Newsletters

Dear Parents and carers

Hello and welcome back to Little Stars and to those families who are new to us – welcome 😊

It was so good to see the children again and to chat with them and you about their adventures over the summer – it’s lovely to see how much they have progressed and grown. The children have settled in so well.

Signing in and out

Please sign your child in when you arrive, the books will usually be outside (weather dependent), make sure we know who is collecting and when – if it is someone we do not know – talk to us about this and we can make arrangements – such as a password. The blue rainbow book is for the Rainbows (big room) the Yellow sunshine book is for the Sunshines (little room).

When you collect your child, come into the foyer and we will see you from the classroom, usually the drinks bottle’s and going home things will be outside (weather dependent). This gives you chance to peek through the windows and chat to staff about the child’s day.

Please can you also sign out in the signing books when you collect your child, this is a requirement for Ofsted and the EYFS, and we are trying to make sure that we all do this. Thank you.

Staff are always available to talk to you, please just let us know and they will come out to chat. There will be opportunities regularly to come into the room and see the children’s work and join in with us.

Please label your children’s water bottles, lunchboxes, hats and coats etc – we sometimes get into a muddle sorting out whose items belong to whom.

Pushchairs, buggies, bikes

We are really struggling to access our dustbins as many families are leaving their pushchairs here, please can you take them home with you and return with them – if there is a problem (eg another family member collecting) please chat to staff.

Plans for the next week or so: –

The Sunshine room (our 2 – 3 year old’s) has been lovely, the new children are settling well and have been really enjoying all the resources – we have been thinking about our family, making people and talking about who we live with. They have been very messy as we explore Harvest – with mud to dig in, vegetable painting and exploring shapes to make tractor pictures.

The Rainbow room (preschool room 3 – 4 year olds) has been an oasis of calm…. for now, 😊, the children have loved returning and seeing their friends and making new ones too. They have been thinking about “All about me”, what they look like, where they live.

We have been looking at harvest – thinking about food and how it grows – digging in soil and playing with real vegetables.

We are also supporting “basics” such as listening, following an instruction, language skills – and using our words to request or share or express a need, following preschool routines such as sitting for stories, eating nicely, washing hands and going to the toilet…… and more 😊

Places available at Stars and publicising Little Stars

We have had a couple of families who have not returned – which we were not aware of so have a few more Sunshine places (age 2 – 3 years) – so please do spread the word. We have a Facebook page, please find us and then share any posts we put on.

https://www.facebook.com/littlestarschristianpreschool

Nuts and eggs

It is essential that we are nut and egg free at Little Stars – no peanut butter, or Nutella or actual nuts, no whole egg – such as omelette or egg in rice etc. We have children at preschool who are very allergic, so we must keep them safe.

How Little Stars is run

Little Stars is a not for profit organisation, we are a registered charity and are run by a board of trustees on a voluntary basis. Our current trustees are;

Ian Doncaster – Chairman

Blessing Simango – Treasurer

Sara Rouse, Amanda Kilgour, Karen Barge – Trustees

We are always on the lookout for people to join us as a trustee – just ask if you want to know more 😊

We pay the church rent, and on a Friday pack away everything that is in the Rainbow room into the little Sunshine room – so that the church can use the hall for church weekend activities – then we get it all out on a Monday morning ready for the children.

Fundraising

We organise a few fundraising events throughout the year – to help us to buy lovely resources for the children – we currently want to buy some water channel play for outside £100 and need to replace one of our electric sinks too £700. We are very keen to start organising fund raising events – and would love some families to join our fundraising team to help organise simple events – such as quiz nights, second hand sales etc… please chat to staff if you want to support us.

An easy way to fundraise for Little Stars is by using Easy fundraising, a simple tool which donates to Little Stars when you do online shopping at no extra cost to you. https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/littlestarscp/

Bags 2 school Our next collection is Friday 8^th November at 9.00 am Please collect any unwanted clothes, shoes, bags, belts, soft toys etc and bring them in by Thursday 7^th – we get paid per kilo and often manage to raise nearly £100.00.

Wreath Evening – we will be holding this event again – which is our main fundraising event. This is for adults to come and make a lovely festive door wreath out of natural materials – save the date … Tuesday 26 th November 2024 evening.

Safeguarding corner (each of our newsletters has a safeguarding tip)

Please hold your children’s hands at pick up and drop off – the road outside Little Stars is very busy and in the excitement of collection – it is easy to let go, and we don’t want any accidents or near misses.

If your child is reluctant to hold your hand or runs off – borrow one of our backpack reins – they are good for town walking.

Please also shut our main door if you are the last one out and we are calming a sad child. Any latecomers can ring our doorbell 😊

Parents evening

Our first parents evening of the academic year will be Monday 11^th November 4 pm to 7 pm – this is a great opportunity to meet the staff and your child’s keyworker in a more relaxed way – we can chat for 20 minutes or so about your child’s development. It is such a lovely evening.

Staffing and Keyperson

All children will be allocated a key person over the next week, this person will work closely with you and your child to support their development and targets. However, all staff know all the children well.

Sunshine staff are

Mrs Sarah Ware – room Leader

Mrs Antonia Malin Graham

Mrs Kayleigh Davis 

Admin team

Emma Archer (admin),

Andrew Hartlebury (finance)

Rainbow Staff are

Mrs Kat Watson – Deputy Manager

Mrs Louise Harding

Mrs Anna LaBarbera

Miss Ella Ware

Teacher Wednesdays

Claire Hartlebury

Support staff

Karen Barge

Wow moments

We love sharing – if you have something exciting to tell us e.g. – potty training, trying new food, drawing a picture, a trip on a train please tell us and we will put it up on our wall. We have attached a sheet of wow moments for you to fill in or you can just email us 😊

Nursery Education Funding Form Signing

For all 3 year olds, children on the 2 help scheme or those eligible for the 30 hour working family entitlement. You will need to sign your forms week commencing 23rd September.

For those of you who pay fees, the invoices are sent half termly and the first one will be sent week commencing 23rd September, the next will be after half term- on 8th November – these should be paid within 2 weeks please.

Term dates and October half term.

Our term dates are attached. Please remember that our October half term is longer than the school ones as we do not receive funding from the Local Authority for this week. We will close Friday 18th October and open again on Monday 4th November.  

Contacting each other

Please make sure that we have your correct address, email and mobile numbers – if there have been any changes let us know.

We want this term to be a positive experience for you and you Little Star. Please chat to me, Kat Watson or any of the staff if you have any queries or worries. We are always keen to hear your views and ideas.

Love from Sara Rouse and all of the Little Stars Team 

01926 477597

 Dates for your diary: