Interim Newsletter – Summer 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: 

 

Fire Engine Visit

We are delighted to have organised a local Fire Fighter team and their fire engine on Monday 8th June at approx 10am. Obviously, this will be dependent on whether or not they get called out to any emergencies that morning. All being well though, they will park the engine in the small front car park at 10am and we will take the children out to see it in two groups. It should be with us for about 30-60 minutes.

These visits have always been very successful and enjoyable in the past so we are hoping for another exciting morning.

If your child doesn’t usually attend on a Monday, please do feel free to come along with your child to see the fire engine any time between 10am and 10.45am. Please note if you do so, your child will remain your

responsibility during this visit.

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Parent Consultations

We look forward to seeing many of our families for parents evening on Wednesday 10th June. This provides us with an opportunity to discuss our plans for the following term for those who are staying with us and the children who are leaving to talk about any concerns you may have regarding your child starting school in September. We will be in the coffee lounge from 5pm.

We realise you may not be able to make the appointment time given to you and if this is the case, please do get in touch with us via email so that we can try to change it to a more suitable time for you. If you are away or know that you won't be able to make it that evening, please also let us know so that we can arrange to see you at another time and day that would be suitable.

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Forest School

We are extremely excited to have booked a visit for our oldest children to the forest school at Rustington Community Primary school on Wednesday 24th June. Unfortunately, we cannot extend this visit to our younger children but we hope to repeat it next year and they will then have their chance to attend once they reach school leaver age. Further information regarding times will be sent out shortly.

 

Photograph Fundraiser

We are planning on taking some individual photos of all the children this half term, which we hope will be a lovely memory for our families to keep and also be a successful fundraising opportunity for the setting. The money raised from this will go towards new resources and equipment for Rascals and we hope that you enjoy the lovely photos that we manage to capture.   Further information will be sent out soon.

 

Toothbrushing

For those children who turn 3 during this academic year, there is the opportunity to join in with brushing their teeth at Rascals each morning this half term.  We have been provided with packs of brushes and paste to send home and each child has their own named toothbrush in the setting to use.  We have been provided with storage cases for the brushes and they will be rinsed after use and stored hygienically ready for the next time they are needed. 

Children will be fully supervised during this activity, which we are planning to do just before story time around 12pm.

We do realise that children are probably already brushing their teeth at home in the morning, so this activity is an addition to the great work you are already doing at home and is not meant to be a substitute for good habits at home. 

This scheme is being rolled out in Primary schools too due to the number of cases of tooth decay in young children.

We feel it is an important skill that children should learn so we are pleased to be able to support your great work to reinforce the important message to the children.

Our younger children will join the scheme next year as they turn 3 years old.

 

Last day Friday 17th July

As we draw closer to the end of term and some of our children are getting ready to leave us for school, we would like to invite you into the church for one last time to say goodbye. Children who are leaving us for school but who do not usually attend on a Friday are invited to join us for the morning and we would ask that you please confirm by text or email that your child will be coming in that day so that we are able to ensure we have the correct number of staff to safely accommodate this.

We will be providing the children with a party snack and we will have some music and dancing during the morning.

 

If you have a child who is staying with us in September (our younger children) who attends on a Friday, we ask that you collect them at 11.40am on this day please. You are then welcome to join us in the church with your child if you would like to.

The older children (those who will be leaving us for school) will go through to the church with us at 12.00pm and will be performing a few songs.  The church doors will be opening at 11.50am so please could all parents/carers, family members who would like to come along to this, please be seated by 12pm so we can safely close the church doors again.

Once the service is finished, we will take the older children back through to playgroup to gather their things and will then invite families through to give out the children's learning journals as the children leave.

 

Wellies

Beginning the week of the 13th July we will be putting our welly rack out the front of the setting for you to collect your child’s wellies to take home for the summer. Please keep an eye out for this so that they can be returned to you before we finish for the holidays. If anyone would like to donate their child’s wellies for us to keep at Rascals please do let us know and we will be very grateful.

 

Reading books

We will continue to send reading books home for our older children over the next few weeks but will start to collect them all in during the week beginning 29th June so that we can stock take ready for next year.

 

Labelling children’s belongings

We would like to offer a polite reminder to our families to ensure that all of your children’s belongings are clearly labelled. This is particularly important for drinks bottles, lunchboxes (and boxes inside), bags (clothes inside) and coats so that we can be sure we are always sending the children home with their correct items. Many thanks.

