08/09/22
Parents Letter September 2022
We hope everyone had a lovely summer and welcome everyone back to nursery 😊
Safeguarding
Please ensure that children are presented appropriately, this includes, good personal hygiene for example; clean face and nose, brushed hair, clean and cut nails, good oral health. In addition to this they should be dressed appropriately for nursery and have everything that they are likely to need including spare clothes, outdoor footwear/indoor footwear, nappies/wipes, long term medication, coats, hats, sun cream. They will also access the outdoor area in all weather conditions throughout the day therefore, we ask that you provide wellingtons, coats, hats for cooler weather, sun hats and sun cream for warmer weather with sun cream being applied prior to coming to nursery. We also advise providing spare clothes for children in case of them getting wet/muddy outdoors.
Please ensure that you clearly label all of your child’s belongings! We cannot be responsible for items of children’s belongings going missing if they are not labelled. We have lots of jackets, hats, bags in the coat peg area and sometimes they can get placed on the wrong peg or dropped onto the floor therefore, it can be hard to distinguish which item belongs to which child. As you can appreciate we see lots of children each day and it can be hard to remember exactly what each child was wearing.
We also expect that children arrive safely to the setting, if they are arriving by car they should be securely strapped into an age appropriate car seat, also not leaving young children unaccompanied in the car whilst bringing others into nursery.
Children will participate in a range of activities during their nursery sessions therefore, we advise that children do not wear their best clothes.
All staff are safeguard trained and we have three staff that have designated safeguard training, it is our duty of care to record and report any concerns that we may have.
We are also here to offer advice and support to children and their families, please feel free to contact us at any time if you feel you may benefit from some extra support or would just like to discuss any worries or concerns you may have.
Lunch and snacks
We will provide snacks in the morning and again in the afternoon for children with a drink of milk, water is readily available for every child throughout the day. Children should be provided with a healthy packed lunch and a treat can be given at the end. Lunches may include, sandwiches/crackers/wraps/pasta, a choice of fruit, yoghurt, a small treat. Children will always be encouraged to eat their healthy options first. Please ensure that if your child requires their fruit to be peeled or sliced that this is done so prior to being put into their lunch box, grapes and blueberries, tomatoes and cocktail sausages should be sliced vertically to reduce choking hazards. Children will also need a spoon for yoghurts/jelly.
Coronavirus
As a setting we continue to request that you do not send your child to nursery should they display symptoms of Covid-19. We ask that children do not attend if they are unwell, if they are not feeling 100% and unable to participate in all activities both indoors and outdoors.
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.
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.
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, this includes additional hours during non-funded weeks, for example if your child receives 15 hours funding but attends for 18 hours per week, during non-funded weeks you are still expected to pay for the additional 3 hours therefore, we encourage you to use these additional hours and book your child in.
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. If your child requires long term medication such as an inhaler, we will require a health care plan to enable us to administer this. You can get this from your child’s health visitor.
Parent questionnaires
Thank you for your responses to our recent parent questionnaire, we always appreciate all of your feedback.
Please see additional sheet for your feedback and our responses.
Staffing
Managers- Sam, Clare
Deputy Manager- Kirsty
Babies and Toddlers- Nicola, Izzy, Lauren, Molly
Preschool- Jade (SEND), Chloe, Daisy, Vicky
Dinner cover/cleaning- Shannon
All staff are DBS checked and have a valid paediatric first aid certificate and up to date safeguarding training.
Sadly, Daisy will be leaving us in October to work in a new nursery, we wish her the best of luck in her new adventure and will all miss her 😊
Photos
Concept photography will be visiting the setting on Wednesday 21st September 9-11.30am. Children that are already in during the morning session will automatically be photographed, if you wish for your child to have their photo taken and they are not in for this session please let us know to enable us to add them to the list for the drop in session between 10.30-11.30am parents will need to wait with their children for this.
Change of hours
If you require change of hours for your child we require 4 weeks notice of this. If your child receives 15 hour funding, change of hours cannot be submitted mid-term it will have to be at the start of a new term.
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.
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. Unfortunately, we are currently at capacity for 30 hour funded spaces.
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 term. You will receive an invoice.
Parent Consultations
Following the response from our parent questionnaires alongside staff feedback we are pleased to say that parent consultations will be returning to face to face appointments. Our next parent consultation evening will be Wednesday 16th November 6-7pm. It will be lovely to welcome parents and carers into the setting as you do not get to come inside very often. The rooms will be set up to enable you to see the activities that your children participate in, you can also have a look around the other rooms within the setting to see where your child will be transitioning to. We do ask that children do not attend however, we know this cannot always be possible so please let us know if this is a problem.
If you would like to make an appointment with your child’s key person please let us know by Monday 3rd October, these appointments will be 10 minute slots and will be allocated to you.
Food bank
We feel that providing a food bank at nursery would provide an option of support for families that may benefit. Therefore, we are looking to trial this from the beginning of October, this will be accessible next to the children’s hand washing station at drop off and collection times. If you would like to make a donation please give this to a member of staff, this could be items such as tinned foods (Soup, fruit, meat, fish), cereals, packaged food such as pasta, spaghetti, cooking jars.
Any donations would be greatly appreciated.
If you feel that you would benefit from this support please make use of the food bank, and let us know if we can help in any other way.
Preschool Halloween Party
Preschool will be having a Halloween party on Wednesday 26th October 4-5pm, children will participate in party games and receive a Halloween treat.
This is during a non-funded week, children already attending during this session will automatically participate. If you would like your child to attend please let us know by 3rd October this will be charged at the hourly rate of £5.70 and places are limited.
Babies and toddlers
Whilst pull ups are an excellent idea for children that are toilet training they are not practical for nursery use, as it can become quite time consuming for staff changing children in pull ups as opposed to nappies as items of clothing need to be removed in order to change the pull up. This is more time that staff are away from engaging in activities with other children. Therefore, where possible please use nappies.
Dates to remember
21st September Concept photography 10.30-11.30am
24th-28th October No 15 hour funding for 2,3 and 4 year old’s
26th October Preschool Halloween Party
16th November Parent consultations
19th -30th December No funding for 15 hour funded children
26th December-2nd January nursery closed
Thank you for your continued support.
Many thanks
Sam and Clare