Well, writing in early February, and through some of the coldest weather this winter we have so far managed to avoid a debilitating level of snowfall, although there has been just enough for our preschoolers to scrape into a snowball. Last week saw them playing out in the snow and appreciating one of natures best creative materials!!

Our 'rising fours' had their first taste of school this week and spent two hours at Churchinford Primary mingling with the reception class, singing and playing. They all had a great time and we hope to repeat this next term and then finally in the summer term before they begin their reading and taster sessions. Their first year at school is really an extension of what they have been dong at pre school and is still very much play based activities.

The last month at pre school has seen Chinese New Year celebrated with traditional Chinese food at snack time and Chinese dragons coming home for us to decorate the house with. The mobile police unit visited Churchinford this month and the little ones got a chance to go and listen to the sirens and they all enjoyed it very much.

Our last committee meeting saw some exciting discussions about fundraisers for early this year and Easter will see another £1 quiz sheet fundraiser. This was so great the last time and so many local people took part in our flora and fauna quiz. We hope the next one will be as popular. There will also be an easter raffle and we will be seeing you once again at the Churchinford farmers markets!

I am writing this article early this month as everything has to be done early before the Xmas break. So I am writing in early December for your January read and trying to think what we will be reflecting upon come January. No doubt for most of us it will involve overspending! If only we could all have a great community rally around to fundraise on our behalf when times are hard. Pre school is lucky to have such a close community as I realised when everybody past the raffle table at the farmers market bought a strip of raffle tickets. Thanks so much everyone.

It has been a great time for fundraising and the Xmas raffle along with the flower quiz, a body shop house party and the cheque from the Blackdown Beer festival means that Lesley and Andrea should face less of a financial quandry than the rest of us come New Year!

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped us throughout the previous year with either committee duties or giving generously to fundraising efforts. The children really benefit from this and the new drums that were funded by the Blackdown beer Festival will be put to great use during Xmas party week next week.

At the recent AGM we managed to appoint a new cleaner and a few new lawn mowers and we have to say a huge thanks to one ex committee member who continued to clean the pre school even after her child have left for school. Thanks again to Sally.

Pre schoolers break up in another week and have been spending lots of time covered in glitter, as has the pre school. Our new cleaner Chloe, Amelies mum, has been thrown in the sparkly deep end.

We've got lots of lovely decorations coming our way and scraps of card covered in glue and glitter will always be my favourite thing to see on the tree.

Its really lovely having such a small setting when children get lots of one to one attention. Having a son who will be starting school as a very young 4 year old next year its great to see the headstart that pre school can give him. Its reassuring to know they know each child so personally and for this we are very lucky.

No snow as yet but hopefully we will have seen some over the Christmas period as the children are becoming accustomed to a white Xmas, though if it can hold off until mid December this will be a lot less stressful for our pre school leaders.

HAPPY XMAS EVERYONE!

As I write this in November the new little ones are settled into their routines and Lesley and Andrea are getting used to a lovely lot of two year olds. It's great to be able to offer younger children a place at the setting and many parents are now seeing what a great environment it is and making the most of our ability to take younger children.

Thanks to everyone who has so far bought one of our floral quiz sheets from the village shop and pre school for £1. We have so far raised £71 and they are still selling well, with many more to be handed in. The questions are based on flora and fauna in a cryptic style and if this is your thing then pop down and grab one, there will be a cash prize for the winner!

Raffle tickets are also now on sale for the Xmas raffle and we have a lovely professionally made luxury hamper and a beautiful winter hamper from Otter nursery as well as many other prizes and vouchers to be won. Tickets were on sale at the school Xmas fayre and will next be on sale at the farmers market. The raffle will be drawn on Monday 12th December.

A huge thanks to Blackdown Beer Festival who have donated a total of £361 to pre school for new musical equipment. We are always so grateful for monies donated and it enables us to keep activites for the children fresh and exciting. We will be purchasing authentic Indian and African drums with the money which the children will love and I'm sure will be music to Lesley and Andreas ears!!

By the time you read this I am sure pre school will be convered in glitter and cotton wool as children get making their Xmas decorations. I, for one, can't wait to have a house covered in gold and red glitter!!

No doubt I will mention it again!!

Hello All, especially our new girl Tia, and happy Rosh Hashannah! Pre school celebrated this Jewish festival mid October by dipping apples in honey, a tradition that symbolizes the hope that the new year will be 'sweet'! Some local Jewish cultures prefer a fish head, to symbolize the 'head' of the new year, however I think there may have been some tiny turned up noses at that one!

The apples used for this ceremony were those that we 'wassailed' in Spring and the trees have come a cropper with a nice heavy load of apples! Lesley, Andrea and the children will soon be making pies and crumbles too!

Topics this month include Carnival and Halloween so there will be lots of colourful artwork being displayed.

We are currently running a charity quiz sheet in aid of pre school funds, anyone interested can pop in and grab a sheet from Leslie for a pound, gardening lovers especially as the questions are floral, and certainly not easy! There will be a CASH prize.

