week commencing 2nd September

Dear Parents

 

Nursery news

 

Parents Evening is on Thursday 5^th September from 6.45 – 8.30. We will be trialling a first come first served system to try and ensure that you get to spend time with your child’s key person.  This may mean you only get to spend ten minutes with your child’s key person, but should ensure a fairer way of doing things. Pop in any time between 6.45 and 8.30 to have a chat, look through your child’s profile and meet other parents.

 

For all parents of children going to school in 2014 there will be a “Getting Ready for school” Presentation which will run from 6.30- 6.45

 

If you have any questions about Parents Evening just ask! Otherwise we look forward to seeing you then.

 

Zoo Lab will be visiting the Bluebells and Sunflowers on Tuesday 3^rd September in the morning. The Zoo Lab presenter will be bringing along small animals and insects such as mice, snakes, spiders and snails, for the children to see and in some cases touch! This is a great way for the children to learn about animals and insects as well as a way of teaching them not to be afraid.

 

This week’s activities

Each key person will be responsible for designing an activity based on their key children’s needs; however, all children who are in on that day will have the opportunity to access the activity too.

If the key person is on holiday or off, another staff member will be able to lead the activity in their place so that the children do not miss out.

For more information on the Early Years Foundation stage, the guidance we use to support our planning and practice, visit:

http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/

 

Buttercups

Monday –  Nilem’s group are having fun with water as they explore pouring and filling.

Tuesday –  Emma’s group is developing physical skills as they use nets to catch toy ducks.

Wednesday – Magda’s group will be expanding their vocabulary as they talk about finding toys in the sand.

Thursday- Charlotte’s group are experimenting with movement as they roll balls and cars down a ramp.

Friday -  Emma’s group will be doing their own puppet shows as they play together

Charlotte is off Friday, Emma is off Monday and Thursday, Magda is off Tuesday, Nilem is on holiday all week and Becci is in everyday

 

Bluebells

Monday – Sophie’s group is practising fine motor skills as they stack (and knock down) blocks.

Tuesday – Sophie’s group are working together as they tackle large puzzles.

Wednesday – Donna’s group will be getting messy with cornflour.

Thursday – Leanne’s group is  dressing up in the “People Who Help Us” tabards

Friday – Leanne’s group will be using linking elephants to count.

Donna is off Tuesday and Friday, Leanne is off Wednesday, Sophie is off Thursday and Friday and Rose is in all week

                                                                                                  

Sunflowers

Books of the fortnight are:

2^nd – 9^th September Going to Nursery – Catherine and Laurence Anholt

16^th -23^rd September Charlie and the Cheese monster – Justin C H Birch

30^th September – 7^th October  The Lion’s share – Matthew McElligott

14^th – 23^rd October Are the trees alive? – Debbie S Miller

Monday – Jess’s group are building up their vocabulary as they use describing words to talk abot animal movement and sounds.

Tuesday – Chloe’s group is exploring the world of Doctors as they role play, read books and play the doctors CD Rom.

Wednesday – Jess’s group will be painting with natural objects to explore pattern and texture.

Thursday – Chloe’s group are creating their own stories!

Friday – Jess’s group will be building gross motor skills as they play ball games.

Jess is off Tuesday, Chloe is off Monday and Alison is in Monday to Thursday 9.30 -2.30

 

Kind Regards

 

Caroline and the South Hill Team

week commencing 26th August

Dear Parents

 

Nursery news

There is lots of exciting news this week!

Congratulations to Leanne who has been promoted to Room senior of the Bluebells team. Leanne will be working with Donna, the room leader and Rose and Sophie. The role of the room senior is to run the room in the Room Leaders absence.

Joining the Buttercup team is Rebecca who starts with us next week. Rebecca has lots of experience working with children and has a level 2 childcare qualification. 

Congratulations to Chloe who has passed her level 3 childcare qualification!!

If you have any questions about the staff teams please talk to Caroline.

 

The Nursery will be closed on Monday for the bank holiday but will be open as normal next Tuesday.

 

This week’s activities

Each key person will be responsible for designing an activity based on their key children’s needs; however, all children who are in on that day will have the opportunity to access the activity too.

If the key person is on holiday or off, another staff member will be able to lead the activity in their place so that the children do not miss out.

For more information on the Early Years Foundation stage, the guidance we use to support our planning and practice, visit:

http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/

 

Buttercups

Tuesday –  Magda’s group are working together as they use the parachute.

Wednesday – Nilem’s group are exploring cornflour as they develop fine motor skills.

Thursday – Charlotte’s group is looking at Rhyming books and singing the rhymes together.

Friday – Emma’s group will be developing language skills as they role play with the tea set.

Charlotte is off Friday, Magda is off Tuesday, Rebecca is in all week and Emma and Nilem are on holiday all week.

 

Bluebells

Tuesday – Donna’s group is building their large physical skills as they play skittles.

Wednesday – Sophie’s group are naming and exploring shapes.

Thursday – Donna’s group are getting creative as they paint pictures.

Friday- Donna’s group will be counting using the compare bear toys.

Donna is off Friday, Sophie is off Thursday, Leanne and Rose are in all week

 

Sunflowers

Books of the fortnight are:

19^th – 26^th August Going to School – Usbourne books

2^nd – 9^th September Going to Nursery – Catherine and Laurence Anholt

16^th -23^rd September Charlie and the Cheese monster – Justin C H Birch

30^th September – 7^th October  The Lion’s share – Matthew McElligott

14^th – 23^rd October Are the trees alive? – Debbie S Miller

Tuesday – Chloe’s group are developing large physical skills as they play twister

Wednesday – Jess’s group are getting scientific as they freeze objects in water and see what happens

Thursday – Jess’s Ice experiments continue today

Friday – Chloe’s group will be looking at floating and sinking as they make rivers out of tin foil

Jess is off Tuesday, Chloe is off Wednesday and Alison will be back on 2^nd September.

