Hyde Heath Pre-School adopted a new Constitution on 29 September, in a quorate vote by its Members.
The new Constitution changed the charity's name from Hyde Heath Community Pre-School Group to Hyde Heath Pre-School, to recognise that we are open to children from outside Hyde Heath itself. The new Constitution also permits the appointment of Affiliate Members as Trustees. Affiliate Members are not parents or guardians, but can bring to Pre-School's management committee expertise or time which it would not otherwise be able to obtain. At the AGM, all the existing Trustees stood down as required by the Constitution and a new team of Trustees was elected, each having been proposed by a full Member:
Hyde Heath Pre-School's AGM and Parents' Evening takes place at 8pm on 29 September 2011.
Held in Hyde Heath Village Hall, it will be an essential opportunity to get to know other parents with children at Pre-School, as well as meeting staff and finding out about the year ahead with a short presentation from Julia Tillyer, Pre-School Manager. Please confirm your attendance by completing this form by midday on 29 September 2011. Pre-School parents / guardians are voting Members, so we need you there to approve the key policies and decisions that will benefit your children. This is also the time when new Trustees are nominated and elected. If you are able to provide governance to Pre-School by becoming a Trustee, please contact the chair for an informal discussion about what's involved. Trustees are essential to Pre-School and it is a rewarding experience. We look forward to welcoming you at the AGM. For immediate release: 10am 4 July 2011
More than 40 children from Hyde Heath, Amersham, Chesham and the Missendens are celebrating a host of new facilities at their Pre-School, thanks to grants from local and national organisations. Hyde Heath Pre-School [1] has been equipped with a colourful outdoor classroom, sheltered from both rain and sun, whilst indoors it has new computers and an oven. The facilities have been made possible by a £7,000 grant from the Paradigm Housing Group [2] for the outdoor facility and a further £3,000 from the Big Lottery Fund [3] for the indoor resources. “There is good evidence that learning outside the classroom significantly benefits children’s development [4,5],” says one of the Pre-School’s supervisors, Rachel Mistri. “Thanks to this wonderful new facility, our children can enjoy fresh air, exercise and new experiences about the world around them, even when the weather is unfavourable.” Another of the Pre-School’s supervisors, Kirsty Harris, explains: “Learning through play with computers [6] and cooking [7] helps children start to develop the wide range of skills that they will need throughout life, in an interesting and engaging way.” Lyn Ives, a Paradigm tenant and Board member who attended the official launch of the new facilities on 29 June says: “It’s wonderful to see children develop the skills they need to have rewarding lives. These facilities are a real investment in the future.” “Parents who are booking places for their children in 2011-12 are delighted that Hyde Heath Pre-School is equipped with the very best in early years resources,” explains Trevor Lawson, who chairs the Pre-School. “Our charity is well-placed to support the development of many more local children in a safe and happy environment.” ENDS
Dear Pre-School Parents and Guardians,
This is an exciting time for Hyde Heath Pre-School and I’d like to keep you up-to-date with all that’s happening. Open evening Please join me, fellow Trustees and staff for an open evening at Pre-School. Between 18:30 and 20:00 on 29 June - aided by refreshments - help us celebrate significant enhancements to Pre-School’s learning environment. Thanks to the hard work of our Honorary Treasurer, Ray Challinor, and the generosity of Paradigm Housing Group and the Big Lottery Fund, Pre-School has now been equipped with a fabulous outdoor classroom, new computers and a new oven. This means our charity meets the highest recommended standards to help children learn and develop – an achievement which I’m sure you’ll want to share in. The Trustees will also welcome your feedback and views on how we can continue to meet your expectations in the future. Staff changes As you already know, supervisor Rachel Mistri will be leaving us at the end of term. Now, supervisor Kirsty Harris has been offered a full-time opportunity in the Infant School and will be moving next door. We are indebted to both for their hard work and commitment over recent years and wish them both well. Work is now in hand to develop a new team who will take up the reins for September 2011. We are recruiting a permanent manager to take overall responsibility for the setting and to