Interview Skills Workshops

Today was the final session of our Interview Skills workshops, which has kindly been supported by the Newport Usk Rotarians.

During the course, participants learned how to search for jobs, complete application forms, write covering letters and CV's and acquired skills for interview (complete with a mock interview!).

FCC would like to thank Newport Usk Rotarians for all their support and after the success of this course, it is hoped it can be run again early next year.

FCC would also like to thank Heather Edwards for her support in developing the program; she is already very greatly missed...

Xmas Shopping Trip

Forest Parent's Group has organised an Xmas shopping trip to The Mall, Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, on Friday 3rd December.

We will depart the Centre at 9.15am and will return at 1.30pm.

Cost is £5 per seat - book with Kay at FCC reception.

Nursery Graduation 2010

Today, Forest Children's Centre helped organise and run the graduation for the children in Nursery and playgroup.

FCC staff, Clare Dare (childcare coordinator from playgroup) and Heather decorated the Centre with bunting, streamers and balloons to make this a special day for the children.

Children and their parents watched the graduation in the main infants hall and then returned to the Centre for strawberries and cream, ice lollies and fruit punch.

FCC wish all the children the very best in 'big school'!

FCC also wishes Mr Stirling all the best at his new school; we will miss him lots. We look forward to welcoming back Mrs Pearce in September.

See photos of the graduation in our gallery here...

Car Boot Sale

Forest Children's Centre is hosting a car boot sale on Saturday 17th July, 10.30am to 1.00pm on the Duffryn Junior School playground. The entrance fee will be 50p per family.

Anyone interested in a 'sellers pitch' should see Kay at the FCC reception desk - £3 in advance and £5 on the day. Sellers can set up from 9.30am.

Summer Fete Announced

On Friday 20th August between 12p.m. and 3p.m., Forest Children's Centre will be holding a Summer Fete on the Forest Children's Centre & Duffryn Infant Playground.

At the fete will be a large inflatable slide and bouncy castle, burgers and hotdogs, ice-cream, popcorn, candy floss, face painting, raffles, hook a duck, lucky dip, penalty shoot-out, coconut shy, wet sponges, tombola, messy play, nail art, hoopla frogs, ‘play your cards right’, pick a stick, treasure hunt, bean bag target, inflatable target, spot the ball, tattoos, soft drinks and more!

See our poster advertising the event here...

Pili Pala Out of School Club

Starting Monday 19th July and throughout the summer holidays (excluding Bank Holidays), Duffryn Community Link will be running a holiday club at Forest Children's Centre.

If you are interested in a place for your child or are interested in applying for a position within the club or would like more information regarding either of these, please contact Julie Wysome on 01633 816916 or email julie@duffryncomlink.org.uk

For more information, download the flyer here...

Child Safety Week 2010

Child Safety Week is the Child Accident Prevention Trust’s flagship community education campaign. It aims to raise awareness of the number of accidents that seriously injure or kill children and how to prevent them.

‘Make time for safety’, is this year’s theme.

Serious accidents can cause injuries to children that take months or years to heal. The psychological damage caused to children and their families often lasts a lifetime. Yet many of these accidents can be prevented by taking just a moment:

* to move a hot drink;
* check a smoke alarm;
* lock the medicine cabinet;
* switch off the dryer;
* take your foot off the accelerator.

The on-site Health Visitors team, have held quizzes in the Centre for parents to complete. Whilst having a go, they are also learning about practical ways to keep their children safe.

Kelly from the Health Visitors team also set up a display with posters and leaflets for information.

To visit the Child Safety Week website, click here...

Watch the NHS Choices 'Preventing Accidents in the Home' video below:

Noah's Ark Farm Zoo Trip

Today, Forest Children's Centre visited Noah's Ark Farm Zoo in Bristol.

Parents and children from the Crèche, Flying Start, Playgroup and Nursery attended, along with staff from all these settings and FCC - three coaches in total!!!

We arrived at the farm for opening at 10.30am and enjoyed visiting the animals, listening to animal talks and playing on the inside and outdoor play areas, including the wonderful slides!

People bought gifts to remind them of their day, ate a picnic in the sunshine (Geraint's lunch box was checked..!) and even enjoyed ice-creams in the stunning weather; not too many people got sunburn... ;)

See photos of the visit in our gallery here...

To find out more about Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, click here...

Father's Week Celebration

Our Dads advisor Geraint informed FCC of Fathers’ Story Week; he was keen for all the children in FCC to be involved.

Timed to coincide with Fathers’ Day each year, Fathers’ Story Week is a fantastic time for FCC to get fathers and children working and spending time together.

A wealth of research shows that supportive home environments are key to children’s learning and development – and that children with positively involved fathers and father-figures/male carers (whether or not they live with them full-time) do better in all sorts of ways.

The staff within FCC worked together to devise a plan of activities to celebrate the event throughout the week.

Together all the childcare settings based within FCC, (Crèche, playgroup, Nursery, After School Club) hosted a range of activities designed to celebrate the male carers in the lives of our children. It may not be dad, but step dad, mums partner, uncle, big brother or granddad.

Throughout the week children :

• Brought in photos of dad/granddad etc
• Painted pictures of dad/granddad etc
• Made a photo frame with a picture of themselves inside for Father’s Day
• Made certificates for dad/granddad etc
• Dressed like dad!
• On Friday all children were asked to bring in their pennies to add to a very large picture of the Dad’s Advisor logo, which was kindly painted by David Kilbride. The children arrived in small key-worker groups and blue tacked their pennies to the picture. All proceeds will be sent to Barnardo’s.

To see photos of children adding pennies to complete the picture, visit our photo gallery here...

