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Welcome to our May/June Newsletter
Dates for your diary
Pre-School Graduation - Saturday 2 August
(further details to be sent out in due course)
Flexible Benefits enrolment 2025-26
Flexible Benefits forms have been emailed to parents who currently pay their childcare fees through the scheme to ascertain if they wish to continue accessing this benefit during 2025-26. It is important parents complete and return it by the deadline of Friday 23 May.
If any current parents are or will be Lancaster University employees and wish to participate from Tuesday 26 August 2025, please do let us know asap, enabling us to forward the documentation required.
Children’s holiday dates
Can parents please advise the office if their child/ren are going to be absent anytime during the period of May until August (inclusive). This will help staff plan for and support any children who are due to transition to a new room. For any children leaving for Primary School, this will allow time for your child’s key person to arrange the school transition meeting that will need to take place.
If your child is transitioning to Primary School, can you please advise on their last day of attendance, this enables us to create their pen drives containing images etc of their journey through the Centre.
Staff news and celebrations
Congratulations to Charlotte and Mark on the arrival of their beautiful daughter, and well done to Lisa, who successfully took part in the Manchester marathon. The children in PS3 were very proud of her and amazed at how heavy the medal was.
We are delighted to welcome back Jess as she returns from maternity leave, and we are looking forward to Kat returning in the coming weeks. We are also delighted to welcome to the team Catherine, Wenting and Ellie who will all join us in the coming weeks. Lastly, thank you and goodbye to Beth and Sarah, we wish them well in their new adventures.
Donate Clothes 4 Sammy’s
We would like to thank everyone who donated clothes prior to Easter, for the fundraiser Donate Clothes 4 Sammy’s. When collected and weighed in the amount raised for the Pre-School Centre was £128.00.
UV levels and Sunscreen
Our sun safety policy and procedure means staff monitor UV levels throughout the day. The team will use this information to assess the safety of the children and the levels of protection required during outdoor play. Can we please remind parents to apply sun cream prior to your child attending their session. Read more about the UV index and sunburn risk on the Cancer Research UK webpages.
Oral health
It’s never too early to start brushing teeth!! Brushing your child’s gums from birth with a smear of toothpaste until they are three will help fight the bugs and protect their teeth from disease. You can find more information on mouth and tooth care on the Lancashire County Council webpages.
Ready, Steady, Listen
We are running a sponsored listening challenge commencing on Wednesday 21 May until Wednesday 18 June in conjunction with Usborne Books. All the money raised will go towards brand new books for the Pre-School Centre. In addition to the sponsorship money, Usborne will also donate up to 60% of the total raised in extra free books for the Pre-School Centre.
Further information has been sent out to parents via email, it would be appreciated if you could help support this wonderful project.
School readiness
For parents of children who are due to start Primary School in September, please find below some useful links from Lancashire County Council about getting your child ready for the transition from Pre-School to Primary School.
Getting ready for school top tips
What to expect in the EYFS: a guide for parents
Your child’s keyperson will be contacting you to arrange a meeting in June for you to attend, allowing you to discuss and sign your child’s School Transition report, which will be sent to their Primary School prior to the school summer holidays.
A reminder has been sent to parents to place your child on the boards which are situated outside Pre-School 1 & 3, showing which Primary School your child will be going to.
Family Workshops
Our Family Workshops held in early April were a great success. We changed the format from previous events and were pleased it went so well. It was lovely to see so many families enjoying the wide range of activities and learning about how they aid our children’s development.
Comments we received indicated the food tasting was a very popular addition to the event, with parents very happy with the quality and variety the Pre-School menu provides. Head Chef Matt Varley said, “It was a great success and a pleasure to meet the parents.”
The team put in a lot of effort to ensure these events are enjoyable, and I’m sure you will join us in thanking them for all their hard work.
We look forward to holding another workshop soon and as suggested, we will make sure you have the full details to encourage your attendance.
