News

Happy Hands Committee

We would like to welcome our new Committee formed in March after the adoption of our new constitution which has put us on a more professional footing. The Committee consists of a mixture of staff, parent/carers and church members.

Our Chair is Alistair McHaffie, the vicar of St. John’s who will be ably assisted by his wife, Pippa as Secretary. The Treasurer is Dave Champness.

Judith and Ann will represent the staff. Anna O’Hanlon, Angela Topping, Shirley Barlow and Melissa Swinhoe are representing parents. Mike Cowburn, who runs the website has been co-opted to advise to marketing. We had our first meeting on Tuesday May 3rd and no-one has resigned yet.

First Aid and Food Hygiene

Starting on Friday May 6th all staff will be doing six weeks of training to update our qualifications in First Aid and Food Hygiene.

Outdoor Play Area

We have now an extra paved area which has extended our provision. It gives us room for a big sand box, more space for trikes and lots more wall to chalk on.

Jungle Trex

Chris Lusby of Jungle Trex came to Happy Hands on Thursday May 5th and we went on an amazing adventure.

Chris is a trained actor, animal lover and a gifted storyteller. He took us on a journey to the Amazon rainforest with songs, actions and, of course, animals.

We met huge snails, a tarantula, some lovely cockroaches, a tortoise, a snake called Lionel Blair…and a ferret!

The children were enthralled. They all had the opportunity to handle the animals, if they wished. They enjoyed the stories and joined with actions and songs with gusto. Chris kept their attention for the full hour and among all the fun and games told them lots of interesting facts about animals, the environment and conservation.

We had 20 children from Playgroup and were also joined by some of the parents and children from Chatterbox.
We can thoroughly recommend Jungle Trek, you can check them out on their website www.jungletrex.co.uk