Summer 2016 Newsletter – First half of term

Welcome back after the Easter break – we all hope you had a lovely time enjoying the spring weather and longer days.

We are joined by one new starter to our nursery, Eliza, and we are sure your children will all make her very welcome.

Spring Hat Parade

What a wonderful event it was. Thank you to everyone who helped make the hats – children and adults alike – the children looked fabulous and had a thoroughly enjoyable time.

Themes

As you will all know we are re-creating a popular project – Flat Stanley. Hopefully he is already well away on his travels and we will soon begin to find out what he’s been up to. As the weeks go by we will take a look at our world and pin-point on our map where Stanley has visited, focussing on the UK to begin with. During the second week of term we will celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday, with a special lunch, and St George’s Day. Over the following weeks we will look at Asia, Australia and New Zealand, The Americas, Europe and then Africa, with a review of the previous weeks at the end of the half term. We look forward to hearing back from Stanley, and to seeing photos of his travels.

Starting the Day

Further to the recent email, here’s confirmation of the revised drop-off arrangements from Monday 18th April. At 9.00am children may come in unaccompanied as usual. At 9.05am Mrs Dean will be at the door and children will come into the main hall without parents. Parents/carers will hand over children to Mrs Dean and other staff who will be available to take children to change shoes, hang coats etc. We have noticed over the past few months the mornings are taking longer and longer to get started and more children are becoming distressed at the point of separation. If you need to see a member of staff please wait in reception and, as soon as we have settled the children, we will come out to see you. Alternatively you can use the note pad in the staff section of the pigeonholes to let us know any information you would like to give us. This system may take a little time to work but it is designed to provide a calmer start to the morning.

Using the loos in the morning

We have a last minute check which is carried out each morning, and it includes ensuring all of the toilets have been flushed, there is sufficient toilet paper and the basin area is clean and dry. Therefore, if you take your child to the toilet before registration, please can you take a moment to flush and check the basins before leaving – thanks!

Parent Rota

A new rota for the summer term is available in reception for you to sign up – we hope as many of you as possible can join us for a day or two over the coming months.

Moving on to School

This will be the final term for many of our children, and is the time of year when we pay special attention to helping children prepare for the new challenges ahead. Our older children will be bringing in a PE kit to change into when taking part in Miss Maureen’s sessions and will also be able to enjoy a home-cooked lunch on Mondays. This is a very exciting time for these children and coping with these small events when in the nursery environment will help make their move to reception class much less daunting as they will head off fully prepared.

Museum Trip

On Thursday 5th May the Village Hall is being used as a polling station so all of our Thursday children will be heading to the Haslemere Educational Museum to study bones, skeletons and fossils. Details regarding drop off and collection will be issued shortly, but there will be no session at the nursery on that day.

Policies and Procedures

A number of policies have recently been updated and are in the red file in reception. Please take a moment to read them: Mobile phones and social media; Safeguarding, and Settling In are some of the most recent.

Parent Partnership Boards

We regularly post updates on the big blue boards in reception and these hold some interesting information about how we support Characteristics of Effective Learning. If you would like to discuss this further, please do arrange to speak with Kate or your child’s key worker by popping a note into the Staff pigeonhole.

Sports Day

This is taking place on the last day of this half of the term – Friday 27th May. The children will begin practising during the run up to the event, whilst learning about how to keep healthy by eating healthy snacks and keeping hydrated. The day itself is a very special occasion and we love to welcome as many family and friends as possible to watch – and join in – the races.

Sainsbury’s Vouchers

These are being counted as we go along, and we are doing well. However, please do continue to pop your vouchers into the box and ask friends and family if they would like to contribute too. Sainsbury’s will be issuing vouchers until 3rd May – so still plenty of time!

Future Events:

Whole Nursery Trip to the Seaside

Our annual trip to West Wittering will be on Tuesday 14th June for all children. We leave from the village hall by coach, spend the morning on the beach, have a special lunch then return to Grayswood by 2.45pm. Everyone should have received details regarding the timings and costs for the trip and forms and payment should be returned to the nursery by 1st May. If you need a copy of the letter, please ask. We hope everyone will join us on this really great trip.

Leavers and Individual Photos

These are being taken on Thursday 16th June – all leavers are encouraged to attend during the morning and a sign-up sheet will be available nearer the time for individual and sibling photos.

