Dear parents & carers,
The Spring term has flown by! We hope you are looking forward to your Easter break, and that you will have the opportunity to take some time out with family and friends. Opening hours update Just a reminder that we break for the holidays on the afternoon on Friday 8th April at 1500hrs. In the past, pre-school has closed early on the last day of term, in line with the infant school, but we have taken the decision to operate a full three hour session, as normal, in future. If you are collecting siblings from the infant school and wish to take pre-schoolers home early, please inform the staff in advance so they can have the children ready. Please be aware that we cannot offer any refund for children collected before the official end of the session. Pre-School re-opens after Easter for two days on Wednesday 27th & Thursday 28th April, then will be closed for the long weekend incorporating the Royal Wedding Bank Holiday on Friday 29th April and the May Day Bank Holiday on Monday May 2nd. Normal schedules will resume on Tuesday May 3rd. Other news We are thrilled to report (correctly, this time!) that we are to benefit from the Waitrose Community Matters fundraising scheme this April - ie from Friday. Customers shopping in the Chesham branch will be asked to donate their 'green tokens' to their choice of community charity - from a selection of three on offer. Please do let friends and family know that we are one of the beneficiaries of the scheme and are in line to receive a proportion of the £1000 set aside each month - allocated according to the number of tokens received by each charity. We are also collecting Sainsbury's Active Kids vouchers and Tesco Computers for Schools vouchers - please do hand them to the staff if you receive these with your shopping, and encourage family and friends to collect them too. We can purchase play & activity items, IT equipment and cookery items for the Pre-Schoolers, so they are a very valuable resource for us. Coffee, beer and fruit juice Simona Matthews, Chair of Trustees, is hosting a coffee morning for parents and carers at her home at 0915hrs on Thursday 7th April. All comers welcome: Lynwood, Brays Lane, Hyde Heath, Amersham, Bucks, HP6 5RU. One of our Trustees (& father to Harvey, in Pre-School), Trevor Lawson, is co-ordinating a Dad's Night at the Plough in Hyde Heath, from 19.30 onwards, on Thursday 28 April. We often fill the pub and it's a popular night out. Meals are available, too. Any questions, call 01494 794961 or email Trevor. We have some stock left of our Hyde Heath apple juice, which is a delicious, pasteurised pure juice made from apples donated by parents. Use by date is December 2011. Prior to opening, it can be stored in a larder, garage or shed, then should be refrigerated and consumed within three days. 750ml bottles are priced at £2.50. Contact Karen Kay on 07973 323046 for information / delivery. Alfresco lessons We are delighted to report that construction of our new outdoor classroomis due to take place in the coming weeks, and we hope that the children will benefit enormously from this new facility during the Summer term and beyond. Many thanks to our Treasurer, Ray Challinor, who has secured significant funds towards this project. Diary dates The Hyde Heath village fete, organised by the village hall committee, will take place on the common on the afternoon of Saturday May 14th. The Hyde Heath Pre-School AGM will be staged on the evening of Thursday 29th September in Hyde Heath village hall, time tbc. All parents and carers are invited, and there will be a 'social' afterwards. Dear Parents,
We hope you all had an enjoyable half-term. Here we are at the beginning of March and halfway through the Spring Term. Our topic for this half term, rather appropriately, is Spring. We will be looking at how the environment changes in spring time and how it is a time of growth for both plants and animals. At the end of the term we have our Easter break and during the last week of pre-school we will be making Easter Cards, having an Easter Egg Hunt and making Easter Bonnets. If your child attends on either Thursday or Friday, please send them in on the last week with a hat/bonnet to decorate. Poundland sells Easter bonnets for a £1.00! If you are unable to do so, we can supply a cardboard ‘bonnet’. Dates For your Diary Wednesday 23 March is parents’ evening. This will give you the opportunity to talk with your child’s key worker and discuss your child with them. We shall start the evening at 6.00 pm and have appointments every 15 minutes. Please add your name to the list on the table in the classroom if you would like to make an appointment. If you would prefer to see you child’s key worker at a different time, that is more convenient for you, please discuss this with the appropriate member of staff. You can check on the classroom notice board which children have been allocated which member of staff as their key worker. Friday 18 March is Red Nose Day. We are joining in with the fund raising for this very worthwhile cause and ask that if they wish, the children should come to pre-school in their favourite outfit – whatever that may be. We will be icing biscuits and asking for a donation of £1.00 from each child. Thursday 12 May is our annual outing to Odds Farm. This is a day for siblings as well as pre-schoolers and we hope that all children will join us regardless of whether they attend pre-school on a Thursday. We will need parents to transport their children to the farm and accompany them during the visit. If you are a parent who will be unable to accompany your child, please let us know so we can make alternative arrangements. The Farm opens at 10.00 am and we shall meet there at the entrance. There is a tea room with hot snacks, drinks, ice cream and more or you may prefer to pack a picnic as there are numerous outside eating areas. In previous years, people tend to leave after lunch and in time to collect older siblings from school. The cost of the entrance fee is £6.90 for children aged 2 – 16 years and £7.70 for adults. If we pre-book a bag of animal feed it will cost 30p a bag instead of the usual 50p. These are special rates for a group booking. We are aware that some parents have an annual pass to the Farm and will want to use that. If you do have a pass, please indicate on the attached tear- off slip. Please can you complete the attached tear-off slip and return it to us with your money (all cheques to be made payable to Hyde Heath Pre-School) by Friday 1 April. Sainsbury and Tesco Vouchers We are collecting both of the above vouchers and the boxes are on the table in the classroom. All contributions are very much appreciated. All the staff and us are looking forward to a busy and rewarding half-term. Many thanks for your continued support and please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any queries. With kind regards, Rachel Mistri and Kirsty Harris Supervisors Simply email us or call us on 01494 782845. |