Guide to the term
We recently adapted the format of the information we share with you about the termly activities, events, stories, rhymes and learning opportunities in your child’s room. We hope you find them more user friendly than the previous version. For more specific information as always please speak to the team in the room.
Fruit Time
In the Nursery and Pre-School rooms we have introduced Fruit Time at the end of the afternoon session. This allows the children the opportunity to have an additional snack prior to leaving. It is also a lovely social experience where they sit together and discuss what they have been doing, reflecting on their day with us and planning with their key people what they would like to do next.
Seed balls
After a visit to a National Trust property, a parent kindly shared this lovely activity with us. Any ideas or suggestions are always welcome.
Baby Room
The babies have really enjoyed the sunshine so far this term and have been exploring the outdoor area. The babies relished Splish, splashing in the water tray, experiencing a range of senses as they patted and splashed the water. They extended their physical skills by reaching out for balls and developed their core strength sitting and reaching forward. They used their hand eye co-ordination to grasp objects we placed in the water for them.
Some of the babies also had a go on the swing for the first time, experiencing the sensation of going backwards and forwards, giving us big smiles of delight.
As the weather gets nicer, we are constantly adapting our provision, adding new resources to our suitcase sandpit, creating summer sensory trays and planting our new sensory herb garden. With all this in the pipeline we are sure there’s lots more fun to be had.
Crèche 1
Crèche 1 have enjoyed making spring flowers out of recycled egg boxes brought in from home. This is a continuation of a previous activity as we had observed how much the children enjoyed junk modelling recently. This activity allowed lots of physical skills to be used such as fine motor skills. They needed to hold the resources still with one hand while they used the other to glue and paint and also gave the children a choice of colours they wanted to paint their flower.
Crafting with recyclable materials is not only a fun activity for children, but it is also a good way to reduce waste and protect the environment. It teaches the children that things can have more than one purpose, which is an early introduction to sustainability. Crèche have been very pleased with what they have made, and some of the children have walked past the display, recognised their work and proudly said, “my flower”.
Crèche 2
The children have really enjoyed using our play sink recently and after observing this interest, we wanted to explore how we could extend the activity. We decided it would be a good opportunity to add another sensory aspect to the activity. Initially we just added foam, and the children were absorbed in getting their hands covered in foam before using the water in the play sink to wash it off. Some of the children didn’t like the sensation or texture and washed the foam off straight away, others loved it and were delighted when we added cups and plates to the tuff tray, as it meant they could cover them in foam too and then wash it off. Following the interests of the children is key to extending their development and as practitioners we do this on a daily basis.
Nursery 1
Nursery 1 have been exploring sunflowers as a seasonal topic. After discussing and observing photographs of them, we provided the children with the materials to paint their own sunflower pictures. We extended vocabulary as we talked about different colours and shades. The children made independent choices as they used brushes of different sizes.
Following on from this and to extend their knowledge we planted some sunflower seeds. Again, the children made independent choices as they picked which type of sunflower they wanted to grow (a giant sunflower or a smaller teddy bear sunflower). We talked about how the seeds need to be put carefully in the soil to grow and that they need lots of water. The children have enjoyed coming in each session and taking care of the pots, looking to see if their sunflower has started to grow. We will be planting herbs next and encouraging the children to nurture and care for them.
Nursery 2
Following on from making “owl ice cream” with the children and because they enjoyed the new experience so much, we decided to make “Gruffalo Crumble” to further enhance the children’s physical development and encourage them to try new tastes and textures. The children were able to have a go at helping to chop the apples with a child-safe knife. They showed perseverance by continuing with the activity when challenges occurred, such as having the knife upside down. The children then showed great hand-eye co-ordination as they helped spoon the crumble mixture onto the apples. We introduced the concept of time as we waited for it to cook in the hot oven. The children all had a go at trying the “Gruffalo Crumble” and some really enjoyed it! This activity, although quite simple, was an effective way to teach a range of skills.
We use these 'Kuhn Rikon Kinderkitchen Serrated Cutting Knife'.
Here's a 'Gruffalo Crumble' recipe for you to try with your budding Chef!
