Fledglings News September 23

Fledglings News

Welcome to those families joining us over the next month or two…

Fledglings will be celebrating it’s 30th birthday w/c 11 September. We have some lovely special treats and activities planned for the children, including a bouncy castle for three whole days, a visit from the ice cream van, baking, a disco, and more!

Preschool children (who go to school September 2024) will be given homework packs in October – further details will follow with the pack. These children will also be given a new set of uniform (polo and sweatshirt) this week, which we encourage them to wear to assist their school readiness.

Funding – Children who are three between September and December have already started to receive their funding codes (if eligible for additional funding). Their funding will commence in January 2024. Funding codes need renewing every three months to reconfirm your eligibility for the additional funded hours. This code is given in advance in case your child isn’t already attending a setting which takes additional funding (some settings don’t!), so you can source a place. All children are entitled to 15 hours education grant funding the term after they are three years old… some families are also eligible for a further 15 hours per week, both are term time only (38/52). When your child is eligible, we will send you a letter explaining the process of applying and the approximate costs per month. This is FUNDED childcare, not FREE childcare. There are due to be changes in eligibility for funding over the course of the next year or so. More information is available at childcarechoices.gov.uk.

• Please remember to name all clothing, coats, shoes, wellies, gloves, hats!!! Some children are only just beginning to learn to put their own coats on and find their coats on their pegs, sometimes the coats fall off the pegs. Children’s shoes are removed for sleep time and some children have the same shoes, usually in a very similar size! So we really can’t stress this enough – please name EVERYTHING!
• Do not allow children to bring food or toys in at drop off in the morning
• Fledglings parents and Grandparents are not allowed to use the school car park.  (this is part of our lease agreement)

If you’re going away on holiday or your child is going to be absent, please drop us a message on Famly / WhatsApp / Email, just so we don’t try to ring you on the beach…! If you cancel any absence for your child, please also drop us a message to let us know in advance. Many thanks

Staff/Keyworkers/Observations: Welcome to Anna Gill and Macy Gaskell who are commencing their apprenticeship training at Fledglings this month (some of you may remember Denise Gaskell who worked here for many years until she retired? Macy is Denise’s grand-daughter, so was born into the Fledglings family!). Molly and Emily have completed their apprenticeship training and are now qualified Early Years Educators. Katie Beard is moving onto pastures new. Katie has worked at Fledglings for more than 17 years, progressing from trainee to Lead Practitioner. We wish Katie all the best for the future. Subsequently, some of the children’s keyworker groups have changed, you will be able to see their child’s key person on their Famly profile. However, to clarify, the keyworker is responsible only for the children’s observations and assessments, caring for your children is a whole team effort. One in-depth observation is completed each month, together with more regular snapshots of your child’s day at Fledglings. The daily log on Famly details sleeps, meals, nappy changes etc. Any other staff will complete daily logs and may send a message or add a note if there is anything else to report. If you wish to let your child’s keyperson know something throughout the course of the day, please remember to message the WHOLE ROOM, or include Jane/Jo/Angela in the message, as your message may get missed if your child’s keyperson is absent or on holiday.