NEWLETTERS
STEPPING STONES PRE-SCHOOL GROUP
STAY SAFE, KEEP HEALTHY, ENCOURAGE POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR,
THEREFORE ENJOY, ACHIEVE AND BE HAPPY
“Big journeys begin with small Stepping Stones”
25th August 2020
Dear parents,
Hello we hope that you are all well. We continue to congratulate you on becoming educators as well as all of the hundreds of other duties that you have to do, and thank you for embracing some of the ideas and activities that we have supplied through our on line learning, plus surviving the summer holidays and look forward to welcoming your children from 7th September (crossing all fingers!!)
We have included the session times that we have claimed for your child, in this email, but due to the Covid 19 restrictions we have made some safety changes intended to minimise the spread of infection, and will start this term as follows, reviewing this plan each term:
Access and times:
Adults please wear masks whilst on the school property and adhere to one parent with social distancing at all times
For all children born between 1st September 2016 and 31st August 2017
Access in via the school gate and around the playground, keeping to the left at 9am.
We will then advise how parents can leave after dropping your child at the Preschool door (it may mean walking down the back lane, so sorry)
We will bring your children back to the main school gate at 12 o’clock for them to have lunch with you.
Any parent needing provision before 9am, please contact us, as if there is enough demand, we may be able to open from 8.30 (at a minimal fee) but this will not include breakfast at the moment.
For two year old children attending play sessions
Please meet our staff at the main school gate at 12.05 after the morning children have vacated
One parent only, please, to follow our staff, social distancing around the playground with your child
Please bring a packed lunch if your child has not already eaten it!
For all children attending 30 hours or paying to stay extended hours in the afternoon
Please bring a packed lunch for your child
The afternoon sessions will finish at 3pm and we will have to advise you on day one how to gain access to us at this time. School children will be leaving via the playground at different times during the afternoons, so we need to comply with the school’s plans for leaving to keep all children safe.
Prompt timing is therefore essential for all arrivals and collections
There will be funding/admission paperwork to complete during the first couple of days so please keep a bit of time for this, to include the signing of a safety declaration before your child can attend
Safety declaration is enclosed….please familiarise yourself with this, it includes what you may need to bring each day; if you prefer to print it out, sign it and bring it with you, please do so.
We have to be prepared for local closures, in such an event we will continue with our learning ‘on line via Facebook, as we have been throughout these difficult times, or for any of our children still in a ‘shielding situation’.
We are so looking forward to returning to some sort of ‘normal’, and hope that we all stay safe and happy, we have really missed you.
Please acknowledge receipt of this letter, or make any queries via email or Facebook message
Sue and the girls
STEPPING STONES PRE-SCHOOL GROUP SHORT TERM PLANNING
STAY SAFE, KEEP HEALTHY, ENCOURAGE POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR,
THEREFORE ENJOY, ACHIEVE AND BE HAPPY
“Big journeys begin with small Stepping Stones”
21st July 2020
Thank you all for your continued support in keeping in touch by whichever method you can!......
So, we have reached the end of the school year!! Who would ever have believed that we would need to ‘keep our distance’ for so long, we have missed you all so much!
Our last day of this term is today, and we will not receive post from now until September, therefore we may need some immediate information from you, please:
For children beginning school on September 7th
We hope to have some sort of Graduation service next term???, however we need the ‘Learning and Development Summaries’ that were posted out last week, signed and returned today please, with any comments that you wish to make, or please take a photo of the last page that contains your signature and email it back. Mrs Gribben collected several during your transition meeting but not all of them.
Our love and good wishes go with you into school!
For children returning to Stepping Stones from September 7th
Please be aware that temporary arrangements due to Covid 19 for arrival and collection times and procedures are quite difficult to predict at the moment, because access via the playground will have to coincide with those in place by the school and respecting social distancing. Government guidance is due to be issued in August, and whatever plans that are made now, may well be all changed again before the beginning of term, so we will email/Facebook further details as soon as we know.
Our plans for provision are:
Morning preschool sessions for 3-4 year olds starting school in September 2021: 15 hours- the funded entitlement, of 3 hours each morning for 5 mornings per week.
Afternoon play school sessions: 15 hours- the funded entitlement, or fee paying 2 year olds, of 3 hours each afternoon up to 5 afternoons per week. Plus, any older children wishing to pay to stay on in the afternoon (ie all day), and those with 30 hours of funding.
