Parents Letter January 2022

19/01/2022

Parents Letter January 2022

We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and would like to wish you all a Happy New Year 😊  

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

In line with government guidance to stop the spread of coronavirus, staff continue to carry out weekly lateral flow tests at home.

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 17th January, anyone that tests positive to covid-19 be this via a PCR or a lateral flow test, must isolate for 5 days providing a negative lateral flow result on day 5 and on day 6 too.

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 they be identified as a close contact or a member of the household test positive it is recommended that a lateral flow test is carried out each day prior to coming to the setting.

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 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.

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

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. Photos of the children celebrating Christmas with their families and friends and visiting different places within the local community have been great to see.

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.

Staffing

Baby and toddler staff- Kirsty, Izzy, Nicola, Daisy

Preschool staff- Lucy, Jade, Chloe, Lauren, Vicky

Office- Sam, Clare

Rachel is going to be leaving us in February, she is starting a new adventure in a new nursery and we wish her all the best for the future. If your child had Rachel as a Keyperson you will be notified via text/whatsapp who their new keyperson will be.

All staff have recently updated their pediatric first aid training completing written and practical learning to update their knowledge.

Room transitions

When children are moving onto their new room be it toddler room or preschool room you will be notified prior to this move and informed as to who their new key person will be. We appreciate that this can be a big step for both children and parents therefore, we will ensure that you receive regular updates during your child’s settling in periods. If you have any worries or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us, you can either speak with your child’s key person or another member of the nursery team. Sam and Clare are always on hand to speak with parents/carers too.

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.

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.

School Leavers

If your child is due to start school in September 2022 you should have applied for their school place by 15th January. You should receive an email around the 19th April confirming the allocated school,  you will need to accept their place to ensure that this is confirmed. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.

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 Valentines Disco

Preschool will be having a Valentines disco on Monday 14th February 4-5pm. If your child already attends for this session they will automatically take part, if your child does not attend for this session and you would like them to participate please inform the office via text message or whatsapp by 4th February. This will be charged at the hourly rate of £5.35 for over 3’s and £5.65 for under 3’s.

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.

Dates to remember

14th February- Preschool Valentines Disco 4-5pm

21st-25th February- Non funded week, no 15 hour funding

1st March- Shrove Tuesday (children will be tasting pancakes)

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