Hungry Little Minds

The new Department for Education campaign Hungry Little Minds encourages parents and carers to adopt positive activities and behaviours to boost children's communication, language and literacy development.

The three-year campaign, which launched with social media and online adverts in July, aims to help parents understand that they have a massive impact on their child's learning. Reading, playing and chatting with them are simple things they can do to help them develop, even when they are too young to say much back. Parents can access tips and activities from hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk

June 27, 2019
Holiday Club

We are running a holiday club w/c 19^th August for children aged 5-11 from 8am-4pm, half day bookings are not available.

Breakfast will be provided but children will need to bring a packed lunch with them.

Fees will be charged at the ad-hoc rate of £4.30 and spaces will be filled on a first come, first served basis.

Bookings will close on Friday 5th July so please pop in if you would like a place or email manager@upwoodsmalltotall.co.uk

June 20, 2019
Term Dates

TERM DATES

2019/2020

Autumn Term 2019
Training Day	Monday 2^nd September
Training Day	Tuesday 3^rd September
Autumn Term Opens	Wednesday 4^th September
Half Term	Monday 21^st – Friday 25^th October
Autumn Term Closes	Thursday 19^th December
Spring Term 2020
Training Day	Monday 6^th January
Spring Term Opens	Tuesday 7^th January
Half Term	Monday 17^th - Friday 21^st February
Spring Term Closes	Friday 3^rd April
Summer Term 2020
Summer Term Opens	Monday 20^th April
May Day	Friday 8^th May (VE Day 75^th Anniversary)
Half Term	Monday 25^th May – Friday 29^th May
Training Days	Monday 20^th July Tuesday 21^st July
Last Day of School	Friday 17^th July

June 12, 2019
Autumn Term Bookings 2019

Upwood Small to Tall breakfast and after school club bookings for September 2019

At the start of each academic year all breakfast and after school club bookings are cancelled and re-issued on a first come first served basis so that there is fair chance for both existing users, additional siblings and new starters to secure a place for the coming year.
Breakfast and after school clubs are booked through use of a booking form or on an ad-hoc basis.
Booking forms this year will be ready to distribute on Monday 17^th June, you are welcome to come in and collect one on this day. They will also be available on Parentmail for your convenience. They will be date stamped and numbered on return to us and places will be allocated in this order.
Ad-hoc bookings can be made in September but regular bookings are given priority and we cannot guarantee a space.
If you have been unsuccessful in securing a place we will notify you by Friday 12^th July.
Fees for September will be set as follows: Regular bookings £4 per hour, ad-hoc bookings £4.40 per hour.
We are running a holiday club w/c 19^th August for children aged 5-11 from 8am-4pm. Fees will be charged at the ad-hoc rate and spaces will be filled on a first come, first served basis. The holiday club booking form will be available on Monday 17^th June.

June 6, 2019
STAY AND PLAY

Please feel free to join us for our new ‘Stay and Play’ sessions which are free and take place on Friday afternoons 1.45pm until 2.45pm term time only. A relaxed session open to parents and children under five where you can make use of our lovely play space whilst also spending time with other parents.

June 6, 2019
30 Hours Childcare

Today the Department for Education (DfE) is launching a campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of 30 hours free childcare, with a focus on lower-income families.

Existing data shows that awareness of the 30 hours offer is lower among lower-income families. To help address this, they have created:

A suite of case studies of six families across England sharing the positive impacts of 30 hours free childcare on their household (e.g. making childcare more affordable, enabling parents to go back to work and additional support for parents of children with special educational needs).
A "how-to" animation to support families applying for 30 hours free childcare and Tax-Free Childcare online.

April 29, 2019
CEOP

The national Child Exploitation and Online Protection team (CEOP) have launched Jessie & Friends , a new online safety education resource for 4-7 year olds.

Based on a series of three fun, age-appropriate animations, Jessie & Friends follows Jessie, Mo and Tia as they view, share and game their way towards a safer future online.

