Interim Newsletter – Spring Term 2026

 

Dear parents/carers,

Welcome back after the half term break. We would like to draw your attention to a few updates and dates for your diaries: 

 

World book day

World book day is on Thursday 5th March.  All children are invited to come in dressed as their favourite book character and bring along a chosen book to share with everyone at Rascals - we would ask that these are clearly labelled with your child’s name so that we can ensure they come home with the right child. Staff will also be dressing up so look out for any familiar characters!

We will be giving out book vouchers throughout that week.  If your child won’t be in on Thursday they are very welcome to dress up on a different day that week.  Please bear in mind that accessories are difficult to keep track of so we would suggest that anything special is

named please.

 

Parents Evening

Our next parents evening will be on Wednesday 11th March beginning at 5.15pm. Your key person will be in touch with you to arrange an appointment.  If you cannot make this date, please contact a member of staff and we will arrange an alternative time for you to meet with your child's key worker.

 

Stay and Play

We will be holding our next ‘Stay and Play’ session on  Thursday 12th March 9.30am – 10.15am and the final stay and play session of the academic year will be on Friday 8th May 9.30 - 10.15am. We politely ask that you ensure a member of staff lets you out of the setting at the end of these sessions so that we are able to ensure the safety of all the children in our care and keep record of who is entering and leaving the building. Thank you for your support with this.

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Red Nose Day

We will be supporting Red Nose Day on Friday 20th March. We would like to invite the children to come dressed either in something red or sporty and we will provide the children with the opportunity to have a little dance along to some party music towards the end of the morning. There will be a donation pot out near the front entrance of Rascals on the day, all donations towards this great cause will be passed on and greatly appreciated.

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Easter PreSchool Praise

We are excited to announce that our Easter Celebration Preschool Praise service will be on

Friday 27th March (last day of term) at 12pm. The service lasts for approximately 15 minutes and will include action songs that the children have been learning during the half term leading up to the service. If your child does not normally attend on a Friday you are very welcome to meet us in the church at 12pm so your child can join us on stage.

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Children’s water bottles, lunchboxes and bags

Please ensure that your child’s water bottle and lunch are NAMED CLEARLY at all times.  This is particularly important when you buy them a new bottle or lunch box/bag, that we won’t recognise as belonging to your child. Could we also offer a polite reminder to ensure your child’s bag is stocked with a change of clothes and nappies, wipes and nappy bags (if appropriate for your child), thank you.

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Light & Heat to Ukraine Donations

We thought it would be nice to join the church members in collecting items for the Light and Heat to Ukraine.  A leaflet has been put in your child’s bags with a list of items printed to help guide you with your donation (a copy of the list will be attached with this newsletter).  There will be a collection box left out each day. Thank you in advance for your support. 

 

 

Dates for your diary:

• World Book Day – Thursday 5th March

• Parent’s Evening – Wednesday 11th March

• Stay and Play – Thursday 12th March 9.30 - 10.15

• Red Nose Day – Friday 20th March

• Easter Pre School Praise & last day of term – Friday 27th March

• First Day of Summer Term – Monday 13th April

• Bank Holiday – Monday 4th May

• Half term – Monday 25th May – Friday 29th May

• Last Day of Summer Term – Friday 17th July

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All this information and lots more can be found on our website – www.rascalsplaygroup.co.uk For regular updates please LIKE us on Facebook -

www.facebook.com/RascalsPreSchoolPlaygroup

Thank you for your continued support.

THE RASCALS TEAM

[PLEASE NOTE: The Rascals mobile phone and email address is constantly monitored by Tracey.  During out of hours and particularly over weekends and holidays you may not receive an  immediate response. However, if you are contacting us with a matter of urgency an email is  always the best course of action.]

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Just some usual reminders……

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Personal Details:

Please ensure you inform us immediately of any change of details such as mobile phone numbers  or other contact details for parents and your emergency contacts. It is essential that our records  are kept up to date in case of emergencies.

 

Medicines in Playgroup:

Please be advised that any medical products needed at playgroup MUST be given to a member of staff for us to store in our medical box in the Main Hall and paperwork will need to be completed.

Please could all parents check NO medical products are left in their child’s rucksack on their peg during the course of the morning, as all the children do have free access to their pegs. 

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Illness:

Please DO NOT send your child to playgroup if they are unwell at all, particularly if they have needed medicine in the morning. We find that the medication will wear off after a couple of hours and then children begin to feel unwell again and we need to send them home.

If your child does have any medication before they come, such as antihistamine for hay fever, you are asked to let a member of staff know please, so that we can make a note of it in our records.  This is for emergency purposes in case we are required to call an ambulance, we can clearly tell the paramedics what medication they have already received that day.

If they have suffered from diarrhoea or sickness please keep them at home for at least 48 hours after the last episode of sickness or diarrhoea. This also applies to those children who have started a course of antibiotics.

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Please always phone or text Rascals mobile number to let us know your child is going to be absent.   If we haven’t heard from you by 10am, it is our policy to get in touch with you to check that everything is ok, in line with our safeguarding policy.

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PLEASE REMEMBER TO TELL A MEMBER OF STAFF IF SOMEONE DIFFERENT IS COLLECTING  YOUR CHILD FROM PLAYGROUP. WE WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR CHILD TO GO WITH ANYONE  UNLESS WE HAVE YOUR PRIOR PERMISSION AND DETAILS ABOUT THAT PERSON. THIS APPLIES  IN ALL CASES. WE WILL ALSO NOW BE OPERATING A PASSWORD SYSTEM FOR ANYONE WHO  HAS NOT COLLECTED PREVIOUSLY SO PLEASE BE PREPARED TO THINK OF A SPECIAL WORD  THAT YOU CAN SHARE WITH US AND YOUR ELECTED PERSON.