OOSC – Weekly Update 19th November 2021

By November 19, 2021 Uncategorized No Comments

Dear Parents / Carers

We are delighted to finally announce that we received an amazing ‘OUTSTANDING’ grading from our recent OFSTED visit .. we are so very proud of this achievement and thank you for all your wonderful comments which you shared with the Inspector!! We have attached our report, if you would like to have a read through.

This Week – It has been a magical week in the OOSC with our Harry Potter theme to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the first film being released. Throughout the week the children have made wands, magic potions, mini characters from the books and fortune tellers to find out which Hogwarts School house they belong in. We also made the magical wall to walk through to get onto Platform 9 3/4 and we made our own version of the Hogwarts Express. The children decorated cakes to look like Hedwig and played a pin the glasses on Harry game.

Next Week – Next week we have a sensory week planned. We will be using the mud kitchen throughout the week and have the following activities below:

Monday – we will be making lavender playdough and we will be having sensory activities with pulses and oats
Tuesday – we’ll be finding out what is hidden in the ice, there will be STEM activities around construction. We will be tie dying and all materials will be provided
Wednesday – There will be a blindfold obstacle course around the Playhouse Garden and painting activities using Duplo. There will be the opportunity to make slime!!
Thursday –
Ros will be making hot chocolate for the children to have messy play; they can have a chocolate car wash and can use coloured foam for other activities! We’ll also be holding a darts competition and the Hamma beads will be available.
Friday – This is our Teambuilding day, we’ll be working together and we’ll be communicating without talking!!

Nearly New Sale – Thank you for your amazing support and for Rachel & Alexa for arranging the sale! The Nearly New Sales raised an amazing £115.00 for the Playhouse!

Reminder: Books – Books make great presents! Our local Scholastic books lady, Tammy Fitzjohn, is very kindly donating 10% of all sales to Helpston Playhouse and Out of School Club! Christmas is fast approaching, and it’s always an excellent time to buy lovely books as presents. Tammy will be displaying a select number of books next week for parents to browse in the Playhouse garden – details to follow. Please follow this link to browse and to make any purchases by 30th November 2021: https://book-parties.scholastic.co.uk/party/helpston-preschool

Reminder: Committee – Christmas Raffle – Here is a message from our committee: We are currently organising a Christmas raffle, if any parents/careers work for businesses, own a business or know of a business that would be willing to donate a raffle prize, please get in touch. We would be incredibly grateful.

Committee – Amazon – If you use Amazon for any of you shopping, please consider helping us by shopping on AmazonSmile at https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1024507-0. For every eligible purchase Amazon donates to Helpston Playhouse & Under Fives Pre-School, at no cost to you.

Maddy’s Challenge – On 18th December 2021 Maddy Bunn is hoping to complete a 25km walk from Putney Bridge to Tower Bridge in London, crossing 15 bridges, to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK. Maddy sadly lost her grandma to Dementia last December and wanted to mark the occasion and so that, in her words ‘another family doesn’t have to go what we went through’. We’ve attached a link to Maddy’s Just Giving page if you would like to support Maddy.

Maddy’s 25km Thames path walk

Barnado’s Christmas Appeal – Our Early Years Team from Peterborough City Council have started their Christmas Gift Appeal for vulnerable children and families living across Peterborough and South Fenland (March, Chatteris & Whittlesey). We know this year is looking even tougher on families than even last year and they aim to ensure every child and their siblings referred to the Early Tears Team receive Christmas gifts. Distribution of gifts will start from Monday 13th December. Please take a look at the attached poster or Visit Barnardo’s Child & Family Centre Wish List at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/C5O9223R5Q3H/ref=hz_ls_biz_ex

Have a lovely weekend and stay safe!
Kind regards
The Playhouse Team