shepherd lodge

clifton lodge

bluebell Lodge

Clifton Lodge News

May 2012

Parents Evening
All the team at Clifton Lodge would like to thank all parents/carers for attending our Spring Term Parents Evening, it was fantastic to see so many of you there to discuss your childs development and give us your feedback, thoughts and suggestions on the service we provide. If you have any comments or suggestions for the nursery please feel free to add your ideas to our suggestion box in the nursery office, we really value your comments.

Easter Service
We would also like to thank you all for supporting our Pre-school Easter service, it was a great success. The children really enjoyed performing and I’m sure you’re still singing the songs on your way to nursery!

Places for September 2012
We are now more than half way through the nursery year and we are already making plans for September admissions. Places are filling up, but we are still accepting children’s names for our waiting lists for September. If you would like any additional sessions for September please let Amie know in the office. If you wish to make any changes to your child’s hours please give the nursery as much notice as possible to avoid disappointment.

Design our Olympic 2012 Official T-shirt
We hope you are all enjoying taking part in the children’s t-shirt design competition to design Clifton Lodges Olympic 2012 Official T-shirt. We will be judging the competition on Mon 14th May at 2:00 o clock. There will be a certificate and Olympic sticker for all entries.

The Olympic Flame
Clifton Lodge Nursery is very excited to hold our initial breakfast-time Club Day celebration at 6:00am on Sat 23rd June 2012. We invite all parents/ carers to this event where you will be able to enjoy a continental breakfast as we cheer the Olympic Flame through Clifton Drive on its torch bearing route. Shortly after we will proceed to Lytham for 08:30, where the town will be closed to private cars this includes Station Square.

Inspiring Generations
Clifton Lodge want to use the power of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to inspire children to realise their potential making their learning more relevant, interesting and fun. An early introduction to sports and to the world of Olympics will help children at our nursery learn new things, play new activities; incorporating friendship, unity and sports and have lots of fun!

Club Day 2012
Clifton Lodge Nursery is beginning to organise the float for this year’s procession. The Olympics theme will be incorporated on this year’s float. We are looking for any props and decorations to support pictures of the children getting involved in physical activity and Olympics themed projects. If any parent/carers can sew/ knit or can offer any other help at all (i.e. helping to dress the float on the Thursday/Friday beforehand) we would really appreciate it. We endeavour to have a fantastic day, and if you would like to become part of our celebrations and volunteer your services please let Amie or your key worker aware, thank you.

Staff News
Congratulations to Gemma Skuja who gave birth to her Son Archie Harry also on the 21st of April, Gemma, Adam and Oliver and baby Archie are doing well. We are very happy to announce that Rachael Parkins gave birth to Toby Edward Parikins on the 22nd of April who weighs 7lb2oz. In April Maria Crawshay was appointed as The Toddler Room Coordinator at Clifton Lodge Nursery. Maria is also working alongside Emma Louise Szysz who has recently joined the staff team. Emma is currently working in the Toddler Unit, and has the NVQ level 3 in children's care learning and development. We wish Maria and Emma the best of luck in their new positions.

St Annes Library
The children and staff at Clifton Lodge enjoy accessing our local services and sometimes travel down to St Annes Library to lend stories and enjoy the story telling experiences they have to offer at the library. Since the library has been closed for renovation some of the session times have changed. The new times are as follows:

If you would like to contact St Annes Library concerning any of their programs please use the contact details below:
Telephone: 01253 643900
Library Email: stannes.library@lancashire.gov.uk

Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations
Due to the celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the May Bank holiday has now been moved to the following weekend. Therefore please note that the nursery will be closed on June 4th which is a Bank Holiday, and June 5th Queens Diamond Jubilee. On the 29th May we invite you to our Royal Garden tea party to celebrate this special event. The children are invited to dress up for the event in either: red, white or blue or as Princes or Princesses.

Dates for your diary
May 1st Share A Story Month
May 7th Bank Holiday (nursery closed)
May 29th Royal Garden Tea Party
June 1st National Smile Month
June 4th Bank Holiday (nursery closed)
June 5th Queens Diamond Jubilee (nursery closed)

April 2012

Rainbow Day/ Sports Relief
Thank you for contributing to the Rainbow themed day. It was a great success; the children looked fantastic and enjoyed exploring the sports activities and games, including hurdles, sack races and various ball games. We raised an amazing £83:29 for the sports relief and rainbow charities. Thank you to everyone that took part.

Nursery fees
As of the 1st of April the nursery has changed bank account details. All fees are now to be paid into this account. We prefer you to pay by standing order but if you must pay by cheque please make all cheques payable to Learning Curve (Lancashire)LTD. If you have not yet received a standing order mandate with the new bank account details please make Amie or Laura aware in the office. You can either set this up through internet banking or by telephoning your bank.

