Hopscotch- childcare at home

23/08/2024

Seems the children spent yesterday imagining the cooler days to come when they started practicing camp fire building with S! We suggested all the exciting things we could cook outdoors: porridge, soups........we were not surprised at all that the children just wanted to roast "a million marshmallows!"

11/03/2024

Good afternoon,

Please can we ask you to make a note in your diaries: on Wednesday 20th March we need to close at 5pm.

I'm sorry this is short notice, it's so that staff can attend a safeguarding evening 6-9 with Barnsley council.

Thank you in advance for your help and support....if this causes you difficulty please have a chat with us

Hopscotch team x

09/02/2024

We know that the colder months can be difficult for families. You may be worried about the costs of living and have to make difficult choices for you and your family. Or you may be worried about paying your heating bills. You may be concerned about trying to keep your home warm, keeping draughts out...

08/02/2024

Please don't venture too far away, parents. The snow is settling on our local roads and I know some of you have quite a commute.

Please be sensible, near in mind your pick up times and stay safe

08/02/2024

Good morning,

The weather looks very calm and lovely right now, but the forecast is for a lot of snow today.

Dropping off won't be a problem but please only do so if you are confident that you can collect safely!

18/01/2024

The parent of this little artist mentioned some concern that he can't write his name.

YET...

I see all the components necessary to form every single lower case and upper case letter in this painting.

I see big lines, little lines, horizontal lines, vertical lines, diagonal lines, big curves, little curves and circles.

This tells me all of this child's freedom to MOVE and USE his body as he so chooses has worked to connect body and brain. (far more so than removing time to MOVE and replacing it with forced table time and "writing time")

His hands are able to do what his brain says....his brain is able to direct those hands to make all sorts of necessary lines to accomplish HIS intrinsically motivated task.

17/01/2024

Wrap up warmly before you visit Hopscotch. We've had a temperature drop and it's all feeling very Arctic!

03/01/2024

Good morning! As plans for New Year activities gain steam, I thought it was worth sharing with you that you can now apply for the 15 hrs term time funded childcare for your eligible 2 year olds (and almost 2 year olds) which starts in April.

If you pay for childcare and want to use Tax-Free Childcare to get help with costs, you can also apply using this service.

You'll need a childcare account but it's really easy to do.

How to apply for free childcare if you're working.

13/12/2023

Good morning all!

We have a few parents bringing in cards for children's friends and little sweet treats etc. Can I politely remind everyone that not all children are full time so if these can be handed in by the end of this week then we can make sure everything goes home with the right family next week!

11/12/2023

Our Polar express invitation started out picture perfect......trees, a book, a truly insta worthy scene. This took about 3 seconds to turn into polar race track with 2 Santa trains battling it out for a race to the magic tree forest, all the peripheries discarded!

It's lovely to see the children make our vision their own. And boy, do they do it quickly 😂

06/12/2023

Happy St. Nicholas Day! L and O have brought us lovely sweet treat for all his friends today to celebrate what his Polish family call "little Christmas" when St Nicholas visits childten and leaves a small gift or treat for them under pillows or in boots. Let's hope is grown ups do a good job today and don't get a Rozga (twig or coal!).

Thank you for sharing your customs with us, it's a real privilege to have such a wonderful melting pot here and to learn all about how different families do things around the world.

30/11/2023

Please be very careful when you approach this morning, the pavements are very slippery thanks to the ice.