Welcome to our October Newsletter

We would like to take the opportunity to welcome all the new families who have joined us at the Pre-School Centre at the start of the Autumn term. We hope that your time with us is an enjoyable experience.

Staff changes

We would like to welcome back Helen B who has been on maternity leave, she will be joining the team in Crèche 1 in October. 

Transitions for the children and room changes for staff have now all been undertaken for the term. The children have done extremely well and are busy exploring their new environments.

If you have any queries, please feel free to speak to your child’s keyperson at any time. 

Staff Training Day

Our annual training day was a great success, this year, Paul McGee was our speaker, also known as The SUMO Guy.

Paul is one of Europe’s leading motivational speakers on the subject of change, workplace relationships, leadership, customer service, resilience, wellbeing, and communication. 

The team thoroughly enjoyed the day, where we learnt how equip ourselves with insights and ideas to increase both our professional and personal effectiveness. We all came away feeling wiser. Those of us who had previously undertaken the last session in 2014 really benefited not only from the refresher, but also the new methods and techniques we can use. More recent members of the team got onboard with enthusiasm. 

Don’t be surprised if you hear the phrases “on a scale of 1-10” and “the other side of the beach ball” used by the team alongside many others, we are just embedding everything we learnt.

Alumni donation

We would like to thank The Lancaster University Friends Programme for their generous donation which enabled us to replace the sofa’s and purchase some plants to improve the foyer and provide a welcoming, restful area for both parents and visitors alike.

Menu review

The autumn lunch menu is currently under review and will be available soon. If your child has specific dietary requirements, your child’s key person will discuss any new meals with you and update their menu.

Summer works

Over the summer a number of projects have been completed, these include:

• Linking the Pre-School’s heating system to the
University District Heating System

• Windows have been fitted with solar film to reduce temperatures
in the Baby Room, Pre-School 1, 2 and 3

• The artificial grass areas have been replaced outside the Crèche rooms

• Rubber matting has been replaced with artificial grass around the Baby Room

• New tables and Chairs have been purchased for Pre-School 2 and 3 

• Flooring has been replaced in the corridor leading to Baby Room
and Pre-School 2

Childcare Reforms

In April 2023 the government announced an optional change to childcare ratios from 1:4 to 1:5 for two-year-old children, this change came into effect on
4th September 23. 

The childcare sector has mixed feelings around the change, particularly how this would affect the overall quality of provision alongside the impact on staff wellbeing, workload, and staff retention if using this ratio in the long term. 

A ratio of 1:4 with our 2–3-year-old children will currently be retained at
Pre-School. The 1:5 ratio may however provide us with a short-term option in the event of staff shortages due to absence. 

To date we await more detailed information on the expansion of the Government Early Years funding, scheduled to begin its first phase April 2024. This will see eligible working families of 2-year-olds having access to 15 hours of childcare support for 38 weeks of the year. It is likely, as with current funding your child’s 2nd birthday must be prior to 31st March 2024 to be eligible for funding in April 2024. Please note that if you pay your childcare costs through the Flexible benefits scheme and are eligible for 2-year-old funding a
re-calculation of your costs will be undertaken.

Further information can be found on the Childcare Choices webpages. 

Baby Room

We have had a lovely start to the new term, welcoming our new babies and families into the Baby Room. 

We have been focusing on building relationships with our babies, as we get to know them whilst following their interests. Over the next few weeks, we are planning to take trips to the Rainbow Room to explore the bubble machine, projector, and sensory toys. 

Recently we have made the most of the beautiful weather by getting out on plenty of walks, introducing the babies to their new surroundings and enriching their Cultural Capital. We had a walk through the orchard and took the babies out of the pram, one by one, so that they could take a closer look at the fruit that was growing. We have also been to see the ducks, diggers, and fountains. We will continue to go for walks over the next few weeks.

As autumn sets in, we will be collecting natural objects on our walks, such as pinecones and leaves, for the babies to explore back in the Baby Room.

Crèche 1

Crèche 1 have been focusing on the children’s holistic development through outdoor play. We have been accessing the forest area which has different levels for the children to take risks and explore. The children have been able to develop their physical skill during this experience, taking longer steps, balancing, and climbing.

The forest also has a section called ‘The Barefoot Walk’ where the children can walk barefooted through water. The children were delighted with the sensory experience throughout this activity as they splashed away in the water.

Crèche 2

In Crèche 2 this term we have been going out on lots of different adventures. With new children coming into our room, we have taken out a few children at
a time to focus on smaller group activities so we can build relationships with our key children. 

We have been to visit the big sandpit in the garden. This helped the children with their physical development through filling and emptying buckets using different tools and walking on different surfaces. We have also visited the EcoHub. The children enjoyed looking at the variety of fruit and vegetables being grown. 

On our walks we have spotted lots of vehicles such as buses, cars, tractors, and diggers. The children have shouted out some vehicle names and pointed to them. The walks are providing more opportunities for the children’s increasing communication skills and they are definitely expressing their interests and preferences. We have used this knowledge back in the crèche with interest based themed tuff trays. 

On one of our recent walks we visited the library, it was very enjoyable
sharing stories in the children’s corner and we plan to continue this
throughout the term.

Nursery 1

We have been exploring the University campus during the lovely weather, going on walks, having a snack picnics.

As well as exploring the campus, we have been looking at the environment commenting on the cars, buses and diggers.

We have visited the children’s area in the University library, choosing books, and looking at them with our friends. The favourite book being ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’.