Pre-School 1
As part of the children’s survey the children voted for something they would like to make in Pre-School, the highest vote was for bread, so the following week we made bread with the children. They listened carefully, followed the instructions and each took turns in mixing the dough and then kneading it. As we had discussed that the dough would need to rise, the children knew we needed to get lots of air into it and were very conscious with their kneading, putting in lots of physical effort. Once the bread was put on the tray, we set a timer, so we knew how long it had to rise and we all observed the changes in the bread after the alarm had gone off, it had grown as if by magic. Whilst the bread was in the oven we sang ‘mixing bread and kneading dough’. When it came out of the oven, we talked about how the bread looked different again. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed eating their bread at snack time and polished it off! We repeated this activity again later in the week so that all the children were able to be part of the experience
Pre-School 2
Over the last eight weeks the children in PS2 have been celebrating their amazing and unique selves. We have been practising using our ‘super strengths’, with kindness, love, friendship, teamwork, and the love of our world as our focus. The children have participated in lots of related activities, discussions, and stories. They are really enjoying our small group visits to the Nurture Nest and are gaining a great deal from them. They are learning to listen well and communicate respectfully with each other and the adults present.
Other activities this month have included making love and kindness hearts to give to someone of their choosing and making friendship bracelets. We have introduced the Kindness Jar and listened to a song by Louis Armstrong called What a Wonderful World.
The children are really embracing this learning, and we have had some lovely feedback from parents about the positive impact this learning is having at home, which is wonderful to hear.
Remember to access these materials just go to myHappymind Parent Resources and enter your name, email, and authentication code. Your authentication code is mhm057.
Pre-School 3
The children in PS3 have been focusing on a number each month. We have been watching and listening to number blocks songs, been on number hunts in the garden, used technology to search for numbers and have been playing a variety of number games. All these activities, songs and games help with number recognition. Counting is a brain workout for the children, enhancing memory, attention and problem-solving.
Children know the number names. As they count, they learn to focus and remember sequences, laying the groundwork for future math skills and logical thinking, critical thinking abilities and listening skills. Number recognition games are linked with the ability to transfer knowledge from short-term memory into long-term memory. It can improve learning in other areas, since the process achieves a permanent record in a child’s memory (consolidation). This means that everything gets saved easier and with more endurance, into their ‘brain storage’. As a Centre we recognise that by providing this deeper dive into learning, we are scaffolding the future learning outcomes for the children.
What the EYFS framework says: “Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers.”
Reminders
Pre-School website and newsfeed
We would like to remind parents that you can access regularly updated information from our website and on our X and Instagram feeds.
Funding
A reminder that parents in receipt of working families funding need to revalidate their eligibility every three months from the date of issue. Failure to revalidate your code will result in a loss of funding.
Parents who think they may be eligible for Early Education Funding from September 2025 need to ensure that they apply and are in receipt of their eligibility code no later than 31 August 2025. Any codes applied for and received after this date will not be applied until January 2026.
Check eligibility and apply for the code.
Door Entry
Can we please ask ALL parents to ensure that when accessing the Pre-School Centre they use their access fobs. We have noted that even since changing over to the new Door Entry System we are still experiencing a considerable number of interruptions due to the doorbell still being used so frequently.
If any parents have lost their door access fob, please inform the office so that a replacement can be purchased for £6.00 (which will be invoiced), and lost fobs can be de-activated.
Mobile phones
Can all parents please refrain from using mobile phones beyond the main foyer, as per our Safeguarding Policy. It has been noted that there has been an increase in parents using their mobile phones within corridors and also in the children's rooms.
Important term dates
Full year bookings
Summer term 2025
Wednesday 23 April to Friday 22 August 2025
Undergraduate term bookings
Summer term 2025
Monday 28 April to Friday 27 June 2025
Invoice dates
Summer 2025
5 May until 30 May 2025
2 June until 27 June 2025
30 June until 1 August 2025
4 August until 22 August 2025
