Dear parents and carers,
We are looking forward to welcoming you all back from your summer holiday and hearing about what you have been up to. Please feel free to send photos to us on tapestry so your children can share these with their friends and talk about what you have been doing over the summer. We have been working really hard over over the holidays to update the preschool with lots of fun new resources for your children, we are really looking forward to them returning and seeing them have lots of fun in our new environment.
Alongside our new environment we are very excited to announce we also have a new member of staff joining us, Jen Harris. Jen will be in Preschool Monday to Friday and is very excited to meet, play, support and have lots of fun with your children, alongside our other lovely key workers.
New Entrance and Exit Procedures
With recent events which have been portrayed in the media we have been urged to update our safeguarding procedures to ensure our children and families safety continue to be our priority. This means starting from next week we would like to encourage our children to say goodbye to their parents at the front gate and with the help from their keyworkers they will be able to put their own belongings on their pegs and start their day at preschool. Children which may be unsettled can still have a parent guide them into preschool, however we would like to try and encourage
children to do this independently. Children will also be brought to you at the gate at the end of their session. This is so we know who is on the premises at all times, and is also a great routine for children to become familiar with for when they start primary school.
There will always be a member of staff of the gate so if you feel your child needs you to accompany them inside before becoming familiar with the new routine, please do let them know. Our partnerships with parents are paramount to us at Stower Vale so please do still share information with the staff member on the gate. Equally if you would like to talk to your child’s keyworker, please let us know and we are more than happy to accommodate this.
Tapestry
You may have seen there is now a new messaging feature on your child’s tapestry account. This is a great way to communicate with your child’s keyworker and our staff at Stower Vale with ease. The more information you share with us about your child the better, we love to hear what you have been up to and if there is any way we can support your children further. This term we will be trialling having a focus child of the week and seeking information from parents about their child’s current interests and trying to bring these into Preschool. Letters will be sent out prior to your child’s focus week for you to share with us all the things they currently love to do.
If your child has an accident at Preschool this will now also be recorded on tapestry, you will be notified when collecting your child from the setting but all information will be sent to you via the app.
Show and Tell
We will be introducing show and tell into our preschool sessions. Your child will be invited to bring in a item which they would like to share with their friends at Preschool. This is a great way to increase children’s confidence in communicating in group sessions and supports their Personal, Social and Emotional development. Please can all show and tell items be brought into Preschool in a labelled bag. You will receive a message this half term, letting you know which day it will be your child’s turn to bring their show and tell in.
Forest Area
A reminder that we will be aiming to access the forest area at least twice a week. Please can we ensure all children have a set of long-sleeved tops and trousers, as well as waterproof coats, trousers and wellies in school at all times.
Children must be covered up to enable them to be safe and join in with our forestry fun. Please could your child also have a bag of spare clothes to leave on their peg as we often have water and messy play accessible with children needing a change of clothes throughout the day.
Library Visits
Library visits will be resuming this term, we will be visiting Stower Provost Primary School’s library once a week to enable children to listen to and look at a variety of books and stories which differ from the ones we own in Preschool.
Invoices and funding
This is a reminder that invoices are sent out every half term and are to be settled within seven days of receipt.
Please ensure your HMRC funding details have been reconfirmed for funding codes to stay active.
We hope you have had a wonderful summer and look forward to welcoming you back next week. If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Kind Regards,
Amy and your Stower Vale team