Dear Parents/Carers

​

Welcome back after half term, we hope you all had a lovely week and are excited to be back!

We would like to draw your attention to a few updates and dates for your diaries: 

 

Stay and Play  - Monday 17th November

From this half term we will be reintroducing our Stay and Play sessions to allow our families to come into Rascals and see what your children are enjoying taking part in. We would like to welcome you to come along and play for the first 45 minutes of this session (9.30am-10.15am) although we would ask that just one adult per child stays please to prevent it becoming too busy.  Younger siblings are very welcome but will remain your responsibility whilst on the premises please. We also ask that you ensure you inform a member of staff when you are leaving so that they are able to supervise who is in the building and ensure all doors are secured once you have left.

If you can’t make it to this session, please don’t worry as we will be doing some other Stay and Play sessions throughout the year, future dates will be Tuesday 20th January, Thursday 13th March and 

Friday 8th May.

 

Children in Need

This year Children in Need takes place on Friday 14th November. We will be supporting this worthy cause by inviting the children to come dressed in their spotty clothes or fancy dress! There will be a collection box at the front entrance of Rascals on the day for your donations. We would suggest a donation of £1 but of course will be happy to pass on whatever contributions we receive.  

 

School starters 2026

We are so pleased to hear from many of our school starters for next year that they have been enjoying going to visit various local schools. We hope those families have had positive experiences and we would please ask that once you have applied for your child’s place that you let us know, via email or message, which schools you have applied for please.  This is just so that we are aware of possible school allocations, and we can start to get organised for when the time comes for the children to transition by making contact with relevant schools. 

Please note the deadline for applying for a school place for next September is Thursday 15th January 2026 although we would suggest that you get the application completed as soon as you have made a decision on your choices.  We look forward to hearing from those families this relates to. If you have any worries, concerns or problems applying for a school place please let us know as soon as possible so that we can discuss this with you in plenty of time before the deadline. 

 

Christmas Photograph Fundraiser

We have been busy in the setting taking photos of all the children 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 have been able to capture, the children really enjoyed taking part. Further information will be sent out soon.

 

Christmas Plans

We are all getting very excited as we finalise our plans for Christmas. 

We are planning on performing a short nativity with some songs in the church on Friday 12th December at approximately 12pm.  All children will be invited for that whole morning, so if your child doesn’t usually attend on a Friday, you are invited to bring them along at 9.30am so they can join in the fun. 

We will be having a party snack on the same day (taking into account all dietary needs). 

 

The church doors will open at approximately 11.50am but will then be closed at 12pm in order to maintain safety for our children. There will be no restrictions on numbers of people attending this service so we look forward to seeing our families coming to watch.

As we have some very young children and some children who may find it challenging to be on the stage, we want the church to be a safe space, so all doors will be closed and we will be letting those children who need to have a little walk around, do so whilst we do our best to keep as many children on the stage as possible! 

We won’t know until the day of the nativity who is going to be wearing which costume as the children will be deciding that for themselves on the day. Equally, if they don’t wish to wear a costume, that is fine too. 

I think you’ll agree it should be a very heartwarming performance and one which we can’t wait to share with you. 

 

Christmas jumper week

On the last full week of term, we invite the children to wear a Christmas jumper / top / dress on the day of their choice. This will run from Monday 8th December - Tuesday 16th December.

 

Car Parking and Children’s safety

Just a reminder that as other church users are sometimes on the premises at the same time as us, there may be vehicles moving in and out of our small car park at busy times.  Please be extra vigilant with your children when walking from one car park to the other.   

Please keep the Ministers allocated parking space free at ALL times – Thank you.

 

Dates for your diary:

Parents Consultation – Wednesday 12th November

Children in Need – Friday 14th November

Stay and Play – Monday 17th November

Christmas clothes/jumpers – Week beginning Monday 8th December

Nativity/Christmas party snack – Friday 12th December

Last day of term – Tuesday 16th December

First Day of Spring Term – Monday 5th January

Deadline for Applying to Schools – Thursday 15th January

Half term week – 16th February - 20th February

 

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