Dear Parents and Carers

We may have only been back for 2 days but we have already met new children who are settling in briiliantly and we have been amazed and how much our children from last year have grown and changed.  We hope our new families are beginning to feel part of our PEL family – please do let us know if you have any queries.

Next week we will continue to settle children back in but, in readiness for the following week, we would be most grateful for those family photos please (on Tapestry is fine) – this is to enable the children to chat about members of their family and/or the things they have done over the summer.

Uniform

Apologies – I put too many digits in our account for uniform payment.  This should read 68734913.

Naming items

Please, please do name clothing + bags, water bottles and lunch boxes/bags on the outside so staff can easily see to whom they belong.  Thank you.

Lunch Boxes

A reminder please that there should only be ONE treat in a lunch box.  Some examples of healthy lunch boxes we have seen in preschool are;

Food and Choking Hazards

Infants and young children under 3 years of age are particularly prone to food-choking because they don’t have a full set of teeth to chew and grind the food before swallowing. Children between 3 and 4 years of age have molars but are still learning how to chew. Children’s high level of activity also puts them at risk for inhaling food while playing or running around.

Child Accident Prevention Trust – Choking

Did you know?

  • Babies and young children haven’t learnt how to chew, swallow and breathe in the right order. They sometimes get them mixed up, and that can cause choking.
  • Babies learn about the world by putting things in their mouths. You might pick up an object to get a closer look, but your baby will probably want to chew it to find out more!
  • Peanuts can be dangerous if a child chokes on them so it’s best to avoid giving them to children under 6.
  • Babies and young children can choke on food you think is quite soft and small, like a whole grape, a cube of jelly, marshmallows or a piece of hot dog.
  • Reconstituted meat, like hot dogs and burgers, is the one of the main dangers along with hard sweets and nuts

For more information go to: https://www.capt.org.uk/choking-prevention

Grapes

Grapes are one of the top choking hazards due to their shape, size, and slipperiness. But even small blueberries pose a hazard. While they are a true superfood and should be a part of every child’s diet, blueberries should be cut in half until your child is able to chew foods safely and completely.

Hot dogs

Every food poses a choking risk in young kids but the hot dog has just the right size and consistency to perfectly block the airway because of the cylindrical shape it’s the perfect plug that doesn’t allow any air to get through.

Don’t give children under 4 small, round food items.

Just because it’s food, it doesn’t mean it’s safe to eat. Until they are 4, children don’t have the ability to chew and manipulate foods as an adult can, so chop food to approx. 1cm pieces, and keep them away from:

  • Nuts, including peanuts (NOT TO BE BROUGHT INTO THE SETTING)
  • Hard raw vegetables
  • Whole grapes and other round berries and vegetables. Babies often love grapes, blueberries, tomatoes etc. so simply cut them into quarters
  • Sticky foods such as raisins or peanut butter that can clump together in their mouth
  • Boiled or other hard sweets
  • Soft sweets such as marshmallows
  • Whole hot dogs and sausages. Cut them lengthways first then slice nice and small

More information on child safety:  http://fredsafety.co.uk/home-safety/how-small-is-a-choke-hazard/

I’m really not sure I need to say much more for this week (no cheering please!!), other than to say we’d love you to join us for worship on Sundasy morning at 10.30 am at Southborough Lane Baptist Church.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, whatever you are doing.

Kind regards

Ginia Brown & the Phoenix Team