We are having a bags to school collection on November 23rd, any old clothes, belts, shoes, curtains, blankets can be bagged up and brought round to the pre school where they will be stored until then. This is a great fund raiser and lets make this the best ever!!

This years Christmas hamper tickets will soon also be on sale so keep a look out! No doubt I will mention it again!!

A big welcome back to all our 'big' three and two year olds returning to pre school for their second year, and hello to our new starters. With a good percentage of children now taking advantage of our great setting to start their children aged two we find we have a lovely young group to begin the year.

And so to begin the years fundraising. October will see us doing a 'bags to school' day, where you can bring all your old clothes, blankets, shoes and other textiles to pre school, which is then weighed in and we receive cash for your donations. Please look out for a date nearer the time, special blue bags can be picked up from the pre school. Any donations greatly appreciated.

There will also be a raffle and quiz sheet which we can be bought from pre school and there will be a grand prize for the winners! Please see us at the local farmers market for your Christmas raffle tickets.

For those of you who would prefer to shop from home, or pre school in this case, we will be organising a party plan evening at pre school, or possibly in the village hall, where you will be able to buy a few Christmas presents queue free!

As I write during July this week sees our 'big' four year old pre schoolers attending their last week of pre school and readying themselves for the transition up to their big schools!! We say goodbye to Izzy, Ewan, William, Georgia, Lucinda, Charlie, Gracie, Loretta and Lola. Good luck to all of you. Hope I didn't forget anyone there!

Their leaving party was extremely cute with Izzy reading a lovely story and her friends performing it alongside her with puppets. Leslie told us they do this every Wednesday, without much guidance, and it was delightful to watch. They also all did their 'sticky kids' workout, a mini exercise routine to music, which they do at 2pm every day. Very cute!

Leslie presented them with books and cards and looked as proud as the parents! She and Andrea will no doubt miss them but will be visiting them at school in the new term.

The open day on July was also a great success and saw plenty of new enrolments. They have great numbers of children ready to begin at our fantastic pre school come September and this is testament to the great job they have been doing.

August will see pre school pitching a little gazebo at the Blackdown Beer Festival on the 12th-13th August. Last year we received some funding which meant Sarah Samson, a local musician and Churchstanton schools music teacher, could do some great sessions at the pre school, please pop in and see us there if you would like any information about pre school or just need some shade from the blazing sunshine. We will have craft activities and colouring for the little ones to do, although we won't be offering a creche service!! We hope everyone has a good restful and sunny summer and will be ready for a brand new term come September.

As the pre school year draws to a close we are left to reflect on a brilliant year for pre school, possibly its best ever in terms of results. As I write we have just had the pre school open day which was a great success and we have plenty of new interest and enrolments to ensure 2011/2012 will be an even better year than 2010/2011. Personally the end of this year sees my four year old moving from pre school up to school, something which Leslie and Andrea have spent plenty of time preparing her, and the other leavers for. The folder which I received charting my daughters progress over the last two and a half years certainly reminded me how far she has come and what great fun she has had. It really showed me how much extra paperwork and charting of behaviour and educational achievements Leslie and Andrea have to do behind the scenes and frankly if I had to undertake such a large amount of paperwork whilst looking after ten or so children I would probably have a minor collapse!

This month at pre school has seen lots of gardening with generous donations of cuttings and plants from mums and friends. We also had a visit from Rainforest adventure people, bringing snakes, creepy crawlies and a giant snail. Mr Zulu, a visiting headteacher from a Zambian school, was on an exchange with Churchstanton school and also found time to pop in for a chat with the pre schoolers.

The Moor Lane Plant sale raffle was run last month by myself and Sarah Moore and once we had established, and then abandoned, a more complicated ticket system than was really necessary, we had a good time and raised about £60. Thanks to the local community for their support and to everyone who donated prizes. A special thanks should go to Alfie from Churchstanton school, who won approximately half the prizes, and spent most of his birthday money at the stall!

The 14th of July will see the pre schoolers leavers party, the last day of term being the 21st and I, for one, will have mixed emotions about the move up to big school and the start of the big ones next step! So good luck to them all, and we will report back in September for the start of the Autumn term with lots of new starters and a new run of potty training for Leslie and Andrea, how do they do it?

Happy holidays!

There has been such a lot going on this past month and so many upcoming fundraisers it's hard to know where to start. But firstly, many thanks to The York Inn for the lovely pot of money they donated to pre school which they raised as part of their royal wedding celebration. We are always so grateful of any donations as they all provide surplus income which, with the changes happening in government, may be cut elsewhere!

We also received monies from the allotment association which we have used to buy lots of herbs and lavender plants, to give the children lots of hands on experience as far as tastes and smells are concerned, working this in alongside current topics 'five senses' and 'gardening'. They will be tending pre schools back garden vegetable plot as and when required, encouraging their budding green fingers. This is an activity they really enjoy. In addition to this a pear tree and thornless blackberry will soon be in situ in the garden ready for some cooking and crumble tasting at breaktime come Autumn.

