Happy New Year!

Hello everyone – Happy New Year! I hope you’ve had a good Christmas and are looking forward to the new term at Allendale Preschool.

As you may have heard Dani has been very ill over the holidays and had to spend Christmas in hospital. I’m very relieved and pleased to let you know that she is home now and is well on the mend (although a little bit bored….). However, she has been signed off work until at least the 13th January, and I suspect she will be off for a bit longer, and will probably need to work a phased return. The last thing we want is for Dani to exhaust herself and have a relapse. Helena, has stepped forward into Dani’s shoes as acting Leader, and Hayley has stepped up to be deputy, until Dani’s return. Both of them will be working full time, with Diane also increasing her hours. Jodie Nichol (whi is currently on maternity leave) will also be covering 2 hours on Thursday lunchtime, and Becky Woodhouse, who has been volunteering with Preschool on Fridays, will also be in on Tuesday lunchtime.

We are very fortunate to have such highly qualified, experienced and dedicated staff, and Committee and Dani have every confidence in Helena’s skills and abilities as acting leader, although we ask you to bear with us if there are any small hiccups along the way.

On that note:
Don’t forget wellies! As long as it’s safe to do so, we’ll still be going outside, so please bring wellies, gloves, hats and scarves as well as warm coat.

If your child is coming to Preschool this Monday 6th January, they will need to bring a packed lunch as the Primary School kitchen is closed. Dinners will be provided as normal from Tuesday 7th.

Parents feedback survey: Please take a few minutes to complete the feedback survey – we need your response by the 12th January http://ow.ly/riST5 This is really important information which helps us prove to Ofsted how well we are doong, and also helps us provide the service you and your children really want.

Volunteering: if you’d like to help out at preschool there’s lots of things you could do. Recently parents and relatives have: taught the children to make cake pops, played musical instruments, been Santa, fixed a leak, read stories, as well as joining the committee. Please reply to this email, or have a word with Helena or Dani if you can offer a couple of hours of you time.

Bank Staff: We have a group of local people qualified or training in childcare or teaching who we can call on to cover if our permanent staff are unavailable through training or illness. Please let us know of anyone who might be interested in joining our bank staff, as we’ll be recruiting later this term.

I hope you’ll join me and the rest of Committee and staff in wishing Dani a speedy return to full health, and looking forward to welcoming her back to Preschool. In the meantime, we’ll be giving Helena, Hayley and Diane all the support they need to continue the high standards of care for your child at Preschool.