Week One is Done

Day 170...

Well, we've made it to the end of week one back at pre-school...well I say week it was actually only three days...and we only had children back in for two of those, but still week one is done - woohoo!

My day was taken up with more paperwork for our new starters, emailing out invoices to our parents, sorting out paperwork for claiming our government funding, a bit of banking and the usual emails.

It was one of my teams birthdays today and so we had, as is tradition, all clubbed together to buy her a present and she had brought in treats; a homemade raspberry cheesecake...which was lovely! I don't normally eat sweet desserts but this was what Simon and I will refer to as 'rare and appropriate' and as it was homemade it wasn't as overtly sweet as shop bought versions and I really enjoyed my little treat (thanks Sylv!).

One of our favourite books to read to the children is called 'Argh Spider', it is a lovely book with some beautifully illustrations. The last picture in the book shows a room FULL of spiders and this afternoon we discovered that pre-school was looking very similar to that last page, so much so we had to get the hoover out! Not really sure where they all came from I think it's 'just that time of year' but it did remind me of a picture Simon drew a few years ago.

This was part of Simon's 365 Mickey project which ran through 2011...I shared this picture on the Disney Dream Girls podcast family Facebook page just the other day and so I shared it again today with the girls at work as it seemed to represent very well what we were up against!

This was drawn to represent what we walked into on our return home after two weeks away!

Once home I was greeted by Simon and a coffee and the news that we have a date for our new wardrobes to be installed...so hopefully this time two weeks from now we should have a brand new bedroom (minus the flooring which we still have to sort).Just got to figure out where to put everything while the wardrobes are fitted in a house that is full of 'stuff' from our other house! Argh!!

Then I decided to get a little more admin work for pre-school completed as I still had a few invoices to send out and a few emails to write and deal with but once that was done I took an hour out to move some pieces on my jigsaw. I was only going to spend 20 minutes on it and the next thing I knew an hour had gone by - oops!

Right I have a glass of red wine with my name on it so take care out there, keep your distance and wear a mask.
xx

The Kids are Back

Day 169...

So my second day back at pre-school and today was the first day we were open to the children. We only had a very small number attend today as our new starters are phased in over the next couple of weeks which does mean we get to ease our way back into things.

All the children did amazingly well as for all but one of them this was their first time back at pre-school since we closed back in March. Our routines are different to when they were last with us because of COVID but they all just accepted the changes without any issue (and the parents did really well too!). 

My day was focused on sorting paperwork and bits for the new starters that will be joining us over the next couple of weeks, writing a newsletter, reviewing our plans with my deputy manager and sorting the uniform order that had came yesterday.

By the end of the day I had managed to complete most of what I wanted and was able to head home in the sunshine, as opposed to the rain of this morning, and enjoy a coffee on the patio soaking up some vitamin D.

Next job though was to sort out the butchers delivery that we received today; needed to unpack it all and then split it into manageable sized portions before putting it all into the freezer. Then I did a little more pre-school admin work by posting online our latest newsletter as well as emailing it out before heading 'down the gym' with Simon.

And that was today and back to work again tomorrow.

Stay safe out there, wash your hands, keep your distance and wear a mask.
xx

Back to School

Day 168...

And it was back to school...well pre-school...today.

So up and out the door quite early so I could be at work for an 8.30am delivery of some uniform stock...mmm...delivery arrived at about 8.55am!!

First job of the day when I arrived was to fight my way through cobwebs, there were so many spiders everywhere! It was then down to business with a team meeting sat outside enjoying the sunshine to chat about the new school year starting, how things are going to work and the children that we have registered with us.

Next the team set to cleaning the room and getting all of our equipment set out ready for opening tomorrow to the children. We are what is often referred to as a 'pack away pre-school'; this basically means that as a charity we don't own our own premises we simply rent space and have to fit in with any other organisations that use the building which means that at the end of our day we have to pack ALL of our equipment away so that whoever uses the building after us has the space they need. At the moment we share the building with our local scout group and they have not yet re-opened which is a little bonus for us as that means we can set-up and leave everything out overnight ready for tomorrow.

We finished a little earlier than expected so it was home to grab a coffee with Simon sat outside before he carried on with his afternoon at work. I then had a little pre-school admin work with just a few emails to deal with and registers to print and bind.

And then it was time to jump online with my fellow Disney Dream Girl Michelle as we recorded our podcast ready for release this weekend as well as a special edition for our Patreon supporters.

Final job for the day was to jump in the car and take another couple of parcels to the post office. The weather had been lovely this morning but now it was cold and rainy so much so that I had to put the heater on in the car. Let's hope this isn't the end of the Summer, I like the warmth and the sunshine!

So day one done and now ready to open up for children tomorrow!

To all in education take care, stay safe and wash your hands!!
xx