June-July 2010 News for parents

Half Term Topic
This half term our topic is ‘journeys’. We will be looking at everything from holidays and voyages to transport and travel.

Congratulations
Well done to our pre school teacher, Sharon, who has passed her pre school teaching DPP level 3 qualification.

Leavers’ Concert: Friday 23rd July: 11am
There will be no session on this day. Please bring your children to pre school for 10.45am ready for the concert to start at 11am. All children, parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. are welcome.
End of Term Raffle: Friday 23rd July
After the end of term concert we will be holding a raffle to raise funds for pre school. Donations of prizes would be gratefully appreciated. Further information to follow shortly with a note in trays.

Pub Lunch: Friday 23rd July: 12am
In traditional style there will be an end of term pub lunch (sandwiches and chips) at the Robin Hood after the Leaver’s Concert. A list will be put up in the quiet room nearer the time for you to put your name down. Parents, grandparents, staff, etc. are all welcome! It is £6 per adult and children go free.

Tesco Vouchers
Just to thank everyone for collecting Tesco vouchers. We raised a whopping 6220 vouchers. We will let everyone know in due course what it is spent on.

Outside space-Great news
We've heard the great news that we have been successful in our bid for funding from the Co-operative Bank for our proposed outdoor space/garden behind the Robin Hood Pub. We are now transforming the space into a lovely place for the children to explore, learn and play.

Rainow Pre School T-shirts
After the success of the book bags we are now offering parents the chance to buy Rainow Pre School t-shirts. They cost £3.90 and if you are interested, please put your name down on the list in the quiet room or contact Elizabeth (Elliot’s mum).

Extra Days
The pre school sessions are already bustling with lots of children, however if you would like your child to do an extra day then please speak to Claire. There are a few places left, particularly on a Thursday and a Friday. It might work well increasing the number of sessions for your child for the last part of the school year if they are moving up to school in September.

The Bunny Hunt
What a fantastic turn out and a big thank you to everyone who donated cakes, donated raffle prizes, helped on a stall, worked on BBQ/Beer stand etc. A huge thank you to Jill and Andrea Ash who kindly allowed us to hold the event on their farm and who also helped in the setting up of the event. As yet we do not have an overall "total raised" to announce as all sponsorship monies and donations are still to be collected. However, judging from your generosity on the day we certainly look like we are on target to achieve our goal "to make this our biggest fund raiser ever!!" Please give Michelle French (Rubens’ Mummy) any sponsorship/donation asap. Once she has them all in, we will let you know an exact figure!! Many thanks and well done for making this such a super day!!!.

Tissues
To ensure that we always have a fresh supply of tissues at pre school, please could we ask each child to bring a box of tissues to pre school at the beginning of every term. Many thanks.

The Book People
Each term we are given the opportunity, via pre school, to buy books from The Book People at an exceptionally good rate. In turn, based on the number of books parents buy, pre school get given a number of free books. Going forward, Nicola Hart (Ella’s mum) has kindly agreed to manage the whole process.

Jollytots
Rainow's parent and tots group has moved. It now meets in Rainow Church Centre. Same time (each Thursday in term-time: 1.30 - 3pm). Same fun (play, craft, singing, snacks). All babies and 'up to school age' children welcome, with parent(s), grandparents or carers. £2 per parent and child, includes drinks and biscuits for all.
For more details contact Jane Mellings (575432) or Katherine Beswick (573809).

Email List
We have devised an emailing list for all pre school parents and staff. The list will be used to communicate all notices and information. Your e-mail address will be kept confidential. If you'd like to be a part of this list please send your details to Ella chrimes's mum , faith at faithchrimes@hotmail.com. Thankyou.

Important information for parents about Childcare Vouchers and Pre-School fees
Pre-School has decided to offer those parents paying fees the option to pay with childcare vouchers.
Childcare vouchers are a government-led initiative to encourage employers to help their employees with their childcare costs. By running a childcare voucher scheme, employers save on Employer National Insurance whilst employees save tax and National Insurance Contributions. Childcare vouchers are offered as part of a salary sacrifice or benefit in kind scheme. The most common method is through salary sacrifice whereby you elect to take part of your existing salary as childcare vouchers.
Your employer, or your partners employer, has to put a childcare voucher scheme in place in order for you to be able to use child care vouchers. There are various scheme providers out there (e.g. Fideliti, Sodexo). Your employer orders your vouchers and you receive them on payday. You use the vouchers to pay your Pre-school fees (and any other childcare costs you incur up to a maximum amount of £55 per parent, per week) and Pre-School will receive payment from the voucher provider (usually via BACS transfer, or sometimes by cheque).
Pre-School is now set up to receive payment from Fideliti, but we can receive payment from any voucher provider. It is just up to you, the parents, to let us know what scheme your employer is registered with. You can probably find out this information from your Human Resources department.
If you do wish to start paying your fees with childcare vouchers then please email the Pre-School treasurer, Jane Mellings (jane.mellings@toucansurf.com) with the name of your employers voucher scheme. IDEALLY, WE NEED TO KNOW BY MONDAY 1ST MARCH IF YOU WANT TO PAY THIS HALF-TERMS FEES WITH VOUCHERS. We are aware that we currently bill parents for fees as a half-term block and this may have to change for parents using Childcare Vouchers - we will just have to see what the individual schemes require. For parents that do not wish to use vouchers to pay their fees, billing and payments will remain unchanged.
If you have any questions about the above, please also contact Jane on the above email address.