lead the team, and a full-time supervisor to deliver the highest standards of learning and development throughout each week. If you know of high calibre candidates for these roles, do direct them to our website. We have also welcomed Lisa Donaghue and Olivia Cartwright who are currently supporting the team as teaching assistants, following rapid growth in the number of children registered at Pre-School. Trustee changes There have been changes amongst Pre-School’s Trustees, too. We are indebted to Simona Matthews for her hard work since September. Simona stood down as Chair and Trustee at the end of May to focus her attention on a major home renovation. Our thanks also go to Lucy Cooper, who stood down as a Trustee in March to relocate. Thanks to the work of all the Trustees, Pre-School will end this term in a sound financial position, ready to continue its vital charitable role in serving the community again from September. New Trustees will be required to maintain that continuity and I hope that you will all give serious consideration to taking on this enjoyable and rewarding task for the benefit of your own and others’ children. I look forward to welcoming you on 29 June. Best wishes, Trevor Lawson Acting Chair Dear parents & carers,
The Spring term has flown by! We hope you are looking forward to your Easter break, and that you will have the opportunity to take some time out with family and friends. Opening hours update Just a reminder that we break for the holidays on the afternoon on Friday 8th April at 1500hrs. In the past, pre-school has closed early on the last day of term, in line with the infant school, but we have taken the decision to operate a full three hour session, as normal, in future. If you are collecting siblings from the infant school and wish to take pre-schoolers home early, please inform the staff in advance so they can have the children ready. Please be aware that we cannot offer any refund for children collected before the official end of the session. Pre-School re-opens after Easter for two days on Wednesday 27th & Thursday 28th April, then will be closed for the long weekend incorporating the Royal Wedding Bank Holiday on Friday 29th April and the May Day Bank Holiday on Monday May 2nd. Normal schedules will resume on Tuesday May 3rd. Other news We are thrilled to report (correctly, this time!) that we are to benefit from the Waitrose Community Matters fundraising scheme this April - ie from Friday. Customers shopping in the Chesham branch will be asked to donate their 'green tokens' to their choice of community charity - from a selection of three on offer. Please do let friends and family know that we are one of the beneficiaries of the scheme and are in line to receive a proportion of the £1000 set aside each month - allocated according to the number of tokens received by each charity. We are also collecting Sainsbury's Active Kids vouchers and Tesco Computers for Schools vouchers - please do hand them to the staff if you receive these with your shopping, and encourage family and friends to collect them too. We can purchase play & activity items, IT equipment and cookery items for the Pre-Schoolers, so they are a very valuable resource for us. Coffee, beer and fruit juice Simona Matthews, Chair of Trustees, is hosting a coffee morning for parents and carers at her home at 0915hrs on Thursday 7th April. All comers welcome: Lynwood, Brays Lane, Hyde Heath, Amersham, Bucks, HP6 5RU. One of our Trustees (& father to Harvey, in Pre-School), Trevor Lawson, is co-ordinating a Dad's Night at the Plough in Hyde Heath, from 19.30 onwards, on Thursday 28 April. We often fill the pub and it's a popular night out. Meals are available, too. Any questions, call 01494 794961 or email Trevor. We have some stock left of our Hyde Heath apple juice, which is a delicious, pasteurised pure juice made from apples donated by parents. Use by date is December 2011. Prior to opening, it can be stored in a larder, garage or shed, then should be refrigerated and consumed within three days. 750ml bottles are priced at £2.50. Contact Karen Kay on 07973 323046 for information / delivery. Alfresco lessons We are delighted to report that construction of our new outdoor classroomis due to take place in the coming weeks, and we hope that the children will benefit enormously from this new facility during the Summer term and beyond. Many thanks to our Treasurer, Ray Challinor, who has secured significant funds towards this project. Diary dates The Hyde Heath village fete, organised by the village hall committee, will take place on the common on the afternoon of Saturday May 14th. The Hyde Heath Pre-School AGM will be staged on the evening of Thursday 29th September in Hyde Heath village hall, time tbc. All parents and carers are invited, and there will be a 'social' afterwards. Dear Parents,
