Parents Letter January 2023
We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and wish everyone a Happy new year 😊
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 (children cannot wear wellies indoors), nappies/wipes, long term medication, coats and hats. They will also access the outdoor area in all weather conditions throughout the day therefore, we ask that you provide wellingtons, coats, hats, we also advise providing spare clothes for children in case of them getting wet/muddy outdoors. Children will access a variety of activities such as sand, water, the mud kitchen, painting, exploration area these are all messy activities therefore, please be mindful of outer clothing such as coats/jackets, we advise wearing older clothes rather than something new.
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.
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.
Posting dummies/comforters to the baby reindeer
Well done to all of the children that posted their dummies and/or comforters into our Christmas postbox to the baby reindeer. It has been unfortunate to see that some parents have given these comforters back to their children since being posted, this can provide mixed messages to the children and does support their development. A special well done to the children that have continued to not have these since posting them; Angeline, Lydia and Aleiah.
Using a dummy in a babies early months can be useful for soothing however, using them after a babies first birthday is not recommended. A few reasons why include: Frequent dummy use can affect the way teeth grow. The front teeth may not meet which in turn may affect chewing and making speech sounds.
Learning to talk takes practice, lots of noises that your baby makes are practicing sounds, not cries. A dummy can get in the way of babble sounds which are important in early talking. When you respond to these sounds your baby knows that you are listening and feels more attached to you.
There are concerns that using a dummy a lot is linked with increased ear and stomach infections.
Further information and support can be found online at https://timetotalkwarwickshire.wordpress.com/families/
If you have any questions or would like support regarding dummies and comforters please do not hesitate to ask.
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.
Outdoor play
Children access the outdoor areas throughout their sessions at nursery in all weather conditions. Please can you ensure that you provide your child with separate indoor shoes and wellingtons/outdoor shoes, a coat, hat, gloves for colder weather. We would also recommend some waterproof clothing such as waterproof trousers/ puddle suit, as children access the playground and the grassed/mud areas (these can be purchased from Primark, Asda, Sainsburys, Tesco).
Lunch and snacks
Please ensure that your child’s packed lunch consists of healthy foods for example, sandwiches/ wraps/ pasta/ crackers, a piece of fruit, a yoghurt, and a treat. Please do not send children with cold pizza, chicken nuggets as this is not a healthy option.
We 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 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 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. We recommend that if children have a positive covid test they remain absent for 3 days.
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, 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.
Winter Illness
There appears to be lots of illness going around at the moment with an increase in respiratory illness such as the common cold, flu and covid and sickness/diarrhoea.
Norovirus, also called the winter vomiting bug is a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrohea, symptoms can start suddenly, within 1-2 days of being infected. The main symptoms include; nausea, vomiting, diarrohea, raised temperature, headache, aching arms and legs. This can be very unpleasant, but usually goes away in about 2 days.
Good infection prevention and control are very important, we encourage this regularly throughout your child’s sessions and ask that you use the handwashing stations provided prior to your child entering the setting, there is also hand sanitizer next to the intercom system for parents/carers to use.
Please can we remind you that children should not attend nursery unless they are 100% well and able to participate in all activities both indoors and outdoors. If children have had sickness or diarrhea they will need to remain absent for 48 hours from the last bought of illness. If children have a high temperature which is classed as 38 or more we request that they remain absent until their temperature has stabilised without the need of calpol, a normal temperature is 36.4.
Children will be sent home from nursery should they be unwell and/or have a high temperature. We understand that this can be frustrating and that children may have appeared well at home however, our policy states that if children are unwell or have a high temperature they cannot be at nursery.
School Applications
If your child is due to start school in September 2023 please ensure that you have completed their application by 15th January 2023. You can apply online https://www.gov.uk/school-admissions/how-to-apply
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.
In the moment planning/focus sheets
As a setting we are following the in the moment planning, we provided information about this before Christmas, we feel that as a setting this will be beneficial for all of the children and supporting their learning and development. Focus sheets for your child will be sent home the week prior to them being the focus child, this is to give you the opportunity to share your child’s interests with us, please take the time to complete this and return it to us, to aid and support your child’s learning.
News feed
Each week there will be a news feed to view on your child’s tapestry, this may not contain photos of your child specifically however, will inform you of activities that your child and their peers have particularly showed an interest in and how these interests have been developed, also how you can support these interests at home.
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.
Dates to remember
20th-24th February No 15 hours funding
3rd-14th April No 15 hour funding
7th April Nursery closed Good Friday
10th April Nursery closed Easter Monday
You have received a paper copy of the newsletter this time however, usually newsletters can be viewed via the nursery website and your child’s tapestry. When returning after Christmas we had a lot of messages asking when nursery reopened, this information is always provided via the newsletter and dates to remember. This information is also regularly sent out via a WhatsApp broadcast list, if you are not receiving these messages please inform us.
Thank you for your continued support.
Many thanks
Sam and Clare