SESSION UPDATE: Sunday 13th September 09

This week was our first session at the Greenwith Community Centre. We had three families attend and welcomed another wonderful new family.... the Kerin Family. Carley & Shaun brought along their gorgeous sons James & Mitch and had fun with the rest of the group playing with toys, riding bikes outside and taking advantage of the massive basketball court.

My sons Jacob and Aaron were so worn out by the time we got home, I haven't heard a peep out of either of them and Kristie has been quiet as well (if only we had Rainbow Land Play Time to go to every day!!). I would expect Taylor and Ben would be the same with all the activity they joined in with.

We were also fortunate to have the City of Tea Tree Gully's Neighbourhood Development Team Leader, Maggie L'Estrange, visit the group.

It was a bit of a relief to get the first session back after a four week break out the way, especially because we are now using a different building. It will probably take a bit of getting used to, but I am sure after a small amount of time, it will feel like we have been there for ages. The basketball court was a big hit today, which was lovely to see.

Take care and HAPPY RAINBOWS

Allison xxx

Photos of the New Location for Raibow Land Play Time

I am so excited because I have been to the centre twice this week and I know everyone is going to love it. I took Jacob there today and he had the best time, even though we spent most of the time in the office playing with toys. I have posted photos of the Centre below so you can see what to expect when you arrive. Be sure to show your children the photos if you can so that they feel a little bit familiar with building when they get there.

The reason I was at the centre today was to complete a grant application to the City of Tea Tree Gully (with Lynne Ogbeide's wonderful assistance) for some resources and equipment for the social skills group. We are calling the group the Rainbowland Kid's Club. Fingers crossed we are successful with the grant because I have put down for some fabulous stuff that I know the kids will love. I will be brining a copy of the grant application and the resources and equipment I have asked for on Sunday so you can have a look if you want.

Because we have shifted venues, we no longer have our own tea and coffee supplies. I have to follow up if they still exist from when I purchased them for Sunnybrook. If you could please bring your own supply of tea, coffee and sugar and I will bring the milk for this week. I will do my best to sort out the supplies for the following week.

HAPPY RAINBOWS AND SEE YOU SUNDAY :-)
Allison xxx

Our First Session at Greenwith Community Centre is this Week

I am very pleased and excited to announce that Rainbow Land Play Time is recommencing at its new location at the Greenwith Community Centre this SUNDAY 13th SEPTEMBER 2009.

We hope that you will be able to join us and I hope that the families who have indicated they would like to come along for the first time make it also.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on 0400 006 165.

HAPPY RAINBOWS

Allison

Saturday 6th September 2009: Session is CANCELLED

I am soooo embarrassed to once again advise that playgroup won't be happening this week. Living day to day as I do, it didn't even occur to me that this Sunday is Father's Day. My first and immediate thought was to organise a BBQ for our fantastic Dads on Sunday, but realistically, I don't have time to organise it. Perhaps we should look at doing this next year. Our Dads are fab and I think it would be wonderful to celebrate how important they are to us together. Same goes for Mother's Day. I never go anywhere on Mother's Day, or if I do, it is just too much for me and I don't get to enjoy the day like I would really like to. We can explore these possibilities more if enough people are interested.

Rainbow Land Play Time is Changing...

After a 2 hr meeting (Helen & I represented the Playgroup Committee) with the City of Tea Tree Gully Neighbourhood Development Team, it was decided the Sunnybrook Community House is not suitable for our group. Because of this decision, there will be NO PLAYROUP THIS WEEK (29th August).

Playgroup will now be held on a Sunday between 1 - 3:30pm at the Greenwith Community Centre. We are excited about this development, but apologise to anyone who will not be able to attend because of the change to the day and location. We do, however, believe more family units will be able to attend because often sport on a Saturday prevents siblings and Dads from being able to attend, and even prevents whole families from attending. The main reason for the relocation is because of the security issues. I wish to thank everyone who responded to my request for something in writing about the security issues. It really did help to explain our situation at the meeting.

The relocation of the playgroup will mean we will finally get the opportunity to implement programming, which I am particularly excited about. We have the basketball court booked for the last part of the session so the kids can run around and play ball, hopefully to run of all their energy before they go home (and hopefully strengthen their muscles, coordination & social skills at the same time). The court session will go from 2:30 - 3:30, allowing us time to pack up in the room at 3pm. We will work out how to manage this for children who don't like the court noise.

We are also looking for playgroup volunteers. We need two each week and they don't have to attend every week as we can put together a roster system. So, if you know someone who would like to volunteer, please email me at rainbowlandplaytime@gmail.com.

Lastly, the City of Tea Tree Gully staff have offered to help us with funding applications. This is fantastic because they often know a lot more about what is out there than we do.I would like to finish by saying that I am grateful to the CTTG for their responsiveness this week. They showed us compassion when it came to addressing our concerns and worked outside the square to come up with an outcome that not only meets the needs of the children's safety, but also their developmental needs in programming ideas.

♥ Allison xxx

THIS WEEK IS CANCELLED: Sat 29th August 2009

Saturday 29th August 2009 Session is CANCELLED.

I am sorry to say that Rainbow Land Playgroup is cancelled AGAIN this week.

Playgroup will now be held on a Sunday between 1 - 3:30pm at the Greenwith Community Centre. We are excited about this development, but apologise to anyone who will not be able to attend because of the change to the day and location. We do, however, believe more family units will be able to attend because often sport on a Saturday prevents siblings and Dads from being able to attend, and even prevents whole families from attending.

Please see THE ABOVE POST for further information.

♥ Allison

THIS WEEK IS CANCELLED: Sat 22nd August 2009

I am sorry to say that Rainbow Land Playgroup is cancelled this week. We are still trying to resolve security issues with the entrance door because more children a absconding each week (ironically mine are always in there!) and because there has been a confirmed case of the Swine Flu with a family who attended last week. I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience if you were intending to go. Playgroup will be on again next week.

♥ Allison