We hope you all had an enjoyable half-term. Here we are at the beginning of March and halfway through the Spring Term. Our topic for this half term, rather appropriately, is Spring. We will be looking at how the environment changes in spring time and how it is a time of growth for both plants and animals. At the end of the term we have our Easter break and during the last week of pre-school we will be making Easter Cards, having an Easter Egg Hunt and making Easter Bonnets. If your child attends on either Thursday or Friday, please send them in on the last week with a hat/bonnet to decorate. Poundland sells Easter bonnets for a £1.00! If you are unable to do so, we can supply a cardboard ‘bonnet’. Dates For your Diary Wednesday 23 March is parents’ evening. This will give you the opportunity to talk with your child’s key worker and discuss your child with them. We shall start the evening at 6.00 pm and have appointments every 15 minutes. Please add your name to the list on the table in the classroom if you would like to make an appointment. If you would prefer to see you child’s key worker at a different time, that is more convenient for you, please discuss this with the appropriate member of staff. You can check on the classroom notice board which children have been allocated which member of staff as their key worker. Friday 18 March is Red Nose Day. We are joining in with the fund raising for this very worthwhile cause and ask that if they wish, the children should come to pre-school in their favourite outfit – whatever that may be. We will be icing biscuits and asking for a donation of £1.00 from each child. Thursday 12 May is our annual outing to Odds Farm. This is a day for siblings as well as pre-schoolers and we hope that all children will join us regardless of whether they attend pre-school on a Thursday. We will need parents to transport their children to the farm and accompany them during the visit. If you are a parent who will be unable to accompany your child, please let us know so we can make alternative arrangements. The Farm opens at 10.00 am and we shall meet there at the entrance. There is a tea room with hot snacks, drinks, ice cream and more or you may prefer to pack a picnic as there are numerous outside eating areas. In previous years, people tend to leave after lunch and in time to collect older siblings from school. The cost of the entrance fee is £6.90 for children aged 2 – 16 years and £7.70 for adults. If we pre-book a bag of animal feed it will cost 30p a bag instead of the usual 50p. These are special rates for a group booking. We are aware that some parents have an annual pass to the Farm and will want to use that. If you do have a pass, please indicate on the attached tear- off slip. Please can you complete the attached tear-off slip and return it to us with your money (all cheques to be made payable to Hyde Heath Pre-School) by Friday 1 April. Sainsbury and Tesco Vouchers We are collecting both of the above vouchers and the boxes are on the table in the classroom. All contributions are very much appreciated. All the staff and us are looking forward to a busy and rewarding half-term. Many thanks for your continued support and please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any queries. With kind regards, Rachel Mistri and Kirsty Harris Supervisors Simply email us or call us on 01494 782845. Outdoor classroom
We are delighted to announce that we will soon begin a two-phase capital expenditure project, which involves the construction of an outdoor classroom for the Pre-School children, scheduled to take place over the Easter holidays. We will also be equipping this new facility, and will be replacing various other items that are past their best. We will be purchasing two new PCs and desks, for (monitored) use by the Pre-School children. If everything goes to plan, this should all be in place by the end of the summer term. We're sure you'll agree these are very exciting developments, and we are looking forward to the benefits they will bring the children. We have made a number of grant applications to support the investment required for these projects, some of which are still awaiting decision. However, we are delighted to report that our treasurer, Ray Challinor, this week secured a £4,000 award towards this project. We must also thank parents who have supported various fundraising exercises - such as the Old Time Music Hall and the Christmas Fayre - as these events all help improve the facilities and resources available to the children. Pre-School Manager As some of you may know, Rachel Mistri has handed in her notice, and will be leaving us at the end of the Summer term. Her departure will