Labels

Please could you label your child's clothes with their name, particularly things like cardigans, hoodies and coats.  With the weather being so unpredictable at the moment, children are coming in t-shirts, cardigans, hoodies etc as well as waterproof coats so we have loads of items lying around.  There are usually six children here each day, so you can imagine how confusing it can get!! 

Thank you :-)

Water beads

I've read a lot about these recently so ordered some from Ebay.  They are fantastic!  They arrive in a little bag and each bead is about 5mm in diameter.  They need soaking in water for 24 hours, when they expand to marble-sized squidgy beads.  They feel great and the children had a lovely time just feeling them.  We added some scoops later on and they filled a big jar with them. 

I've ordered some more from Ebay for future play.  If you fancy getting some for home, just search 'water beads' on Ebay and mine were only £1.75 for 20g, which I think is a bargain!

I like this!

Tax credits audit

Just to let you know that tax credits are auditing a lot of parents at the moment and require invoices issued by childcarers. 

Please keep all your invoices safe in case they contact you in the future.

Great website for craft ideas

I've just found a great website for craft ideas that might be great fun to do with your children.  We will definitely be having a go with some of them here.  I have already ordered some water beads!

http://www.theimaginationtree.com/p/about.html

I will post a link in 'our links' on the right side of the home page.

Painting

The children did a fantastic painting today.  We covered the table in paper and squirted different coloured paints all over the paper.  The children then used various items, like brushes and sponges, to spread the paint.  They explored the paint with their fingers and the sharp end of the brushes to make lots of marks in the thick paint. 

The painting is drying outside on the decking at the moment and we will put it up in the playroom if it dries without breaking!

EYFS 2012 parents leaflet

I have emailed this leaflet to everyone today, so please check your inboxes when you get chance. 

Please speak to us about anything you're unsure of. 

Teddy bears' picnic

We had fun today at our jubilee teddy bears' picnic! 

We decorated buns and had teddy bear sandwiches

Even the sun came out for us!

Jubilee

On Wednesday 6^th and Thursday 7^th June, so that all children will get a chance to join in, we will be having a teddy bears’ picnic in aid of Action Medical Research.  We thought this year that we would combine it with the queen’s diamond jubilee, so would have a red, white and blue theme for this.

It would be great if your child could wear red, white and blue on these two days and bring with them a teddy or other cuddly toy. 

We will have a picnic with a red, white and blue theme and will make cakes, teddy biscuits as usual. 

We would be very grateful if you would donate £2 in aid of Action Medical Research which is a UK-wide medical research charity dedicated to helping babies and children.  We will collect all the donations and send it off to them.

We are really looking forward to this!

Tesco vouchers

Tesco have now finished the vouchers for school scheme so if you have any spare vouchers we would be very grateful.

Diamond Jubilee

Erin was chatting to us today about the queen's jubilee which has prompted me to order some jubilee bits and bobs for crafting.  Think we might have a little jubilee picnic too that week to celebrate.

If anyone sees any crafty bits in the pound shops when they are out and about please will you let me know and I'll go and get them.  :-)

New EYFS

As you may know, they EYFS is changing in September so Chris and I are on a training course tonight from 7-9 to get some more information on the changes. 

We will keep you informed of any alterations to policies etc as and when we do them. 

Fun at the duck pond and park

Weekly Learning Journey sheets

There are some weeks that we don't get chance to fully complete a sheet to send home but this doesn't mean that we are not providing your child with lots of varied activities during the day, we just haven't had chance to record them!

We mainly complete the learning journey sheets in an evening and sometimes we don't get chance, due to family activities, and have to catch up with them the following week.  As you will appreciate, they do take quite some time to complete as we link many of the photos and observations to the EYFS learning and development records.   
 
If you don't get a sheet one week, please don't feel like you can't complete a sheet of paper at home letting us know what your child has been doing at the weekend.  We love to hear about their home life and any milestones they have reached.  Any sheet of paper would be ok, we will just slot it into their file here.  We know you're all busy people too though, so if you don't get chance to complete anything then please don't worry. 

We hope that you all enjoy the sheets that we create for you.  Although the EYFS doesn't require even half as many observations, we feel it is good for you, as parents, to be able to get a glimpse of your child's time with us.  We would have loved a diary of our children's lives whilst they were at playschool/nursery so hope that these files bring you lots of pleasure.  :-)

More pictures of our week this week.....

We planted some sunflower seeds

We had a walk down Robins Lane to see the horses

We went to see the ducks at the duck pond

Our week so far.....

We made lots of music!

We had our morning snack outside - lovely apple pieces

We watered some plants

We played with the playdoh

Parking when dropping off and collecting

We know that there are sometimes cars parked outside our house at these times, but please would you not park across our driveway, but park a little way along the road and walk to our house.

There are three of us in the family who drive so there is a chance that one of us may need to leave or drive in to our driveway at these times of day. 

We appreciate your understanding with this. 

 

St. George biscuits

Yum!

week 3 this week

Happy St. Georges Day!

The children have made some fabulous flags this morning!