| Homerton Early Years Centre – Weekly Bulletin
5th November 2025
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| Message from the Head Teacher:
Dear Parents and Carers
I hope you have all had a good half term break. Thank you to Mel, Bridget, and the staff who ran holiday club, which I understand was very successful.
Air Conditioning Unit Fundraising We are all so grateful for your generosity in making donations towards our air conditioning unit. Thank you to everyone who contributed towards our book sale which raised a fantastic £370 to go towards an air conditioning unit in the kitchen.
Parents Evening and Play talk on Thursday 13th November 7.45-8.45pm. This is just for Nursery parents in South, East and West Rooms. Nursery parents please do come along to hear about how we play and learn at Homerton and have an informal chat with your class staff. This is also an opportunity to meet other parents from your child’s class. The Nursery classes will have a more formal, one to one meeting, with all parents during the second half of the Spring Term.
Our Nest parents will also be having a parent one to one meeting, with the key worker for their child, during the year, as part of the ‘2 year check’ which is offered for all children between the ages of 2-3.
Children in Need Pyjama Day Fundraiser Friday 14th November is ‘Children in Need Fundraising day’, so we thought it would be fun for the children and staff to dress up in their pyjamas that day if they would like to support this cause. Please see the email that Tracey sent out yesterday for more information on what we are planning.
Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator Coffee Morning on Wednesday 19thNovember 9.30am -10.30am. Bernie, our special educational needs co-ordinator is running an information sharing coffee morning for parents in our Rainbow Room on Wednesday 19th November. If you would like to find out more about Special Educational Needs support at Homerton, or if you have any concerns about your child’s development, then please do come along to this informal information sharing session and meet Bernie and other members of the team.
Wednesday 3rd December 8.45-9.30am Christmas Storytrail for all families both in the Nest and Nursery and takes place in our Nursery Homerton garden. The Christmas storytrail is a magical event for both children and adults so please do allow time on the 3rd to go into work a little later, as children love to go around the trail with their parents. It usually takes about 15-20 minutes from arrival to complete the trail, although children often like to go around more than once!
Request for Christmas Raffle prizes We are having our annual Christmas Raffle on Wednesday 10th December. We will be selling raffle tickets on the 10th December only. The raffle tickets will cost £1.00 per ticket (cash only please). If you are able to, please donate a prize to go into the raffle, for example, a box of biscuits, chocolates, wine, new books, smellies etc. Please take your donation to the main office, or give it to class staff, by Tuesday 25th November. The money raised will go towards a Christmas present for each child when Father Christmas visits the Centre in December. Thank you to Tracey, and her sister Sharon, for organising the raffle for us, they do a great job making up beautiful raffle boxes.
Toilet Training If your child is in nappies/pull ups, and you and the staff feel they are now ready to move on to wearing pants instead, then please chat to staff and work together to toilet train. There is a very useful website https://eric.org.uk with information on toilet training, which you may find helpful.
Supporting Independence skills in young children I am also attaching some NHS advice on what is known as ‘Backward Chaining’ a technique for encouraging and supporting children to become more independent in activities such as dressing themselves. Please do have a look at the attachment as there are really good tips on how you can encourage your child to learn new skills leading towards independence which builds confidence and is really helpful for children when they transition onto school.
Yoga fundraiser this Friday A parent in South Room has kindly offered to give her time teaching a yoga class this Friday 7th November in our Rainbow Room from 1.45pm-2.30pm. We still have a few spaces left for this class so if you would like to come please do. You will need to bring a yoga mat and wear loose comfortable clothing. The session is for anyone who has ever fancied doing some yoga from complete beginner, to more experienced, so do come along! We are asking for a donation of £10.00 from anyone who attends the class.
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| Medical Update: Please continue to support us in keeping children at home if they are unwell as we want to prevent the spread of illness amongst other children and staff.
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| Some of the Learning this week
Fireworks Today Today the children enjoyed a small Fireworks display, using the quietest selection of fireworks we could find. We talked to them about keeping themselves and their pets safe around fireworks, we also learned a special Homerton fireworks song which you might like to ask your child to sing to you?
Below are some pictures of the children enjoying the fireworks.
Core Book – Whatever Next by Jill Murphy We are also introducing our new Core story ‘Whatever Next’ by Jill Murphy this half term. It is all about a bear going on a visit to the moon. It provides opportunities for children to learn about the themes of space travel, and light and dark. I shall be sending out a picture story telling sheet for you to share with your children next week, once they have been introduced to the story in our class Circle times.
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| Dates for your diary:
Wednesday 12th November the Centre is fully closed as staff are all doing a training day on early writing.
Friday 14th November – Pyjama wearing day in aid of ‘Children in Need’.
Thursday 13th November Nursery Parent’s Evening – this is just for parents of children in our Nursery classes which are South, East and West Room and is 7.45-8.45pm
Wednesday 19th November 9.30-10.30am – Senco Coffee Morning with Bernie Cafferkey our Senco
Wednesday 3rd December – Christmas Story Trail for all parents and children around the garden 8.45am-9.30am – West Blue children, and any children from the Nest who attend on a different day/time, please come in to enjoy this event with everyone.
Wednesday 10th December – Christmas Raffle please send in donations for prizes by Tuesday 25th November. Thank you very much in advance.
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| Reminders/Requests:
Please can you ensure that our office and class staff have up to date mobile phone contact details, and that we have a contact person based here in Cambridge, for us to ring, in the event that your child becomes ill, or has an accident, whilst at Homerton.
Please encourage your children to walk into Homerton rather than being carried or pushed in a pushchair.
Please remember to provide your child with warm and waterproof clothing for our Garden times. Please can we also have 1-2 spare sets of clothes in your child’s bag as we go out in all weathers.
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With Best wishes
Alex and all at Homerton
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