THE RAINBOW CHILDREN COMMUNITY PRE-SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER – September 2025

Hello Everyone
A very warm welcome to Pre-school to our new children, there will be lots of new faces at Pre- School and we hope that their time with us will be both enjoyable and productive.

SCHOOL UNIFORM
Please name all school uniform and other items of clothing for your children. This makes things a lot easier at Pre –school so they don’t get lost or mistakenly taken home by someone else. We do a lot of messy activities, paint, glue, glitter, clay, playdough, cold cooking etc. So please make use of your uniform so your best clothes don’t get spoilt. Any uniform left with no name will go into lost property.

3.9.25- 17.9.25 ………… Dark blue
17.9.25– 01.10.25 ……....   Brown
01.10.25 – 15.10.25............ Orange

Jolly Phonics
Jolly phonics is a system of teaching the children to read that is thoroughly phonic based. The letters are introduced in an interesting way, involving plenty of actions and fun. For each of the letter sounds, there is a storyline, an action and a worksheet. The children will listen to a story which has been contrived to help them recognise the sounds. The worksheet has a picture relating to the story, which the children then colour in, and a line for them to practice writing the new letter (if able). As parents, you could help by pointing out the letters we are covering, in books magazines, in shops signs etc. 
At pre -school we will introduce a new jolly phonic letter every two weeks. 
The children will continue this system when they start school.
This ½ term we are looking at the letter’s
 3.9.25 – 17.9.25.............’s’
17.9.25– 01.10.25 ..............’a’
01.10.25 – 15.10.25 ............’t’

Numbers
 We introduce a new number at pre-school every two weeks, concentrating on numbers 0-5 then progressing up to 20, and more. 
It would be helpful if you could play simple games at home which coincide with the numbers we are learning at Pre -School, like "find me 2 socks" or "build a tower with 3 bricks". Also point out numbers at home or when out and about.
3.9.25 – 17.9.25…………. Number 1 
17.9.25 – 01.10.25………… Number 2
01.10.25 – 15.10.25…......... Number 3
   
Shapes 
We ask the children to bring us something from the playroom, that is the same shape as the shape of the week, they in return get a reward sticker and a clap, and lots of praise for finding the shape themselves.
3.9.25 – 17.9.25 ………..   Circle
17.9.25 – 01.10.25………..   Square
01.10.25 – 15.10.25……..…  Triangle

Policies and procedures
Please be aware all policies and procedures are available in the entrance hall, and online just ask a member of staff. 
  EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage)
The Early Years Foundation Stage which guides the work of all practitioners are grouped into 4 themes
A Unique Child + Positive Relationships + Enabling Environments = Learning and Development.
There are 7 areas of learning
Personal social & emotional, Communication & language, Physical development, Expressive arts & design, Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the world.
•	3 prime areas Personal Social & Emotional, Communication & Language, Physical Development.
•	4 specific areas Expressive arts & design, Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the world.
The new revised EYFS has a greater focus on parental involvement, and parents getting more familiar with the EYFS. 
Surrey county council parent pages have good information for parents/carers. Parents pages are published 3 times a year, and is available from Pre-school, or on line at www.surreycc.gov.uk
 Dates for your diary!!!!!
End of term Friday 24th October
Halloween Coffee morning Friday 24th October 11.00am -12.00 please come and support us, and sit with your child and friends and purchase a slice of cake and coffee/tea.
Back to Pre-School Monday 3rd November

Pre-school Coffee Mornings and fundraising events 
In our Autumn/term and Spring/term we hold a coffee morning at Pre-School, these are fundraising events, much needed for us to purchase extra equipment for your children at Pre- School. We are non- profit making, and keep our prices low to support families, so rely on these events so please support us if you can.
(Things that we have purchased before with fund raising money, new computers, Live chicks that we watch hatch at Pre-school, and then re-house after. butterfly pavilion, when they hatched the children released them into the garden and the children loved to hold them.). Also stick insect, and worm world. Climbing frame, and white sensory water play.
At Coffee morning’s we have a cake stall and a raffle, so we ask nearer the time that you donate a raffle prize however small, and cakes for the cake stall, shop purchased or homemade which ever will be fine. So please if you can come and support us and meet up with other new parents and carers and stay for a coffee/tea and a chat. The children love having parent/carers coming to the coffee morning. It starts at 11.00 am and last about an hour.
We would really like to raise money for more educational toys and outside activity toys. 
Autumn Interest Table
We will be setting up an autumn table, so if you should go on any walks, we would be grateful of any colourful leaves, conkers, acorns, cones, etc. that you may find on your travels. If we find enough cone’s we can decorate them for Christmas!!
Exploring Autumn Walk in the park, for the children to enjoy and make a collage of the things they find.

