It's been cold outside but this has not stopped the fun and learning at Pre-School this week, even with the surprise power and heating outage on Friday. The children coped very well with this and the building stayed warm, even if it was a little darker than usual. A big thank you to the staff, parents and children along with the support from Perryfield's Infant School which allowed us to remain open. Unfortunately we have not been able to upload photographs of events from this week but will aim to include more than usual next Friday.
We've had more children settling and starting in Honeys and the room is getting quite busy. It can take some time for young children to feel confident in a new environment and it's perfectly normal for a few tears at drop off and collection - for parents and children! Separation anxiety means your child has developed an awareness about what is going on around them and they may feel as though they have been 'left'. They will learn to cope with these situations if you can focus on ensuring your child feels loved and understood and will gradually understand that their parent or carer will come back after they have been left. Many of the staff have been in the same situation and empathise with how it feels to leave a child in the care of others and will do all they can to reassure and support both you and your son or daughter. Speaking with other parents may offer you some reassurance that it won't always be difficult and your child will eventually be keen to see their Key Person and play with their friends at Pre-School.
Some of the activities this week have been centred around developing healthy oral hygiene routines and learning about dentists, continuing our theme of people who help us. The children really do enjoy using the giant toothbrush to rid the large teeth model of germs! Some spoke of their own visits to the dentist and we read the story 'Sahir Goes To The Dentist' by Chris Petty. Promoting oral health in early years is essential to protecting young teeth and establishing good habits. It is also a requirement of the EYFS guidelines: “All settings must promote the good health, including oral health, of children attending the setting".
There are three main themes in good dental health:
By following the guidelines we can hopefully encourage children to develop healthy habits and reduce the need for unnecessary dental treatment.
Our Wow Word tree is growing with some interesting words that the children have said. "Actually" was one of my favourites and very impressive when used correctly in context by a four year old! Thank you to those that been completing Wow moments too. We've had a wonderful response to these and love sharing them at circle times to celebrate the children's achievements. Pop in or ask your child's Key Person for more.
We'd like to remind you all about collection times which need to be strictly adhered to. Parents must collect their child by midday for the morning session and by 3.00pm for the afternoon session. Late collection fees will apply if you are unable to pick up your child on time. It's also important to let us know in writing about the persons authorised to collect your child. We are unable to release a child into the care of someone if we do not have written details with their full name, relationship to the child and their full address (a phone number is useful too). You will also need to tell the person collecting your child the password on your child's file. If you telephone us and request that your child is released into the care of someone else, you will be asked to email us with the information outlined above. Under no circumstances will we allow a child to leave the premises without written details of those authorised to collect - this is in accordance with our safeguarding policy. Thank you for your understanding.
Next week we will be asking parents to book a time slot for the upcoming parent consultation evening which will be held at Pre-School on Tuesday 6th February. This will be a chance to catch up with your child's Key Person and learn about what they've been doing during sessions. Each appointment is for 10 minutes with times available between 7.00pm and 8.50pm. You can request an appointment time with your child's Key Person through Tapestry or by speaking to a member of staff at drop off/collection.
We'll be reading Postman Bear by Julia Donaldson and Axel Sheffler next week along with some poems taken from Ready For Spaghetti by Michael Rosen.
Have a great weekend.
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