We are now well into the spring term and the children are learning about growing and what happens in the world around us at spring time.  The sound of the week is “m” from 22nd March until 2nd April.  Please encourage your child to look around at home for an item they may bring to playgroup that begins with the relevant sound as well as talking with them about what happens in the Spring so they can then join in with discussions more freely at playgroup. On the 11th February we held our Open Day.  This event was planned as a forum in which parents or carers of children who currently attend playgroup can see the work their children have completed, speak to the keyworkers and see how the playgroup session is run.  It is also aimed at parents or carers of children who have yet to start at playgroup to come and view the session and ask any questions they may have about the group.  This year’s Open Day was very helpful to those parents who attended, we opened at 9.20 am as usual with the children sitting down for registration; at this point those parents who wished to stay were invited through to the annexe to see the children’s work, study the curriculum, speak with the committee and view all the policies of the group.  We also had a display from the Pre-school Learning Alliance giving information about its work.  Some parents were able to stay for the whole morning, others for half an hour or so, but I am sure that they all gained a deeper understanding about the playgroup.  Unfortunately however, we had very few parents/carers of children who are yet to start with us even though we had written to about 30 or so parents informing them of the event.  It was a pity that so many were otherwise engaged on that morning, the event proved very helpful to those who attended and whilst parents/carers are invited to visit at any time, on the Open Day we had a wide variety of information and resources available that is not normally out.  Hopefully next year many more parents/carers will be able to attend as a huge amount of work goes into the morning by both the Staff and the Committee. As I have mentioned in the past we are undergoing the accreditation process.  Many parents/carers at playgroup and the toddler group will have received a questionnaire and to those of you who returned them we are very grateful.  We have now produced the Action Plan through which we will be working over the coming weeks with areas we feel from our own observations, suggestions made by the Pre-School Learning Alliance representative and comments made on the questionnaires that we need to alter or improve upon.  So I am sure that over the next few weeks you will all see some differences.  Thank you for your continued support and if you have any additional suggestions please speak to Gill. As the European Elections will be taking place on Thursday 10th June, we have to vacate the hall and will therefore be unable to run the session on this morning.  We will confirm in writing to all parents/carers affected, but please put this date in your diary. We break up for the Easter Holiday on Friday 2nd April and return to playgroup on Monday 19th April when the Sound of the Week will be “N” and the theme for activity will be numbers. Happy Easter Julia Rushford