April Newsletter 2026

Hello everyone and hope you have enjoyed the Easter holidays!

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First and foremost- we would like to give a warm welcome to some new children. Penny who will join our older cohort and to Theo and Laurie who will be joining our younger cohort. We hope you enjoy your time with us!

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We also welcome back from the other side of the world-Maia! Hope you have enjoyed your few months in New Zealand visiting family and extending it at the same time!

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We would also like to give the same warm welcome to 2 new lovely members of staff!

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Charlotte Hatch will join our team as Bank Staff- to come on in when we need those extra pair of hands or to cover another staff member. Charlotte is a trained primary school teacher and apart from supply work in primary schools she also provides French lessons to local schools and early years settings. We have known Charlotte many years and she will commence with us after Easter.

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We have also recruited Jude Hill as a level 3 Early Years Practitioner. She has worked in a number of local early years settings and Jude will also commence with us after Easter.

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Both ladies have a wealth of experience in early years settings and we hope they are looking forward to being part of our preschool! We look forward to working with them both.

Dates for this summer term:

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Return Monday 13th April.
Closed Monday 4th May for the bank holiday.
Break up for half term Friday 22 nd May.
Return Monday 1 st June
Finish for the summer Friday 17 th July.

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In the meantime, lots still to do!

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This month we will continue to learn all about springtime and this will include the arrival of our duck hatching kit on Tuesday 14 th April- how exciting!

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Last year we had the pleasure of 6 eggs which hatched into 5 chicks and 1 duck and this year we will have 6 duck eggs with the hope of getting 6 ducks!

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This is a wonderful experience for the children as we will observe the eggs over a few days hopefully catching the actual hatching. We then
keep them in their incubated home and watch as the grow into delightful ducks! Not only is this a great learning experience- but so much fun!

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We have been able to purchase this kit from a donation we received from Addingham Beer Festival of which we are very grateful.

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Depending upon the weather behaving itself- for that last week in April we may be able to start our topic of Planting & Growing. We will also this term- for our older cohort of children- be focussing on Transition to school!

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This month we will have a focus on refining our pencil hold and control and building up independent skills. You can help at home please by using the pencil activity we will be
sending home and also encouraging good independent dressing and undressing skills- including footwear!

Phonics Programme
In preparation for school we will also be continuing with our phonics programme which commenced back in September. This also goes hand in hand with the programme school follow as we are working with them too for the best literacy outcomes for our children. More info will be sent out short about this programme.

Learning all about……People Who help us.
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Looking ahead to May – we will be learning all about the different jobs people have and in particular those which involve helping people- of which there are lots! We have in the past welcomed people with different roles to come on into preschool to tell us a little bit about their job and maybe bring in some equipment that they use. We have had Doctors & Nurses, dentists, road crossing patrol people, police, postal workers etc. We are planning to do this for 2 weeks commencing Monday 11th and Monday 18th May.
Would you have a job that the children would love to know about? Do you know someone else who may be interested to come on in? It can be any job- not just those listed above! Please let me know if you can help!

School Applications for reception 2026
I’m sure you don’t need me to remind you that you will next week receive notification of your child’s primary school allocation for reception 2026. I hope you all get your preferred school! If you have been allocated a different school other than Addingham Primary and this was your choice- please let me know and then we can ensure we work with that school re transition. In the event you are not allocated your preferred school- please do let us know and we can discuss this further. But hopefully it will not come to that.

Trip to Nell Bank Wednesday 17th June.
Thank you for all your responses regarding the trip which has now allowed me to give them the numbers of children attending. I don’t require the money yet- I will need to send out invoices (even though it is a voluntary contribution) and I will do this next month- thank you.

‍Billy the Guinea Pig
For those of you who didn’t read on our social media page- sadly Billy died whilst on holiday. He was given much care and love by the family he was with ahead of him going to sleep to which we are very grateful. We will ensure that Stuart gets lots of TLC!
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Tadpoles
Thankfully these are thriving! Still very lively! Upon return to preschool we will continue to observe them and hopefully soon they will have completed their cycle!

Snacks
The fruit bowl and snack cupboard will need replenishing when we return next week and therefore we will appreciate any contributions. Fruit, bread sticks, crackers, malt bread, etc. Thank you

Sunny weather
Please remember to apply sun cream to your child ahead of arrival at preschool. As you can imagine- having to cream up 20 children each day before playing out can be time consuming so if it can be done at home- that would be great. We have sun cream in case you forget and for top-up’s as required. However- if you would prefer to have some in your child’s bag for their sole use- that’s fine- just let us know it’s there. Sun hats as well please!

Date for your diary
Addingham Gala weekend Friday 10th and Saturday 11th July. We will be participating in the parade on the Saturday afternoon- more details to follow!

That’s it for now I think!
Looking forward to seeing you all next week!

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