We have been discussing recycling and caring for the planet, taking items that we identified as recyclable to the appropriate bins on campus.

We will be celebrating Harvest Festival and visiting the fruit and veg market choosing what we would like to taste.

With autumn approaching we will be talking about the changes in our environment and what these are, what they will look like, and using natural materials we will find on walks to make pictures and collages.

Nursery 2

Linking in with the theme of sustainability, Nursery 2 have set up their own recycling station. This is to help the children to learn about how to reduce, re-use and recycle, which in turn will help our environment and the planet. 

The children enjoyed painting the recycling box, which we are re-using from one of the Pre-School deliveries, the children took turns as there was only a small area to paint. 

In the upcoming weeks, we will show the children how instead of throwing items into the bin, we can either re-use them or they can go in our recycling box. Once our recycling box is filled, we can then go on a walk to put the recycling materials into the correct larger recycling bins.

Pre-School 1

After saying goodbye to the children starting school, Pre-School 1 welcomed our new group of children. The children have settled in nicely and loved exploring the room, different activities and outdoors.

In the outdoors we have been looking at and creating different textures in the mud kitchen. This gives the children the opportunity to experiment, explore their own ideas and gives them lots of independence.

We continue to encourage independence in lots of different ways, offering self-serve snack, tidying up areas and at lunchtime the children choose their preferred meal and also serve themselves too. We are very pleased and proud of the skills the children are developing, it fosters a sense of achievement and raises self-esteem.

Pre-School 2

Over the summer Pre-School 2 have been exploring a story called The Magic Balloon. It is about a little boy who builds his own hot air balloon in his garden shed, once the balloon is made, he uses it to have adventures travelling around the world and exploring lots of different countries. 

We created our own hot air balloon for the wall by collaging different fabrics to make the balloon and basket.

As the holidays began and our children went on their holidays, they sent photos or postcards of their adventures. We looked at the world map and our atlas book to see where in the world they had gone to visit. Once the child returned to Pre-School they told us all about their adventures and the pictures they had sent, their peers showed lots of curiosity asking questions and making comments about the adventure.

As a room we have learnt lots from this summer activity, we have been creative in designing and making our own hot air balloon, we have gained knowledge of the world by looking for and finding lots of different counties on the map, we have asked our friends questions about their trips and listened to what they have told us. 

It feels like Pre-School 2 have had a very exciting summer adventure and been in our own magic balloon, exploring the world!

Pre-School 3

This term we have welcomed the children into a brand-new room. The children have been working really hard on their independence skills by carrying out self-serve snack, where they have been chopping up their own fruit of choice with the safety knives and pouring their own milk/water.

The children have also started to pick and serve their own lunch, with support when using the serving spoons and we have been encouraging them to make their own decisions.

For our foyer artwork we have been working with the children on “how to look after our planet” we have carried out various educational activities to develop the children’s awareness of how we can look after our planet, such as making our own wind turbines, solar panels, planting and walking to the EcoHub and walks to see nearby turbines.

The children in Pre-School 3 have thoroughly enjoyed testing out our new Stapelstein stepping stones. These cleverly designed stepping stones stimulate creative, imaginative and active play while offering infinite ways to play and move. The children have shown excellent balancing and coordination skills.

Upcoming Events

Teddies Club

This will be commencing on Friday 13th October. The sessions run from 10am until 11.30am every Friday morning during Undergraduate term time and will take place in the Fylde College Common Room. Further details can be found on the Pre-School Centre Website.

Photograph days

Happening on Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th October. If your child does not attend the Pre-School Centre on either of these days, please contact the office to book an appointment if you wish for your child to have their photograph taken. 

Any families with school siblings and are wishing to bring them in will also need to book an appointment with the office. We are unable to accommodate any children who are not in attendance, to have their photo taken without an appointment being booked.

Black History Month

During the month of October we will be looking at Black History and working with rooms to help develop the children’s knowledge and understanding. We will celebrate influential people and look at the many contributions they have made in society. Find out more on the Black History Month website.

Reminders

Internal Door Codes

A reminder that all internal door codes have been changed, you will need to speak to a staff member to gain access to the relevant code you require. Please ensure that door codes are not given to any other person who may collect your child/ren on your behalf.

Main Door Access

Can we please ask ALL parents to ensure that when accessing the Pre-School Centre they use their access cards/fobs. We are experiencing a high volume of disruption due to the doorbell being used so frequently. 

If any parents have either lost their door access card/fob please ensure that you inform the office so that a replacement can be purchased for £5.00. Any library cards that have been replaced will need to be activated on our system.

Appropriate Outdoor Clothing

Can we please request that with the weather changing parents provide appropriate outdoor clothing and footwear for their child/ren.

Early Years Funding

A reminder to parents who are in receipt of Early Years Funding, if fees are paid via monthly invoicing your September, April & May invoices will be higher due to the funding not being applicable for whole duration of the
appropriate terms. This information will be provided to parents via
a summary prior to becoming eligible for Early Years Funding.

Parents eligible for Early Years Funding from January 2024 will be invited
to a Teams presentation which will explain how the funding is delivered by the
Pre-School Centre, as well as advice on how hours are claimed and applied and how associated costs are calculated.

Further details regarding the presentation will be sent to the eligible parents
in due course.

Contact details

Please remember to provide us with any new contact details, you can do this via the ParentZone app or by calling/advising the office.

Pre-School Website and Newsfeed

We would like to remind parents that you can access regularly updated information from our website and on our Twitter and Instagram.