Winterton-on-Sea.net

A brand new Play Group for children aged from 2/12 to 4 years of age is now open in the village of Winterton on sea. The governing body for the Play group is the Winterton First School and Nursery Community Association, a registered charity. The association was initially set up as a vehicle through which a holiday play scheme could be run. This has now been running for several years and has proved to be popular and successful.

The Play group is situated on the Winterton First School and Nursery School premises. Because the head teacher and chair of governors are also members of the Association, there will be close links forged between the two groups. The managers believe that the familiarity of the premises and staff will ease the transition for the young children into school life. The facility also offers children like Jacob; a little boy who attends the Winterton Nursery, the opportunity to a gradual introduction to full time school next September.

The managers of the Play group are Sharon Holmes, a qualified Nursery Nurse working toward the HNC and Bridget Green, a trained nurse currently studying at college towards childcare qualifications. They identified a need for play group child care in the village by means of a questionnaire.

The open day was a tremendous success attended by representatives from the local Community Chest Panel, Rural Chest CLIP office in Martham, Winterton Parish Council and the Winterton Parent and Toddler group. Sue Brady, the local Community Development Worker said she was pleased to see all the hard work and planning come into fruition. "To see the children interacting with each other and having fun is the reward for all the effort and labour involved in getting a project off the ground". Ann Borritt, (Rural Community Chest Panel) was delighted to see the children playing with new toys purchased from the Community Chest Grant. Parents were invited to stay and play with their children and all who attended have registered with the Play group. Mrs Thompson, head teacher for Winterton First School and Nursery, welcomed the parents and said she was very excited about this new facility and believed that this early introduction to the school would be a positive influence on the children.

Sharon and Bridget would like to thank everyone for all their support especially joint efforts from Sue Brady at CLIP and the generosity and faith shown by Community Chest Fund panel, without which the Play group would not have been possible. The managers would also like to thank head teacher, Mrs Thompson for the use of the Winterton First School Nursery.

Thanks also extend to the Great Yarmouth Teaching Primary Care Trust for their funding and of course to the Winterton Parish Council who paid for a super new wooden train play set.

The Play group is located within the Winterton First School Nursery; opening times are as follows Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 12.30 - 3.00pm, cost £4.00 per session.

For more information regarding the Play group or to register your child please contact either Sharon Holmes, 01493 393425 or Bridget Green 01493 39347