Windsor Baptist Annual Report 2006

Parent & Toddler Group

The Parent and toddler group have been meeting now for more than twenty years every Thursday morning and we’re still going strong. We started the year with a bit of a staffing crisis, with Margaret Gillespie retiring after many years of faithful service, and Nik Rowney stepping back due to ill health. Several people helped us out though, by coming for one or two Thursdays, so we always had enough help for the morning to go ahead (thanks to all of them).

Now things have settled down a lot. Quite a few of our children start nursery school or playgroup gradually throughout the year, which means that numbers have dropped since September (this is a good thing, as we were very overcrowded at the start of the term, and had to turn people away).

We now also have the regular help of Michelle McKenna joining Ruth McCormick in the kitchen, and Dorothea Jeffrey and Carolyn Young, willing to come when needed to cover absences.

The rest of the team are: myself (Sarah Wray), Juliet Mills, Janice Stockman, Isobel Gamble, Florrie Downs and Pauline Mckee. Nik is hoping to return soon.

The format of Thursday mornings hasn’t changed much over the years. We still start with painting and play-dough, as well as the use of all the toys in the family centre and Isobel and Florrie providing craft activities for the older children. Then there is toast and juice and tea and coffee for everyone, and the morning is rounded off with announcements and singing time.

We gave out Bibles to the children who left us in June, as well as bible story books to all the children.

We plan to repeat the ceramic painting evening that we did last year as it was such a huge success, as well as an evening out at a restaurant. We didn’t go out for a meal last year, and several of us missed it which is why we're reinstating the tradition.

We regularly invite our mums and minders to meetings or events in the church, but these invitations are rarely taken up. Still, P&T is a great opportunity for our church to make a connection with people in the community.

Please pray for continued safety, and for the strengthening of relationships within the group.

   Sarah Wray