The finale to the week was a dad’s breakfast with their children on Saturday morning to celebrate Father’s Day on Sunday. This comprised of a full cooked breakfast, even black pudding, much to Chantelle’s dislike! (kindly all cooked by Chantelle’s Hubby) Dads also joined the children in craft activities and outside play, with a dad ‘s theme, fishing, golf, cricket. The morning was supported by Chantelle (Centre Manager), Kay (Centre Administrator), Geraint (Dad’s Advisor) and Sarah (Open Access Play Leader).

See photos of the Father's Day Breakfast in our gallery here...

Noah's Ark Trip - Coming Soon!!!

FCC is planning a visit to Noah's Ark Zoo Farm in Bristol in June. This trip is available to all children and parents in Playgroup, Nursery and Flying Start.

Tickets will be £5.00 each. This is being subsidised by FCC/Flying Start and Duffryn Infants.

Call in and see Kay to book your place.

See our poster advertising the visit here...

To find out more about Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, click here...

Adult Learners Week

This week, FCC participated in Adult Learners Week.

We were lucky to gain some funding from NIACE to support the events, which were supported by WEA also.

We held different events including:

• ABC/123, life skills for you and me (practical basic skills session)
• Family Arts and crafts session
• Website design taster session
• Heritage visit
• Don’t be rash with cash (financial literacy awareness - this event was organised with the generous support of the Cooperative Membership; for further information about the Cooperative Membership please click here...)

Over 100 people joined in the events over the week. This was a good way of finding out what type of courses to offer in September.

ABC/123 and Don’t be rash with cash were popular and parents evaluations stated they were keen for more, so not to disappoint we have booked these courses for September/October.

On the website design, a few of you asked the tutor about Computer maintenance so we have booked a taster session for this soon, in June.

See photos of the week in our gallery here...

St. Fagans Visit

Today, FCC organised a visit to St. Fagans. This was a National Heritage visit booked as part of Adult Learners Week.

39 people attended including FCC staff, parents, members of “The Gateway Project” and members of the community that were young at heart, but not so young in age!

We were lucky to have blazing sunshine and the freshly baked bread was oh so lush. Most visitors came away with a bloomer and Welsh jams, as well as Welsh chocolates.

The castle was amazing and was a very romantic setting - shame Chantelle was with Heather instead of her hubby (lol, only joking Hev).

Well done to those pregnant mums who participated and kept up with the walking and a few hills and steps.

A great day was had by all and quite a few people would like to return later in the year - maybe nearer Christmas?

See photos of the visit in our gallery here...

Visit the St Fagan's website here...

Birthday Wishes!

A happy birthday to Geraint from all the FCC team!

You don't look a single day of those 60 years...

Read about Geraint on the Dad's Officer page here...

Telephone Skills Training

Representatives from Veolia Water visited the centre to deliver telephone training skills to the BEST (Building Employment Skills Today) group.

The group asked the Call centre training staff about things that really annoy you - like people phoning and not telling you why they are phoning without giving them your personal details.

The group were taught how to deal will difficult calls and what should be appropriate language (never say infortunately!)...and if a business says they are going to call you back within a time frame... they should!!

See photos of this event here...

Employability Skills Celebration

Tonight, we held an awards ceremony for all the students who completed the Employability Skills course.

The celebration took place in the Duffryn Arms. All participates were awarded with certificates, a goody bag and a few joke prizes too!

Everyone enjoyed a lovely buffet and the odd drink or two. Soft drinks of course... ;)

The night was attended by Chantelle (Centre Manager), Heather (Community Ambassador), Jane (Volunteer Coordinator) and Helen, Bob, Julie, Joe and other friends and Trustees from Duffryn Community Link.

Special thanks, too, all those that supported the course, including James (Tutor), personnel from Duffryn Fire Station, Dave (Careers Wales), Ann (Complementary Therapy), Greg (NCC) and FCC staff who supported with the administration and crèche.

Well done to all those who completed the course!

See photos of the celebration night in our gallery here...

Alison Passes Driving Test!

Today we learned that Alison, FCC's Outreach Worker, passed her driving test!

Congratulations from everybody at the Centre!!!

Adult Learners Week - Funding

We have been successful in our funding bid towards Adult Learners week!

As part of Adult Learners Week (May 17th onwards),
we will be offering taster sessions in:

- website design
- arts and craft for the family
- Maths and English

and a free heritage visit to St Fagan’s Museum of Welsh Life.

For more information about the dates and times of these events, visit our calendar here...

BEST Fire Station Visit

As part of the team building activities for the BEST course, the group visited the local fire station. The group learnt about the different types of equipment that the Fire service use and everyone had a try of the firemans hose. Heather was fully involved in the session, and to feel the part tried on all the firemans kit! (Unfortunately, she had to give it back!)

The group learnt about the recruitment process and information about fire safety and smoke alarms. Alison left as undefeated champion of table tennis. Well done Al!!

To see photos of the visit, click here...

Big Pit Visit

Today, participants of the 'Better Employability Skills' course (Best 3) visited the 'Big Pit' coal mine in Blaenavon.

After arriving safely (courtesy of our wonderful minibus driver Kay who endured some 'lively' banter), the group had a fifty minute guided underground tour of the mines, incorporating all the health and safety aspects of the past and present.

The group were 'kitted out' with helmets (much to the annoyance of those who spent ages that morning styling their hair), lamps and heavy batteries.

The majority of the group had their yearly exercise by bending because of the low roof, but luckily for Heather (not being blessed with much height) she was able to walk entirely upright with room to spare for the whole tour.

See photos of the visit in our gallery here...

Visit the Big Pit website here...