Lunch time will be extended for a deep clean after the morning children have left and before setting up for younger children to attend later; and will include provision for any older children who wish to eat lunch before staying all day.
Please bear with us, but rest assured that we will do our utmost to make provision in accordance with school arrival and departure times, as we realise that many parents have to get to work and have other children at school.
We therefore need to know the hours that you require for childcare today or tomorrow please, by email or private Facebook message (together with any funding codes) as we must submit this to Cornwall Council on Thursday 23rd.
We will also be phoning some parents to ask for personal details ie national insurance numbers/dates of birth etc over the next two days, as this seems the safest method of contact. We will then complete the necessary fundingforms for you, on your behalf, and ask you to sign them next term.
Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us. Our time together was, and always is, so precious.
Have a safe and happy summer, and we will hopefully see you in the Autumn.
Sue and the girls
Phone: 01736363050, email: steppingstones@newlyn.cornwall.sch.uk Facebook: SteppingStonesPreschool.
The arrival times for children at Newlyn School range from 8.30 to 9.15am, and departure times from 2.45 to 3.20pm. We may be able to have time slots in between these times, but this cannot be planned until a school routine has become settled over the first couple of weeks, due to social distancing rules
A possible timetable may be:
Preschool learning for 15 free hours Mon-Frid 9am to 12pm for all children born between 1st September 2016 and 31st August 2017 (entry across the playground if free from school children and we will accompany the children back to the playground gate at 12)
Depending on demand, we may make provision from 8.30 -9 for a small fee, but access for this would be walking up the back lane.
Social distancing up the school path must be respected at all times. This may mean that we may possibly have to ask you to exit by walking down the lane to the back of our premises, but further discussion will need to clarify this.
Afternoon provision of 15 hours for 2 year olds possibly 12.45 pm to 3.45pm or earlier (12.30-3.30) if we can have access across the school playground, but further discussion will need to clarify this.
Oh dear…how difficult have things become! ….if you are worried please contact us by email or private Facebook message and we will try to explain in more detail…but as previously stated this may change before September 7th!!
STEPPING STONES PRE-SCHOOL GROUP
STAY SAFE, KEEP HEALTHY, ENCOURAGE POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR,
THEREFORE ENJOY, ACHIEVE AND BE HAPPY
“Big journeys begin with small Stepping Stones”
20th May 2020
Dear parents,
It is beyond belief that we have come to the end of another half term. We hope that this letter finds you safe and well, and will continue to do so.
We must congratulate our parents on becoming educators as well as all of the hundreds of other duties that you have to do, and thank you for embracing some of the ideas and activities that we have supplied in our on line learning. We have included all of the comments and photos that you have sent to us, in your child’s Learning Journey, this information will all add to the summative assessment that we make for all children, especially those who will be leaving our setting at the end of July. Our online learning will continue in the way that we have been managing it, via Facebook, as this seems to be the most popular method, with all of the lovely, cuddly, sensory and sociable resourcesto use that you have at home, many of which we will sadly not be able to provide at Stepping Stones for a while, but we will have to ‘make up’ for this when the horrific virus allows us to return our provision to normal.
**Please note that if Facebook is “not your thing” we could email our planning out, if you prefer and you could return anything to us that you would like us to add to your child’s journal.
Next week is half term! Stay safe with your children, and have fun!
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Our plans for provision at Stepping Stones from the beginning of June onwards, change along with Government Guidance on a regular basis!! WE UNDERSTAND THAT DECISIONS WILL BE MADE ON 28THMAY guidance may be found on:
Our provision may look a little different for a while, but our thoughts at the moment, for the offer we may make are as follows:
Some staff will return on the first day of June, to make the environment as safe as we can, under the circumstances, whilst assessing the risks for children, parents and staff. This will take a few days, thus we are aiming to open for
Up to 5 mornings per week from Thursday 4th June, with children returning home before lunch each day.
These sessions will need to be pre-booked either by email whenever you like, or by phone. We will need at least two days notice, so that arrangements for provision can be made for your child; we will not be able to make provision without prior notice.
At present we have six children whose parents have expressed an interest and may attend. (One child is from the group due to begin school in September and five children are three years old.)
