02/10/25
Parents Letter October 2025
New Starters
Welcome to all of our new children that started over the summer and in September 😊 Children have all settled really well into nursery life. Children within nursery have also transitioned into new rooms well.
Safeguarding
All staff are safeguard trained and we have four staff that have designated safeguard training, it is our duty of care to record and report any concerns that we may have. We follow the policies and procedures set out by the Warwickshire safeguarding team. If we have a concern, this will be recorded on a green form, you will be notified if we complete a green form for your child, should this not cause any risk of harm. Any green forms will transition with your child should they move to a different setting and when they progress into school.
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. You may also seek advice via the FIS family information service.
With the cold and wet weather please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately and provided with a coat and wellies, gloves and a hat. Children access the outdoors throughout the year in all weathers therefore, appropriate clothing is very important.
Car parking
When dropping off/collecting children please use the nursery car park located at the rear of the premises. When parking please ensure that you park respectfully and do not block the driveway that provides access to the houses. The car park gates will be closed between busy periods 8.45-11.15am and 1.15-3.15pm. If you arrive and the car park gates are locked please park elsewhere and access the building via the front gate instead.
Handwashing
Please use the handwashing station provided next to the outdoor shed to wash your child’s hands prior to coming into nursery to reduce the spread of infection.
Children’s bags/belongings
Please ensure that you provide a bag for your child with any items they may require during their session at nursery. This should include; spare clothes (outfits including, pants, socks, trousers, tops) nappies, wipes, nappy cream.
Children bringing nappies can we recommend that you provide 5 to avoid your child running out, also enough wipes to at least last the duration of the day.
Can we please ask that children’s bags are not too big, we only have limited space for storage and we have lots of children attending.
Please ensure that all items are clearly labelled with your child’s name.
No shoe policy
We are adopting a no shoe policy indoors for staff and visitors to the setting, we will be providing shoe covers to go over outdoors shoes, these will be put on and taken off at the entrance door.
We also ask that children are provided with a separate pair of indoor shoes (if you decide to bring slippers these must fit your child’s feet and not be a trip hazard) and wellies or separate shoes for outdoors. Ensure that they are clearly labelled with your child’s name. We want to reduce the spread of germs and keep the indoor areas/carpets clean leaving mud outdoors. Additionally, this will ensure that carpets and floor areas are clean for smaller toddlers and babies that are crawling and for all children when they are playing at floor level.
If your child does not bring a separate pair of indoor shoes you will be asked to bring some in for them to wear.
Nursery fees
Fees are required to be paid a month in advance however, we appreciate that this may be difficult therefore, if this is not possible fees must be paid weekly prior to your child attending. If fees are not paid in advance your child will not be allowed to stay for their session. In addition to this, any late payments will be charged at £10 per week. If continuous missed payments occur you are at risk of your child’s place being withdrawn.
Illnesses
With the weather changing children are more susceptible to illnesses such as coughs, colds, runny nose. We ask that children do not attend nursery if they are not 100%. Children must be able to participate in all activities both indoors and outdoors whilst at nursery. If children have sickness and/or diarrhea they must remain absent for 48 hours from the last bout of illness. We also ask that you do not give children calpol prior to coming to nursery as this can mask signs and symptoms of illness. If your child needs calpol please ensure that they remain at home.
Please also ensure that you use the handwashing station provided prior to children coming into nursery, we continue to encourage regular hand washing and hygiene routines throughout the day. This includes the cleaning of toys and equipment too.
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 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, this means that the medication needs to have a prescription label with your child’s name clearly stated and the required dosage of medication. 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.
Tapestry
Please ensure that you have logged into your child’s tapestry account, for new starters parents will have received an email with login details to activate your account.
Staff will add weekly newsfeeds where you can see photos of activities the children have been participating in throughout the week (please note; your child may not be on all of the photos). During focus weeks you will receive more detailed information which is personal to your child and their development, this will also include information about their next steps of development and how you can support this at home.
Tapestry is also lovely for you to share with us any photos or updates of achievements, day trips, milestones reached at home.
Staffing
Management- Sam, Clare
Deputy Manager- Kirsty
Babies/Toddlers- Kirsty, Vicky, Nicola, Izzy, Molly
Preschool- Jade, Lauren, Chloe, Jess, Ellie, Danielle
SENDco- Jade/Chloe
Kitchen- Adrienne
Welcome to Ella and Freya completing their Level 3 apprenticeships in early years. Ella is based within the preschool room and Freya is based within the toddler room.
Jess will be returning to work in November after enjoying her maternity leave, we look forward to having Jess back 😊
15 hour funded places for 2 help, working parents and universal 2,3 and 4 year olds
Funded hours will be offered between 8.30-11.30am and 1-4pm, any hours before, in between and after these times will be charged at the hourly rate. If for example you would like your child to have their funded sessions in the morning but would like them to stay for lunch you have the option to book them in 8.30-1 (space dependent) your child would receive funding 8.30-11.30am and you would pay from 11.30-1pm.
If your child will be attending solely for 15 hours these hours will be offered as 5 morning sessions or 5 afternoon sessions. All funding information can be accessed next to the handwashing station outside.
30 Hours Funding
From September 30 hours funding will be offered as 30 hours per week, across 5 days for 38 weeks of the year. Funding will be offered between the hours of 8.30-11.30am and 1-4pm. Children are able to do a full day however, anything either side and in between the funded hours will be payable at the hourly rate. 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. We offer 30 hours to 10% of our intake, once these spaces are filled you will be placed onto a waiting list. Please be mindful that just because you are entitled to it does not mean that we will have the availability to offer it.
