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 www.penmoor-nursery.co.uk We 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
CLEANER / COMPANION / HOME HELP REQUIRED
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9am – 3pm, Term Time only
Car driver and Animal lover essential
For more information please email [email protected] or speak to
Anne-Marie
Looking forward to a great term with lots of fun.
Warmest wishes
Anne-Marie and the Team at Penmoor