Rainbow Stop Playgroup, Markethill, Co. Armagh

Welcome

Welcome to Rainbow Stop Playgroup.


We are based in Markethill, Co. Armagh, a small village with a wonderful community. Our Playgroup has a number of funded, full-time places available for children in their immediate pre-school year, and we are part of the preschool standardisation programme, offering each child 4.5 hours of preschool provision per day. We endeavour to provide every child with a high-quality play-based learning experiences to support and progress development within all six areas of the preschool curriculum, which we follow within our setting.
We are registered with Armagh & Dungannon Health & Social Services Trust and we are also a member of Early Years - The Organisation for Young Children and Young People.


All our staff are highly skilled and qualified in Childcare and Education and we have an Early Years Specialist who supports our work. The playgroup provides a nurturing and caring environment where our dedicated staff support each child to learn through their curiosities, inquisitiveness and early childhood experiences. Our environment reflects structure to stimulate learning skills and imagination through teaching, creative play and physical activities, encouraging all children to achieve their full potential educationally, physically, socially and emotionally.

 

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🌟AIB Community Fund🌟 ⏰️60 seconds of your time to support us ❤️ The AIB Community Fund Grant is now open and gives up to £15,000 to registered charities. 👇Click on the link below to vote for us, provide a few words on why we need this money. It's that simple! It’s one vote per email address, please share with family members and friends who can vote also. 📧Details to select Charity name: Rainbow Stop Playgroup Charity number: 106710 Charity location: Northern Ireland & Great Britain Theme: Education & Opportunity We are so grateful for your support, anyone can vote, we would appreciate as many votes as possible 🙏🙏🙏 https://aibni.co.uk/personal-forms/community-fund?fbclid=IwdGRzaASVLcljbGNrBJUtxmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHgX4cwlzFD3GZ88ycqsUHlLFG6PoN4zmjzRPW-L9jqtkho45XAT8R90Giur-_aem_vWdxPlEWeoHGRhGfCMD3VQ&sfnsn=scwspwa
🌊World Oceans Day🌊 Today we had a fun filled day learning about the ocean. We explored coral reef through malleable materials, using open ended resources to create our own representations. We investigated the importance of looking after our oceans and collecting litter, through hands on learning at the tuff tray. 🐢🐚🦭 We had an interactive story with sea creature puppets and learnt some interesting facts around sea creatures, building our World Around Us knowledge and recall. I wonder who can remember some fun facts to teach you all at home this evening ❓️
Back to pre school, with four weeks to go.. 🫶 🥹 This week we have travelled to lots of destinations, we have been pilots, captains, bus drivers and campers. 🛩🚌⛺️⛴️ We have had lots of discussions around the children's recent holidays and trips, and explored maps in detail to find the places they visited. We have learnt the names of new countries and how to stay safe in the sunshine 🌞 After returning from our week off our chrysalis' had also progressed to their last stage and we were able to release 5 happy butterflies 🦋 Another special Birthday cake 🎂 and some ice pops were very well deserved 🍦
🕐 For incoming families September 2026. You can now apply ⌨️ 📢Also for parents of pre school leavers heading to primary one in September 2026. Applications for Free School Meals and Uniform Allowance for the upcoming academic year are now open! 👉 Apply now: https://connect.eani.org.uk/parent/ Please note, as well as new applicants, parents/carers of children who are currently in receipt of Free School Meals and Uniform Allowance will need to apply again for the 2026/27 school year. If you don’t already have an EA Connect account, you will need to set one up. This is quick and easy to do, and there is lots of helpful information available on www.eani.org.uk/fsm to show you how. You will also find details on eligibility and the supporting documentation you will need to upload when making your application.
🌟Book your places for a fantastic night of celebrating 🌟🎉
♥️'The one that melts our hearts' ♥️ This one is guaranteed to be special, we know you all saved the date! So here are the exciting details... 🌟 Special thanks go to our committee who have again organised this fantastic evening for the children. A wonderful group of parents who have such enthusiasm and support for our playgroup 👏 Please use the link below to book your space, ensure you add each child's name and how many you are booking for. Please bring along friends, family or past pupils of Rainbow Stop 🌈 https://www.paypal.me/RainbowPlaygroup We can't wait to see you all dressed to impress 🕺💃
🐝 World Bee Day 🐝 Yesterday we celebrated World Bee Day with a yummy 'Honey' themed snack. We purchased some honey from a local bee keeper for the children to try. The children have been learning lots of bee realted facts, including how a bee uses flowers to make honey and explored the life cycle of the bee, as well as using junk art to create their own representation of bees. We have explored how lots of bees physical appearances are different through the use of photographs on our interactive whiteboard board and giggled lots as we watched the Honey Bee 'waggle dance' which taught us how bees talk to each other 🍯🥞💛
💫Picnic in the Park💫 This morning we had a wonderful outing to visit Markethill Primary school. We joined together with their primary one children to play in the park and enjoy a picnic. Our pupils also met with both Mrs George and Mrs Nicholson, their lovely Primary one teachers 🏫 We had lots of excited waves and 'Hellos' from previous pupils ❤️ We completed a lovely walk over, meeting some friendly ponies on the way home 🐎 and also practiced our safety rules for crossing the road. This outing is a very valuable opportunity for our pre school children ahead of their transition to primary one in September. We would like to say a special thank you to all the pupils, teachers and staff at Markethill Primary school who gave us such a warm welcome this morning. We look forward to seeing you all again soon for lots more of the special visits we have planned. Permission has been shared for photos used 📸
💫Thank you to all our new parents and pre-school children for the exceptional turn out at our open evening tonight. We had the best time meeting you all, it was lovely to see so much play and all your happy little faces. We know lots of you wanted to stay longer and we look forward to welcoming you all back again soon. We are very excited for what your special year holds ✨️