July 2016 Newsletter

 

Hopefully July will bring us some much needed sunshine! A big welcome to all of our new children and their families who have recently started at Tree House, or moved to the Pre-School.

 

At Tree House we have a completely open door policy, where you can talk to us about anything. We are here for you, so if you have any concerns, comments or queries, please don’t hesitate to speak to a member of staff, or your child’s key person.

 

Suncream

Summer is upon us, and we are hoping to be as prepared as possible for the potentially (hopefully) warm weather. If you would like to use Tree House’s suncream, there is a one off payment of £1. This covers the entire year. If you would prefer to provide your own suncream, just label a bottle and place it in your child’s drawer, informing staff that you have done so. Whether you opt for your own cream, or Tree House’s, please note; you must apply suncream before you bring your child into the setting. This is for any session whether its 7:30am, 12:00pm or 2:00pm. We only reapply suncream, at 1:00pm, so please ensure your children are suitable covered before they come in.

 

Tapestry

Hopefully you will all have received the email explaining why your children’s tapestry accounts haven’t been updated in some time. During the spring and summer term, every key person has to complete summer reports, 2 year checks, school transfer forms, spring and summer tracking, letters and sounds tracking and ECAT forms. This obviously takes up all of our non-contact time, so until the new term starts in September, we will not be updating tapestry. We are however, still taking videos, photos and observations, so there will be no gaps in your children’s learning journals once we start to upload again.

 

School Readiness

Kat recently attended the national school readiness conference. Over 1000 professionals, across all sectors of early years were in attendance, to talk about school readiness, how children learn and their transition to school. The day started with a lecture from a leading neurologist, about children’s brains, how they develop, and implementing working knowledge of children physical learning traits into an early years environment. Kat attended two workshops in the afternoon, one on children’s writing and one of communicating with parents as partners.

The conference was completely eye opening, with alternative perceptions offered on how children learn and get ready for school.

 

Label clothing

At the little-end, you may find your child goes through quite a few changes of clothes, especially young babies or toilet training toddlers. Where possible, your child’s initials or name on clothing labels would help prevent any mix up of clothes, and ensure everything goes back to its rightful owner. At Pre-School, this would be particularly helpful with coats and jumpers etc.

 

Family Boards

We would love more pictures of your families to put on our family boards! At the little-end, they would like immediate family photos, and at Pre-School, they would like pictures of your family that live around the world or photos of your family on holiday.

 

Cheques

From September, we will be phasing out cheques as a form of payment. Nursery fees can be paid in cash, with a BACS transfer, or using our chip and pin terminal in the setting. Please speak to Zoe if you have any queries.

 

Electronic invoices

From September, we will also be sending out our monthly invoices for nursery fees electronically. This is for convenience, but also to help reduce our carbon footprint. We will shortly be asking all of our parents for up to date email addresses.

 

Nursery payment

Please follow our fee policy and pay for your child’s Nursery fees within 7 days of receiving your invoice. Invoices are ready to collect on the 1st of every month, but as stated before, will soon be sent electronically. Remember we accept Chip & Pin payments.

 

48 hour Sickness policy

If your child has been poorly they must not return to Nursery until 48 hours have passed since their last case of either sickness or diarrhoea. This guideline is set by the department of health to prevent the spread of illness between other children and staff.

 

Registers

Please remember to sign your child in and out of the setting. Registers can be found in the lobby at the little end and on the desk at pre-school. This is an Ofsted requirement and must be completed. This ensures we know who has been signed in and out, for fire and safety procedures. If you are unsure how to do this please speak to a member of staff.

 

Driving into Tree House

Again we feel we need to raise the issue of speed when driving into Tree House. The speed is set at 10 MPH, for a reason. We feel that some parents and carers, are driving at a dangerous speed, and would ask that you seriously consider the implications of driving at high speeds, not only in a built up residential area, but right outside a setting full of children. SPEED KILLS, PLEASE SLOW DOWN.

 

Nappies

We are still falling short on nappies, and unfortunately, cannot provide any spares. Please ensure your child has sufficient nappies to see them through the day, whether in their bag, or by bringing in a pack to keep here. Staff will always inform you before you run out, either in person or via email.

 

Medicine

If your child requires medicine, whether pain killers or prescription, please note it cannot be stored in their bag or drawer. It must be given to a member of staff, be signed for, and labelled. It will then be stored securely in the kitchen. If you would like to keep a bottle of calpol etc., at the setting, we have a designated storage fridge for medicine. Please see a member of staff for details.

 

School Days

Please note that School Day sessions end at 4pm. Please ensure if your child is doing this session, they are collected no later than 4pm.