St Andrews Stepping Stones Toddler Club and Playgroup

Newsletter no 3

Dear Parents and Carers,

This term seems to be passing very quickly and Easter is almost here. We are looking forward to our Easter Coffee Morning and Sponsored Bunny Hop on Monday March 17th and do hope you will be able to join us for this, specific details for this are in a separate letter. We will also be holding an Easter Hamper Raffle, which will be drawn at the Tuesday Toddler Group on March 18th and would be grateful for any donations on an Easter theme. A signing up sheet for this is available and items could include anything chocolaty, simnel cake, biscuits, craft items, stickers, Easter decorations, egg cups etc (but please check sell by dates!). Please bring in your donations by Thursday 13th March.

Toddlers will be running in the Easter Holidays on Tuesday 25th March and Tuesday 1st April. Do remember that Toddlers is now also open on Fridays from 9.30 to 11am (but not when Teddy Bear Time is on). This is a drop in session and all under fives are welcome. We will continue to trial this for the Summer term.

Fund Raising is an essential part of Stepping Stones as the fees do not cover all the running costs. Thank you to all those who supported the various Christmas fund raising events and the January quiz night, which made £212. We will be holding another quiz night on 14th June.

We will be running a cake stall on the Green on Friday May 23rd between 2.30pm and 4.30pm and would value donations of cakes for this and some extra helpers on the day.

The latest Yellow Moon Catalogues are available, there are many great craft resources in these, do order on line and put the Stepping Stones reference down as we receive money back for every order. School Link Book leaflets also went out recently.

We would like to be able to offer lunches for the playgroup children after Easter on Wednesdays until 12.50pm.The children will need to bring a packed lunch and drink and they will then eat with the other children and staff member. They will also be able to do puzzles and games when they have finished. The cost of this will be £2.75 to cover staff supervision and the use of the hall. In order for this to happen we need a minimum of 6 children, please let Sue Fisher know as soon as possible if you would like your child to stay for lunch, this can be a valuable learning experience for them.

As our numbers at Playgroup are increasing we need to have a parent helper at every Monday and Wednesday session in order to meet the adult/child ratios needed and to help keep costs down. If you are able to help please sign up on the appropriate sheet, we really value this.

Please can you ensure that all playgroup children bring a named water bottle to each session. It is about to become a legal requirement that the children have access to fresh drinking water and this is the easiest way for this to happen.

We also still have a vacancy for the main treasurer on the committee, Helen Pinhey is currently doing the day to day work for this, in addition to her role as co-chair, and would love to find someone to take this on. Please let us know if you would like to find out more, or maybe a husband/partner would be interested.

Finally a big thank you to Anne Mitchell who has looked after the admissions this year. The family will be moving to Ely at the end of March. We wish them well for the future. Jess Monck will take over this important role.

With best wishes

Helen Pinhey and Sarah Barnes (co-chairs of St Andrew’s Stepping Stones)