Day Care & Early Years

Latest Little Sunflowers Childcare Newsletter HERE

Little Sunflowers

Little Sunflowers would like to wish everyone a happy new year. December was a very busy month with lots of fun celebrations.

Bizzy Lizzy performed a lovely puppet show for Little Sunflowers and the early years of Rhosymedre Community Primary School . The children dressed up and fully participated in the show which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. We hope to have Bizzy Lizzy back very soon.

We also had a lovely visit to Greenacres Farm in Mancot where the children met Santa and his real reindeers. The children all had a gift to bring home and fed goats and petted rabbits, hamsters and chicks. The highlight of the day was a tour on the tractor where we sang “old MacDonald” and other songs. Whilst the weather was cold and wet spirits were high and we all had an amazing day.

On the last day of term the children all enjoyed a Christmas party. Families donated food for the children to enjoy and Little Sunflowers staff prepared a lovely buffet for everyone. We enjoyed a visit from Santa and his helpers and had pass the parcel and finished the day off with a dance.

Congratulations to Carlee of Little Sunflowers on the birth of baby Ellis and to Katie Leighton on passing her NVQ 2 in child care.

GET OUT AND PLAY

‘Get out and Play' is an open access playscheme that runs through the school holidays travelling around the Plas Madoc estate, the scheme is for children and young people aged 5-15.

The scheme is funded through Wrexham play development team and Plas Madoc Communities First and have a dedicated team of play workers that are trained to facilitate play opportunities that promote the child's right to play.

Clybiau Plant Cymru Kid's Clubs have been awarded the tender from the Welsh Assembly Government to write a quality assurance programme enabling play providers to demonstrate the quality of their provision, ensuring that the children and young people attending have the best possible experiences.

‘Get out and Play' took part in this pilot and received an excellent report and feedback for the play opportunities and work they do with the children and young people, achieving a level 3 ‘gold' award in the assessors report.

The quality assurance project manager quoted -

"  We are delighted that Plasmadoc  have taken part in piloting the new All Wales Quality Assurance Scheme  for Out of School Childcare and Open Access Play which is in development.  They have achieved excellent results which I hope will encourage them to complete the final  scheme when it becomes available.

To celebrate National Pet month, Children attending Plas Madoc Communities First Little Sun flowers and Risings4's nursery provision in Rhosyrmedre infants are the proud new owners of there own Horsfield Tortoise which is there first ever school pet..

Research has found that pets do promote a general feeling of well–being, and it is well known that happy children tend to be healthier children. In a key annual assessment with which little sunflowers achieved a high score recently, the only item which was missing was little class room pet.

    HORSFIELD TORTOISES are recommended to be THE FIRST CHOICE FOR BEGINNERS.... They are extremely robust and climate-hardy tortoise suitable for novice keepers living in the UK .

National Pet Month runs from 5th April – May 2008.

Team around the Child

The Team around the Child (TAC) is a pilot programme that is currently running at Ruabon High School and the surrounding catchment areas until June 2008.  It is a process for coordinating support services for children and young people with additional needs, such as anti-social behaviour, bullying, ill health etc.  If you would like further information regarding TAC, then a new web-site has been launched to give further information about the TAC and can be viewed on http:tac.wrexham14to19.net

Teddy Bears Picnic

On Thursday 6th March children who attend the Little Sunflowers Child Care group and the Early Years classes at Rhosymedre Community Primary School took part in a teddy bears picnic party. The event was to celebrate World Book Day which aims to promote literacy in children by encouraging them to read and learn in a fun and exciting way. The event was a huge success with staff and children all dressing up in fancy dress and bringing in their favourite teddy bears to join in the fun. The children enjoyed an afternoon of dancing and games and a picnic lunch, with the event finishing with year six pupils reading stories to the younger children. Many parents also took part with the celebration helping with food and the party games. Each child also received a book discount gift voucher to encourage them to continue their learning, enabling parents and children to read together at home.

Little Sunflowers Child Care is run by Plas Madoc Communities First and provides several different child care sessions for children from 2 to 11 years and is based at Rhosymedre Community Primary School during school term times. The group also run the Welsh Assembly Governments Flying Start programme which provides free child care to eligible children aged 2-3, living in Plas Madoc. If you would like more information please contact Lee Marsh or Sharon Bellingham on 01978 – 813910.

