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Repairs and Maintenance – thank you

We wanted to say a big thank you to all our staff and volunteers for your support, dedication, good humour and hard work during our recent Repairs and Maintenance week. We were delighted to received help from working parties from local companies Cummins and BGL, as well as our hard working staff and regular volunteers. We hope that all our children are noticing and enjoying the work completed – including painting, gardening, cleaning and the creation of some new play activities!

r&m montage

Our next Repairs and Maintenance week will be from 13-17 April 2015 – if you can help during that week please contact us on 01733 340605. The kind of things we need help with are:

• People to paint, clean, garden, sort and organise – both individuals and group working parties are welcomed.
• Donations of cleaning products including bleach, scourers, cleansers, cloths, etc.
• Unwanted tins of paint – unopened or recently opened
• Money, so that we can repair/replace anything faulty as we find it. You can make an online donation at www.localgiving.com/charity/newarkplay

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Little House fundraising

**Update** Do you see one of your Little House decorated boxes here? Then you’ve won a prize! Come and see a staff member next time you are in. And if you haven’t brought your moneybox back yet there is still time we haven’t counted the final total yet…

little house montage

We are delighted to announce our latest Little House fundraising scheme, which is open to all our supporters to take part in.

You will be asked to pay a nominal fee of 50p and will be given a plastic house moneybox, to take home and fill with spare change and return it to New Ark on/before 31 October 2014. Your 50p will be returned to you on request.

The moneybox comes inside a plain white box which may be decorated and returned to us. We will be offering prizes for the three highest amounts raised by the deadline, and also prizes for decorated boxes returned to us by the deadline

Please consider taking part – with the money raised we will be erecting a sunshade tarpaulin over our sandpit area. Ask Jodie Watson or Abbie Braines for details.

Here’s some of the houses decorated and returned already – they look fab!

boxes 2 boxes

 

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News for playground & toddler group

Donations of bread and fruit

We are always seeking donations of sliced bread/toppings/fruit. During the holiday sessions some children arrive at 8.30/9am for additional childcare without eating breakfast before they get here – we are very happy to make them toast and offer fruit before our general sessions start. During afterschool sessions this food comes in useful to offer children a light tea after a long day at school. During playgroup sessions, fruit is offered at snacktime. Please do buy bread and fruit for us when you see it on offer and hand it to a member of staff when collecting your child.

Register now for Autumn afterschool sessions

afterschool poster

If you want your child to come to our autumn afterschool sessions please do register them asap. This is especially important if you wish them to join the walkover from Newark Hill school during week commencing 8 September, as we need to ensure that we are adequately staffed for the walkover. We cannot accept bookings/payments 1-5 September as our office is closed during Repairs & Maintenance week. You must book your child onto walkover for week commencing 8 September, before Friday 29th August.

There is no need to fill out another registration form if you are already registered for our holiday sessions – just see a staff member in the office. If you do need a registration form, please download one from www.newarkplay.co.uk/afterschool, along with copies of the walkover form for September if required.

Parent and Toddler sessions

Parent and Toddler group is not running on Wednesday 20th August due to staff holidays. Parents with under 5s are very welcome to come to the farm and main playground as a one-off visitor – for details see www.newarkplay.co.uk/whats-on/visits/visit. Please ring us before setting off to check that the city farm is open (part time hours due to staff holidays).

Parent and toddler group is back for one last summer holiday session on Wednesday 27 August 2-4pm. It is closed on 3 September during our Repairs and Maintenance week. On Wednesday 10th September we return to our normal termtime schedule of 1-3pm (with the city farm open from 2pm). For more information on our friendly Parent and Toddler group please see www.newarkplay.co.uk/whats-on/toddler-group

 

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Fundraising events – save the dates

We have lots of great fundraising events planned for the autumn. Please save the below dates, and read on for ideas on how you can help New Ark with our ongoing fundraising.

Our next fundraising drop in meeting is on Tuesday 23rd September 1-3pm in Charlotte’s office. Just pop along during that time, or if you can’t make it but would still like to help with fundraising please email fundraising.newark@gmail.com.

Open Day, Saturday 4 October 1-4pm
We welcome donations of baked cakes etc to sell on the day. Entry will be by donation to this annual community event.

Christmas Pamper & Indulgence Evening, Friday 7th November 7-11pm
Do you know a business who might donate a make-over, a hotel stay, or something equally attractive for our top raffle prize? If yes please do ask them on our behalf – top prize means lots of publicity opportunities! We are also seeking stallholders who should email fundraising.newark@gmail.com for further information.

Christmas Bazaar, Saturday 29 November noon-4pm
We are now collecting donations of small gifts that will fit inside a jam jar – either loose or inside a clean jar. Ideas include a handful of lego, loom bands, beauty products, wrapped sweets – it really could be anything small that is suitable for either children or adults. If you can volunteer on the day of the Bazaar to run a stall, please send an email with your name, phone number and availability to fundraising.newark@gmail.com.

We are about to launch a fun ‘Little House’ fundraiser that aims to raise money to buy a shelter/sunshade for our sandpit. Any New Ark child/supporter can take part – look out for information which will be starting to circulate next week!

Do you run/manage a local business that is willing to keep a New Ark fundraising collection tin by your till? If yes please drop us an email with “collection tin” in the title to fundraising.newark@gmail.com

And finally, please do consider buying your Back to School supplies online via www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/newark. Up to 15% of what you spend will be donated to us and there are lots of high street retailers involved including Tesco, John Lewis, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Argos and M+S.

easyfundraising school poster

Thanks for your ongoing support everyone.

 

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Our Playday event

Did you come to our playday event last Saturday? We had a great time and raised almost £200 in refreshment sales and donations. Here are a few pictures taken on the day – there are more on our Facebook page – as well as some information on why play is so important.