Save the Children Den Day

This event is being held this year on Friday 17th June. We would love to see Dads and Grandads come to help our children build a den from everyday materials and raise some money for Save the Children whose aim it is to help change the lives of children in the world’s toughest countries, who might not have somewhere safe to sleep at night. We are inviting Dads and Grandads as it coincides with Father’s Day (19th June) and hope they will enjoy joining in the event and seeing how the nursery and forest school works. Full details and a sign-up sheet will be available nearer the time.

European Elections

These take place on Thursday 23rd June and the village hall will be closed for use as a polling station. We currently plan to run a forest school session on that day with drop off and collection details to be confirmed nearer the time.

Nursery Quiz Night

This is taking place on Friday 24th June and details will be circulated by the fundraising committee. Put the date in your diary as it should be a fun night!!

Dates for the diary

Monday 11th April:      First day of summer term
Monday 2nd May:      May Bank Holiday
Thursday 5th May:      Police Commissioner Election – Village Hall being used as a polling station so trip to the museum for Thursday children.
Friday 27th May:      Sports Day
Monday 30th May – Friday 3rd June inc:      Half Term
Tuesday 14th June:      Whole nursery trip to West Wittering
Thursday 16th June:      Prêt a Portrait Individual and Leavers Photo
Friday 17th June:      Save the Children Den Day
Thursday 23rd June:      European Elections – Village Hall is being used as a polling station and will be closed so propose to spend day at Forest School.
Friday 24th June:      Nursery Quiz Night
Monday 4th July:     Art Exhibition evening event in Village Hall
Tuesday 5th July:     Art Exhibition in Village Hall
Friday 15th July:     Last day of term

General Information

Session Times

Monday 9.05am – 2.45pm (Pre-School children only)
Tuesday – Friday 9.05am – 12.35pm
Tuesday and Thursday afternoons sessions end at 2.45pm

Contact Details

Village Hall telephone number: 01428 658931

Nursery mobile number: 07789 987280

Nursery e-mail address: grayswoodnursery@hotmail.co.uk

Nursery web-site: www.grayswoodnurseryschool.co.uk

NB The e-mail address is not accessible to staff whilst the nursery is in progress.

Staff at the Nursery

There are currently nine members of staff on the team each of whom works on different days as shown below. Beryl Brogden is continuing to volunteer on Mondays and Jane Barratt on Wednesdays. We also have Miss Maureen on Mondays for music and movement and Bollie for Playball on Wednesdays.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Kate Dean	Sue Bartrum	Sue Bartrum	Sue Bartrum	Sue Bartrum
Richard Dean	Lara Butler	Lara Butler	Kate Dean	Lara Butler
Natasha Hayes	Kate Dean	Kate Dean	Richard Dean	Kate Dean
Jane Tims	Richard Dean	Richard Dean	Natasha Hayes	Richard Dean
Yvonka Wilkinson	Natasha Hayes	Liz Juson	Liz Juson	Natasha Hayes
Beryl Brogden	Anna Mitchell	Jane Tims	Yvonka Wilkinson	Jane Tims
	Yvonka Wilkinson

Committee Members

This year’s committee members are:

Chair – Phillipa Hawkins
Secretary – Irene Levine
Treasurer – Nicola Hunt
Events and Fundraising – Zoe Oliver-Wiegand
Committee Members – Heather Laybourne

The committee work very hard to run events and fundraising activities on behalf of the nursery so please do help them out with this valuable task.

Finally, a few reminders:

The Nursery is not a place for poorly children. We are a learning environment and your child needs to be well in order to engage in their learning. If your child has been sick or had an upset tummy they must remain away from nursery for a minimum of 48 hours and not return until they have had a normal (for them) stool. As a general rule, children taking antibiotics should not be at nursery. Please ask us if you are unsure when your child should return to nursery after an illness.

Please keep us informed of your current contact details particularly mobile numbers. It is essential that whilst your child is at nursery someone is available to collect them in the event of an emergency. Please ensure if you are unavailable someone else is able to be contacted and collect your child.

Please do not let your children wear jewellery to nursery or bring small toys etc. As a guide children should not bring to nursery items which could fit inside a traditional 35mm film container.