Dear Parents,

We are back into the swing of the second term at Crudwell Pre-School and Jo and Kylie seem to have hit the ground running: you will have already received a letter from them regarding activities to be covered through the course of this term (and if not, please visit our website to see the most recent newsletters), and you will receive more information later in the term with precise details about the festive celebrations that are now being planned.

Fundraising: Ferret Racing with Hog Roast – update

Last month's Ferret Racing was a runaway success and appeared to be enjoyed by all who attended the evening. Thank you to everyone who did so: your generosity helped raise a total of £1,416 for the preschool. We are planning another fundraising event in the new year and will contact you with details closer to the time.

Website

We have recently updated our website. Please do visit the site in order to see our daily routine, details of current activities, our newsletters, our art gallery, and so much more at: www.crudwellpreschool.co.uk . We would appreciate your comments about the new look website.

Opening times

Please note that the Pre-School is open from 9:15a.m.. Should you arrive prior to this time, please feel welcome to wait in the foyer (particularly during inclement weather!) until Jo or Kylie welcomes you through to the main hall. Jo and Kylie spend time prior to this setting up the hall and it is important that you do not enter the main hall until such a time that this is complete and they can turn their full attention to the children.

Morning Sessions for 2 year olds

We are currently trialing opening up our morning sessions to 2 year olds. Should you wish to make use of this or should you know of anyone who would like to do so, please ask them to contact either Freya Thomson (Chair) on 01666 577983 or Jo Sharples (Supervisor) on 07986 622191 for further information.

Open Morning: Monday 8 th December

We will be having an Open Morning on this day, and welcome everybody to it. Please let anyone who is interested know of this and help us advertise it as widely as we can. You will receive 10 book marks in your child's tray with details of the open morning; please hand them out to anybody who is interested. Thank you.

Price changes

Crudwell Pre-school has prided itself in providing a comfortable, safe and stimulating place for Early Years Learning to take place at a very competitive price. We do not aim to make a profit, merely to cover our costs through fees and charitable donations. Any profit that is made is used to improve the Pre-School which must clearly run as a viable business to survive. From January 2009 we will therefore be implementing our first price increase in three years as follows:

•  a half day session for 2-4 year olds will increase £0.25 to £8.75

•  lunch club will increase by £0.25 to £1.75

Music Monsters

We recently had Clemency Rubenstein of Music Monsters visit the preschool for a demonstration session of music and singing aimed particularly at preschool children. This was a huge success and we are currently looking for a sponsor who would be willing to donate £300 annually to ensure we can secure this invaluable addition to the termly routine. We hope in the near future to be able to inform you when these sessions will start.

Parent Rota

The parent rota, which was temporarily suspended for this term, will be reinstated as of January 2009. Each child's parent/guardian will be allocated an afternoon where they are asked to come in half an hour early in order to help with the tidying away under the guidance of Jo and Kylie. Should you be unable to do this, a charge of £10 will be added to your termly invoice to help cover the cost of the hall for the extra time it takes to clear away.

Christmas celebrations

Jo and Kylie are organizing a festive celebration of songs and activities to which all parents/guardians are invited on Wednesday 17 th December. Precise details will be issued at a later date.

Last day of term

This will be Friday 19 th December and will be a half day, finishing after lunchtime. The children will spend the morning at Crudwell School and be present for the school's church service. More details will follow at a later date.

A sad farewell

We are very sad to say goodbye to our Treasurer, Sue Smith, who has been an invaluable committee member through the last 18 months, and we thank her for her commitment and hard work over that time. We are keen to recruit a new Treasurer to replace her and would welcome you to the committee. Please join us for our next meeting at The Wheatsheaf pub on Wednesday 26 th November at 8:00pm.

We look forward to a fun-packed run up to Christmas at Crudwell Pre-School .

Freya Thomson

Chair, Crudwell Pre-School