Wrexham Play Development Team.

Plas Madoc Communities First provide a extremely popular ‘Open Access Play' Scheme, which runs from several sites across the estate during the school holiday times for 5-15 year olds. The scheme is funded via Wrexham Play Development Team which is a new team of workers who aim to help increase the number of places where children and young people can play within their communities. This includes opportunities to play in open areas such as in the street, in the park, in woods and in staffed playschemes and adventure playgrounds.

The team includes Mike Barclay, Mel Kearsley and Mike Dessington. All three of them have been playworkers in the past and so have experience of working with children and young people in play settings. The team feel it is very important that all children and young people have the opportunity to play where, when and how they like. If you want to find out more about the team either e-mail mike.barclay@wrexham.gov.uk or come and visit them at the “Inclusive Play Day” on Wednesday 2nd April in and around Queens Square in the centre of town. The event will run from 12pm to 4pm, it will be free and there will be plenty of opportunities to play!

FLYING START – PLAS MADOC

Flying Start is a new project for children aged 0 up until their 4th birthday and their parents or carers. It is for children who live in specific parts of Wrexham. All Flying Start services will be free to families. It provides:

•  support through pregnancy from a Flying Start midwife

•  help and support from a Flying Start health visitor

•  support and packs to help your child develop basic skills through play

•  opportunities to gain further parenting skills

There is FREE CHILDCARE for children aged 2-3 years living in specific areas, from the term after their 2 nd birthday to the term after their 3rd birthday.

The childcare is available for 2.5 hours a day, 5 days a week, 42 weeks of the year, at these high quality centres:

•  Little Sunflowers playgroup at Rhosymedre School

•  Plas Madoc playgroup at the Opportunity Centre

•  Idwal Family Centre

•  Ysgol Min-y-Ddol, Cefn Mawr, for a Welsh-speaking setting

There may be a waiting list for some settings If you are eligible, you will be contacted by your Flying Start health visitor

EARLY EDUCATION

In the term after your child's 3rd birthday there is a free place available in an Approved Early Education setting, where your child will receive the best early experiences through quality play, both indoors and outdoors.

Your local approved Early Education setting is Plas Madoc playgroup in the Opportunity Centre. Please contact the supervisor at the playgroup, or telephone Angela Coles of Early Education for further details. Tel: 01978 317666

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Over 100 children, parents and guests celebrated the 1st Birthday of Plas Madoc's Little Sunflowers childcare project with a party held at its base in Rhosymedre Community School. It was a special day for the project, which started in 2006 with a group of volunteers from the Plas Madoc Estate supported by staff from Communities First. The community had long highlighted the lack of accessible child care and through the Communities First Programme it became possible to address this for the benefit of families on the estate. In its first year, Little Sunflowers has seen 55 children access the service, with an average of 19 2 year olds per day attending the sessions. The party offered a reunion opportunity for Little Sunflowers past and present to celebrate this milestone.

The event started with children's entertainer Sally from Party  Poopers Puppet Shows who led the children in songs and fun activities. This was followed by Lee Marsh, Children, Young People and Families Officer at Plas Madoc Communities First, who spoke about the success of the project over the past year.

“Little Sunflowers is a key project for Plas Madoc. It shows the benefit of listening to the needs of the community working in partnership with other agencies to resolve them. Families now have access to an exceptionally high standard of childcare for 12.5 hours per week , which allows them to link in with other services, activities or employment. Although it is early days we are now working on providing full day care in Plas Madoc.”

Little Sunflowers has brought wider benefits to the community, with all six of the staff being residents of Plas Madoc. The party offered the opportunity to acknowledge  a number of staff who have completed their NVQs in childcare. The Mayor of Wrexham, Cllr Joan Lowe made presentations to Katy Roberts and Nicola Milburn, who have achieved their NVQ Level 2, Claire Pugh who received a Level 3 and finally Sharon Bellingham, the Little Sunflowers Supervisor who has attained the Level 4 standard, making her among the most qualified child care workers in North Wales. 

