Happy Days Newsletter
Issue no: 25 Autumn 2007

‘Welcome to Autumn – the best time of the year. After such a dismal summer its nice to get the odd sunny day where we can enjoy the natural colours around us and use them in our creative play and activities. Autumn is traditionally the season of festivals of thanksgiving in cultures around the world as well as providing a unique time for lots of great outdoor play. At a time when children are not getting enough outdoor play at home it’s an opportunity for us to remember what its like to collect some conkers or rustle through the dry leaves in the park. They won’t be around for long so go on and enjoy some quality time at play – in our busy lives it’s a scarce resource these days."

Food villains revealed…

‘The use of cartoon characters to promote food high in fat, sugar and salt to children should be banned says a poll conducted by Which? Magazine. Children’s favourites such as Spiderman and Shrek are routinely used on packaging for foods which are defined as ‘less healthy’ by the Food Standards Agency. In contrast ‘heroes’ promoting healthier foods such as ‘Winnie the Pooh’ who features on clementines at Tesco and ‘Nemo’ who promotes mineral water are few and far between.

Missing out on play

Children are missing out on outdoor play at home because of the amount of road traffic and a lack of suitable facilities, new research has revealed. A survey commissioned by Play England found that whilst over 70% of adults had played in the streets or close to their homes every day when they were young, only 12% of children today do the same.

In the news recently…

Supermarket Tesco banned a clown from using balloons during his act in a Leeds store, reported the Daily Telegraph. Barney Baloney was not allowed to use the balloons because of possible allergic reactions to the latex. A deflated Barney declared, ‘at this rate I will have no act left.’

A London Mum has created a matchbox sized tracking device to trace lost children. The device known as ‘Buddi’ and dubbed the ‘Brat-Nav,’uses GPS technology and can trace a child to within 3 metres anywhere in Britain. However, the device may be killed off before it is given a chance due to concerns raised about them falling into the wrong hands.

Paddington Bear is to appear in a new advert, switching from his favourite marmalade sandwiches to Marmite. He offers a sandwich to a bird who dislikes the taste, upholding the ‘you either love it or you hate it’ Marmite slogan.

Pregnant women are to be offered a £120 grant from the Government to improve the health of their unborn babies. Women who are seven months pregnant will receive a one-off ‘Health in Pregnancy Grant’ along with advice on maintaining a healthy diet. The grant is intended to raise birth weights in deprived areas.

A rat who dreams of becoming a top class chef and would rather go hungry than eat unhealthy food, is the star of a new campaign launched to encourage healthy meals at school. The campaign features characters from the forthcoming Disney film ‘Ratatouille’ as reports suggest a sharp decline in pupil numbers taking school dinners at primary schools.

~NEWS FROM OUR NURSERIES~

Parents Reminders…

As the weather is now turning colder please ensure that we have a labelled coat, hat and gloves for your child so that they we can enjoy outside play whilst remaining warm and cosy.
Looking forward to Christmas? Well, we will all be doing our nativity plays again and also we will be having a visit from you know who to give everyone a present. Check with your nursery for times during the last week of December.
If someone else is picking up your child please let know beforehand so that all the staff are aware. Equally, if you stuck in traffic or running late just call us to let us know.

What our children say…

Louise opened the front door to Leah and her parents and said ‘Good afternoon Leah, how are you today?’ to which Leah pointed at the office door and said, ‘get in there!’’

Preschoolers were having messy play with butterscotch mousse and Donny said, ‘Oh hopscotch flavour, my favourite!’

Kathryn had her hood up and Natalie asked her why she had her hood up inside the building. Kathyrn replied, ‘because its raining outside!’

Jacqui was doing some cover work in Toddlers and Kiki looked up and said to her ‘Oooh Nana!’

Alex was eating his snack when another child reached over to him. Alex shouted, ‘don’t touch Alex Johnson’s grapes!’

Emily asked Oliver for a kiss and he replied, ‘Why not,’ and duly obliged.

Sarah had gone on her break and when she returned Harvey said, ‘how rude!’

Lea had used the potty successfully for the first time, so Katie said well done you’ll have to tell Daddy when he phones up tonight. ‘No’, said Lea, ‘I’ll mail him on the computer!

Caitlin asked Tony if he had his make up on and Tony said ‘no, why do you ask?’ Caitlin replied, ‘because I can smell it!’

Jacob asked Jane for some help fastening his trousers. Jane said ‘what’s the magic word?’ and Jacob replied ‘Santa Claus!’

School Progress Report (from our Parents)…


We receive lots of nice comments and letters from parents and here’s a couple that caught our eye…

“Dear Louise, As you are aware we are moving house and so will be leaving nursery. It must be said that Zak has been looked after extremely well. The care given by all the staff has been second to none and at times staff have as much concern for Zak as if he was their own. I must pay special thanks to Catherine, Helen, Janice, Lindsay and Kerry who have all been an inspiration to Zak. He has enjoyed his many cuddles given freely by all staff and he has learned from his time spent at the Thinking Tree. Although I’m sure that all parents pay special thanks to those staff who have cared closely for their child, I must also pay tribute to Louise who manages the nursery with professionalism and spirit. Many, many thanks and I hope Happy Jays continues to be ‘The Best’. ”
Steve and Sarah.