Sainsbury’s and Tesco vouchers
The nursery is collecting Sainsbury’s and Tesco vouchers. The nursery exchanges the vouchers for equipment to keep active and make learning physical with activities, such as a parachute or equipment for dancing. The collection point will be in the the office.

Club Day 2012 and The Olympic Flame
We are very excited to hear about the Olympic Torch that is being relayed through St Annes and Lytham from 6.20am on June 23rd which is Lytham Club Day. Although the torch – carried in turn by 16 bearers on its relay through Fylde – will have left the area long before the usual mid-morning parade timing, plans are already being considered to co-ordinate the two events, possibly with some form of initial breakfast-time Club Day celebration. Due to this consequential news we intend to theme our float for the procession covering the Olympics. Clifton Lodge are determined to make the most of this opportunity which will live long in the memory of everyone involved, details regarding the event will be followed up in Mays newsletter.

Design our Olympic 2012 Official T-shirt
In correspondence to Lytham Club Day, the staff at Clifton Lodge hope to parade in a London 2012 themed uniform. With this in mind, we are launching a children’s t-shirt design competition to find an inspiring design that represents the Olympic games incorporating the famous symbols and The Learning Curve logo. The winning prize for this competition will incorporate holding Clifton Lodges Olympic Torch and starring on our nursery website. (Please see the T-shirt silhouette below if you would like to enter).

Easter Bonnet Competition
Clifton Lodge Nursery are having an Easter bonnet competition on Thursday12th of April at 2:15. Below are some websites that may give you some inspiration or support when making you're bonnets.

Net mums: click here
this is a fabulous link and website in general packed with real ideas and suggestions for parents who have been there and done it themselves.

All free crafts world: click here
this website tells you how to make a bonnet from a variety of materials.

ehow: click here
I hope you find these websites useful and if not ask your child’s key person they will be happy to help.

Hats and Sun Cream
Due to the impeding warm weather we would like to advise parents to bring sun hats and sun cream for your child's protection. The staff at Clifton Lodge will apply sun cream to exposed skin to avoid sun damage when playing outside in the warm weather. Alternatively if you apply cream at home please make your key worker aware . Finally If your child is allergic to any sun cream please let your key worker know

Dates for your diary
April 4th Easter Service (time to be confirmed)
April 6th Bank Holiday (nursery closed)
April 9th Bank Holiday (nursery closed)
April 23rd RSPCA Week
April 30th Pre-school Information Evening with Alistair Clegg at The Solaris Centre, 7pm – 9pm. We would like to invite all the parents of the children who will be starting in Pre-school in September to an Information Evening being held at the Solaris Centre.

March 2012

Story Bags

As a result of World Book Day, we have developed a number of story bags that consist of books with teddies, toys and games that link to the story. This is a fantastic opportunity to share a story with your child to encourage communication and a love of reading. We soon hope to create a lending library for these story bags to share with your child at home.

The Media

Clifton Lodge were thrilled to win star photo in Nursery Worlds February Edition 2012, featuring our rocket ship adventures. The Preschool children were also pictured flipping pancakes on shrove Tuesday in The Lytham Express. Additionally The Preschool children can also be seen in this weeks (1/3/12) addition of the Lytham Express using thye nursery Walkodiles. All media coverage can be viewed online or at the nursery entrance.

Vegetable patch

We will be creating a vegetable patch very soon at Clifton Lodge Nursery and would like to invite parents and other family members to assist, if you would like to be involved. The children will learn about sustainability through planting and watering the plants and vegetables. If anyone would like to be involved please see your child’s key worker.

Rainbow Day – 23rd March 2012

On 23rd March 2012 we will be celebrating a special day to raise money for two different charities. Clifton Lodge are supporting both: The Legacy Rainbow House and Sports relief. The Legacy Rainbow House provides support for children with disabilities, and life threatening or shortening conditions. Due to funding cuts, the centre is reliant on fundraising and donations. Kyle in our 2-3s room attends this centre each week. In order to raise funds for both charities the children are invited to dress in bright colours for the day. We will be having a cake sale, and lots of fun sports activities will take place throught the day.

Our Local Children's Centres

Clifton Lodge is very lucky to have two local Children's Centres, both are offering a number of different courses to parents and their children. If anyone would like anymore details about these courses please see Amie in the office or to book a place please call the numbers below.

Oak Tree Children's Centre
Contact:
Sydney Street,
St Annes on sea,
Lancashire
FY8 1TR
Tel: 01253 781571
http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/web/viewdoc.asp?id=65936

Lytham Children's Centre
Contact:
Lytham Children's Centre
Mythop Road, Lytham St. Annes
FY8 4HB
Tel: 01253 795804
http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/web/viewdoc.asp?id=82716

Dates for your diary

Please take a moment to take a look at the events section available on the learning curve website. Clifton Lodge have a variety exciting events including;

 

February 2012

RNLI SOS Day

Thank you for contributing to the RNLI sea themed day. It was a great success; the children looked fantastic and enjoyed exploring the rescue boat, we also managed to collect £60 to donate to the charity. Thank you to everyone that took part.

