Hi everyone,
I met with Roger Jones (Headteacher) and Bob Horne (Community Manager) at the Hurst yesterday. Having provided them with a link to our petition in early December, I presented them with a hard copy at our meeting, the length of which impressed upon them the importance of the under 5s groups to our community.
They were able to share the positive news that they have arranged for three of the five regular groups to be reinstated from next week. So, for those of you who currently look after under 5s, you will be pleased to hear that from Monday 14 January the following groups will be running:
- Mondays 10-11.30am: Messy Play
- Wednesdays 1.15-2.45pm: Bounce & Balance
- Thursdays 10-11.30am: Messy Play
If you are around and have appropriately aged children in your care, please do go along to these groups as I was given the impression that the budget for such groups will be under regular review and their continuation will depend heavily on their popularity.
For those of you who have been Hurst regulars and/or have children under 2, you may notice the absence of Little Pips as well as Music & Movement from the list above. I emphasised heavily my concern about this, particularly with regard to Little Pips, which is a vital haven for those with babies and children up to 2 years. I made sure that both gentlemen understood that this group is quite different to the others as it is aimed at children too young to attend the other groups and provides critical support, in particular to parents in the early stages when parenting can seem overwhelming. I was assured that the provision of such a group would be reviewed again in a month or so as we are currently in an interim period, while matters are ongoing with a member of the team.
For up to date information about the groups I was asked to point you all towards the Hurst website and Facebook page.
I hope that we will have some more good news in the next month or so and I will continue to monitor the situation and let you all know if there is any change.
Many thanks for all your support,
Elizabeth