School offers
For children due to start school in September 2026, you will be able to apply for schools from November 1st 2025, deadline day will be January 15th 2026 and national offer day will be 16th April 2026.
Children can start school in the September after their fourth birthday.
Toilet training
We are keen to support your children through this stage of their development. Can we encourage that when transitioning from nappies to pants you begin with having a potty visible for your child to use at home and encourage them to use this at each nappy change (we will do this at nursery too), you may then progress to them wearing no nappy at home and encouraging the potty at regular intervals eventually into wearing pants. Once your child is confident in using the potty regularly without wearing a nappy we will support this at nursery. Please ensure that you provide your child with plenty of spare clothes, pants and socks.
If children are not toilet training please ensure that they wear nappies, when lots of children are in pull ups, nappy changing times become very time consuming with having to fully strip each child off to change pull ups. Therefore, we ask that children in baby and toddler room wear nappies and not pull ups.
Well done to Armaan and Elodie for toilet training 😊
Pre-school Children
By the time children reach preschool we expect them to have given up bottles and dummies completely, prolonged dummy and bottle use can cause dental issues as well as speech and language delays, children over 2 years old should NOT drink bottles of milk at bedtime or during the night, this can have a bad impact on children’s teeth and eating habits.
Postbox
We have our nursery postbox for children to post their dummies, bottles and/or comforters. In return they will receive a certificate and be able to choose a gift as a treat, we expect parents to support us in this and be completely honest (please do not give your child a dummy or bottle once they have given this up). Please ask if you require any advice and support.
With Christmas coming up this is a good time to post bottles/dummies to Santa for the baby reindeers.
Curriculum
As a setting we follow in the moment planning, this allows us the opportunity to make a real difference to children’s learning by seizing the moments when children first show interest and curiosity and immediately supporting their next steps.
Planning in the moment is nothing new, it is exactly what a responsive parent does every day with their child, it is also exactly what a skillful practitioner has always done. Every time an adult looks and listens to a child, they are assessing and planning how to respond. The adult will consider whether they can add anything in the moment to benefit the child (a teachable moment). If so, they will respond and interact accordingly.
Please use the link provided to broaden your understanding of the Early year’s curriculum and age related expectations noted in the early years outcomes. https://foundationyears.org.uk/files/2021/09/What-to-expect-in-the-EYFS-complete-FINAL-16.09-compressed.pdf
Focus week
Every child will be observed throughout their sessions at nursery, they will then have a focus week where more in depth observations are completed to support their next steps of development. When your child has a focus week you will be sent a message from their key person requesting for you to send your child’s interests over. This also gives opportunity to share any concerns or ask any questions you may have regarding your child’s development. At the end of the focus week your child’s focus observations will be uploaded to tapestry for you to view. It would be great if you could log in to view this and leave a comment.
When you receive the message to inform you that it is your child’s focus week, could you please write down any interests your child has at home. This could be anything from pulling pans out of the cupboard, collecting leaves outside, dancing to a favourite song, a day trip, special events, anything that your child has been talking about often or shown an interest in. Children thrive when learning around things that they are interested in therefore, any conversations and interactions relating to these interests will also benefit, enabling us to incorporate this into your child’s play, learning and development within areas of the setting to extend your child’s learning experiences.
Please use your child’s tapestry app to upload any photos of them as this would be great to see and share with their friends at nursery. We really appreciate your knowledge and understanding and value your opinion on the interests your child has at home. Sharing this information will help us to work in partnership towards your child’s learning and development.
Oral health
We encourage good oral health and food hygiene routines at jack in the box. Please ensure that your child brushes their teeth morning and night, we also recommend visiting the dentist regularly. Some of you may be aware that during your child’s focus week we will ask that they bring in their toothbrush to encourage teeth brushing whilst they are at nursery. We have a number of children coming into nursery saying that they have not brushed their teeth.
It is important to brush twice a day to ensure that bacteria and plaque is removed that causes tooth decay and gum disease. Baby teeth help children to eat and speak and guide the permanent adult teeth into position, so it is important to take care of them right from the start.
Brushing teeth has to be seen as a non-negotiable habit for children as it is not just about having a beautiful smile, it is also about safeguarding their overall health and wellness. Please ensure that your child brushes their teeth twice a day.
We are working with the Colgate toothbrushing scheme. Preschool children will be bringing home an oral health kit from Colgate, this is to encourage and support tooth brushing at home.
Creative Flair
On Thursday mornings 11-11.30am preschool children participate in creative flair music and movement sessions. All staff that attend to provide the music and movement sessions are DBS checked. Sessions are at a cost of £2 per week and is payable in cash.
Parents Evening
Parents evening will be on Tuesday 21st October 2025 5.30-6.30pm, this gives you the opportunity to view then nursery and speak to your child’s key person about their development. If you would like to book an appointment please message the nursery mobile to be allocated your appointment time. Time slots will be for 10 minutes, should you require a longer appointment please notify us to enable us to book this for a different date.
Resources
If you have any of the following resources that you no longer require, we would be grateful of donations:
Artificial grass Â
Garden paint   Â
Guttering Â
Tea, coffee, sugar pots (metal or plastic)Â Â
Garden decorations such as windmills, wind chimes etc   Â
Pumpkins Â
Pine cones Â
Wooden bowls/natural utensils
 Â
Dates to remember
21st October – Parents Evening (please message the nursery mobile to be allocated your 10 minute time slot)
27th-31st October- non funded week
4th November– concept photography (if your child does not attend during this session, please message to book)
14th November– Children in need (children are invited to wear something yellow or spotty)
25th December-2nd January– Nursery closed
Nursery will re-open Monday 5th January 2026
Thank you for your continued support.
Many thanks
Sam and Clare