Dear Parents T: 023 8065 1166 It has been a busy year! We have continued to make use of the town centre and build relationships with the local community, visit the Church for Harvest Festival and lay poppies at the war memorial and shared biscuits with the veterans. Our Kindergarten children benefited from the Forest School experience and we will be offering this again for our older children in April. All of these experiences help our children become confident and independent learners. We have supported local students by offering work placements and training to 6 school children and 8 Level 2 and 3 Diploma students. I am delighted to celebrate my Team’s achievements as Sophie, Kim, Natalie and Sadie all passed their Level 3 Childcare qualification. Lorna, Laura and Sarah were all promoted and we welcomed Munaza, Cheryl, Nicole and Ellouise to our Team. It was wonderful to welcome back Ginny and Amy after being on maternity leave, Hayley got married and Laura became engaged! The sessions for bilingual families have been well attended and will continue into the New Year. Please return your surveys for those of you with English as a 2 nd language so that we can be aware of your needs and ideas to improve this service. We raised over £835.00 in charity donations - wow! From our Fun Day in August which was shared between the school project in Kenya, and Save the Children, and Children In Need. Over the past month, Babies enjoyed cooking and body painting. They loved dressing up and had a party in their funny outfits. This month they prepare for Christmas, experimenting with different colour paints, glitter and tinsel. The Babies will be making sensory bottles, pockets, gloves and will be food tasting. The Toddlers loved the Train Station and an exciting train ride to Winchester! They played at Gambado’s, The Point and the Chamberlayne Centre. More arts and crafts will be going on this month and learning Christmas songs. Our Transition children celebrated Diwali by making tea light holders and drew Rangoli patterns. Munaza brought a friend into Nursery, wearing a traditional dress and together they painted hands with henna. Transition are interested in transport at the moment, so the Team incorporated this into their mark making and sand play. Some of the children turn 3 soon so have shown an interest in numbers. The children are beginning to talk more so there will be lots of communication and language activities planned to encourage words and sentences. The Kindergarten Room have been exploring maps, studying maps and looking at different places and countries. Learning where different foods come from and the languages of other people. The children are being encouraged to be more independent, serving their own food at meal times and making their own snack. They are Nativity mad, hoping their performance of “Wriggly Nativity” on December 18th will be unforgettable! Parent Consultations come to an end this month. If you didn’t get a chance to meet with your child’s Key Person, please book a time with your Room Manager. T: 023 8065 1166 In the New Year we will focus on the books by Jill Murphy. The children will also be sharing their favourite books so that we can link these into our daily planning and activities. Things you can try with the children at home this month: 1. Write a letter to Santa: Father Christmas at Santa, Santa’s Grotto, Reindeerland, SAN TA1 (or email www.emailsanta.com). Include your child’s name and address. 2. Make your own wrapping paper. Potato printing is fun and using red and green paint will make a bold festive statement and also give family gifts a personal touch. 3. Close the curtains, make some popcorn and put on the children’s favourite DVD. It will bring a sense of excitement to watching a film and is cheaper than the cinema! 4. Children love to scribble and colour and Www.eparenting.co.uk is a great website that offers free printable colouring pictures, puzzles and competitions. 5. Another great website is: www.bakingmad.com/kids/crafts for lots of simple Christmas recipes as well as crafty food ideas for the Christmas season. 6. Make your own Christmas cards: You will need a piece of card, glue and any objects you like. Try dried flat leaves, star anise, cinnamon sticks, dried orange slices and glitter! 7. Help your children to complete the festive look with easy to make paper chains. Using strips of red, green and gold paper, cut strips for them, and with a glue stick, join circles together and make a chain. Dates for your Diary:  Tuesday 10th December is Kindergarten’s Christmas Party  Wednesday 18th December is Kindergarten’s Nativity Play 2pm at All Saint’s Church  We close for Christmas at 6pm on Monday 23rd December  We reopen on Thursday 2nd January Charlotte and Maryanne have returned from their Kenyan adventure. They were able to purchase chickens, goats and 2 sewing machines and rolls of material to support the Community in developing their own life skills. Thank you so much for contributing to the many items they carried out in their suitcases, following their Blog and supporting Yellow Dot in raising £1300 for this worthwhile cause. A special Newsletter will follow soon! Finally please take extra care in the colder weather when making your journeys http:// www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2012/12/winter-coats-and-car-seats-keeping-yourchild-safe-and-warm/index.htm advises avoiding thick clothing in child car seats. We wish you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year and thank you for your support. Yours sincerely Liz McCarthy Nursery Manager