Category: Kids

30 Hour Childcare Offer Latest News

From April this year, the ‘30 Hour FREE Childcare offer’ is coming to the Vale of Glamorgan including Wenvoe, so we want to be sure that you are ready.

The 30-hour FREE care is offered as 12.5 hours of Nursery Education and 17.5 hours of Care, therefore; you may receive up to 17.5 hours FREE care here at the Playgroup.

As long as Parents fit the following criteria your child may receive FREE care from April 2019 if living in The Vale of Glamorgan.

It is available to Children the term after their 3rd Birthday. If your child is 3 between:

  • 1st Sept – 31 Dec they will be eligible in January
  • 1st January – 31st March they will be eligible in April (after the Easter Hols)
  • 1st April – 31st August – they will be eligible in September

 

  1. if the Child is living with 2 parents, both parents must work a minimum of 16 hours or more per week at National Minimum Wage (NMW)
  2. if the Child is living with 1 parent, then they must work a minimum of 16 hours or more per week at NMW.

 

  • if you earn more than £100,000.00 per parent then the Child is not eligible.

 

Contact: The Vale Family Information Centre (FIS) Tel: 01446 704704 E-mail: fis@ valeofglamorgan.gov.uk. The FIS will also advise if you fit the criteria to apply and help with your application.

A contract will have to be completed with us prior to taking up the offer and your placement confirmed at the Playgroup prior to applying. We have limited space at this time.

We have children with us at this time from Cardiff who are benefitting from our wrap around service with Gwenfo Nursery and are receiving up to 17.5 hours of their time FREE at Playgroup.

Your Child could benefit with 4 days wrap around care from 9 – 1pm for £0.00

Please contact us here at the Playgroup for more information

Email: wenvoeplaygroup@ btinternet.com Telephone: 20597494

Please view our website: www.wenvoeplaygroup.co.uk and our Statement of Purpose for further information operating times etc.

For all those families wishing to join us from September this year, we will write again for April’s What’s On Edition to give details of our open afternoon and information for September. If you wish to join our waiting list for September, then please email us on the above email to register your interest. Thank you.

A Very Busy Half Term at the Primary School

Well, we have had a very busy half term in school and we cannot believe how quickly the time is going!

Year 1 and 2 have thoroughly enjoyed African drumming sessions – they really have created some wonderful music.

Year 4 have visited St Illtyd’s and Years 5 and 6 went to the Story Museum. The children were all very well behaved and a real credit to school.

Years 2 and 3 have both led super assemblies – families of the children are invited to their assemblies and stay afterwards for a cup of tea and biscuit – it is always a very special time.

PC Emma has been into school to talk to parents about Internet safety. Parents of children in our Foundation Phase were also invited into school to work with their children. Many thanks to all who attended.

To raise money for Velindre Hospital, we all wore red to school for the day. This happened to fall on the day it snowed and a super day was had by all. The children and their teachers went onto the field and built snowmen. This was followed by hot chocolate and biscuits in the classrooms!

Parents Evenings were held this week and last week and it was lovely to share with parents and carers how hard their children have been working; parents and carers also had an opportunity to look through their children’s books.

We are looking forward to a restful half term and a wonderful celebration of St David’s day in our Eisteddfod, during the first week back.

 

 

FREE Childcare Regulations

 

Here at Wenvoe Playgroup, we are signed up to the Welsh Government’s 30 Hour FREE Childcare, for children the term after their third birthday who live in Cardiff. All Cardiff Children who are eligible, are now beginning to access their FREE 17.5 HOURS OF CARE.

From April this year, the ‘30 Hour FREE Childcare offer’ is coming to the Vale of Glamorgan including Wenvoe, so we want to be sure that you are ready. This is sooner than originally thought/planned.

The 30-hour FREE care is offered as 12.5 hours of Nursery Education and 17.5 hours of Care. You can use the 17.5 hours between Playgroup, Day-care or a Childminder as long as the provider is registered with Care Inspectorate Wales.

If the Government are offering 17.5 hours of ‘Free Play’ and you fit the criteria, then why not take them up on it? Some children on our books apply for as little as 4 hours, it’s all about what your Child needs. We have attached some examples for a better understanding.

As long as Parents fit the following criteria your child may receive FREE care from April 2019 if living in The Vale of Glamorgan.

