Welcome back, everyone! It’s been lovely to see some of you already and we look forward to catching up with those of you we haven’t yet seen very soon.
The aunties are all very excited about the year ahead and can’t wait to create some lovely memories with the children.
There are some changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) this year and one of the biggest is that the government are keen that practitioners spend less time on paperwork and more time really getting to know the children in their care. At St Chad’s we have always prided ourselves on how well we know the children and their capabilities – OFSTED praised us for how well we could tell them about the children during our last inspection. This change does mean there will be less Tapestry observations going forward, however we know that parents love to see what their children have been up to so we will still be posting a few each half term. We will also be posting a summary report for each child in December and May, and if your child turns 3 during their time with us their keyworker will also complete a 2 year profile around their birthday.
Please rest assured that your child’s keyworker, along with Claire and Kate as managers, will still be happy to talk to you about your child – this could be on the door, over the telephone, via email (stchadspreschool@gmail.com) or on Tapestry. Please be respectful of the fact all our staff currently work part time. Although we often do respond outside of contracted working hours we are mindful that staff need to be able to switch off at weekends and evenings, during the holidays and on their days off to maintain a healthy work/life balance.
Our curriculum will still be centred around national and international celebrations and children’s interests.
Tapestry will, along with Facebook, still be our main form of communication with parents so we ask that you turn on email notifications and check at least weekly to make sure you don’t miss anything. Information will now be posted via the ‘memo’ section, and you should all have now received your autumn 1 invoice through this channel.