Lovat Hall Preschool NewsletterAutumn Term (1) Sept- Oct 2018

07950 791952lhpreschool@live.co.uk

Welcome back to our existing preschoolers and we say hello to all our new preschoolers joining us this term, we hope everyone has had a lovely summer holiday break. We have a very busy term ahead for our children and we have some very exciting activities planned, for our topics over the next 7 weeks, where we will be supporting our preschoolers in their learning and development in this new academic year. We will also be supporting and settling in our new children and their families. We are very excited about our new Autumn term ahead.

Week 1 – Settling in to Preschool (3 rd -7th Sept) We welcome back our preschoolers for another year and to our new children and families who are joining us this term. We have many activities planned this week and we are looking forward to helping and supporting also our new children in settling in to our preschool. We have lots to learn through our play and our golden rules to remember, such as listening to each other, taking turns, sharing our toys, tidy up time and getting ready to have our smiley face snacks. Our new preschoolers will also be getting to know their keyworkers and making new friends. Welcome to Lovat Hall Preschool.

Week 2 – All About Me (10 th -14th Sept) We are now in our second week of term and we are getting to know one another very well. We are making new friends and our preschool keyworkers want to learn a little more about us all, such as what is our favourite colour, what do we like to eat etc, do we have pets or brothers and sisters. We will be reading the story of funny bones and our preschoolers will be learning about their anatomy and their 5 senses.

Week 3 – The Seasons (17 th -21st Sept) And now we are nearly half way through our first term already. This week we are talking about the seasons. We are going to be listening and helping each other as we work together in a group in our very own weather centre. The story this week will be a Friend for all the seasons. In our maths activity the children will be counting their leaves as they make their seasonal trees.

Week 4 – Autumn (24 th -28th Sept) This week following on from last week, we will be taking the children to the meadow, woods and garden to collect leaves, sticks for our leaf mobiles and in our art activity we will be making Autumn Frames. Our Autumn themed story this week to the children will be The Greatest Gift of all. We will start our Sound of the week ‘A’ where children will listen to the sound of the letter and multi syllabic clapping of words that begin with the letter sound.

Week 5 – Harvest/Life on the Farm (1 st -5th Oct) This week we are going exploring and investigating the world around us. Maybe we can find our woodland animals such as Squirrel, Hedgehog, Badger, Mole and Tortoise using our magnifying glasses. We will have our very own small world Farmyard and our physical activity will be milking our preschool cows and learning about life on the farm. In our art activity we will be making our very own sheep and in knowledge & understanding of the world the children will be learning about some of the tools that farmers use to cut the crops and will make their own sickles.

Week 6 –The woods/ Alice In Wonderland 8 th -12th Oct) This week at preschool our preschoolers will be invited to join us at the mad hatters tea party and take a woodland walk with us and find Alice who falls down into the tunnel and the rabbit who is very late. The children will be learning to tell the time and make their own clock faces and in art they will be making their own squirrels in the tree and also make their own hedgehogs from the wood land walk in knowledge and understanding of the world.

Week 7 – MiniBeasts 15 th -19th Oct Our final week before we finish this term on Friday 19th October for two weeks. Our preschoolers this week will be exploring and investigating all the creepy crawlies in the mini beast world in our homecorner. In our art activity this week the children will be making their own love rocks. In physical play we will be moving like the mini beasts to music. In the garden we will have a minibeast hunt and on our computer this week the children will be learning how to operate a mouse and simple computer software for children to enjoy and learn.

Resources: PLEASE CAN YOU HELP?If you have any items we could borrow or you would like to donate, related to the topics that we have planned this term, such as costumes or unwanted fancy dress, audio story books, small world play, binoculars, magnifying glasses, art materials such as unwanted paper, egg boxes, toilet and kitchen rolls, small boxes this would be fantastic, and please feel free to bring in any items for show and tell. Please ask a member of staff if you are unsure, we are always wanting to provide every opportunity for all our children in supporting their learning and by making donations or any unwanted items helps us to keep our costs down.

General HousekeepingWe aim to take our preschoolers outside every day and the weather is starting to get cooler in this Autumn Term ahead. Please can you make sure that children have suitable coats, hats and scarves and wellington boots with their name clearly stated. A reminder for parents to put your childs name also on their lunchboxes.

IMPORTANT - MedicationIf your child has prescribed medication, could we ask that you please ensure we have a permission letter signed and dated, with details of the dosage and times to be given. The medicine should be in a labelled bottle or box with childs name.

Also a reminder that it is important that Inhalers or Epipens are given to a member of staff to be kept in a safe place, whenever a child is attending Preschool, and NOT left in their bag in the corridor.

Can you help us at PreschoolPlease help us to continue to provide the care and education your child deserves by supporting our high adult to child ratios at Lovat Hall Pre-School. By giving us just one hour of your time to help with the washing up, snack preparation, art activities or just playing with the children, you can free up a member of staff to HELP your child develop further. Please add your name to the white board (Parent Rota) which has been placed on the outside of the door or just ask a member of staff who will be glad to help.

Committee Volunteers NeededThe Pre-school is run by an elected committee, which ensures that major decision-making is in the hands of the parents who use the group.

The committee members are all volunteers, and are responsible for reviewing both policy and practice, and for the employment and appraisal of the members of staff.

Our Annual General Meeting, at which the committee is elected, is held in the Autumn term to be confirmed.

We sadly said goodbye to some of our members as their children have left to start school this September and we are keen to recruit some new parents as committee members. Please speak to a member of staff if you are interested in any roles we may have available or come along to our next committee meeting on TUESDAY 11th SEPTEMBER at 7.30pm at the preschool.

Open Door PolicyWe are always happy for parents to stay with their children if they feel it would be beneficial, but if you need to discuss your child’s settling in with us at any time please feel free to approach any member of staff and we will do our best to help. Our newest children are settling in brilliantly but the transition can be made so much easier for your child simply by making drop off a positive time for them. We all know what an anxious time it can be but try asking lots of questions “Can you do me a picture today?”“Do you think the bikes will be out?”“What do you like for snack?”

Will all help to distract your child, as will statements such as “When Mummy picks you up we can….” So they have something positive to focus on.

Days in the DiaryCommittee Meeting existing and new members welcome Tues 11th Sept

7.30pm in Preschool Room Term finishes on Friday 19th October for 2 weeks and return on Monday 5th

November 2018.

We look forward to seeing our children on the 3rd September and we thank you from all the Staff at Lovat Hall Preschool.