27th September 2022
(Reg Charity 1199330)
C/o Greystones Primary School, Tullibardine Road, SHEFFIELD S11 7GL
Telephone: 0114 2671111 email:greystonespreschool@ymail.com
Dear all,
There is certainly a nip in the air this week as we say goodbye to summer and hello to autumn.
A big thank you to those of you who have been out and about collecting lots of coloured leaves, acorns, pieces of bark and conkers. This week we have been reading the story of ‘Leaf Man’ by Lois Ehlert, making autumn pictures and creating patterns by rolling conkers in paint! We are also hoping to make apple flapjack with the children on Thursday. We have been continuing to celebrate family and what makes us special and the children have been encouraged to draw a picture of their family to add to our board. Please do send a photo of your family to the setting if you haven’t already done so.
Next week we will be looking at feelings and talking about our emotions. We will be reading a book called ‘The Colour Monster’ by Anna Lienas. The blurb says,”Uh-oh! What’s the matter with the Colour Monster? His feelings are all in a jumble. He needs help sorting them out. Happiness is like the shining sun. Anger is like a burning fire and Calm is like leaves swaying in the wind. We will be discussing how Colour Monster is feeling and most important asking the children to talk about how they feel. We will also be talking about sharing and friends. As part of our letters and sounds work we will be looking at phase 1, aspect 1and 2 which concentrates on environmental and instrumental sounds. We will be talking about the sounds we can hear outside and indoors and making and playing our own musical instruments. As the weather is becoming colder we will also be fostering independence and encouraging your children to put on and fasten their own coats.
In the weeks ahead the weather will become colder and more inclement. As a setting we like to play outside in all weathers and we would ask that your child comes dressed appropriately for the weather conditions. Please can you ensure that all coats, hats and wellies are labelled with your child’s name? This avoids any confusion and makes sure that the right items of clothing/footwear are returned to their rightful owner at the end of the day. With regards to gloves/mittens we find that the latter are better for children under five as most struggle to put gloves on and as you can imagine it takes the adults a long time to sort out 13 pairs of gloves at playtime.
This week we have also noticed that children are still bringing in whole grapes and nuts into the setting. Please note that the setting is a nut free environment as we have children in the setting that have a nut allergy. Please note that if items containing nuts are found in your child’s lunch bag we will remove them and return them to yourself at the end of the day. As a rule of thumb any large items such as grapes or cherry tomatoes should be cut up as they pose a choking hazard to under 5’s. Indeed it is not that long ago that a child at an early years setting choked and died after eating a whole grape.
Reminders…..
Please note that our AGM will be held at 7.30 pm on Monday 10th October in Preschool. This is an opportunity for you to come along to find out more about the setting and about how you can get involved (please see attached letter from Ruth Merry).
Parents evening on 19th October 2022 for those children that have returned to the setting in September. Please email the setting on greystonespreschool1@ymail.com should you wish to make an appointment with your child’s key person.
We now have our closed Instagram account up and running. Please return your permission slip should you wish your child to be included on this page. Please note we will not grant access to this page unless we have received your confirmation. Please note that this is a closed group for parents only and should note be shared with wider family members.
Polly Beaumont (Ronnie’s mum) sends a big thanks to all of you who have booked into the Halloween Concerteenies event at the Greystones on Sunday 30th October at 1.30 pm. If you still wish to join Polly and the team you can still do so by following the link in last weeks newsletter.
Home learning challenges
Notice familiar signs and logos and see if you can read them (Literacy)
Speak about how stories are read from left to right (Literacy)
Talk about feelings and how we can be kind to our friends (PSED)
Practice putting on your coat and fastening it (Physical development).
Looking forward to a great week ahead.
Kind regards,
Julie.