Parents Letter March 2022
Safeguarding
Children will access the outdoor area in all weather conditions throughout the day therefore, we ask that you provide wellingtons, coats, hats for cooler weather. We also advise providing spare clothes for children in case of them getting wet/muddy outdoors.
Please ensure that you label all of your child’s belongings clearly!
Please provide nappies, wipes and spare clothes in your child’s bag, this should be in a named bag not in a carrier bag.
Ensure that you notify us of any changes to contact details, this includes telephone numbers and address.
Please notify staff of any accidents that result in bruises or marks at home to enable us to fill out an accident at home form, if we are not informed it is our policy to contact parents/carers to check how this may have occurred.
Also ensure that you notify staff if children require medication whilst within the setting as we will need to complete a medication form, if this is prescribed we will need to see the prescription label and children will need to have been taking the medication for 48 hours prior to returning to nursery.
If your child requires long term medication such as an inhaler, we will require a health care plan stating how and when this is needed.
Lunch and snacks
Children are provided with a snack of toast or crumpets and a drink of milk in the morning this is served between 9-9.30am and a snack of fruit and a drink of milk in the afternoon, this is served between 2-2.30pm. Water is offered regularly for children to access throughout the day. All children attending for lunch are required to provide a packed lunch with healthy snacks, this may include sandwiches, yogurt, fruit, please ensure that foods are cut safely for example, grapes, blueberries and cocktail sausages should be sliced length ways.
Lunch should be sent in a wipe-able lunch box with a rubbish bag provided inside to avoid any spillages within your child’s box, can we also ask that spoons are provided for yogurts.
For food needing to be stored in the fridge within your child’s lunchbox such as sandwiches, yoghurts etc please ensure that this is all contained in a named sandwich bag within the lunchbox, this enables ease of access for staff to remove this food and place it into the fridge as we do not have space for large lunchboxes within the fridge.
Coronavirus
Following on from the announcement made by the Prime Minister on 21st February, we have reviewed our Covid-19 operational plan and risk assessments whereby some of our policies no longer reflect the current guidelines. Therefore, we would like to take the opportunity to summarise the latest guidance for our setting:
As a setting we continue to request that you do not send your child to nursery should they display symptoms of Covid-19. Although there is no legal requirement for children to self-isolate if they have symptoms of Covid-19 or if they have tested positive to Covid-19, we would still encourage children to:
- Obtain a PCR test if they are experiencing one or more of the main symptoms of Covid and isolate pending the result.
- Should the result be positive we request that children isolate for 5 days, only returning to nursery after two consecutive lateral flow tests and no sooner than day 6 of isolation.
- If children continue to test positive they may return to the setting after 10 days of isolation, returning on day 11.
As a setting we remain committed to protecting all members of our setting including children, staff and parents and continue to remain cautious whilst learning to live with Covid.
We will continue to follow guidance of minimal mixing between rooms, staff and groups where possible to reduce the risk of spreading infection. Children will continue to be encouraged to follow good hygiene routines, washing hands regularly with hand washing stations still in place at the entrance of nursery for parents to continue to wash children’s hands prior to them entering the setting. We will also continue to carry out handovers at the door with parents/carers not entering the building, as we have found that children settle better and there has been less illness in general. We have also found that parent consultations via telephone have worked well with more parents able to make appointments, and so will continue to do parents consultations this way. However, should you want to come and have a look around the setting and speak with your child’s key person you are welcome to make an appointment to do so. In addition to this, we continue to request that children do not attend should they be unwell or unable to participate in all activities both indoors and outdoors.
We will look forward to gradually reintroducing stay and play sessions later in the year.
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Absence
Please ensure that you inform nursery if your child is going to be absent. This may be due to a holiday, a day trip or sickness. You can notify us via phone, text, whatsapp or email.
If your child has had sickness and/or diarrhea please ensure that they remain absent from the setting for 48 hours from their last bout of illness to ensure that this is not passed on to other children and staff.
If your child is absent due to holiday, illness or a day at home you will still be charged for this session.
Medication
We are only able to give prescribed medication to your child whilst they are at nursery, we cannot give over the counter medication, this includes medication such as cough syrup, calpol and nurofen.
