29/04/2021
Parents Letter April 2021
Safeguarding
Children will access the outdoor area in all weather conditions therefore, we ask that you provide wellingtons, coats, hats for cooler weather and hats and sun cream on warmer days. We ask that parents/carers apply sun cream prior to children coming to nursery and staff will reapply this during the day.
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.
Staff changes
Jade has now returned to work, it is lovely to have her back and she has settled straight back into her role, providing some lovely learning opportunities for the children to access.
Lauren will be going on maternity leave at the end of May, we wish her an enjoyable maternity leave and look forward to meeting the new arrival that will be due in June 🙂
Nicola will be returning from maternity leave at the beginning of June, we look forward to welcoming her back.
We are making some staff changes within the setting and wanted to make you aware of which staff members will be within different areas. Baby room: Rachel, Toddler room: Kirsty, Izzy, Daisy, Nicola, Lauren, Preschool: Lucy, Jade, Chloe, Vicky (apprentice). Due to this there may be some changes to who your child’s key worker is, please be assured that all children are familiar with all staff members within their area. If your child’s key worker is changing you will receive a message to inform you of this change and they will make themselves known to you at the door during hand over.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
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.
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.
Coronavirus
In line with government guidance to stop the spread of coronavirus, staff continue to carry out weekly lateral flow tests at home. Staff will continue to wear a face covering when collecting and bringing children to the door and within communal spaces however, they will not be required to wear them within their bubble groups/rooms.
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.
In addition to this, if yourself or your child are displaying symptoms or have been in contact with someone that has tested positive please ensure that you isolate for the full day 10 days.
Please ensure that when entering the nursery grounds you wear a face covering and use the sanitiser provided. 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.
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.
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.
School leavers
For children that are starting school in September you will now have received an offer for their school, you will need to confirm this place, please do not take the email as a guaranteed place as until you accept this it is not confirmed. If you have not already done so please let us know which school your child will be attending to enable us to send their transfer profiles onto their school.
You can encourage your child to be school ready in many ways including: being independent with toileting including wiping themselves and washing their hands, dressing themselves including fastening zips and buttons, using cutlery independently, writing their own name and reciting numbers in order.
We will be holding a preschool graduation party for school leavers on Wednesday 21st July 4.30-5.30pm, children will participate in party games, have a tea of chicken nuggets and chips (vegetarian option available) and receive a certificate. Should you wish your child to attend please inform the office by 7th May this will be charged at the hourly rate of £5.35, if your child is a school leaver and already attends during this time they will automatically participate in the session.
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.
Parent Consultations
Thank you to those parents who participated in parent consultations, we feel that in the current situation this worked well. You will be able to view the information discussed at your parent consultation via your child’s tapestry account. To enable continuity of opportunities and promote partnership with parents you will now see on your child’s monthly observation that you can view their next steps and also how you as parents can support this at home. Each week you can view observations of particular interests your child has had at nursery and once a month you will have a more detailed observation stating your child’s next steps of development in a particular area. If you have any questions or would like some further ideas/support please do not hesitate to ask.
We will be looking to hold parent consultations again later in the year.
Creative Flair
Creative Flair returned to the setting last week, the preschool children really enjoyed participating in this music and movement sesison. The member of the creative flair team visiting the setting will be the same each week and they will follow government guidelines with regard to Coronavirus. They will be wearing a mask or a visor during their time within the setting and will present their lateral flow test result prior to visiting (they will also be carrying out lateral flow tests each week). All children will participate within the session, this will be a cost of £2 per week, this payment needs to be made separately to nursery fees.
Items wanted
We are always looking to provide new and exciting opportunities for the children to access, we have recently spent some time focusing on the outdoor areas making them more inviting and exciting for the children. We are looking for any unwanted items such as: wallpaper, musical instruments, diggers, wooden toys, children’s umbrellas, torches, wooden pallets, empty wooden cable roll, plant pots, vegetable growing resources. If you have any items you feel would be suitable please let us know as it would be much appreciated 🙂
Opening hours
We currently continue to run with our reduced opening hours and are open from 8-5, should there be an increased demand for longer opening hours in the future we will resume our original hours of 8-5.45.
Dates to remember
3rd May- Bank Holiday Nursery closed
31st May- Bank Holiday Nursery closed
31st May-11th June- Non funded weeks for 15 hour funded children
21st July- Preschool Graduation Party
26th July-3rd September- Non funded weeks for 15 hour funded children
9th August- children in receipt of 30 hour funding will only receive 12 hours funding this week
16th August- Non funded week for 30 hours
23rd August- Non funded week for 30 hours
(If you would like your child to attend during non funded weeks please inform the office, this will be charged at the hourly rate).
Thank you for your continued support.
Many thanks
Sam and Clare