March 2021 newsletter
We are so pleased to have all our children back at the setting. Everyone has settled back in so well.
Our Learning
So far this term the children have been busy learning about transportation alongside our core story last half term- We catch the bus. The children had lots of fun making large vehicles out of boxes, the children then talked about people who help us and had a go at driving our emergency vehicles.
This month the children have started to learn about spring.
Core story 
Our core story this half term is Trixi Ten. This is a lovely story about a family of noisy fingerprints, the children have had fun counting to 10 and making all the different sounds in the book.
Gardening club
As it is now coming into spring, we would like to teach the children about growth. We have started to make a gardening area where your children will be able to take part in planting flowers. We will be exploring different smells in the herb garden, measuring how tall we can grow sunflowers and having a go at growing our own vegetables.
If you have any seeds or plants at home that you would like to donate to support us in doing this, they would be greatly appreciated.
My Smile
Thank you to everyone who took part in the My Smile tooth brushing program. Everyone who brought back their tooth brushing chart should have received a certificate for your child’s great effort, well done to our little stars. Keep up the great work in keeping your teeth healthy. If you need any more information or support about oral health, please feel free to ask.
Selfie station 
We are supporting the children’s wellbeing and promoting self-awareness in the setting. To aid this we have set up a large mirror alongside a selection of smaller mirrors for the children to explore. The children have had fun looking at themselves talking about their facial features and emotions. We also have a supervised camera for the children to take their own selfies. We have had so much fun pulling faces and showing our peers.
BIG MOUTH
The children have been practicing their big mouth exercises, this helps to promote your child’s speech.
At Preschool we use Bigmouth keeps fit kit to help your children to learn to develop their speech to pronounce sounds and words. We have included a kit with this newsletter for you to use at home with your children. Please share your children’s progress on the Baby Days app to keep us updated on how your child is progressing with Bigmouth at home.
World book day
The children enjoyed dressing up as their favourite book characters to celebrate world book day and explored the story of we are going on a bear hunt in the messy play tray making the sounds from the story. The children enjoyed talking about each other’s outfits and looking at themselves in the mirror. We read the story Crayon and talked about colours and sharing.
30hr extended entitlement codes
If your child is currently accessing 30hours funding, please ensure that you reconfirm your eligibility every 3 months by the date shown on your childcare account. Failure to reconfirm on time will affect your ability to claim the additional funding for the following term.
Baby’s Days
We hope you are all familiar with the Baby’s Days system. If you are unsure of how to use the parent app or how-to login to your child’s Baby’s days login, please let us know as we can assist you with how the app works on your phone or tablet.
For new parents- log in details have been sent via email. If you have not yet received these please let a member of staff know.
We can guide you on
- How to upload photos of your child from home.
- We can show you how to view up to date information regarding any accidents your child may have had at the setting.
- You can see medication given at the setting to your child on your request.
- We can also show you how you can see all your child’s observations from the setting.
- We can also show you how to input accident forms from home if your child has had a bump or scratch at home that we need to be aware of.
Please feel free to ask Caroline or Emma and we will be happy to show you how to use your Baby Days app.
Drop off and pick up
We are working as a team to welcome the children in as quickly and as safely as possible. However, we appreciate that pick up and drop off times may take a little longer as we are welcoming one child at a time. We thank you for your patience and cooperation with this.
We are now offering an extra session time of 8:45am-2:45pm to all children who attend full day sessions. If you would like to change to this session, please see a member of staff.
New government guidance from 8th March 2021
- School’s reopening.
- You can now meet with one person from another household outside only. No meeting with others outside your household indoors allowed.
To help keep everyone as safe as possible please can we remind all parents/carers to maintain social distancing and to wear a face covering when dropping off and collecting your children. Thank you.
Term dates
End of term- Friday 26th March-12th April.
Return to Pre-School on Tuesday 13th April.
We thank you all for your continued support and we hope you all have a lovely Easter break.
We look forward to welcoming you all back from Tuesday 13th April 2021.
Caroline, Emma and the Ravensthorpe team.
