Newsletter - 1st Half Autumn Term 2022
Newsletter – 1st half Autumn Term 2022
Dear Parents,
We would like to welcome you back for the Autumn term, and hope you all had a lovely Summer break. We would like to offer a very warm welcome to Arthur, Amelia-Rose, Hunter, Alexi and Sylvia who have all joined us this term, and are settling in really well!
Thank you to all of you for your support and lovely feedback following our Ofsted inspection back in July, we really appreciated it. We can now confirm that we achieved a rating of ‘Good’, and the report can be found using the link below:
https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/16/2581137
To start us off this term, we explored the theme ‘All About Me’, which involved getting everyone settled back in and learning about what makes us all unique. We also talked about family and friendship, promoting positive relationships with peers and teamwork. New for this term, we have adopted a donkey called Percy from the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary in Devon. The children helped to make a display board at pre-school showing pictures of Percy, and we will add information about how he is doing, giving the children an opportunity to learn more about how we can care for animals, and help to support their welfare. If anyone is visiting Devon on holiday, perhaps you could pop in and see him for yourself and maybe take some photos to share with us! For October we will be learning about Autumn, and looking forward to celebrating Halloween!
We are planning to hold a Halloween party for the children on Monday 31st October, from 9-11am. This will be open to all pre-school children, regardless of whether or not they would usually attend on a Monday morning. Children will be welcome to wear fancy dress, and we will supply some spooky party games and snacks! A form will be given out to those who would not normally attend, so that we can plan for numbers.
Christmas is coming! We are pleased to let you know that pre-school will be having a visit from Santa this year on Saturday 26th November as part of the Christmas Fair at the Village Hall. The pre-school office will be transformed into Santa’s grotto, complete with elves, for one afternoon only! Entrance will be £5 per child, which includes a gift and photo opportunity with Santa – we hope to see lots of you there!
Uniform – just to make you all aware, we were having issues with our pre-school uniform last year, particularly with the t-shirts which were not up to the quality that we would expect. As we have lost money on these as a result, we are currently trying to find a new supplier. Therefore we will not have the pre-school t-shirts available this term, but we do still have the hoodies in stock which are of good quality and would be happy to sell to you for £13 each. Please ask if you would like to purchase these, or if you would like to try one for size.
Please could we request that if you need to contact us regarding your child’s session times, to report an absence or with any other queries specific to your child, please use the work phone number (07530 893773) or e-mail address (manager@thesombornespreschool.co.uk). Please do not use the parents Whatsapp group, or contact members of staff directly for this purpose. This will ensure that information is recorded and shared appropriately in order to safeguard your children – many thanks for your support with this.
Some general reminders:
Snack time – please ensure your child brings a healthy snack for any morning sessions they attend. This should consist of a portion of fruit or veg, either fresh or dried fruit and can be accompanied by plain crackers or breadsticks if you feel they need anything extra, but please do not supply sweet or chocolate biscuits. Their snack should be labelled with their name, and will be placed in their trays for them to access at snack time. The children will be offered a choice of milk or water to drink. If you have any special dietary requirements or requests, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Spare clothing – each child should have a clearly labelled bag which can be left at pre-school, containing spare clothes should they need them. We often have messy activities on offer, so spare clothing is essential! Please could we also request that your child brings appropriate clothing for the weather, as the children have freeflow access to our outside area.
Lunchboxes – if your child is staying for lunch, please provide a packed lunch containing at least one portion of fruit or veg. We will encourage children to eat healthier items first, and are then happy for them to have crisps, chocolate biscuits or a small cake. You are welcome to provide a drink of juice for your child to have with their lunch if you wish, but we will always provide water for any children without one.
Please make a note of the 'dates for your diary' below,
Best wishes,
Becky, Katie, Kelly and Siobhán.
Dates for your diary:
Half-term:
Monday 24th October – Friday 28th October 2022
Halloween Party:
Monday 31st October, 9-11am
A visit from Santa, as part of the Christmas Fair at the Village Hall:
Saturday 26th November, during the afternoon, timings to be confirmed
Christmas break:
Monday 19thDecember 2022 – Monday 2nd January 2023