Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to our first newsletter of 2024! Even though it may feel like ages ago, we hope your Christmas break was everything you wished for with loads of quality time with your loved ones. Now that we've had a chance to recharge, we were ready to dive back into all the fun and excitement of Clubland.
We are filled with excitement for the upcoming year and are thrilled to engage in the wide range of exciting activities we have planned. Our goal is to cultivate strong connections within our Clubland family and create enduring bonds with the children.
The theme for this year's Children's Mental Health Week is "My Voice Matters." The main emphasis is on empowering young individuals to utilize their voice, express their concerns, and encourage others to actively listen and comprehend their point of view.
We have actively embraced this theme and incorporated various activities to empower and amplify the voice of each child. We planned the "The Telephone Game" to emphasize the importance of speaking openly and freely. We believe that when we whisper and don't speak out, things can easily be misunderstood or misinterpreted.
We have also encourage children to make use of our new cosy corner, known as the "snug," where they can relax and chat with their friends. To further promote the mantra "My Voice Matters," the children have designed posters which have been displayed. Finally, we introduced "Morning Shake Out" as a dedicated period for the children to let loose, dance, sing, and release any tension before their school day.
We hope that through these activities, we have create an environment where every child feels empowered to express themselves and be heard.
This term we will be forming our club council and are very excited to get the children involved. Not only does a club council enhance the children's social and leadership skills but it also contributes to their overall personal development. It provides a platform for them to learn, grow, and make a positive impact within the context of the club and beyond. They'll learn how to work together, share ideas, and respect diverse opinions as well as giving some the opportunity to take on a leadership role. They will be looking at food menu’s, toys, equipment and activities. It will be suggested they can investigate this through chatting with their peers, surveys and compiling a club ideas book.
Club council will also be responsible for getting a team of green fingered children together to maintain the veggie patch and flower boxes.
We are also excited to plan our 'Clubland Has Talent' show! This is always a favourite with the children and gives them a chance to express themselves in ways they might not normally get chance. The children can showcase a range of talents from singing and dancing to telling jokes and stories and so much more. It is voluntary and the children do not have to take part if they don't want to. Those that don’t will be our audience members and encourage those taking part.
In October, many of you might recall that the children created drawings of their ideal pets. These artworks were submitted for a competition with the chance to be featured in a published book. I'm delighted to share that every participating child was chosen to be included!
Each child who submitted an entry received a certificate and stickers. Clubland have been gifted a complimentary copy so please feel free to look through it during pick-up to appreciate the imaginative works crafted by the children.
A big thank you to all the children who participated! Congratulations on a job well done, it's evident that we have some budding artists among us.
We hope you have a relaxing half term and we look forward to seeing you all in a week!
From Wendy, Laura and the entire Clubland team