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, fresh nappy on arrival. 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, puddle suits/waterproof trousers, 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 Easter Bunny
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.
Our Easter postbox will be open from week beginning 20th March for children to post their dummies, bottles and comforters to the Easter bunny. They will receive a certificate and a treat from the Easter bunny as a reward.
Please only encourage this if you feel your child is ready and you can persevere with this transition.
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.
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. If providing a healthy lunch for your child is difficult to prepare at home we can provide a packed lunch at a cost of £2.50.
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.
Mini eggs
With easter approaching we wanted to make you aware of the risks of mini eggs for children under the age of 4. Solid chocolate eggs pose a choking risk to children- they’re very similar in shape and size to grapes. Mini eggs are the perfect size to block a child’s airway and can choke them and the hard shell can make it difficult to dislodge with standard first aid techniques.
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, national offer day is Monday 17th April 2023. You will receive an email telling you your child’s school place offer. You can also check via the e-Admissions website. Please ensure that you click to accept your child’s place on the offer email, if you do not accept the place your child’s place is not confirmed.
Tapestry questionnaire
Thank you to all who took the time to complete our tapestry questionnaire. In regard to the responses that requested more weekly content for their child, since moving towards in the moment planning individual children will have more detailed content on their focus child week. Weekly you can view a news feed on your child’s tapestry, this will allow you insight into the activities your child and their peers have been participating in throughout the week and the learning that has taken place. You will also be able to view photos of the children including your own enjoying these experiences.
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.
Staffing
Management- Sam, Clare
Deputy Manager- Kirsty
Babies/Toddlers- Kirsty, Lauren, Nicola, Izzy, Molly
Preschool- Jade, Chloe, Vicky, Stephanie, Daisy
SENDco- Jade
We welcome Daisy back to Jack in the box 😊 Daisy will be working both upstairs and downstairs within the nursery.
Fees increase
Due to the increase in the minimum wage and the cost of living, unfortunately we have had to make the decision to increase nursery fees. As of the 3rd April fees will increase; under 3’s will be charged at £6.55 per hour and over 3’s will be charged at £6.25 per hour.
15 hour funded places for 2,3 and 4 year olds
As a setting our spaces are predominantly filled by funded children therefore, from week beginning 17th April we will be adapting the way that we offer sessions for 15 hour funded 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 currently attends 9-3 their session could be adjusted to 8.30-4 they would receive funding 8.30-11.30 and 1-4 you would pay for the hours 11.30-1.
To book/adjust your child’s sessions please speak to the office by Friday 31st March.
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. We have no plans at the moment to be offering 30 hour funding to children under the age of 3.
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.
Nursery library
We have a nursery library situated inside the keyworker room next to the main entrance. You are welcome to come in and choose a book to take home and share with your child, our only request is that you look after this book and return it. It would be lovely if you could upload a photo of you and your child enjoying sharing a book on tapestry 😊
Oral Health Day
Monday 20th March is world oral health day. Good oral health habits need to be formed from the earliest age, tooth decay is largely preventable however, it is still a serious problem among young children.
We invite children to bring in their own named tooth brush (no need to bring toothpaste, we will provide this) to enable them to brush their teeth at nursery. We will also be participating in oral health activities and it would be great if you can share a photo of your child participating in oral health routines at home via tapestry, this can be them brushing their teeth or visiting the dentist.
Parents evening
Parents evening will be Tuesday 18th April 6-7.30pm if you would like to come to parents evening please let us know by 31st March. You will be allocated a time slot to come and see your child’s key person face to face, this will be for a 10 minute conversation to discuss your child’s development and interests.
Dates to remember
17th March Red nose day (children are welcome to wear something red, suggested donation £1)
20th March Oral health day (please provide your child with a named toothbrush to participate in toothbrushing at nursery, we will provide toothpaste, you can also share a photo of oral health routines such as tooth brushing and dentist visits via tapestry)
3rd-14th April No 15 hour funding
7th April Nursery closed Good Friday
10th April Nursery closed Easter Monday
18th April Parents evening
1st May Nursery closed bank holiday
8th May Nursery closed bank holiday
Thank you for your continued support.
Many thanks
Sam and Clare