There are many keen gardeners among you I am sure and if anyone has any spare cuttings/plants/seeds they will be gratefully received at the pre school and incorporated to make the surroundings pretty and bountiful!!

We are having our open day on June 15th,9-30-2.30, all mums and babes welcome, no matter what age, so please feel free to drop in. It will be a pre school day so you will get a real chance to see what the children get up to during the day and all the lovely activities and facilities we have on offer. You may even get a little goodie bag to take home!!

We take children aged from aged 2 at pre school, an advantage I myself have made the most of over the past four years!! Two of mine started the day after their second birthday, and all settled in fantastically. The small setting and great key workers make it an easy transition for them.

As I write we are also eagerly anticipating a visit from a snake, giant toad and other rainforest creepy crawlies, which the children are very much looking forward to as one of our special sessions. All children are invited even if it is not their normal day and so we will have a busy morning this week with Wildside Education!!

The Moor Lane Plant sale will have come and gone by the time this goes to print, and hopefully we will have sold lots of raffle tickets to raise some money towards a sensory garden that Leslie has her heart set on for next year!

Another big fund raiser, fingers crossed, will be our 'Cream Tea in an English Country Garden', (pre schools) which will be happening on a sunny weekend in July. Look out for posters and look forward to enjoying home made scones, jam and cream, chat, a little music and a bit of bunting!! See you there!!

First things first this month and we at pre school would like to say a huge thank you to all those ladies in the local community who attended our Pampered Chef evening, we hope you all enjoyed it. We benefited greatly, along with the extra time club at school, from your generosity. Hopefully some of you were also 'eyes down' for the Bingo, in aid of the school friends, at the village hall on the last Friday of term and maybe your numbers came up.

These kinds of events are essential for a small, charity based pre school like ours and enable us to renew equipment and provide benefits for the children they wouldn't have otherwise. So thanks again! Its being part of small community like ours that means we can all have a role in contributing to the welfare of our little ones.

We also had an Easter raffle at pre school and one lucky mum was received a roast chicken hamper, complete with the trimmings!

Our young starters have all settled in wonderfully now and are getting used to the routines at pre school and enjoying the activities on offer.

The pre school children will soon be having a visit from some very new chicks, courtesy of my very own chickens, which will be a couple of weeks old as you read this and hopefully getting ready to peck in the sunshine, fingers crossed!! So here's to a bright and sunny May, and the start of lots of outside play at pre school!

This Pre-school is 'Outstanding'

Well, what an amazing month we have had since writing in February. A long awaited visit from a friendly OFSTED inspector has declared that yes, our pre school is OUTSTANDING. For those who are not aware, OFSTED regulate schools, early years centres, like ours, and any other place where a child is looked after away from home.

They assess every area of how the pre school is run in relation to the quality of care, education and personal development of the children. To achieve an 'outstanding' almost all the way across the board is extremely unusual. As Leslie said, "It's the icing on the cake", or "the equivalent of winning the Oscars" for pre school. So a very VERY big pat on the back is due to Leslie and Andrea, our fantastic preschool leaders, who make it possible for our little ones to receive the best that is available for their early years care. In other news we had a lovely visit from the Taunton Fire Brigade. The children had a chance to sit in the fire engine and were all very talkative and inquisitive when being shown the equipment used to go into a burning building. There were some very clever questions from the children and we were all proud of how well behaved and polite they were.

We are holding a spring clean day, with a bit of gardening thrown in, on Sunday 20th of March between 2-4pm. I will be there, along with other committee members, and would appreciate any other help from willing friends or parents, bring your marigolds or gardening gloves, or both!

Lastly a date for your diaries. In conjunction with Churchstanton After School Club, we are holding a Pampered Chef, Ready Steady Cook evening in the village hall on Thursday 31st at 7.30 pm. There will be a cooking demonstration and nibbles and a glass of wine are included in the £4 ticket price, so come and support your local pre school, it'll be fun!

Last week, being the first week of February as I write, saw the start of the Chinese New Year, a celebration held on a different date each year based upon tracking the changes of the new moon. Every year is represented by a different animal, and for 2011 we enter the year of the rabbit. Personally, I find the fact my children are made aware of such worldly events quite inspiring and was aghast last week when my five year old son, on pick up from school, started speaking Chinese in the car on the way home! Our pre schoolers celebrated by decorating a Chinese Dragon with various materials they had painted, glittered and glued to create a beautiful colourful piece of artwork! This forms part of the 'Knowledge and Understanding of the World' section of the curriculum that every pre school, daycare centre and early years setting follows

Far from only being a place where your child is cared for during the day, while you work, (or if you're lucky enough, rest or play), registered daycare settings they also begin the foundation stage of their education, starting at age 3, and finishing at the end of reception year, aged 5. Exposure to these early experiences in daycare settings really sets them up for their first days at school, and gives them a taste of learning.

They had a taste of real life too, when a scheduled visit by 'red watch', of Taunton Fire Brigade, was delayed after they had a real fire to put out! We will be booking them to come again a.s.a.p as everyone, including staff, really enjoy the visit every year, and a chance to sit in a real fire engine as well as receiving safety information.