’ to cater for
-Messy, junk modeling, paint and collage work,
-Outside fenced area as an extension of the indoor space,
-The larger playground and large equipment such as trikes, climbing frame and ball play,
-A book and quiet area,
-A role play area (based on ‘the home’),
-Mark making area; as well as
-Trolleys with specific resources to support Problem Solving Reasoning and Numeracy and Knowledge and Understanding of the World.

Staff will carefully observe all children in the early weeks of term to identify any additional resources which we may need to promote and stimulate interest and learning. Staff will continue to deliver one adult led activity each day to further children’s development in key learning areas and this will be enhanced, amended and differentiated according to individual children’s interests and needs through the week.
If you have any queries relating to the equipment and resources on offer, please talk to your child’s keyperson or myself.

Security and Parking
I am aware that we are ever mindful of security and children’s safety whilst at Pre School and would like to take this opportunity to reiterate the safety rules.

Please park in the visitors spaces of the car park and display your ‘parking permit badge’ available from the school office. (Please do not use the disabled bays unless registered disabled, nor park in the middle of the turning circle, however full the car park may be).

Please do not let your children climb the grassy banks. Unfortunately they have stinging nettles and prickly weeds growing on them.

Please use the central black gates for all entry and exit from the school grounds and if arriving out of pre school hours please approach via the main school office.

Please close the black gates behind you, making sure the gate clicks shut, but do not replace the low bolt. We share the site with school and they too have a duty of care to the school children on their premises, please let’s help them achieve this.

Please use the wooden covered area in the playground or the buildings canopy to shelter from bad weather. Due to our insurance we cannot take children into the building at the same time as older siblings and do have to follow main school’s policy on ‘wet entry’.

Pandemic Flu
Please read the letter regarding our procedures in case of Pandemic Flu. I have been checking the latest government guidance, advice from the Health Protection Agency and talked with committee members about our response to this possible emergency. This letter details several instances which may occur and Pre School’s statutory obligations and possible responses. If you have any issues relating to this please talk with Jan.
Suffice to say, prevention is better than cure and by minimising the risk of infection we will keep a greater number of people safe.

Therefore; please keep children at home, even if only slightly ‘poorly’, maintain high levels of hygiene away from Pre School and keep staff informed of any outbreaks of any illness within your families. Pre School staff will, as usual, observe children closely for signs of illness and inform Parents and carry out ‘sick child’ procedures as required, actively teach children about hand hygiene and nose blowing (Catch it, bin it, kill it) and keep parents informed of any updated information about Pandemic flu.

Questions, Questions ????
Last term I asked if families found this newsletter informative and what changes could be made to it in presentation and content. If you would like to add your comments about this subject, please reply via your children’s contact books, face to face with keypersons or email via the web site www.harrietsham.preschool.co.uk, Thank You.

This term I would like to gain an insight into how our initial welcome and early information processes worked.
Did you find it easy to find out about Harrietsham Pre School?
* Where did you hear about us?
*What were your first impressions of Pre School when making initial contact by phone / email / letter?
*And wWhat were your initial impressions of your first visits to the Pre School?
*What could we do better?

Please let me know of your thoughts and ideas by replying via your children’s contact books, face to face with keypersons or email via the web site www.harrietsham.preschool.co.uk, Thank You.

Committee Information
The committee would like to wish all families and their children a welcome to Pre School for the new academic year. This first term is a time in which to get to know each other a little better and become involved in our children’s work and play at Pre School. The committee continue to meet once per term to act as a voice for parents and children, to provide fundraising ideas and to take an active role in the management of Pre School (it’s not all hard work - we have some fun too!).

The first committee meeting will be held at Pre School at 8pm on 14th September, followed by the AGM to be held on the 10th October, again at Pre School. Please do come along and find out a little more about what we do and what needs to be done. Any help is gratefully received.

Committee members will be out and about during drop off and pick up, so please ask a staff member to introduce you so we can continue to work with you for all our children’s benefit.

Dates to Note

‘Kinder music’ sessions (mornings) with Liz Holland.
Songs, actions and instruments to explore rhythm, phrasing and sounds.
Thursday 8/10/09
Wednesday 18/11/09
Friday 4/12/09
More dates and days will be scheduled in for 2010.

Pre School French with Ginny Wadding.
Play and explore French words and meanings with familiar play experiences.
Monday 5/10/09
Friday 16/10/09
Wednesday 4/11/09
Thursday 19/11/09
Monday 30/11/09
Wednesday 13/1/10

Short Outings to Harrietsham Village.
Details and permission slips for those children attending [in order of date of birth will be requested prior to leaving].
Wednesday 21/10/09
Monday 9/11/09

Stay and Play.
Spend any time between 9 - 11 at Pre School to play with your child using the resources and equipment.
Monday 12/10/09
Tuesday 24/11/09