Newsletter
Date 1st February 2016
Dear everyone
We are now well established into the Spring term. Christmas and New Year seem such a long time ago. Many thanks for all the cards and gifts given to the staff. It was incredibly generous.
Welcome to the new families joining us this term. I hope your time at Penmoor will be enjoyable and full of good memories by the time you eventually leave us. Please do ask lots of questions of myself and your child’s keyworkers so that you will know the routines of the day.
Topics
Topics have been set for this term, as listed on the dates page of the website will be introducing each one to the children in a variety of ways depending on their age and learning style. Please do feel free to ask the keyworkers what the focus will be for their group. Each topic will be supported by two or three stories, songs and rhymes particularly for Yellow and Green groups which will be repeated throughout the week.
Signing in Book
Please could everyone sign their child in when they arrive in the morning and sign them out at the end. This book tells us when a child has been picked up and who by. The staff are very vigilant about children at pick up time but we often end up with children not signed for who are then officially still our responsibility.
Apprentices
I am delighted to announce we have appointed two apprentices to join the Penmoor Team. Lily Fitzsimmons will be working closely with Robyn and Lyndsay in the Yellow group Team and Georgie Mullery will be working with Sharron in Green Group. I think we are fortunate to have gained two such friendly and enthusiastic team members and I hope they have long and successful careers at Penmoor. Please do introduce yourselves to them as is quite intimidating to meet lots of parents when you are a new practitioner and I know they would appreciate it.
Outside
We are hoping the weather will improve soon so we can make more use of the outside. Please could everyone remember to send in warm clothes and wellies each day (named please) as the ground is still very muddy.
Nits
We have been notified by the local schools that Head Lice are doing the rounds again. Please can everyone be aware. Good advice can be found online or by asking the local pharmacist. Please speak to your child’s keyworker if you would like more information
Forest School
We are continuing our Forest School sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays this term for Red and Blue Groups. We are putting four sessions on for Green group this term on Wednesdays and some on the other days after Half Term.
We are delighted that Jaime Bowden has rejoined the Penmoor Team as a Forest School Assistant and is shortly about to undertake her Level 3 Forest School Leader course.
Welcome back to Forest school. We are looking forward to all the signs of Spring coming. The weather is still cold and wet so please do wear lots of layers. We will be being more active than usual to keep warm and I have lots of obstacle courses and sensory walks planned. We will try more camp fire cooking with different snacks and drinks.
Katherine, Sally and Jaime
Car Park
Please could we respectfully remind parents and visitors to drive carefully in the carpark as children are exiting and entering the building at all hours. Please could everyone also be aware of times of day when children are using the mini bus and give them a wide berth when parking. Many thanks.
Front Door
Please could everyone be very careful to shut the front door when they come in or out. We have short periods during busy drop off or pick up times when it is not locked to allow parents in and out. A couple of parents have had scares recently when the parents in front of them have not shut the door and their child has run out. This is understandably quite frightening for them and for any car drivers trying to manoeuvre in the car park.
Next Steps
Children’s next steps are currently being written and put into the back of their Home / School book. Please do read them and speak to your child’s keyworker if you have any questions. We also value it very much if you would like to set a next step for us to share. Giving parents the chance to choose next steps for their children has proved very successful with all areas of learning. A successful next step might include potty training, support to learn the names of their keyworkers, encouragement to turn take in conversation,independence skills such as putting on their own coat or shoes or something else appropriate to their age / stage of life.
These next steps will be reviewed half termly and feedback shared between keyworkers and parents. When a step is achieved, a new one will be decided. It is essential that steps are very small and easily achievable within a suitable period of time in order to move on to the next one.
Please speak to your child's keyworker if you have anything you would like to add or if you would like more information.
Coffee Mornings
We will be holding our usual coffee mornings this term.
Yellow – Thursday 3rd March (Settling in meeting)
Green –Thursday 10th March
Blue –Monday 7th March
Red – Monday 29th February
As always, if you can’t make these dates or would like to have a one to one chat with either myself or the keyworkers please do let us know and we will happily arrange a mutually convenient time.
Red Group
Welcome to Red Group. We are looking forward to a busy term ahead. We will be looking at pre reading and writing skills by starting to listen carefully to sounds in words and looking at letters in the world around us. We will be practicing lots of fine motor skills ready to write by doing lots of cutting, hammering and creative activities. We will be securing our knowledge of numbers and numerals 0 - 10 and beyond where appropriate. We will be looking at measuring and shapes by playing games and solving practical problems. Above all we will be becoming independent learners able to think for ourselves and do things for ourselves.
As well as Forest School on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays we have additional trips to the Vets, Plymouth Museum and the Arboratum.
Looking forward to a great term.
Best wishes Libby
Blue Group
Welcome to Blue Group. This term I am looking forward to getting to know all the children and families that have moved up from Green Group. We will be going to Forest School with Katherine, Sally and Jaime on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday so please remember to wear lots of layers as it can be quite cold in the woods. We will also be visiting Tavistock Police station and the Arboratum at Burrator. Blue Group will be concentrating on their listening and attention skills this half term through lots of games and fun activities at group time. If your children have any 'WOW' moments or do any interesting activities or family occasions please do send a note or photo in so that we might share it. Just a reminder - Blue Group Coffee morning is on Monday 7th March and we would love to see as many of you as possible.
Best wishes Lisa
Green Group
Welcome back. I hope you all had a super Christmas. This term will see us looking at lots of interesting topics which include Colours, Happy week, Trains, Space and measure week, Chinese New Year and Valentines. We are also hoping to go to Forest School on a couple of occasions. Our focus this term will be on listening, extending concentration, sharing, turn taking, exploring the world around us and being encouraged to 'have a go'. I will be adding new next steps into your child's book over the next week. Please feel free to add one yourself if there is anything you would like your child to practice at nursery.
Best wishes Sharron and Georgie
Yellow Group
Welcome back to Penmoor. We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year. Welcome to all the new families and children who have joined us this term and we hope you will be very happy at Penmoor. Our topics this term will be Colours, Happy week, Trains, space and measures week, Valentines day and Chinese New Year. We will be making lots of crafts, singing songs and having stories.
Some of our aims this term are to get used to sitting down for register and group time on the Yellow Group mat, to know where to put our belongings and to remember to pull sleeves up before washing hands. We will be encouraging independence skills, particularly from the older children and encouraging a 'have a go' attitude. We have a new range of songs in the song sack and a carefully chosen box of books to take home.
We are hoping to use the mini bus to go for a short ride and take a picnic snack. Permission letters will be sent home in advance of this activity.
Please do feel free to find us at any time and ask questions or tell us about anything special your child has done. We do love getting 'WOW' moments. Also please do send in your photo's for the children's files if you have not yet done so. It is lovely for each child to have a page of photo's of family, close friends, animals and places special to them. Please could each one be named as it is quite embarrassing to assume Jessie is the dog when actually it is your child's Godmother.
Warmest wishes Robyn, Lyndsay and Lily
Looking forward to a great term with lots of fun.
Warmest wishes
Anne-Marie and the Team at Penmoor