be a great loss and she will be missed by parents, staff and children. In light of her resignation, we have taken a careful, considered look at the staffing infrastructure at Pre-School, and have come to the conclusion that we need to appoint a full-time Manager.The post has been advertised so please do pass on details to anyone you may know who might be interested in applying for the position.The job is now online here. Be a Trustee We would welcome any one who is able to offer their services as a Trustee of Pre-School, or who can offer their help in a different capacity - perhaps with admin support or by acting as a co-ordinator for one of our events. There are lots of ways to get involved, whether you can offer ongoing commitment, or simply have a few hours you could give over to undertaking a 'project' for us. Please do get in touch with Simona Matthews, our chair, or Karen Kay, our secretary, if you would like to get involved. Latest news
Pre-School is closed for inset day’s on Friday 18 and Monday 28 February re-opening on Tuesday 1 March. Welcome back Welcome back to Pre School after the Christmas break – we hope all the children and their families had an enjoyable time over the Holidays and that the snow didn’t impact too much on travel plans. A belated thank you for all parent and carer input at Pre-School in the countdown to Christmas. The Christmas Fayre, in conjunction with the Infant School, raised a record-breaking sum, of which we receive around £800, so thank you to everyone who volunteered or came along and spent hard-earned pennies! The Childrens’ Christmas Party was a great success, as was the Christmas Play – thank you for providing such wonderful costumes and to those of you who helped with setting up the school hall and tidying afterwards. At the beginning of term, we were thrilled to welcome Jemma Knowles as a temporary classroom assistant and wish her the best as she finds her feet at Pre-School. Please do introduce yourselves if you get the chance – getting to know who is who will help her settle in! Diary dates Spring Term: January 5 to Thursday 17 February, then Monday 28 February to Friday 8 April; INSET DAYS: Friday 18 February & Monday 28 February We break up for half term at 3pm on Thursday 17 February and return to school on Tuesday 1 March 2011. Summer Term: Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 April (we are back for a couple of days after Easter holidays, then Friday 29 April is a Holiday, due to the Royal Wedding). Then, Tuesday 3 May to Thursday 26 May, and Monday 6 June to Friday 22 July. Coffee morning 25 January 2011: 09.15-11.15hrs Information and social evening 17 February 2011, 8pm-10pm The trustees and staff of Hyde Heath Pre-School invite parents and carers to join us for an informal gathering at The Plough, Hyde Heath. There will be a short presentation at 8.30pm, where we will be updating you about news and activities at Pre-School., followed by a buffet and a cash bar. We do hope you will join us: it will be a great opportunity to meet fellow parents and get to know more about the Pre-School facility and the people behind it. Please do RSVP to Sarah Yalden by 2nd February 2011 so we can gauge numbers for catering. Parent Teacher Consultation Evening (TBC) 23 March 2011 An opportunity to have an informal chat with Pre-School staff regarding your child and his or her time at Pre-School. REMINDER: Applications for Infant School places If your child was born between 01.09.06 – 31.08.07, you will need to apply for an infant school place for the school year starting September 2011. Applications are open from 30.10.10 at www.bucks.gov.uk- apply online or you can collect a guide and paper application forms from any primary school. Pre-School is filling up We have one remaining session on a Friday morning - all other mornings are full. We do still have some spaces available for afternoon sessions, so if you would like to increase your child's attendance, please speak to one of the supervisors as soon as possible. Don't forget that, as of the term after their third birthday, your child is eligible to 15 hours' childcare per week that can be claimed back from the State, so if you are not utilising these five sessions and would like to do so, let us know! Fundraising for your Pre-School... Pure Apple Juice We still have stock of our delicious ‘Hyde Heath Pre School’ apple juice to sell. The pasteurised juice is being made for us by a local producer, using fruit donated by parents. If you are interested in buying bottles of the juice at £2.50 / 750ml (it lasts until Dec 2011, and can be stored in a garage or shed, then refrigerated once opened), speak with Karen Kay (01494 863605 / [email protected]). Volunteers Required If anyone would like to volunteer to assist with any fundraising for the pre-school, your help would be most appreciated. The Autumn term is our busiest in terms of fundraising but it doesn’t mean to say that we can’t still raise money in the Spring and Summer terms. If anyone has any fundraising ideas or would like to form a fundraising committee please feel free to speak to any of the trustees. Dear parents & carers,
