20/10/2021
Parents Letter October 2021
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.
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.
Please ensure you notify us of any changes to contact details. This includes contact details 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 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.
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
In line with government guidance to stop the spread of coronavirus, staff continue to carry out weekly lateral flow tests at home. As you are aware at the beginning of September we had an increase in positive cases within the setting, which led to us reintroducing face coverings for staff in any communal areas and when coming to the door during hand over. We spoke with Public health at the time and they were happy that we had all relevant policies and procedures in place and agreed that we would reassess the situation at October half term. Due to us not having any further cases, we have made the decision to no longer wear face coverings when coming to the door during hand over, as stated before we feel that it is important for children and parents/carers to see staff faces and easier to communicate too. If parents require a private conversation they will be able to arrange this, in this circumstance you will be asked to wear a face covering and the staff member will also wear one.
We would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that children must be fit and well to attend their sessions within the nursery and able to participate in all activities provided both indoors and outdoors.
Please refrain from sending your child to nursery if they are displaying any signs of illness, being unwell or appear to be under the weather. If your child is displaying symptoms linked to Covid we would ask that a negative PCR test result is presented to us prior to them returning to the setting.
Staff will continue to carry out regular temperature checks throughout the day, you will be notified should your child display a high temperature, a high temperature according to the NHS guidance in children is 38 degrees or more.
With regard to isolating from 16th August it is no longer necessary for staff who are double jabbed or children under 18 years of age to isolate should they come into contact with someone that tests positive to Covid-19 however, should your child test positive they will need to isolate for 10 days. Likewise, if a staff member was to test positive they would isolate for 10 days.
Children will remain in their bubble groups (age group) as will staff members to avoid the spread of infection/illness unless this is completely unavoidable.
All children must wash their hands prior to entering the building at the hand washing station provided, this water is warm and will be changed throughout the sessions. Hand sanitiser is also available next to the buzzer system located at the main door.
We continue to work with children with regards to hand washing regimes, they are encouraged to cover up coughs and sneezes and wash their hands afterwards.
The nursery is cleaned daily and at the weekend, all resources that children access are cleaned on a regular basis. Surfaces touched frequently such as door handles, hand rails and gate latches are cleaned throughout the day.
Medication
Please can we remind you that if your child is prescribed antibiotics they will not be able to attend nursery until they have been on their antibiotics for 48 hours, this is stated within our medication policy.
Partnership with parents
As parents/carers no longer enter the setting on drop off and collection we are aware that you do not have the opportunity to visually see the activities that your child is participating in during their sessions at nursery. Whilst, you will get to view some of the experiences they have enjoyed during their day via tapestry, we acknowledge that this does not give you a full picture of what has been available for your child therefore, we will be adding to tapestry at the end of each week the activities/experiences available for your child in line with planning. Planning is completed to meet all of the children’s needs inline with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). You can also view this information in the preschool window situated next to the main door.
Parent Consultations
Parent consultations will take place week beginning 22nd November, this will be via telephone with your child’s key person. You will be given an allocated date and time for this consultation and it will last for 10 minutes, if you require a longer, more in depth conversation this can be arranged for a different date. If you wish to have a parent consultation with your child’s key person please let us know via message to the nursery mobile by 5th November to enable us to allocate slots.
Early Years Foundation Stage
As of 1st September 2021 curriculum guidance for the early years foundation stage has changed, reasons being to improve outcomes for children aged birth to 5 years particularly in early language and literacy and to reduce workload such as unnecessary paperwork to enable staff to spend more time helping children to learn and develop new skills.
Staff will be following the birth to five framework when planning for children.
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.
Tapestry
Observations of your child are regularly added to tapestry, this enables staff to track and monitor their development and enables you to encourage their next steps of learning at home too. It is lovely to see so many parents/carers accessing tapestry and uploading images of the children enjoying activities and reaching milestones at home.
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.
30 hours funding
Please ensure to reconfirm your code every 3 months on your personal online portal to ensure that you continue to receive funding for your child, you should receive an email from the portal reminding you to do this. It is recommended that you continue to do this until your child is attending school. Whilst we do offer the 30 hours funding for children these places are limited and are not guaranteed within the setting just because your child is eligible. We offer the delivery of the 30 hours funding as 3×8 hour days over 47.5 weeks of the year.
15 hour funding
We have spaces available for two year funding. If your child is eligible for this please speak to the office to book sessions.
Two year progress check
Please can you inform staff of the date of your child’s appointment to ensure that we can prepare the information that is required for your child’s two year progress check.
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.
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.
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.
Preschool Hamster
Preschool have a pet hamster called Holly, the children all enjoy interacting with and caring for the hamster however, sometimes Holly likes to nibble the children’s fingers. We encourage all of the children not to put their fingers into the cage to avoid them being nibbled by Holly however, some find this hard to resist. All accidents will be reported to parents as soon as possible.
Preschool Bonfire Disco
Preschool children will be having a bonfire disco Wednesday 3rd November 4-5.30pm. If your child already attends they will automatically take part, if you would like to book your child a place please message the nursery mobile to confirm by 17th September. This will be charged at the hourly rate of £5.35. Children will participate in a disco and party games and have a bonfire snack of hot dogs with vegetarian option available.
Little Monkey Prints
This year we have teamed up with Little Monkey Prints for the children to design their own Christmas prints. The children really enjoyed making their marks for some personalised Christmas cards. You will receive a letter with your child’s print image in the top left hand corner, this is the only proof of the print you will see. To place an order you need to visit www.littlemonkeyprint.co.uk/nurseryshop enter the password santa123, once you have chosen your products you will be prompted to enter your child’s name to help to identify their artwork, please ensure that you use their full name. You will not be able to view your child’s artwork online. You can then choose from two delivery options 1.Direct delivery to your home (postage charges apply) or
2.Free delivery back to nursery- use code FD04 at the check out (code expires on the order deadline).
The order deadline is 4th November 2021.
Christmas Postbox
We will have our Christmas postbox open from 29th November, this will be open for children to post any dummies, bottles, comforters to Santa for the baby reindeer to have. In return they will receive a certificate from Santa and a special treat 🙂
Dates to remember
25-29th October- No funding for 15 hour funded children
27th October- Halloween fun session 10-11am
3rd November- Preschool Bonfire disco 4-5.30pm
17th November- Children in need (wear something yellow or spotty)
20-31st December- No funding for 15 hour funded children
27th –31stDecember- Nursery closed
3rd January- Bank Holiday Nursery Closed
4th January- All children return to nursery
Thank you for your continued support.
Many thanks
Sam and Clare