Category: General news and events

Our usual Good Friday Easter Hunt fundraiser cannot take place this year, and so the staff and volunteers at New Ark have assembled this small collection of egg hunt and colouring activities on an Easter theme.

If you attend our preschool, or are a regular in our after school/holiday playground setting, then look out for a surprise egg that might be coming your way in the post. We hope you enjoy it.

Happy Easter everyone!

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope you are all well and keeping safe.

It is a very challenging time and we hope that it will not be long before we can see you and the children at New Ark again.

We are monitoring the situation on a daily basis, but unfortunately these are unprecedented times and we are unsure when we will be able to return. We understand that you may have questions to ask, these can be sent to our email address: newarkplay.office@gmail.com

We have put together some information to help you through this difficult time ahead and here are some useful links for you and your children:
www.twinkl.co.uk/
www.phonicsplay.co.uk
https://hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk/
www.activematters.org/miscellaneous

For those parents that are preparing their children for starting school in September here are some useful links:
www.bbc.co.uk/startingprimaryschool
https://www.pacey.org.uk/working-in-childcare/spotlight-on/being-school-ready/

For those children who will be returning in September, we will be in contact as soon as we can to offer additional hours.

We are also hoping that we will be able to still do a teddy bears’ picnic before or during the summer holidays, but this will depend on the current situation. Eventually when we do return, we will have a party not only to say hello to our children and parents, but also to mark the 50-year birthday of preschool.

A reminder to parents who claim 30 hour funding for their child to renew your code.

If there is any further support that you may need please email us.

Take care and stay safe.

Yours sincerely

Jo Curphey
New Ark Play Association Ltd
Management Committee Chair

Are you Forest School trained and looking for an exciting new challenge?

We are seeking to develop and expand our existing Eco Centre provision and are looking for an enthusiastic, creative and innovative person to lead on this.

Key Skills:

1. The ideal candidate should hold a full and relevant level 3 qualification, have EYFS Framework knowledge and understanding and experience of working with children 4 years of age and under.
2. To have excellent communication skills and an organised approach to their work as written records of work and observations will need to be recorded. It will include contributing towards learning journals and planning of sessions.
3. To have a flexible approach and to lead a small team promoting learning activities in our Eco Centre.
4. To help in developing our creative curriculum and to continue to promote our ethos in providing positive learning and play experiences in a safe, caring and adventurous environment.
   Hours: 22.5 hours per week. (Term Time only)

Closing date: 18th March 2020

For more information and an application form please contact: Samantha Brown (Manager) on (01733) 340605.

New Ark Play Association is an independent charity based in Eastfield, Peterborough. We provide stimulating play opportunities for children of all ages and our facilities include a traditional Adventure Playground, Eco Centre and City Farm.

New Ark Play Association Ltd is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All applicants for this role will be required to undergo pre-employment screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service (UK).

Our fundraising Christmas Bazaar is an annual tradition, with hot food, children’s activities, outdoor play and the city farm. Entrance is by silver donation. Please help us advertise by printing out and putting up this poster somewhere that it will be seen.

Other ways you can help with our fundraising:
* Make donations of chocolate, bottles of drink and toiletries for our hamper and raffle.
* Bake homemade cakes for our cake stall; please include a list of ingredients.
* Help us spread the word by inviting your friends/sharing the event.
* Attend the event and have lots of fun!

Planned activities include:

Main building 12-3pm Activities include * treasure hunt * cake stall * gift tombola * children’s tombola * soft toy stall * chocolate tombola. We also have refreshments for sale, including hot food

Adventure playground 12-3pm Open for playing dependent on weather

City Farm – open 12.30-3pm * feeding our animals * sponsor an animal * buy reindeer food, and more

Father Christmas
This year Santa’s grotto will be located in our Eco Centre between 12.30 and 2.30pm. Tickets are on sale from week commencing 11 November for £3 to include a small gift. If you want to guarantee having an age-appropriate gift/rough timeslot then please prebook by calling Sam or Sally on 01733 340605. A few tickets may be available on the day of the bazaar.

New Ark’s annual report for 2019-19 is now available. Ask a staff member if you want a printed copy as we may have a few to spare. Alternatively download and read our PDF screen version below

Help to spread the word about New Ark! Invite your friends to come and visit during our annual community open day on Saturday 5th October 2019 11am-1pm, with entry by silver donation. Or download a copy of our poster and put it on display somewhere that parents will see it.

All areas of New Ark will be open including our city farm, eco centre, play support building and of course our playground. Come and see our history trail, meet our animals, explore our woodland garden and play in our traditional adventure playground. Our 2018-19 Annual Report will be available to members and supporters.

Entry on the day will be by silver donation to our charity. We’ll also be selling refreshments. Donations of cakes and other bakes are very much appreciated to help us with fundraising. Please let us know if you can help with a cake donation by calling 01733 340605.

If you would like to apply for this job vacancy please send your CV to Nikki at the email below. Closing date is Friday 20th September 2019. Please feel free to speak to a member of staff for more details.

Interested to know how New Ark is doing?

Got a view on our future?

Then please join staff, committee members, parents and local residents at our AGM.
Date: Monday 22nd July 2019
Time: 6pm
Venue: New Ark, Hill Close, Reeves Way

We can offer you an opportunity to chat, and a promise to listen to your views.
Got an idea for a fundraising event? Are you full of ideas and energy? We are seeking enthusiastic people to join our friendly committee or help with Fundraising

Can’t make the AGM but want to tell us something? Then please contact us at newarkplay.office@gmail.com or 01733 340605

We look forward to seeing you.

Our annual summer fete has entertainment, hot food and more. Our city farm, adventure playground and eco garden will all be open. There will be lots of fundraising games, crafts, our summer raffle and lots more including:
Dressing up
Face painting
Indian street food
Ice cream van
Tombola
Ice biscuits
Hot dogs and refreshments
Traditional outdoor games
Raffle

This year we are delighted to welcome Bezerkaz Circus, who will be running a circus skills workshop between 12-2pm. This will include juggling, plate spinning, balance activities, diabolo, hula hoop, twirling and even bubbles.

Entry is by silver donation, all are welcome to attend whether or not you are registered at New Ark..

Please help to publicise our biggest fundraising event of the year by sharing this page and inviting friends who might enjoy the day.

Our funding from Peterborough City Council is being phased out by the year 2021.

£33,000 – 2018
£22,000 – 2019
£11,000 – 2020
£0 – 2021

Added to this, we currently have to fundraise £15,000 per year. This means that in 2021 our total target will be £48,000.

We will continue to organise events throughout the year to help put the cash back into New Ark, but we will also need help from parents and the local community. If you know of any funding pots, sponsorships or donation funds please make a member of staff aware. You can call us on 01733 340605.

Services we provide include our Playground, Holiday club, After-school, Playgroup, Support Services to schools and our Farm. If we take one service away this will have an impact on all other areas.

We still have to pay more for materials, running costs, providing quality staff and maintaining our building which is now over 40 years old.

Our prices have been reviewed and will have to reflect the funding changes that we are facing. Our price list is available here.

All of our holiday sessions will have to be pre-booked a week in advance (not on the day) as we need to make sure enough staff are working to cover ratio of children.

There will be NO refund for places that have been pre-booked if cancelled.

If you have any queries please do contact us by telephone. We ask for your patience while we implement the new admin processes associated with this change.

We hope that you understand why we have had to make these changes. If our fees prevent your family from accessing New Ark please do talk to a manager in confidence.

We are grateful for your continued support.

Staff and trustees of New Ark