A Man in Child Care

Back in December, Mrs Paintpots and I travelled to Vienna for the first meeting of our Comenius project.

Our hosts, Veronika and Stella are absolutely charming. They had organised all details of our visit - accommodation, visits to kindergartens, schools, a tour of Vienna and its Christmas lights, markets and palaces.

2 colleagues joined us from Spain and 9 from Belgium.  It was a great experience – an opportunity to build a new network of contacts in Europe, a time to plan a programme of activities for our children and to expand our knowledge.

In 2 weeks I am taking 2 members of Paint Pots staff to our second meeting in Belgium. We are looking forward to another exciting meeting and the chance to experience the Belgian approach to Early Years and wider education. We are also anticipating trips to Bruges and Antwerp and sampling Belgian chocolate!

It’s that time of the year when the tv channels are full of those cheap programmes reviewing the last year, so as I sit here recovering from my annual bout of Christmas flu, why don’t I do the same? Actually, we published our annual report in September, so I’ll just update you on the last few weeks leading up to the big day (for most of which, I was in bed – ill! – sympathy vote).

This year, we found a great simple nativity play – “Our First Nativity” which was really effective. I attended all 5 lives performances at the various churches and can confirm -

• incredible audiences! – parents, relatives and friends came out in droves this year, there were over 70 people at some of the venues.
• some amazing Oscar nominations -

1. the pregnant Mary with a cushion up her dress, who sat back and stroked her bump – method acting at its best
2. the wise man who shouted, ‘Mum, Dad, it’s my bit. Are you watching?’
3. the angel who performed an energetic Michael Jackson inspired solo disco routine
4. the Joseph who also boogied his way through the show

• Universal praise for the presentations, the children and the staff.

To celebrate the opening of Harefield preschool, Mrs W decided to organise an open day with a special guest.

The guest arrived yesterday at Paintpots Mansions in the back of a van, taped up in a large cardboard box.

By the time I emerged downstairs for breakfast this morning, Mrs W had already adopted her alter ego and was posing out on the drive by the Paintpots mobile.

I hope she doesn’t scare the children in this guise. It terrified me!