It is available to Children the term after their 3rd Birthday. If your child is 3 between:

* 1st Sept – 31 Dec they will be eligible in January

* 1st Jan – 31st March they will be eligible in April (after the Easter Hols)

* 1st April – 31st August – they will be eligible in September

  • if the Child is living with 2 parents, both parents must work a minimum of 16 hours or more per week at National Minimum Wage (NMW)
  • if the Child is living with 1 parent, then they must work a minimum of 16 hours or more per week at NMW.
  • if you earn more than £100,000 per parent then the Child is not eligible.

 

Please contact Cardiff Family Information Centre (FIS) for those living in Cardiff Tel: 02920 351700 E-mail@fis@cardiff.gov.uk

or from 4th March 2019 The Vale Family Information Centre (FIS) for those living in The Vale of Glamorgan Tel: 01446 704704 E-mail: fis@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

Before applying for the offer, please contact us here at the Playgroup on 02920 597494 to ensure that we have availability. We have limited space at this time and will need to employ further staff perhaps to support your needs. We have a waiting list for Summer Term at this time due to the funding being rolled out from April.

We have children with us at this time from Cardiff who are benefitting from our wrap around service with Gwenfo Nursery and are receiving up to 17.5 hours of their time FREE at Playgroup.

 

Please see the example for guidance on how this works for us with Cardiff families. Your Child could benefit with 4 days wrap around care at £0.00 or for as little as £3.75 per week, attend 5 mornings 9 to 1pm and onto Gwenfo Nursery.

A contract will have to be completed prior to taking up the offer and your placement confirmed at the Playgroup. We expect to be very busy.

If you require further information then please contact us at wenvoeplaygroup@btinternet.com

 

If you search www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare it will advise you that you can also use your workplace voucher scheme (if already enrolled) and Tax-Free Childcare vouchers to top up any hours or fees above 17.5hrs.

 

 

Free Childcare News

Happy New Year to all and I’m sure it certainly will
be. I have been informed that the Vale of Glamorgan
30 hour Free Childcare will be rolled out from April,
so watch this space. We hope to keep you up-dated
with further details as they are known to us. I did
notice that the GEM first announced the good news
in one of their December issues and I have since
been informed by the Vale that this is so.
As mentioned Free Childcare is for the term after
your child is three. 12½ hours is to be used at Local
Education Authority and a whopping 17½ hours to
be used at a Playgroup or Daycare of your choice.
Both parents must be working a minimum of 16
hours per week at minimum wage or in a sole parent
household you must be working 16 hours at
minimum wage.
Wenvoe Playgroup are expanding as to the needs of
the community and are now offering Breakfast Club
from 8am Monday to Friday each week.
For more details on the care we provide please visit
our website www.wenvoeplaygroup.co.uk and view
our Statement of Purpose. Alternatively please call
into Playgroup at the Village Hall any morning
between 9am and 12noon, Monday to Friday.
At this time we have a waiting list and hope to
employ further staff for the Summer Term.
We will keep you posted.

 

 

Christmas Concerts

The time is going so quickly and it is hard to believe that we are now firmly in the throes of practising for our Christmas concerts!
We have had a very busy few weeks and the children have engaged in super learning experiences:
Years 1 and 2 enjoyed a wonderful party as a grand finale to their Happiness Topic.
Years 3 and 4 enjoyed a hugely enjoyable trip to Pizza Express as part of their Global Gourmet topic. They had great fun learning about and experimenting with ingredients with tasty pizzas being made by all!
Year 6 pupils visited Abernant for a 3 day residential trip. During their visit, they engaged in activities such as raft building, zip wires and abseiling. The children were an absolute credit to school and their families.
The Soroptomists paid a visit to Year 6 pupils recently; they gave freely of their time and spoke to the children about Kiva, an American charity which supports families in developing countries to become entrepreneurs.
We were very sad at the end of last term to say goodbye to our wonderful school cook, Mrs Sian Farrugia. Sian has taken up a new post working for the Salvation Army. We are delighted to welcome Mrs Nicola Perkins to our Wenvoe team.
Christmas is fast approaching with all the excitement and preparation that entails in school! We are

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FREE Childcare

 

First of all apologies for not sharing our news of late. We have been very busy since the Summer with many changes that are taking place at Playgroup. The biggest change took place in October when we signed up to the Welsh Government’s 30 Hour FREE Childcare Offer with Cardiff. Many children in Ely and Caerau are benefiting from the 30 hour FREE Childcare with the Playgroup and Gwenfo Nursery. However, there are still more children who could benefit from FREE Childcare. Children who live in Cardiff will be benefiting from the FREE Childcare Offer in 2019 as they expand across all areas of Cardiff. Children can access care at Wenvoe Playgroup as it is all about where the Child lives and NOT where the provision is.