“We have been able to provide direct employment for people from the estate and they have more than risen to the challenge, taking on huge amounts of training in order to be able to deliver such a high calibre service. We are all proud to see Plas Madoc leading the way in such a positive manner in the field of childcare” said Miriam Beard, Communities First Co-ordinator.

Recognition was also given to the partners, who have supported the project including; the head teachers at Ysgol Rhosymedre (past and present) and the Welsh Assembly Government's Flying Start Programme, which is administered through Wrexham County Borough Council.

Little Sunflowers has already had a positive impact on the enrolments into the nursery class at Rhosymedre Community School. In the past enrolments had been decreasing but 20 additional children entered the nursery at the start of this school year, having “graduated” from Little Sunflowers.

The presentations were concluded with the unveiling of a huge birthday cake, which was kindly custom made by Mike Gill of Sugar and Spice cake makers on Charles Street, Wrexham, who were delighted to provide the cake for such a special occasion. The single candle was blown out by Marley Milburn, who was also celebrating his birthday and who had achieved 100% attendance during the Little Sunflower's sessions. A party buffet then followed before the children settled down again for another serving of fun from the entertainer.

Little Sunflowers Childcare

Little Sunflowers Childcare provides up to 12.5 hours sessional childcare support per week for children aged from 2 years until the term after their 3rd birthday. 

The service is free of charge for ‘Flying Start' children (term after their 2nd birthday until term after their 3rd birthday) and £2 per session for all others, which includes snacks. The group is registered to take up to 24 children.

The sessions are held at Rhosymedre Infants School and run during school term time from 12.30pm until 3pm, Monday to Friday and available for all Plas Madoc children. The service also runs for the first 3 weeks of the summer holidays, totalling 43 weeks per year.

Little Sunflowers provides a friendly and supportive environment for your child to learn, develop and socialise in a fun and caring manner.  All staff are highly qualified. Little Sunflowers have been approved to run the Welsh Assembly Governments ‘Flying Start' programme, providing free childcare sessions for all Plas Madoc children –see above for ages. The group is fully registered with the Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales (CSIW) and Wales Pre-School Play Association (WPPA).

Get Out & Play

The Get Out & Play! Is an open access play scheme which provides safe and fun play opportunities for children and young people aged 5-15 from Plas Madoc that are free of charge.  A wide range of activities are available that promote fun, learning and encourage children to be more active! The scheme runs throughout the school holiday times from 10am-12pm and 1pm-3pm and sets up at various areas around the estate in the places where children naturally play or ‘hang around'.  The Play Pod enables the group to run the sessions in all weather conditions, providing both shade and shelter.

The scheme is supported by qualified and experienced play workers and local volunteers.

Plas Madoc Intergrated Childrens Centre

The centre was opened in September 2005 and provides the main centre for early years services on Plas Madoc. The centre forms part of a network that aims to provide a range of services for both children and their families, including, early years education, childcare, open access play and training & community development .

Young Mums Group
Plas Madoc Communities First and Sure Start are setting up a new group for expectant mums aged 20 and under from Plas Madoc. The group will be very informal and relaxed and will enable expectant mums to make new friends, share experiences and help each other. Antenatal sessions will be run and issues such as feeding, healthy eating, relaxation and benefits are just some of the topics that will be discussed. The group will run every Wednesday 12.30 - 2pm from the ICC and is free of charge with lunch provided.

Splash & Rhyme
Run by Wrexham Libraries the sessions are held at Plas Madoc Leisure Centre swimming pool between 11am - 12pm. come along for free fun sessions that your babbies and toddlers will love. For children aged under 5 from Plas Madoc. Each child must have 1:1 support.

Mobile Toy Library
Provides a free toy library service for children aged up to 4 years. Each child can loan a maximum of 2 toys per visit. One off family joining fee of £2. Held at the Rhosymedre Infants School. Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9.15am - 10.15am and Tuesday, Thursday 3.15pm - 4.15pm.

FLYING START TRAINING 2007
This training is funded via Flying Start and is free to people living or working in the areas where the training is being carried out. Other people are welcome to join the training at the subsidised prices....click here for training schedule and prices

WHATS ON IN PLAS MADOC