Rainbow Stop Playgroup, Markethill, Co. Armagh

Welcome

Rainbow Stop Playgroup is based beside the Bowls Club in Markethill. It is open for children aged three and four years old. The Playgroup has a number of free places available for children in their immediate pre-school year.

We aim to provide each child with a high quality play based learning experience suited to their interests and needs.

We are registered with Armagh & Dungannon Health & Social Services Trust. Our Early Years Social Worker visits regularly and carries out an annual inspection. We are a member of Early Years - The Organisation for Young Children and follow their code of practice. We follow the Curricular Guidance for Pre-School Education.

All our staff are qualified Childcare and Education and we have an Early Years Specialist who supports our work. The Playgroup provides a happy, secure Environment. It is structured to stimulate learning skills and imagination through teaching, creative play and physical activities thereby encouraging children to achieve their full potential educationally, physically, socially and emotionally.

 

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🎨Our very artistic pre-schoolers πŸ‘πŸ‘ During small group time this week, the children have been designing and crafting their own picture frames to take home. They all expressed wonderful effort and imagination, as they discussed together what they invisioned theirs to look like and what colours or shapes they used πŸ–Ό We have also been exploring pre-writing skills and experimenting with pencil grasps; using a variety of materials ✏️ Please remember to bring your bottles for our new learning project, starting next week βœ‚οΈπŸ–Œ
Thank you to everyone who came to our Meet the Staff night tonight, and to our fab committee for being at hand to keep the refreshments going β˜•οΈπŸ«–πŸž We hope you are all tucked up in bed with full tummies, our hot chocolate station was a hit all night πŸ™Œ The best part for us, seeing you all so excited, along with some of our older little faces too ❀️ Remember to come back again next Thursday and visit us for our Valentines disco. Permission given for all photos shared.
The best part of a Friday... is licking the spoon 🧁πŸ₯„ As you can see from these little faces. This week zoomed by, the children used discussion time to present their bird watching drawings to the group, it was magnificent to see them all clapping each other and show pride in each other's creativity. We have heard lots of extended language and vocabulary expressed throughout our bird watching topic πŸ‘ We also continued to explore creativity through ice painting, discovering how the colours of paint moved and mixed as the ice melted. The most inquizitivness came from using small hammers to tap our Polar animals out of the ice sculptures they were stuck in, with lots of suggestions and problem solving around how to melt or break the ice apart πŸ§Šβ„οΈβ„οΈ
Back by popular demand πŸŽ‰ Valentines disco ❀️ This event is for current pre-school children and their siblings. Please see below for additional details, special thanks to our wonderful committee for organising this event πŸ‘
How proud are we πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘ Some amazing photos flooding in of our pre-school children looking after their birds over the weekend. Well done, you have all been great bird spotters having found Robins, Woodpeckers and Crows. Keep sending your photos in, we are delighted you have all had so much fun 😊🫢 Permission for all photos shared.
This week we completed the RSPB - Big Schools' Birdwatch 🐦 With lots of engagement, we used our knowledge of seasons and Winter to investigate how birds become hungry as the trees become bare. We built upon attention and focus as we used identification sheets to tick off what birds we observed while in our garden. The children have all loved taking on roles of filling our bird feeders, nurturing an ethos of caring for living things. The most excitement came from ending our week by making bird feeders for everyone's gardens at home. Together we planned the steps in the process of this task and discussed the sequence of completing each step in order. We hope everyone enjoys exploring their bird watching packs sent home this weekend, we can't wait to see what you bring back to us next week βœοΈπŸ“ΈπŸͺΆ
🌟Pre-school Admissions are open now for applications on EA Connect, closing Wednesday 21st January at 12 noon. πŸ”΄ Our open afternoon is this Thursday 15th January, 2.30-3.30pm. Please join us for a look around and ask any questions you may have.
The excitement of being back to Pre-school πŸŽ‰ We had a lovely time this week settling back in to new beginnings πŸ’« Our snowy start to this week was the perfect introduction to our new learning, around Polar animals and Winter weather β„οΈβ˜ƒοΈ We have had lots of giggles with our penguin races at the tuff tray, as we discovered the sensory properties of freezing, and experimented with ice cube painting πŸ§πŸ–Œ We have had wonderful helpers who have shown lots of pride this week, our Polar Bear treats were very well deserved πŸ»β€β„ πŸ‘ Now for lots of chilling this weekend, after all the business of our new extended day ⏰️
🌟 2 days to go🌟 Pre-School Admissions open Wednesday 7th January 12 noon. Please see the time line below for key dates. If you require any support before or during making your application please email us: πŸ“©rainbowstopplaygroup@hotmail.co.uk πŸ“ž02837551085 πŸ“…Our open afternoon will be held on, Thursday 15th January 2.30-3.30pm. For more information and session times please refer to our criteria, now offering full-time hours. https://www.eani.org.uk/parents/types-of-school/school-type/pre-school/rainbow-stop-pg-markethill