April 2021 Newsletter
Welcome back!
Welcome back to Preschool, we hope you all had a lovely Easter! It’s so lovely to see all the children looking so refreshed and ready to learn! We have been busy making plans for developing several aspects of Preschool, such as speeding up drop-off times, improving our Tapestry platform, and making some big improvements to our garden so watch this space!
Communication
During the pandemic, we are aware that Covid-19 restrictions have made interactions between staff and parents more difficult. To improve this, we have implemented a daily whiteboard to inform parents about what the children have had for snack and general information about the day. We would also like to set up a closed Facebook group, solely for Parents, to share photos and snapshots of the children whilst they are playing at Preschool. We will be seeking permission and inviting you all to join the group over the next few weeks. It is completely optional, and, if you do not agree to join, your child will not be included in any of the posts. If any Parents have any concerns they wish to discuss with the Manager, Rachael is available for pre-booked face to face meetings, however Covid-19 guidelines must be adhered to. Please email Preschool for more information.
Weather
Summer is rapidly approaching, and the weather is getting warmer every day. With this in mind, please ensure your child has a sun hat and water bottle in Preschool. Unfortunately, we are unable to apply sun cream here, so please make sure you apply lots before Preschool sessions!
Tapestry
Tapestry is a great way for staff to record and capture moments of learning and share them with parents. It greatly improves the link between pre-school and home giving you access to observations via your mobile phone. Although we implemented a Focus Children tracking system last term, this has proved less effective for observing all the children on a weekly basis, and we would like to return to our old method of uploading more regular, high-quality observations to Tapestry. We are therefore removing the Focus Children system with immediate effect, and observations will now be uploaded to Tapestry every week, so look out for emails notifying you of uploads for your child. Please don’t forget Tapestry is also a fantastic platform for sharing your child’s experiences at home, it is very simple to upload photos and add notes to share with us. We love to see your children learning at home! If you have any questions or problems with Tapestry, then please do speak to a member of staff.
Uniform
We have available some unused previous stock of uniform available to purchase at pre-school. We have a limited availability of t-shirts (£3) and sweatshirts (£5) available in size 3-4 years. If you would like to purchase, please email pre-school.
Upcoming Dates
• Monday 3rd of May – Bank Holiday
• Thursday 6th May – Polling day (Preschool closed)
• Monday 10th May – Friday 14th May Key worker/Parent Zoom Meetings for children who attended during lock down.
• Monday 31st May – Monday 7th June HALF TERM