Smart Start Montessori Preschools

22 Ellerton Road and 99 Grange Road, Mt Eden, Ph 623-0097

Website: www.smartstart.school.nz

Email: info@smartstart.school.nz

Newsletter

Term 4 October 2016

Hi to our lovely Montessori community!

I hope you have been able to plan a wonderful long weekend due to Labour Day!

Thank you to all of you for attending our annual concert last term! You were a fantastic audience, and our little ones really enjoyed practicing and performing on the day for you all!

All children are settling well into the new term, where “Moari legends” is a topic of interest growing with the children. They are busy working on some beautiful artwork for Abacus fundraising calanders, diaries, note pads and Mouse mats, available for you to choose from Thursday next week. They make great Christmas presents for family and friends!

The final day of this term before our Christmas holiday program (19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd December 2016) is the 16th December 2016. Term 1, 2017 opens on the 31st January. Please look for holiday program via email and at the sign in/out desk, available from 23rd November.

Important Dates:

Diwali Festival of Lights– 30th October 2016

Fish and Chip Night – 8th December 2016 at Centennial Park-Marsden Rd from 4.15pm-6.30pm

Parent/Teacher Interviews – 7th and 14th November 2016

Grandparents Week – 12th December through to 16th December 2016

Santa’s visit and Christmas Singalong – 5th December 2016

Holiday Programs – 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd December 2016

New Students

A big welcome to our new students who have started or will be starting this term: Aleron Lee, Isabella Xu, and Lacey Nilsson. We hope you enjoy your time and learning with us at Smart Start.

Thank you

Thank you to Samantha’s family for generously donating a set of readers for the children.

Enrollment for Siblings

Please help me give priority to Smart Start children’s brothers and sisters, by filling out an enrollment form, with ALL sections signed, and returning it as soon as possible. Please note there is no enrollment fee for siblings. This way, where I can, I will hold sessions/days for your little poppets, so they can be with their older brothers and sisters, and drop off will be so much easier!

Newsletter – Email

If any families, are not receiving emails from Smart Start Montessori, and wish to receive the newsletter by email please forward your email address to: info@smartstart.school.nz or contact Rebecca Ph 623-0097

Sign in/sign out sheets

Please ensure you sign your child in and out of Smart Start. The Ministry has very strict rules. If there is no signature, we receive no funding.

Allergies

Just a reminder about the danger of allergies for our little ones. We have children at both schools with severe allergies. We ask that the following be excluded from lunch boxes; Peanuts and any food containing peanuts. Please note the other nuts are now permitted. Some packaging states that the food within may contain traces of nuts. As long as the nuts aren’t part of the ingredients, this is alright to include this in your child’s lunchbox. Seeds are fine as well. We kindly thank all parents for their consideration in this matter. For birthdays and graduations, if you want to provide something for the children to share, fruit platters or fruit kebabs are an excellent healthy option, and this means that no child is left out.

Birthday Celebrations-Montessori Way

In Montessori we celebrate birthdays by showing the child’s timeline (from birth to their current age) in the form of photos (one photo for each year). You are welcome to bring photos of each year for your child to celebrate their milestones. If you wish to bring some food to share with the children, it would be helpful to bring fruit platters and/or popcorn in keeping with promoting healthy eating habits. There is no need to bring any goodie bags for this occasion.

Graduations

In celebrating graduations, if you wish to give children gifts individually, please consider something educational for the school instead so that all our children can benefit. For example, a book, a puzzle or a board game.

Leaving Policy

Please note 6 weeks notice is required to withdraw your child from preschool. This notice must be received in writing. Please note that this notice needs to be given during term time i.e. not during the holidays. We understand that circumstances can change over the summer holidays, however due to many of our families and those on the waiting list being away, we are unable to contact them and organize spaces to be filled.

Portfolios

Please take some time to catch up on your child’s portfolio, and add your voice, but remember to bring it back please.

Turning 5 years old

If your child is turning 5 years old in Term 1 2015, please contact Rebecca in the office to confirm leaving date. If your child’s birthday falls over half way through the term, we recommend they stay with us to the end of term so as to allow for an easier transition into school.