“Dear Louise. We would like to inform you that we will be returning to Canada. I know there are still a few months to go before leaving but I wanted to express our sincere thanks for everything you have done for Aidan. We feel very lucky to have found such a wonderful nursery so close by. From the first day we left Aidan with you we have never worried about him – the staff are excellent and the food has been better than we eat! I’m sure he will miss everyone once he leaves but we’ll keep the photos so when he’s older we can show him the people who took such good care of him at Happy Jays in England"
Jimmy

"To everyone at Happy Jays Just a note to say thank you to all staff for taking care of Maisie over the past 4 years. Every mother who works feels worried and also guilty at leaving their child, especially at such a young age. I can honestly say that from first meeting you, all that apprehension and guilt got much easier. You were all so caring and I will never forget how kind you have all been. A special thank you to Gemma, to Charlotte and to Danni for all you have done with Maisie. To Tony and Jacqui a special thank you for providing such a loving and caring environment for my child – I hope you continue to provide many more children with a fantastic start to their lives. Love to you all”
Andrea, Paul, Faith and the one and only Maisie.

"Dear All. Craig and I just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for looking after Alice so beautifully. You are all stars and we are all (especially Alice) going to miss you lots. The greatest compliment I can pay you all is that each day Craig and I could go off to work without worrying, knowing that Alice is happy, safe and having fun with you. Take care, lots of love”
Caroline& Craig.

"To everyone at Happy Jays, We just wanted to say a big thank you for all the hard work you have done over the last 5 years with our two boys. I know that they have been very happy because it has never been difficult to leave them with you! I think being at nursery has been good for them in different ways and they have both definitely learned a lot. It will be strange not coming to Boroughbridge to drop them off. With many thanks and best wishes”
Fiona and Jonathan.

"Thank you to everyone at Happy Jays for the wonderful care and many happy times that you have given India over the past 4 years. I know that she has had a wonderful start to life being in your company. No matter how much she looks forward to ‘big school’ I know she will miss you all enormously."
Best Wishes,Bruce

Thank you to all our parents – there’s lots more letters in our Parents file at each nursery. Your comments make us feel very proud about how we do our jobs – this is not just childcare, this is Happy Jays childcare.

Advice Corner A parents guide to “Childcare Vouchers”

Lots of parents are now using childcare vouchers through their employers to pay for their childcare fees and save money as a result. Here is a quick guide to how they operate:

How does a childcare voucher scheme work?
Your employer will normally run a scheme by linking up with a childcare voucher company by paying them an administration fee for their service. The voucher operator will then either supply you directly with vouchers or will provide them to your employer for distribution. Most of this process is now done electronically.

How do vouchers save me money?
Most vouchers are available under a salary sacrifice scheme. You sacrifice a certain amount of your salary and in return receive that amount in childcare vouchers. Vouchers up to £56 per week (£243 per month) are exempt from tax and NI, so you only pay these on the reduced salary. A basic rate tax payer can save over £960 per year whilst a higher rate tax payer can save around £1200 per year. Both parents are entitled to claim the tax and NI exemption and so these savings can be potentially doubled.

What are the usual terms of a salary sacrifice scheme?
You will have to sign up for a specific period, usually a year in order to meet the regulations imposed by the tax office. You will need to make sure how your sacrifice scheme impacts on your financial benefits such as pension contributions, overtime rates, sick pay or maternity pay.

If I receive childcare vouchers, will it affect my tax credit payments?
Broadly speaking, if you are getting £545 or less a year in total from tax credits, you will be better off using vouchers. If you are claiming more than £545 in tax credits you will not gain from claiming the tax and NI exemption unless you are a higher rate tax payer. Check with your local tax office if in doubt. Accor services has a calculator on its website where parents registered with it can check their entitlement.

We are registered to take childcare vouchers from all the providers – please ask us if you have any queries.

Pre-schoolers Winter Vegetable Soups…

This is dead easy to make and our pre-schoolers have become dab hands at the preparation::
You will need: Red cabbage Potatoes Broccoli Onions Carrots Parsnips Pumpkin Sweet potatoes.		Cut veg into small but identifiable pieces and place root veggies into a pan of water. Bring to boil and cook for 20 minutes or so and then add remaining vegetables and cook until all item are tender. Serve with garlic bread for a warming teatime treat!

Trisha’s Delisha’s lemon Cheesecake

You will need: 4 packs of digestive biscuits (crushed) 4 tins (397g) of condensed milk 2 pints double cream Juice and rind of 8 lemons Butter

Melt butter in a saucepan and then mix into crushed biscuits in a mixing bowl until moist. Pack mixture into the base of a cake tin. Mix the cream, milk and lemon rind and whilst thickening with an electric whisk, slowly pour in the lemon juice. Once thickened, spread the topping onto the biscuit base, chill and serve as a tasty tea time treat.

AND FINALLY OUR PICTURE FILE

The following snaps caught our attention and we hope you like them…

Face painting for the scary monsters at Batley	Anya, Kyle and Solomon are fascinated by Sid the Snake!	Harry is not too impressed with his tutu!
Isabel loves her shredded paper coat!	Pre schoolers reel in the fishmonger!	Visiting the grand old ducks of York