Nursery Mobile
Please ensure that you have the nursery mobile number saved to your contacts, this will enable you to receive any messages that are sent out via a broadcast list. If you have the number saved and think that you are not receiving messages with information please let us know.
Tapestry
In line with the Birth to five curriculum, we are adjusting the way that we complete your child’s observations and assessments. Each week you will receive an activity plan of what your child will be participating in each week, photos of this can be viewed in the preschool window next to the main entrance. Your child’s key person will then add photos each week of your child participating in the activities they have particularly enjoyed. You will then receive a report each term of your child’s progress, this will be starting from the summer term and you will receive them via tapestry at the end of the summer term (July), the end of the winter term (December) and the end of the spring term (April). We will also have parent consultations in line with this.
Nursery website
If you have not already done so you can subscribe to the nursery website to receive notifications of when new information is added. We regularly add photos of the children participating in activities at nursery and information of any upcoming events. The website can be accessed at www.jackintheboxnuneaton.co.uk.
Parent questionnaire
Thank you to everyone that completed the parent questionnaires, it was great to receive so many positive comments and we always welcome any feedback and/or suggestions for further improvements. You will be able to view our responses to any feedback in the window next to the main entrance shortly.
Staffing
Baby and toddler staff- Kirsty, Izzy, Nicola, Daisy, Lauren
Preschool staff- Lucy, Jade, Chloe, Vicky
Office- Sam, Clare
Lauren will be moving back to toddler room after the Easter break, if Lauren is currently your child’s keyperson you will be notified of who their new keyperson will be via text message/whatsapp.
Fees
Please can we remind everyone that fees are to be paid two weeks in advance. Failure to pay fees on time may result in a late payment charge and your child being unable to attend for their sessions. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us. For parents/carers whom are in receipt of universal credits, letters confirming payment will be provided at the beginning of the month confirming the previous months payment once received in full.
Any additional sessions booked during non-funded sessions must be paid for at the time of booking, for example if you are booking your child in for half term this will need to be paid prior to the child attending.
Due to the rise in minimum wage amongst other living costs, we have no choice but to increase the nursery fees. This increase will come into effect from Monday 1st May, a copy of the fees will be sent home.
Late Collection
We understand that on occasion you may be late for collecting your child from nursery due to work, traffic, siblings etc. If you are going to be late collecting your child please ensure that you notify us via telephone or messaging the nursery mobile.
Late pick ups are charged at £1 per minute unless we have been made aware prior to the late pick up.
Rotas are set to cater for staff:child ratios and these are completed in line with children’s drop off/collection times, also staff have to collect their own children.
30 Hours Funding
30 hours funding is offered as 24 hours per week, across 3 full days for 47.5 weeks of the year. Please note that there are limited spaces allocated for 30 hour funding, children do not automatically receive this at our setting even if you have applied for it and been accepted.
School Leavers
If your child is due to start school in September 2022, you will be notified of their school place week beginning 18th April. Once you are offered the school place you will need to log in and accept this place, please notify us of where your child will be attending to enable us to liaise with your child’s school to ensure a smooth transition.
Creative Flair
Preschool children participate in creative flair music and movement sessions on a Thursday morning, this is charged at a weekly rate of £2 per child and is to be paid in cash each week.
Nursery Photos
Concept Photography will be coming into the setting to take photos on Wednesday 13th April 9.30-12 o clock, all children that attend for this session will automatically be photographed. If your child does not attend during this session you are welcome to bring them along for their photo just let us know by 1st April to enable us to add them to the list. With it being the Easter holidays, if you have older children and would like the siblings to have a photo together this is an option too, again just inform us prior to have them added to the list. The photographers name is Donna and she has a full DBS check.
Stay and Play Sessions
Unfortunately, due to the lack of interest we will not be holding an Easter stay and play session. We will look to offer an alternative in the summer. We apologise for an inconvenience.
Dates to remember
11th-22nd April- Easter Break, No funding for 15 hour funded children
13th April- Nursery Photos
15th April- Bank holiday nursery closed
18th April- Bank Holiday nursery closed
Thank you for your continued support.
Many thanks
Sam and Clare