Training and Makaton sign language
We have 5 in-service days per year these are used for training staff. Training for Autumn term speech & Language, & DSL training. These could also be for updating safeguarding training, and first aid training which we do every 3 years, as well as any other training needed. We have attended Makaton Workshops; Makaton is sign language and is used as a communication aid to help children who are a little late in developing their speech. Research shows that children who are introduced to Makaton at an early stage, have fewer tantrums etc. as they are able to express themselves more easily. We feel it is important for us as practitioners, to familiarise ourselves with Makaton at Pre-school, in the likely event that we have a child with additional needs attending the school. Also, it would help any children already at Pre-school who have poor language skills. We use Makaton at Pre- School to show the children how to sign good morning, please, thank you, sunshine, wind, rain for the weather "time to play" good, toilet, wash hands, drink and biscuit etc. If your child should come home showing you the new signs, they have learnt you will understand. 
OUR SNACK BAR SYSTEM
We charge a 50p fee per session, this will be for fruit, veg, biscuits savoury and sweet (paid half termly) the reason for charging was because not all of the parents were bringing in contributions of fruit/veg/biscuits which is unfair. We feel that the 50p charge is much fairer as EVERYONE will be paying and we hope that you think it is fairer too. We have a snack bar at Pre- School, between 9.30-10.15am morning, and 13.00-13.45pm afternoons. The children self-register themselves into snack bar and are free to go to the snack bar any time and select their Healthy choice of fruit, cheese, breadstick etc. and pour their own drink with little jugs, with help from a key person. It has been very successful. The children decide when they want to eat, which helps them to be a little bit more independent. They wash their hands at the little sink in the snack bar, and put their name on the name board, to register themselves at snack bar. They then select their choice of fruit, and drink to eat. (This is helped and encouraged by a keyworker on snack bar duty).  
Payments
Maria Lonergan is our treasurer and is responsible for collecting and sorting out all fees. Please try where possible to pay online this saves us having to bank it. But if paying with cash please put the correct cash amount in a named envelope, this saves valuable time.
Rainbow children community preschool
account 29013088 sort code 090155
Please be aware that there is a fine system put in place of £21.00 for late payments even if you are a day late you can understand we need these payments on time. Thank you.

Lunchtime Payments
All lunch time places booked have to be paid for, even if you do not attend due to illness, holidays, appointments etc. There are limited spaces so be quick to book. Lunch cover is £3.50 and you supply cold packed lunch in named pack lunch box. Please promote healthy eating and no chocolate allowed. Please cut grapes in half lengthways, peel apples, and cut any sausages lengthways.
When doing our first aid we were told by the instructor that sausages can cause a choking hazard, and no nuts/peanut butter because of nut allergies. We have found that the children soon become quite independent and ready for big school.

Late collection Fine
If you repeatedly arrive late to pick up your child you will be charged a fine of £21.00 (the cost of a session) which is charged for going into the afternoon session. We have a short Lunch break and staff are deployed to do different duties and are not available to wait for late parents.

Children still in nappies/pull ups
If your child is still in nappies or pullups, please provide a named bag with supplies of nappies/pullups, baby wipes, nappy sacks for your child’s use. We do keep some nappies at pre-school and wet wipes and will charge you for consumables if we use them. We do have some spare clothes for use if needed. Please wash and return if your child uses them.

If your child is Absent (important information up-date)
Please call in before your child is due to come in, to explain absence.
Due to recent events happening in Surrey regarding the safeguarding of children we are now legally required by OFSTED to call the police for a welfare check to be done if we cannot contact you, or you don’t contact us to say why your child is absent from Pre-School. I totally understand that this seems to be extreme bearing in mind that a child doesn’t have to attend primary school legally until the term after they are 5. It is in our policies and procedures that we will try all efforts to contact you, by any phone numbers given even your emergency numbers before we resort to calling the police for a welfare check.
This is also an effort on your part to call us, so this doesn’t happen.
 It is an OFSTED requirement that we have to log in the attendance register the reason given for absence. We understand children of pre-school age have illnesses and also sometimes due to unforeseen circumstances can’t come in but please still phone in. If you do not call then we have to call you before 9.30am due to Ofsted safeguarding regulations. Your child’s attendance record will be sent on to their reception class. 

0pening times for 30 hours children

Children that are doing 30 hours will be allowed entry to pre-school at the earlier time of 08.45am each morning, this is to cover your 30 hours over the week.
•	(Monday-Thursday 08.45am-15.30pm, equals 6 hours and 45minutes per day) 
•	(Friday 9.00am-12.00am equals 3 hours) total 30hrs

if your child attends earlier on a Friday there will be an extra charge of £1.75 for attending 15 minutes earlier, this is also on offer to all parents who want their child to attend 15 minutes earlier.

Lunchtimes
If you wish your child to stay for lunch there will be an extra charge of £3.50 for the half an hour lunch cover and  
You supply packed lunch)
If you wish your child to stay an extra hour there will be an extra charge of £7.00, these are offered on a first come first served basis, because we have to stick to our ratios.
 
Parents as Partners
Please feel free to pop in at any time to speak to us if you have any questions or queries concerning your child or Pre-School. Your Key person is always available to talk if you want to know how your child is progressing. We also want to hear about the achievements your child makes at home, as this helps us to build a better picture of your child.  Although we have some regular helpers, there is always room for more! Or you may just want to stay for a morning to see how your child is progressing.

Rachael, Caroline, Sophie, Claire, Patricia, 
Atlanta and Amy.