One month into the new term, and we are pretty much back to normal! As always, we’ve been very busy with welcoming the new Primary 1 children and families, our new taxi service to Thornwood, implementing our new policies (yes, that PIN we’ve been asking you for), care plans, and now organising our October Week programme.
Welcome!
I’d like to welcome all the new Primary 1 children and their parents/carers, as well as our new children Primary 2 and above! And a warm welcome back to all our children who hopefully had a wonderful summer holiday.
We hope your child(ren) is settling in well and are enjoying all the fun activities and free play that is on offer.
We’ve got a short survey (should take less than five minutes) which you can find here – click here for Autumn Afty Survey.
We’d love to hear your feedback, so we know what we are doing well, and where we need to improve.
Thornwood Taxi Service
On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, we always have a lengthy waiting list. This term, we have been trialling a taxi service, where we have been taking Primary 1 children who were on our waiting list to our Thornwood After School Club Service.
We have received positive feedback from our survey and have potential plans to open this service up to others on the waiting list out with Primary 1.
If you have children on our waiting list and this is a service you would be interested in, please let us know.
PIN Number at Collection
You may have been asked by staff for your child’s PIN number at collection. This is an extra security measure we have implemented to make sure those who are collecting children are authorised. It also saves time in those instances where staff need to phone parents to ensure someone else can collect their child.
Generally, this has been received well. However, there are still some parents/carers who do not know their PIN at collection and are unsure why they are being asked as they are known to staff.
At this early stage of using this procedure, it is important that staff are asking as many parents as possible to get us all used to it. We also have 6 new members of staff on our team, who don’t yet know parents/carers, which is another reason for implementing this use of PINs.
So, we apologise for any inconvenience, but it is for the safety and security of the children!
September Weekend and October Week
We will be closed on Friday 27th and Monday 30th September for the September weekend.
We are now accepting bookings for our October Week Holiday Club. This includes Friday 11th October (in-service day).
Please note, that even if you have completed a standing order form, you still need to complete a booking form, which can be found here – click here for October Week Booking Form.
Please also note, due to further refurbishment works (new toilets!) in our building, our October Week Holiday Club will be held in the gym hall of Hyndland Primary School. This worked successfully in the spring when we needed to vacate our building to allow earlier works.
We will have signage up directing you where to drop off and collect children. Our office will remain in the after-school club.
Refurbishments
We hope you have noticed our lovely new windows, lowered ceiling, new exterior and freshly painted Afty building.
Next up is our toilets. From Friday 11th October until Friday 18th October, works will be carried out to completely removed our current toilets and replace them with brand new ones.
We will be back in our Afty building as normal from Monday 21st October.
Care Plans
Our Keyworkers have started work on children’s care plans. Once they have completed the care plan with you child, the Keyworker will give you a copy to take home and read and add any comments if you wish. Please can you then sign and return the care plan to us.
If you have any questions about care plans, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Film
You may remember before the summer, our former colleague, Richy Carey came back to Afty to create a short film with the children.
Richy will be coming back on 1st October to screen a viewing with the children. We are excited to see it!
Well Done Wall
We have our new ‘Well Done’ Wall, which will be highlighting all the amazing achievements of our children, both in Afty, and out with. Please let us know of the great things your child has been up to, and we can get them up on the wall to celebrate!
Waiting List
Unfortunately, we are still running with a long waiting list for regular Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday. We do have limited space on Mondays and Fridays, so please get in touch if you would like to book these days.
AGM
We will be hosting our AGM this year on Wednesday 23rd August, 7pm, at Notre Dame Primary School. All parents and carers welcome!
PS
Just a wee reminder to new families to please let us know as soon as possible if you child is not attending Afty. At the latest by 2pm. The school does not inform us of any absences.
Thank you!