February 2018 Ofsted Grades Choochoos ‘Outstanding’ - “Choochoos follows worldwide religious festivals and

celebrations to ensure that we bring them into our nursery education.”

A very warm welcome to all of our

new families joining us in 2018.

Choochoos are celebra�ng our

12th year in childcare.

Dear Parents and Families,

Its hard to believe we are in February already. This month is going to be a busy one with lots of

events to cover, Pancake Day, World Book Day, Winter Olympics and Chinese New Year! With

that in mind we have been busy in January with interest from new parents and children, I very

much look forward to welcoming all the new children who are star-ng with us soon!

Warm Regards,

Emily, manager.

What have the children been getting up to at Choochoos?

Babychoos have had lots of fun this month dressing up and exploring different

types of music from around the world. The children have been moving to music

and expressing their interest in dance and song. This month Babychoos have also

had lots of visits to the park exploring what they can see around them and poin-ng

out items of interest. The children have been naming what they can see in the

world around them using naming words such as, bus, dogs, house, tree.

Babychoos also took part in the Australia Day celebra-ons and created their

own Anzac biscuits with their friends exploring mixing and pouring. The children

also loved looking at Australian animals and making the animal sounds.

The Caterpillars have had a wonderful month exploring nature and the world

around them. They have also had trips to the park collec-ng leaves and crea-ng

their own nature pictures, discovering different textures and shapes. The children

have taken part in exploring colours in different ways, using paints, pencils and

cra3 materials talking about what they can see. The Caterpillars enjoyed celebra-ng

Australia day, taking part in cooking Australian food and crea-ng Australian animals.

The Bu4erfly children have had a very busy January filled with lots of wonderful

events and celebra-ons. The Bu4erflies took part in Australia day events and Burns night. Some of

the ac-vi-es they took part in were cooking, face pain-ng, crea-ng masks, flags, songs and books

from Australia and Scotland as well as learning about these different cultures. The children were

very exci-ng to share their knowledge and understanding about these different cultures with their

peers and families. The children

have also shown a great interest

in story telling with their friends,

ac-ng out and role-playing

characters from special books

and re-telling these stories as a

group at story -me.

Testimonial - Thanks as always for all the hard work you and the team put into looking after my child. - Parent February 2018

Dates for Diary..…

9-25 Winter Olympics—trip to the park to have their own Olympics 13 World radio day 12-16 HALF TERM (Term -me children only) 13 Strove Tuesday (pancake day) pancake cra3 a3ernoon 12 Valen-ne’s Day—crea-ng cards 16 Chinese New Year (Year of the Dog) - cooking Chinese food and crea-ng our Chinese animals Choochoos Christmas closure dates for 2018/2019 are as follows: Our last open day is Friday 21st December, and will reopen on Monday 7th January 2019.

Recent Staff Training…..

Lara East and Rosie Jones a4ended the

“Wriggling into Wri-ng” course. Rosie and

Lara informed me that it was a very fun way

to introduce wri-ng and mark making to

children. They are looking forward to sharing

this with all the other staff at our staff

mee-ng and adding the ac-vi-es they have

learnt to the children’s group -mes.

Employee of the Month

Naomi Hooper

Naomi is a great team player and is always suppor-ng the Choochoos

team. Naomi is also a great key person to all her key children and families.

Well done!! Naomi will receive a shopping voucher and cer-ficate.

Kent Early Years and Childcare Provider Association

Choochoos is a member of the Kent Early Years and Childcare Provider Association. The

Association is a collaboration of professionals made up from the local authority (KCC) Early

Years team and a variety of providers across Kent who want to offer opinions, ideas and be at

the forefront to lead new initiatives. The group consists of around 12 people which meet

regularly discuss current topics and issues surrounding childcare. Next meeting we will be

discussing the new Education and Childcare Qualification announced by the Education

Secretary Justine Greening (T levels) and giving our suggestions of what should be included in

the qualification to the government. Choochoos feels very positive about this new

qualification as it aims to ensure all training for all

students from any training provider is robust and equal.

Choochoos will be suggesting a review for training

students covering child development, the importance

of children having sleep and rest, healthy eating and

sustained shared thinking.

Swopping sessions We hope you find us very flexible when it comes to swopping your sessions. However

please can you ensure we have two weeks notice to do this as swopping and adding

children can cause problems with our registers and staffing rotas. We can not swop

children’s sessions unless we get adequate notice.

Makaton Sign of the Month

Babychoos - Nappy

Caterpillars– Turtle

Butterflies - Shark and

Jellyfish

A Career with Choochoos

We often receive enquiries from parents asking if we have any

vacancies available. We do advertise positions through our

website and local recruitment agencies. Currently we are seeking a full time position at

Choochoos Canterbury and a part time morning post at Choochoos Whitstable. If you

would like further details or a job specification please email Karla -

info@choochoos.co.uk. The positions are both for an Early Years Practitioner preferable

qualified with recent experience.

eyLog

I hope you have viewed your child’s termly evaluations and new next

steps for term 2. Please remember observations you supply on eyLog for

us we can link to the eyfs, your child’s next steps and this can contribute

toward your child’s progress and development.

Book of the month - February

Babychoos -“Down by the cool of the pool”

Caterpillars - “Oi dog”

Bu%erflies - “Wombat Stew”

Song of the month - February

Accident Forms

In the unfortunate event of an accident form being generated for your child and a person other

than the child’s parent/ carer signs the form (for example Auntie may collect) can you please

ensure when you next arrive at Choochoos you as the parent/ carer sign the form.

Babychoos

“Twinkle, Twinkle li4le

star”

Caterpillars

“Walking in the jungle”

Bu%erflies

“Kookaburra sits in the

old gum tree”

Thank you for taking the time to read this Newsletter. I am available any time for you to

come and see me and share your thoughts or email me on ask@choochoos.co.uk

Emily Gale Manager

KCC Early Years and Childcare Strategy

Karla our Registered Person last month was part of a review group working with other

professionals to consider the following KCC Early Years priority:- Embed a system wide

approach to continuous improvement in early education and childcare provision that

includes more collaborative networks of providers and the use of a comprehensive

range of chargeable and centrally funded services. Karla advised ‘It was a privilege to

offer ideas and support to amend the strategy so it is current and meaningful during

an ever changing time within childcare and Early Years.’

Holiday Dates

If you know you are going on holiday during term -me, please could you

let us know in advance or alterna-vely complete a holiday form found in

the lobby.

Your Local Children’s Centre.....

Did you know at your local children’s centre

Each children centre offers a different timetable.

Offers groups for parents, families and children and

classes.

Visit your local children centre for positive experiences and support.

See our leaflets in our lobby for timetables and more information.

Australia Week and Burns Night

The children had wonderful week celebra-ng Australia day and burns night. The children took part in Australian

songs and books, dressing up, crea-ng Australian and ScoHsh food, face pain-ng, and designing their own

aboriginal art. Thank you to all our families that contributed Australian items from home, it was lovely for the

children to share these items with their friends.