Website

Clifton Lodges new website is fully open; we are using the same address in which you can access a range of photos and videos surrounding the nursery. From this month you will be able to access the nursery newsletter straight from the website alongside your paper copy. Please visit our website on http://www.learningcurvenursery.co.uk/

Chatter Box Challenge

I CAN’s Chatterbox Challenge is an annual fundraising activity for nurseries, children’s groups and childminders. Children aged 0-5 have fantastic fun and develop their communication skills by singing songs and rhymes to raise money for children who struggle with their speech and language. Between the 6th and 10th of February, The children will be taking part in a variety of speech and language activities for chatter box challenge incorporating National Story Telling Week.

Staff News

We are very happy to announce that Claire gave birth to her daughter Emily on the 29th of January weighing 6lbs 14oz, both mother and baby are doing well. Rachael Parkins and Gemma Skuja will also be leaving to start their maternity leave in the near future, we wish both Rachael and Gemma the best of luck with their new arrivals. Lynsey Broughton will be moving from the toddlers to the baby unit on the 5th of March, we would also like to give a warm welcome to Aimee Ross Who has joined the team at Clifton Lodge. Aimee is level 3 qualified and will join the toddler team in March.

Walkodile

We are very excited to be using a Walkodile at Clifton Lodge Nursery. A Walkodile is a flexible plastic frame that secures a maximum of six children via a secure two way clip. Each child holds on to the handle, children and practitioners put on their high visibility vests and are set to go walking. We believe the Walkodile will help the children at Clifton Lodge to explore the local environment safely and encourage the children to maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle.

Nursery Maintinence

As you may be aware Clifton Lodge is currently undertaking a facelift. Our maintainence team Gary and Stuart are busy carrying out repairs on the building and decorating at weekends. The colour of the front door has yet to be decided, if you have not yet suggested a colour please do so ASAP.

Essential Shop

The nursery understands how busy parents are and there may be times when you forget to bring in nappies and wipes. To help our busy parents we have created an essential shop. You will be able to purchase nappies, wipes and sudocrem. If you require anything please speak to your key worker or see Amie in the office.

Space News

During January we have been involved in extensive space themed play experiences. The children at Clifton Lodge were visited by a time travelling Tardis, Darlecks and aliens curtisy of Blackpool illuminations. This experience has prooved a great success for all the children at Clifton Lodge. We plan to adopt this theme for the Lytham Club Day procession. If you have any ideas for this event we would love you to become involved, ally suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards

Amie Nicolson Nursery Manager

January 2012

Dear Parents,

Welcome back and a Happy New Year. I hope you and your family had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Our Nursery Rocket

Throughout the month of January the children are learning about space with our very own spaceship. We have been very excited to star in the Blackpool Gazette and The Lytham St Annes Express with editorial and photo coverage’s. We hope the children have enjoyed our space theme, and this provided them with a great opportunity to inspire their learning and development.

Website

Please can parents have a look at the newly designed nursery website. The site contains information about each of the nurseries that make up Learning Curve Nursery Group. Parents will be able to access information when logging on using a password. As part of our aim to be more eco-friendly all newsletters will soon be viewed online. However if a hard copy is required, please speak to Amie in the office.

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year 2012 will take place on the 23rd January. The children throughout the nursery will be learning about year of the Dragon and will be taking part in many activities on this topic. In preparation for this day the children have begun to make flags, and Dragon models with a variety of recycled materials. Alisa our nursery chef will also be cooking a special Chinese menu which we all looking forward to.

RNLI SOS Day On the 27th of January 2012 Clifton Lodge will be joining in with the RNLI’s biggest fundraising day to show our support for our volunteer lifeboat crews and lifeguards. To celebrate this occasion we are holding a sea themed day. We invite the children to come to nursery dressed up as: pirates, swimmers, lifeguards or mermaids/ merman and donate a pound to the charity. The RNLI crew will be visiting the nursery on the 27th with a rescue boat. By raising funds on SOS day we can help to ensure that our volunteer crew members and lifeguards can continue to provide our lifesaving service.

Staff News

We are very pleased to appoint Rachael Newsham as the new Baby Room Coordinator at Clifton Lodge. Clifton Lodge will also be welcoming Sam Surtees to the preschool staff team. Sam is returning from her maternity leave and will be job sharing with Sam Lewis.

New Front Door

As you are aware we have a lovely new front door. We are no longer using the fingerprint system for access, as a new key pad system is in operation. The code for the keypad will change frequently to maximise the safeguarding of your children within the nursery premise. The front door is yet to be painted, before painting commences we would like the children’s help in deciding the best colour. Please help your child to fill in the slip below and indicate your colour preference.

Kind regards

Amie Nicolson BA (Hons.) EYP

 


contact us