FREE Childcare is available the term after the Child’s 3rd Birthday, until they enter reception class. Both parents must be working 16 hours or more per week at minimum wage if both live in the same household. One parent families can also claim if working 16 hours or more per week. If you would like more information, then please get in touch. There are many ways to contact us on our website www.wenvoeplaygroup.co.uk

Unfortunately, The Vale of Glamorgan don’t plan to pilot their 30 Hour FREE Childcare until September 2019 and then we understand it is other areas of the Vale that this will be on offer. It looks like Wenvoe Children will have to wait a little longer. The Government have proposed that it be available to all areas by September 2020, so we are planning now by extending our hours and moving forward building our provision. We have been piloting a breakfast club and will offer breakfast club 5 mornings a week from January 2019. We will keep you all updated via the What’s On and our Website moving forward.

We understand that the Vale of Glamorgan Family Information Services (FIS) will be dealing with enquiries for all Vale of Glamorgan Children. If you google the Vale of Glamorgan 30 Hour Free Childcare Offer, minutes from the decisions with responsible persons are shown. This is all the information we have at this time.

Due to a high intake in January, we have now started a waiting list for April and beyond. Children who are  registered with us from 2 years and 4 months will have first choice of extra sessions as the offer becomes available. So please don’t miss out, register your interest today. The FREE Childcare offer is coming to the Vale so make sure we have your child’s name on our waiting list to contact you.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all Parents and Persons in the Community who support us here at Wenvoe Playgroup and wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year.

 

 

October Report

 

We have had such a busy half term – they say time flies when you are having fun and that is certainly true of us here in school!

Our Value this half term has been ‘Generosity’; Year 4 led a super Class Worship, to which family and friends were invited. Many thanks to all the children and to Mrs Ford, their class teacher.

Years 5 and 6 spent a day with the Glamorgan cricket team at Sophia Gardens; they watched a match, and also dressed up in kit and played some cricket themselves! Years 3 and 4 enjoyed a trip to Barry Island, as part of their topic work. A great time was had by all! Year 6 are preparing to visit Abernant for their residential visit next week. Thanks must go to Mrs Gordon, Mrs Crouch and Mr Rhys, who give feely of their time to accompany the children.

Vicar Jon welcomed Year 5 to St Mary’s, where they learnt about Baptism and Eucharist. Thank you Vicar Jon!

Years 3 and 4 have been learning to play the glockenspiel and will be putting on a performance for parents and carers on October 18th.

As part of looking after the world all around us, the children have been busy litter picking and weeding our school grounds. They did an excellent job!

Last Friday, pupils and staff dressed in yellow to raise funds for child mental health. We are very proud to have raised over £140 for this excellent cause.

Our Scholastic BookFayre was as popular as ever. Mrs Edward, Mrs Webber, Lily, Shea and Daniyal ran the book sale for us – they did a grand job, raising over £360 for school – this will enable us to invest in some books for our school library.

Many of the children enjoy participating in school clubs – this half term, Mrs Jones has run both Infant and Junior choirs; our netball and football clubs are also extremely well received.

Best wishes from us all at Gwenfo.

 

 

Young Volunteer Award

 

Congratulations to Hannah, 1st Wenvoe’s Beaver Leader, who has won the Scouts Cymru “Young Volunteer Award" of the year. This national award recognises the achievement of a young adult volunteer (aged 18 – 25) for their dedication, enthusiasm and leadership in Scouts in Wales. We are thrilled Hannah has won this!

Hannah, who was previously a 1st Wenvoe Beaver herself, has led and regrown the 1st Wenvoe Beaver Colony, which was struggling to stay open. In a year, since September 2017, she has re-energised the colony and kickstarted an awareness of the amazing activities and opportunities Scouts offers in our village community.

Hannah has led Beaver numbers increasing from 4 to 20 in five months! She leads a team of six adults volunteering on a flexible basis and is also developing two Young Leaders (aged 14-18).

Hannah‘s role in re generating the group and demonstrating how much fun volunteering is has been invaluable. It‘s been wonderful to see her leadership skills, confidence and enthusiasm for Beavers grow through her first year as Beaver Leader. Well done!

Congratulations to Arjinder, Brady, Ilan and Naeve, 1st Wenvoe Scouts, who came joint second (out of 7 teams) in the District Scout Gamer Hike (navigation and c omputer game challenge) this month!

 

 

 

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