Hello to all, but a special welcome to all the families of our new children: Christian, Lottie, Hunter and Seth. The children have all been very grown up when Mummy, Daddy, Nanna or Grandad have dropped them off, and they have already become a real part of life at Roundabout.
Coming up at Roundabout
We have several exciting events coming up over the next few months:
Monday 27th February to Friday 3rd March – Roundabout’s Fundraising Brick Build
Throughout the week all children will take part in a challenge to see how many wooden bricks they can stack on top of each other to make a tower. Prior to the event we will be sending sponsorship forms home with the children – so please get as many sponsors as possible. We would love to raise money to make improvements to our much used and under-resourced home corner.
Monday 6th March to Friday 10th March – Superhero Week
At Roundabout we realise the massive benefits of embracing weapon and superhero play and so we are excited to announce that we will be having our own superhero week! During the week we will be exploring the positive concepts of what it means to be a superhero, for example; helping others, having special powers/talents. Throughout the week we will be creating costumes and props, exploring varied superhero stories and supporting the children to think about what kind of superhero they would like to be. More details to follow.
We would like to follow Superhero Week with another themed week during the Easter term. The staff team have come up with the idea of organising a week where we explore different jobs/careers. The children often dress up as various professionals within the emergency services or sports people so we feel they would benefit from exploring these ideas further. Please speak to any member of the Roundabout team if you are, or if you know somebody who has an interesting career – and would be willing to come into Roundabout to chat with the children about it. More details to follow.
The Roundabout Team
We are excited to announce that we have a new practitioner joining the Roundabout team. Kay Quinn has been part of the Roundabout community for 3 years as a parent and member of the committee. Kay is currently training for her Level 2 Diploma in Early Years Education and Care and will be joining the Roundabout team for 3 sessions each week. We are really pleased to welcome Kay into Roundabout in a professional capacity, and it is always so positive to have a new trainees’ input into our setting.
Lunchboxes
Please could we ask all parents and carers to carefully consider the volume of food that they are putting into their child’s lunchbox. The Roundabout team appreciate that you are the people who know your children best (and their eating habits), but we really do feel that some of the children’s lunches are huge!!! The sheer amount of food in some lunchboxes is leading to a lot of waste, as well as frustrated children who take an extremely long time to finish what they have. Could we also remind parents and carers that we are obligated to support all of our children to eat healthily, therefore please only provide one ‘treat’ item with each lunch (e.g. biscuits, chocolate bars).
Nurturing Independence
Although it is only January, our thoughts naturally begin to turn to September when a large number of our children will be starting school. With this in mind please could we ask parents to support their children to gain independence with regards to removing coats, finding their names on the Roundabout register and using the ‘Emotion Flowers ’to tell us how they feel. These skills will stand them in good stead for their transition into school.
Calling all Volunteers!
We would love to see more parent volunteers at Roundabout – if you have the time please let us know. No amount of time is too small and we would always organise sessions to suit you – as little or as often as you would like.
Updating our info
Please would all parents ensure that we have the correct contact details for all those who are named as contacts for the children within our care. It is vital that we can contact you efficiently should the need arise.
My name is Adele and I am manager at Roundabout. I am currently qualified as a level 5 in childcare and management, my previous experience of 30 years has always been in full day care. Out of the setting I spend a lot of time with my family outdoors, a hobby of mine is doing cross stitch (needle work).
Alissia
My name is Alissia and I am the Deputy Manager at Roundabout Pre-School. I have a degree in business management but my passion has always been in childcare which I have worked in since 2014. I love doing crafting in my spare time and also love spending time with my pets which include 1 dog, 4 cats, a tortoise and a guinea pig!
Helen
My name is Helen, I started working at Roundabout in January 2024. I have a Level 3 qualification in childcare and love working with children.
Sarah
My name is Sarah I have level 3 in childcare, and I have worked at Roundabout since April 2002. I have 2 grown-up children. I enjoy walking but enjoy the coffee in a cafe at the end more.
Laura
My name is Laura and I have worked at Roundabout since February 2018. I have 4 lovely children who keep me very busy. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and going for long walks along the canal. I have worked with children since I was 17 and love how fun and different each day can be. I have a level 3 in childcare and have received my level 2 in supporting children with language communication.
Maren
My name is Maren and I take care of all administrative tasks for the pre-school. I am married with two teenage sons. In my free time I teach German, love the outdoors and travelling.
Rebecca
My name is Rebecca and I joined the Roundabout team in 2022. My little boy also comes to Roundabout; that's how much we like it here! 😊