So, the weathermen are predicting snow within days, and the schoolgates are packed with rosy-cheeked parents wrapped in cosy layers, which means we can truly call this our Winter newsletter! On that note, please would all parents & carers check they have their Emergency Contact List, and that their details on this list are up-to-date. Should the Pre-School be forced to close due to extreme weather conditions (or for any other reason), we use a pyramid-calling system to contact parents / carers and need to ensure this operates as efficiently as possible. If you have any updates/amendments to the list, please let us know ASAP. Now, a HUGE thanks to all those who volunteered to help before and at the Christmas Fayre last weekend, contributing to its phenomenal success. Thanks, too, to those who donated goods, services and anything else that made it all possible. Last, but not least, thanks to everyone - including friends, family and members of the local community - who supported this lovely event: a record sum of £2839.31 was raised, of which the Pre-School receives 30%, so that's an impressive £851.80! Next, a few reminders for you, regarding upcoming events that might affect you and your child.... Term dates: Pre-School closes for the Christmas Holidays at 1500hrs on Friday 17 December, and re-opens at 0900hrs on Monday 3 January 2011. Don't forget this weekend's Old Time Music Hall: if you have volunteered to prepare food, waitress, clear up etc, please double check your allocated slot and turn up for duty on time! Thanks to all those who have offered to help - we'll keep you posted on the funds raised from this annual event. Next Thursday, 2 December, is the Pre-School Pantomime Trip. Bookings are now closed, but Parents /carers who are attending should meet in the Elgiva Theatre foyer at 10.15am, where Mrs Mistri will distribute tickets for the 10.30am performance. NB. For the children who are not attending the performance, Pre-School will be open as usual from 09.00hrs. The Pre-school Christmas Party will be held on the morning of Monday 6 December, 0900-1200hrs, in Hyde Heath Village Hall. If your child is attending, there is now a food list on the Pre-School classroom door, so please do add your name if you are willing to provide sandwiches / cake / cocktail sausages /paper plates etc. We also ask parents to provide a wrapped, labelled gift, to the value of £5 the week before the party (please give to a member of staff), for Santa to give your child. Please let Mrs Mistri or Mrs Harris know if you would like your child to attend the party. Pre-School Christmas Play - There will be a morning and an afternoon performance on 15 December, and all parents & carers should now have received notification of your child's allocated role in the play, and the performance to which you are invited to attend. Please do help your child to learn the words to the songs on the list accompanying the email notifying you of your child's part in the play. There will be a DRESS REHEARSAL at 0900hrs on Monday 13 December: even if children don't normally attend on a Monday we would like them to come in, with costumes, for the dress rehearsal and photos (which you will have the opportunity to buy at the play). Please speak with one of the Supervisors if you have any questions about your child’s involvement with the play. Applications for infant school places: If your child was born between 01.09.06 – 31.08.07, you will need to apply for an infant school place for the school year starting September 2011. You can find out more about Bucks County Council's admissions policy online. Applications can be made online or you can collect a guide and paper application forms from any primary school. School House - please be aware that building work will commence on Monday 22 November. The School House is being converted into offices to be used by the charity Dr Barnardos, who run the Children's Centres in Bucks. The work is expected to be completed by the end of February. Please avoid parking on the School House driveway at any time. Finally, may we take this opportunity to wish you and your families a happy, fun-filled festive season. From the Trustees, Hyde Heath Community Pre School Group: Ray Challinor (Treasurer) Vikki Cleaver Lucy Cooper Melissa Laing Elaine Lawson Trevor Lawson Karen Kay ( Secretary) Simona Matthews (Chair) Sarah Yalden (Deputy Secretary) |