“Freely-chosen play is an essential part of every child’s life and is vital to emotional and physical development. Children need a place where they can explore risk and adventure and where no-one expects a piece of work to be produced at the end of an activity.”
Nikki Anderson, New Ark playworker

playday montage

Playday is the UK’s national day for play, traditionally held on the first Wednesday in August. It is a celebration of children’s right to play, and a campaign that highlights the importance of play in children’s lives.

What is play?

Play is a wide range of activities and behaviours that a child freely chooses to take part in. Play may or may not involve equipment. Children may play alone or with others. Play may or may not have an end product. It may be boisterous and energetic or quiet and completive; light-hearted or very serious.

Why is play important?

  • Playing is fun: it is how children enjoy themselves, each other and families.
  • Play can promote development, learning, imagination, creativity and independence.
  • Play can help to keep children healthy and active.
  • Play allows children to experience and encounter boundaries, learning to assess and manage risk in their lives; both physical and social.
  • Play helps children to understand the people and places in their lives, learn about their environment and develop a sense of community.
  • Play allows children to find out about themselves, their abilities, their interests and the contribution they can make.
  • Play can be therapeutic. It helps children to deal with difficult or painful circumstances such as emotional stress or medical treatment.
  • Play can be a way of building and maintaining important relationships with friends, carers and family members.Source: Charter for Children’s Play, Play England, 2007

The UK government is signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that all children and young people have the right to relax and play, and join in a wide range of activities.

Finally, you may also be interested in this BBC news item about a newly published report, which reviews a wide range of research into the importance of play in supporting children develop essential skills and knowledge as they grow up.

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Help create a mud kitchen

Our eco centre staff are setting up a mud kitchen, to start using with the playgroup children in September.

mud kitchen

Do you have any old kitchen utensils that we can have? We prefer metal or wood but can accept some things that only come in plastic e.g. pipettes/turkey baster.

We are particularly looking for the following items in wood/metal. If you have any spare please drop them off at New Ark – either at the eco centre or the main building.
– muffin/cup cake trays
– bowls all sizes- metal/clay/wood
– cups/saucers/plates
– jugs/measuring jugs/other measuring utensils
– teapot/kettle
– saucepans/wok/mess tins/
– trays/baking trays
– sieve/colander/funnel
– pestle and mortar
– ice cream scoop/whisk/tongs/turkey baster
– anything a bit unusual or quirky
– an old microwave
– herbs eg parsley/chives/mint etc

And if you would like to help New Ark with donations or other items, here’s a list of items we are always grateful for…

 

can you donate

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Repairs & Maintenance Week Sept 2014

We are closed between Monday 1st and Friday 5th September 2014 for our Repairs and Maintenance week – to undertake essential work on our buildings and land.

Can you help with any of the following?
• An hour or two of time to help us on any of the days. Unfortunately we cannot have any children on site during this week to help, due to health and safety.
• Donations of cleaning products including bleach, scourers, cleansers, cloths, etc.
• Board games in good condition or unused, to replace those that need to be retired.
• Any unwanted tins of paint – unopened or recently opened
• Money, so that we can repair/replace anything faulty as we find it. You can make an online donation at www.localgiving.com/charity/newarkplay

help

If you are able to volunteer to help during this week, please contact Charlotte on 01733 340605 and say when you can help, how long for and whether you have any mobility issues etc.

You will be asked to come wearing sensible clothing and you will be allocated a job to do, for example painting, cleaning, weeding, tidying games up, mending fences, feeding the animals, etc.

Here is some more information on our term dates and planned closures

 

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Celebrating Playday – 2 August

Children across Peterborough are being urged to join in with New Ark Play’s Celebration of Playday, which takes place on Saturday 2nd August between 11am and 3pm.

The event is entry by donation and will include playing in New Ark’s unique adventure playground. Other activities will include chalks, water play, crafts and meeting animals on the city farm. Professional playworkers will support parents and children as they explore adventurous, outdoor play in the safe environment of New Ark.

All children are welcome to join in with the activities but must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Light refreshments will be on sale to help support the charity’s fundraising.

Playday is a celebration of children’s right to play, and a campaign that highlights the importance of play in children’s lives.

New Ark playworker Nikki Anderson says: “Freely-chosen play is an essential part of every child’s life and is vital to emotional and physical development. Children need a place where they can explore risk and adventure and where no-one expects a piece of work to be produced at the end of an activity. Our professional playworker staff are skilled at knowing when to help children and when to step back and watch.”

For further information about Playday visit www.playday.org.uk

We are grateful to The Wakeham Trust for providing funding to help run this event.

playday poster A4

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Summer Eco Sessions (Forest School)

We are delighted to announce that our popular Forest School Eco Sessions will run again this summer holidays. The sessions will run 9.30am-12noon, every Tuesday and Thursday morning between 22 July 2014 and 21 August 2014.

Our Forest School trained staff will supervise children attending these sessions in our Eco Centre. As well as exploring and playing in the forest, organised activities will include:

  • Woodland crafts
  • Shelter building
  • Charcoal making
  • Bug hunts
  • Pond dipping
  • Outdoor cooking
  • Water play
  • Cooking on a fire
  • Mud play

Priority will be given to school-aged children under 8 years old who have registered for New Ark’s 2014-15 playground holiday sessions. There will be some places available for children up to age 11.

The charge is £3 a session per child, including a snack. Places are limited and these sessions are normally over subscribed, so please book early using this form.

You can download New Ark’s summer holiday registration forms from www.newarkplay.co.uk/registrations2014-15. Remember that we also offer additional childcare outside of our normal session times for registered children.

eco sessions 2014 poster