Social distancing with young children is not really an option!, thus we cannot adhere to this, all that we can do is attempt to minimise the risk of infection. Thankfully, you have had several weeks to deal with toilet training, as we can’t quite imagine how nappies can be changed at a two metre arm’s length!!, however, this is something that you will need to consider, and if this is an issue, maybe ‘pull-ups’ would give a child more independence in taking care of his or her own needs. We also suggest that children wear light clothing to cover all limbs for added protection, minimising the need for first aid due to trips and falls, and the risk of exposure to the sun, as we will be playing outside as much as possible. Please also administer sunscreen before you leave home in the morning. We have enough hats to cover needs.
Soft furnishings and many toys will be stored away, so that cleaning can be maintained more easily; with play space maximised so that children can keep apart from each other as much as is physically possible.PTO
Access will also be different for the time being. Newlyn School has requested that our families will walk up the lane to the left of the school grounds or down Creeping Lane, and through the back, blue door. I’m sorry but we cannot have access via the school playground at present.
Times will be allocated for the arrival of each child so that adults can keep their distance from each other, with only one parent per child. You will have already ‘pre-booked’ the session for your child, during which we will give you a time for a staff member to greet you near the decking at the back of our building, and accompany your child into Stepping Stones. A similar plan will be made for the collection of your child before lunch. Staff will then deep cleanthe premises, plan activities for the next day and continue to make online provision for those remaining at home.
We ask that children do not bring their own toys to school. They will need a coat, wellies and a change of clothes as usual. We will provide drinks and a healthy snack, safely, at the setting.
Hygiene measures eg regular hand washing whilst singing twinkle twinkle little star, twice!!
Adequate supplies of antibac wipes and sanitisers will be used in the setting along with the use of our ‘tissue station’ to ‘catch, kill and bin’ any unwanted germs.
If your child shows any signs of illness, please keep them at home.
A plan will be made in the nightmare event that a child or member of staff shows symptoms of Covid 19, following the Government protocol on https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
As with any sickness, we will contact you immediately and ask you to collect your child, from the back of the building and return home for isolation and care.
Please always ensure that we have your up-to-date contact numbers.
Nurture is the very essence of our provision. It is what we are most proud about, so we will need to find ways to keep the social aspects of our learning, on-going and comforting. Plans will also be reviewed regularly in line with the ever changing circumstances. All that we can promise is to continue to take care of your most precious child to the best of our ability, whilst keeping risks to the minimum. Your child and your family are our main concern and safety is paramount for you and our staff. We will continue to serve you in the best and ‘outstanding’ way that we can.
Please help us by talking with your child about the need to stop touching/kissing/hugging their friends at the moment, so that we have a consistent approach. This is so sad, but necessary!
Dare we say: Stay alert and stay safe!
Have a great weekend!
Sue and Co.
This letter is a lot to read! If you have any questions, or need help with understanding the changes, please phone, email or make a private message on Facebook, to make your enquiry.
Thank you.
STEPPING STONES LATEST NEWSLETTER
20th March 2020
Dear one and all.
We wish our lovely Mums a Happy Day on Sunday. If your child hasn’t brought home flowers from us this week, it will have to be double next year!! Keep smiling!
Stepping Stones will be closed to children from today 20th March.
Please keep in touch as to know what happens next—the best way is via our Facebook page,
Stepping Stones Pre-School Newlyn
However, staff will be at Stepping Stones on Monday morning to make plans for our provision in this ever changing world, on 01736363050
At this point it is difficult to state when we will be able to make normal provision, but we have, for the moment, extended our Easter holidays until Tuesday 21st April, which gives us more time to work out what we can offer, and to whom, from this date onwards.
We will continue to post activities on our Facebook page, but please take care of yourselves and your lovely families. We wish you all a Happy Easter, keep safe and healthy, and enjoy your family time together.
1st April 2020
Hello to one and all! This was the letter that we sent out on 20th March, however the hope to see you all again on 21st April seems to be fading extremely fast!! I think we were a bit optimistic there! We will continue to keep in touch via Facebook, with our weekly planned activities, and links to various web sites, but if you cannot access this service,( and if you want to discuss anything more privately), please email steppingstones@newlyn.cornwall.sch.uk and we will email them out to you instead.
Until we meet again, please, please take the greatest of care,
Much love
Sue and the girls.