 

 

Sun Cream  

We are looking forward to spending as much time as possible outside this term and we are hoping the weather will continue to warm up! Even though it is still a little chilly, when the sun does come out it is very strong and we would ask that you send your child to playgroup with a named sun hat. We would also ask that you start applying sun lotion to your children before they come to playgroup in the mornings. As you can imagine we simply don’t have enough hands or time to apply lotion to every child so we would really appreciate your support. We do have some sun lotion in the setting (Superdrug factor 50 for sensitive skin) so that we can top the children up during the afternoon sessions but if you have any concerns about this please do let us know.

 

Could we please remind all parents/carers to bring spare clothes for your child. We do get very messy and wet at Rascals and will need to change the children at various times. It is also great practise for the children in preparation for school to get their own bag and to change their clothes. 

 

Reminder: Arrival in the mornings

Throughout the year our cloakroom becomes much busier in the mornings due to the number of children attending each day.  In order to help this situation, we would be grateful if you could please start encouraging your child to enter independently, leaving you at the main outside door.  We will ensure an appropriate number of staff are on hand in the cloakroom to support this and we will help the children to put their own lunch and water bottles on the trolley.

This is particularly important for our older children as they prepare for school, but we feel some of our younger children may also be ready for this next stop too.  Obviously, we do understand that some of our newer children may not quite be ready for this so please do still come in with your child where necessary.

We are also still very happy for you to come in if you need to discuss anything important with your child’s key person.

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School Readiness

As we prepare to say a sad farewell to our older children, we thought it would be beneficial to reflect on how at Rascals we help to prepare the children for school and how you too can help them at home.

At Rascals we promote your child’s independence from the moment they start with us. Within our supportive  environment, your child is encouraged to think and act for themselves. 

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Toilet independence: Once your child is fully toilet trained they are encouraged to use the toilet and maintain  their personal hygiene independently. 

Personal Belongings: Your child is encouraged to look after their own belongings. They are encouraged to hang  up their own coat and bag and to collect them at the end of the morning. 

Getting Dressed: Your child is encouraged to dress themselves. Taking off and putting on their own coat and  shoes and will practice this through various dressing up and role play opportunities. (Please try and purchase  shoes for your child that they can manage themselves).  We also show the children how to recognise if their sleeves are inside out and how to pull them back through, so they are the right way before they put their coat/cardigan on.

Free flow: Your child is encouraged to explore their own interests and are given the opportunity to access a  variety of resources to support their learning. 

1 to 1 Reading sessions: In the academic year before your child starts school, they will have regular 1 to 1  reading sessions with their key person. They will have the opportunity to take the books home for the week to  share with parents / carers. 

School Role Play: We have a school role play area at Rascals throughout the year. This is more frequently set up  during the summer term so the children become more familiar with the school uniforms that they will be  encountering in their new schools. 

Lunch Time: Those children who stay for full day sessions (Mondays and Tuesdays) have the opportunity to eat  lunch together twice a week and this is an opportunity for the children to practice eating their lunch  independently in a social situation. 

Liaise with local schools: We maintain close links with local schools and annually review transition arrangements. 

Teacher Visits: We usually invite the local schools to visit Rascals to meet their new intake.

 

 

Top Tips for Starting School:  

• Involve your child in the process of buying uniform and other necessities for school.                   

• Encourage your child to dress and put on their shoes and coats independently.

• Encourage your child to manage their own personal hygiene after using the toilet such as teaching your child to wipe their own bottom and hand washing.

• Talk about starting school together BUT don’t refer to it as starting ‘BIG’ school as this can prove  intimidating. Instead use the schools name or refer to it by the colour of its uniform. 

• Read books about starting school together

The following web links provide information and advice on developing the key skills your child needs to be  school ready.

 

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Rascals occupancy list:

If you have a younger child or you know of someone who would like to put their child on our occupancy list to  attend Rascals, please let Tracey know. We have a list for the next few years so it is important to register  children as soon as possible. 

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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

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Thank you for your continued support.

THE RASCALS TEAM

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[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.]

 

 

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.

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.

 

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.  

 

 

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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:

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Parents Evening - Wednesday 10th June

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Forest School (School Leavers only) - Wednesday 24th June

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Reading books collected - week beginning 29th June

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Leavers Celebration - Friday 17th July (Last day) Younger children to be collected at 11.40am

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FIRST DAY AUTUMN TERM - Tuesday 1st September