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Maidstone Newsletter - August 2021

Dawn to Dusk Maidstone • Sep 01, 2021

Maidstone Newsletter - August 2021

Welcome to our late Summer Newsletter

We have been busy at the nursery this month learning about different sea animals. We have been doing lots of fun activities which we have been sharing with you on tapestry. Our next month’s topic is messy play.

As you know it’s that time of the year when it is starting to get a bit cooler. Please could all parents ensure that they bring their children in a named wetsuit, coat and wellies for the upcoming colder months. 

School Leavers


This month has been very emotional in the nursery as we have had to say goodbye to our Rising 5’s children who are leaving  to go off to big school. We would like to wish every happiness and  the very best of luck in their future. 

Room Environments


This year our focus has been on renewing and enhancing our nursery environments with huge investments in both new and additional equipment. Since January, we have invested time and resources into redecoration and changing bringing in new and exciting things to stimulate our children’s interests. All rooms in the nursery have been re energised and we have had great feedback with enthusiasm from the children and staff alike. The programme for this will continue throughout the rest of the year and we are now working with the Rising 5’s. 


We have also put a shade canopy into the garden and we have invested in additional resources for our garden space. 


Just as Covid stated we were finishing off our newly purchased lower nursery garden and as it looks so amazing, we decided to revisit the Upper Garden and add to that too. We are continuously developing our garden to support the children’s learning and are hoping everyone at home can help?


If you have any of these objects at home that you are not using anymore we would really appreciate if they could be donated to the nursery. 


Saucepans, pots and pans, metal utensils. 

Harvest Festival


We are going to be celebrating Harvest Festival in the nursery this September and teaching the children about how we harvest our food. 


We are now collecting storable food donations in the nursery. If you wish to donate foods please speak to a member of staff. 


We thank you all for your continued support in these very difficult times. 

Maidstone Newsletter - December 2021

By Dawn to Dusk Maidstone • 07 Dec, 2021
6th December 2021 Dear Nursery Family, I hope this letter finds you all well and preparing for Christmas. As far as the children are concerned, they are so excited with the expectation of Father Christmas arriving on Christmas Eve. Letters written and plays are being rehearsed, as this year we are going on a Star Hunt, much excitement, it’s great to see. Christmas would not be Christmas if we were not able to carry out a Nativity Play of sorts, at the very least, songs both Carols and our favourite ones, so we are literally piecing together our very first Virtual Video of a Christmas performance. We did try to do this last year but as many of you will know we ended up closing before we had the chance to do so due to an outbreak of Covid-19. As you will all be aware the new variant is causing an increase in Covid cases and as much as we don’t necessarily get to know which variant is affecting each case, the numbers are rising. We have been very fortunate with little affect from Covid over the last year, but during the last few days, we have started to see an increase in cases. Currently we have 3 members of staff and one child isolating. The child is isolating due to a parent testing positive. We have also been notified of another case of Covid by a parent whose child hasn’t attended the nursery in the last week due to a pending operation. As from today we are now starting to feel the impact of staff needing to isolate. It is vital that we always maintain ratios in order to remain compliant and provide a safe environment for our children. I therefore am requesting your support and understanding of the need to reduce our opening hours slightly during the run up to Christmas. We will need to change our operating hours to 7.00 am to 6.00 pm instead of till 7.00 pm. As the staff are willing to work extended hours/days these shorter days will enable the Nursery to remain open and compliant! We are incredibly blessed to have the privilege of such a dedicated team of staff who are willing to make personal sacrifices especially at this time of year and we are very grateful to them. I want to thank you all, once again, for your continued support during the ongoing challenges that we all face with Covid still being ever present. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Christmas with your family and friends. Stay safe. Kind Regards, Laraine Jalili-Hodges (MD)
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