The animations are accompanied by advice for parents and carers on using Jessie & Friends to start a positive, age-appropriate online safety conversation with their child

Further information:

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/jessie-and-friends/

March 18, 2019
STAY AND PLAY

Please feel free to join us for our new ‘Stay and Play’ sessions which are free and take place on Friday afternoons 2.15pm until 3.15pm term time only. A relaxed session open to parents and children under five where you can make use of our lovely play space whilst also spending time with other parents.

March 1, 2019
Family Support

Family Action – supporting schools, LAs, early years settings and families

Family Monsters Project

Family Action has started a national conversation about the everyday pressures on families or 'family monsters'. The campaign aims to get these pressures out in the open and to stop family monsters becoming overwhelming by helping families find ways to talk about them, enabling families to face their pressures together.

Family Action has released a new short film bringing family monsters to life – go to www.familymonstersproject.com to watch and share it. To find out how the Family Monsters Project is helping every family face their pressures you can also follow #MyFamilyMonsters on social media.

We have also launched FamilyLine, a free confidential helpline for families. FamilyLine is open weekday evenings (6 to 10pm) and weekend mornings (10am to 1pm) to support any family member struggling with any aspect of family life, such as parenting challenges, family conflict, relationship difficulties or mental health and wellbeing. Calls, emails or text messages are free, answered quickly, and in confidence, by a team of trained volunteers under the supervision of Family Action experts.

Contact:

call: 0808 802 6666
text: 07537 404282
email: familyline@family-action.org.uk

www.family-action.org.uk/familyline

February 7, 2019
CHILDCARE VOUCHERS

CHILDCARE VOUCHERS – PARENTS, MAKE SURE YOU STAY ELIGIBLE!

The Government closed Childcare Vouchers to new entrants from October 2018.

However, existing Childcare Voucher users will remain eligible for Childcare Vouchers provided they:

    * Joined the scheme prior to 4 October 2018, and
    * Make at least one salary sacrifice (more than £0) within each 52
       week period, and
    * Do not leave the scheme in order to use Tax-Free Childcare, and
    * Do not change employer.

In the run up to the closure of Childcare Vouchers to new entrants
during 2018, many parents opened Childcare Voucher accounts with a small
amount, to safeguard their future access to the Scheme. It may be
helpful to remind any parents who use your service that they need to
make at least one payment into their Childcare Voucher account (more than £0) within each 52 week period to remain eligible.

Remember, our FAMILY BENEFITS ADVICE SERVICE can give you advice, and can help parents work out what form of financial support is best for them and can carry out personalised 'better off' calculations - FREEPHONE 0800 028 3008.

February 7, 2019
CHILDCARE VOUCHERS

CHILDCARE VOUCHERS – PARENTS, MAKE SURE YOU STAY ELIGIBLE!

The Government closed Childcare Vouchers to new entrants from October 2018.

November 30, 2018
FLU IMMUNISATIONS

Dear Parents/Carers

The Flu Immunisation Team, has arranged an extra Flu vaccination clinic on Saturday, 1st December, at the OakTree Centre, Huntingdon, PE29 7HN 10.00 - 12.00pm.
Parent will be required to book an appointment in the first instance.

Please phone our office lines: 01354 644216, 01354 644392, 01354 644284.

November 14, 2018
Childcare Choices

I would like to make you aware of the Government website for parents, Childcare Choices.

https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

It brings together all the national childcare offers, helping parents find what’s available for them. The user-friendly website provides information on both the existing and new offers, including Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours free childcare, tax credits, universal credit, support for studying parents and childcare vouchers.

This website includes a service to calculate childcare costs and potential savings.

https://www.gov.uk/childcare-calculator

November 7, 2018
Family Action

Family Action

Digital Parent Support Service

Do you know parents/carers who may need help or support in the evenings and weekends? If so, please circulate details of our free Digital Parent Support Service. Through our parent helpline, befrienders and counselling service, we can provide emotional and practical support and guidance on all aspects of parenting. https://www.family-action.org.uk/

Freephone 0808 802 0222
Text: 07537 404 282
Email NDPSS@family-action.org.uk
Open weekdays 6pm to 10pm, weekends 10am to 1pm
Available for parents and carers across England

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