January hails the start of the spring term and what promises to be a calm start
to the year especially following the busy and exciting autumn term. September bought
with it a record number of new children and a full Children’s House. The settled
in remarkably quickly and were soon busy enjoying the wide range of activities on
offer. A typical morning session for one child may consist of making a clay pot,
preparing snack, polishing the shelves, pouring sand, looking at letter sounds,
exploring solid shapes, raking leaves and singing about combine harvesters. Every
day is different for each individual because ‘the adult follows the child’, the
only thing we can not alter is the time parents pick up and drop off, everything
else is flexible! Parents came in for an information session in October on synthetic
phonics and how children learn language with us, this proved very popular and we
will hold another session for all those interested in January on another aspect
of Montessori education.
Due to popular demand, in January we are extending our hours. As well as offering
all day sessions on Tuesday and Thursdays we will also be open all day Mondays.
We offer French sessions on Tuesday afternoons and sport sessions on Thursday afternoons
and Mondays will consist of a light mix of cooking and music.
In December Marianne and Sharon were invited up to London to be presented with an
accreditation plaque at an awards ceremony. After all the work everyone had put
into achieving our second accreditation it was lovely to be able to celebrate our
achievement. Steventon Children’s House is already accredited with Montessori Education
UK and is the only Montessori school in north Hampshire to have received this award
demonstrating that we are of the highest possible standard. Our second accreditation
is with the Montessori Evaluation and Accreditation Board (MEAB). This demonstrates
that we fulfill all the criteria to call ourselves a Montessori school as well as
ensuring that all children within our care are covering all aspects of the Early
Years Foundation stage. If a school is not accredited or working towards accreditation
with MEAB and/or MEUK it is not a recognised Montessori setting and should not call
itself a Montessori school. We are proud to be the first Montessori setting in the
country to have been awarded both accreditations. This could not have been achieved
without a lot of work from our team of dedicated and skilled staff.
In November we started to run a Montessori assistants course from our school. This
is a recognized level 2 qualification, run through the Montessori Partnership, and
is perfect for parents interested in Montessori, those considering working in a
Montessori setting, and staff wishing to gain an initial qualification. It takes
around a year to achieve and consists of school based assignments, teaching hours
and taught hours. If you would like more details please do contact Marianne.
In 2010 Steventon Children’s House hopes to be expanding further, if you are Montessori
qualified and may be interested in joining our friendly team, please do contact
Marianne.
|
|
w.c.19.4.10
|
w.c.26.4.10
|
w.c.3.5.10
|
w.c.10.5.10
|
w.c.17.5.10
|
w.c.24.5.10
|
w.c.31.5.10
|
|
Activities
|
Making a beach,
painting pebbles
|
Wax resist pictures
|
Large seaside collage
|
The story of the 'Rainbow Fish', making fish
|
tides, keeping safe, lighthouses
|
Boats
|
Half
Term
|
|
Dates
|
Our 5th Birthday week
|
|
3.5.10 Bank Holiday
6.5.10 Election day
|
|
|
27.5.10 Photographer
|
|
|
|
|
w.c.7.6.10
|
w.c.14.6.10
|
w.c.21.6.10
|
w.c.28.6.10
|
w.c.5.7.10
|
w.c.12.7.10
|
|
|
Activities
|
Holidays-postcards, how do we go on holiday?
|
Packing for the holidays
|
Picnics, taking care of yourself in the sun
|
Summer pictures
|
Summer flowers
|
|
|
Dates
|
|
Leavers parents evening 15th June TBC
|
|
1st July Sports day
|
|
13th July Treehouse Theatre
15th July last day of term, finish at 12.00
|
We welcome visits - feel free to come and see us any morning - please call for an
appointment