 

Have a great Bank Holiday weekend

Caroline and the South Hill Team

Arrival and departure procedure

Arrival and departure procedure

 

Aim of policy

 

To give clear guidance on how we record arrivals and departures to the setting.

 

Points to consider

 

At Castle Daycare and Preschool we do not allow children under 18 to collect children from the setting.

We keep records of each child’s full name, address and date of birth as well as hours of attendance.

 

Castle Daycare and Preschool aim to do this by:

 

We ask every parent and carer to record their child’s arrival and departure on our registers. Staff will check these registers frequently to ensure the children have all be signed in and out correctly.

 

Staff are also required to sign in and out of the premises.

 

All visitors to the setting are required to sign the visitor’s book and record: their full name, the name of their organisation or link to child, the purpose of their visit and accurate details of arrivals and departure times.

 

During the settling in sessions Parents are asked who, if anyone, is allowed to collect their child. Parents set their own password which can be given to people the parent has nominated to collect their child. Parents are asked to inform the nursery of who will be collecting their child even if it is one of the nominated people.

 

In rare circumstances the nursery may allow a child to be collected by someone other than the Parent or nominated person, if requested to do so by the parent.        In these circumstances we will:

• Ask the parent to give the person collecting the password
• Ask the parent for  the person collecting full name and description
• When the person collecting arrives we will check the password and ask for id before allowing them to collect the child.
• The person collecting will be asked to sign the child out and record the correct departure time.

Social Networking policy

Social Networking

 

Aim of policy

 

To give clear guidance to staff and parents about how social networking is used.

 

Points to consider

 

Social networking is a part of many people’s, as well as businesses, everyday lives.

It can be difficult to understand where professional and personal lines are to be drawn. This policy aims to clarify these lines.

The term social networking applies to sites such as, but not exclusive to: Facebook, Twitter, linked in.  This policy works alongside the confidentiality policy, mobile phone policy and the using images policy.

 

Castle Daycare and Preschool aim to achieve this by:

 

• Asking every staff member to maintain confidentiality when using social networking sites.

 

Under no circumstances are staff allowed to discuss Nursery life on their personal social networking media.

 

• Asking all current parents and staff to maintain the professional boundaries and not make links (friends) on social networking media.

 

• When using the Castle Daycare and Preschool’s social media sites such as Facebook and blogs, confidentiality is to be maintained and only information deemed suitable and that has the suitable parental permissions.

 

• Any images used on Castle Daycare and Preschool’s social media sites, must have the correct parental permission and be of a suitable nature.

 

• Staff may not use social networking sites during work time unless on breaks, with the exception of Nursery related Social networking sites.

Week commencing 12th August

Dear Parents

 

Water toys

We are building up our water toy selection and we need plastic bottles in different sizes, old sieves, plastic containers with or without lids, anything you think would be fun to play with in the water would be great. If you have any thing at home you could bring in please give them to Donna.

 

Food

As part of our action plan we are looking at ways to inform you further about our meals. We are in the process of taking photos of the dinners so you will be able to see what we are serving. We are also looking at ways we can inform you of portion size so you have an even better understanding of what your child has eaten at Nursery. Watch this space over the next few weeks!!

 

Illness

We have had a few cold bugs going around, leaving the children very tired and not themselves. A couple of children have also had a tummy bug.

 

Policies of the week

We will be displaying a different policy every week in the hallway and on our blog:  http://castlenursery-southhill.blogspot.co.uk  (you may have to cut and paste this link).

If you would like to see this or any of our policies please ask Caroline.

Our Policy this week is: Whistle blowing (part of our safeguarding children policies)

 

This week’s activities

Each key person will be responsible for designing an activity based on their key children’s needs; however, all children who are in on that day will have the opportunity to access the activity too.

If the key person is on holiday or off, another staff member will be able to lead the activity in their place so that the children do not miss out.

For more information on the Early Years Foundation stage, the guidance we use to support our planning and practice, visit:

http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/

 

Buttercups

Monday – Leanne’s group will be exploring the lights and sounds of the musical footprint mat.

Tuesday – Charlotte’s group is sorting, matching, filling, emptying and exploring objects.

Wednesday – Nilem’s group are singing songs such as “Old MacDonald” using the song props

Thursday – Magda’s group are developing physical skills as they throw balls into hoops.

Friday – Emma’s group are reading books together

Charlotte is off Friday, Emma is off Tuesday and Thursday, Magda is off Monday, Nilem is off Friday and Leanne is in all week.

 

Bluebells

Monday – Donna’s group is making cornflour paste and talking about its texture.

Tuesday – Donna’s group will be practising taking turns as they explore the sensory box

Wednesday – Sophie’s group are practising their independence skills as they feed themselves at lunch time.

Thursday – Donna’s group is singing counting songs as they practice their numbers.

Friday – Sophie’s group will be developing their social skills at circle time.

Donna is off Friday, Sophie is off Thursday and Rose is in all week

 

Sunflowers

Books of the fortnight are:

5^th – 12^th August Super Worm by Julia Donaldson

19^th – 26^th August Going to School – Usbourne books

Monday - Jess’s group will be talking about their weekends as they reinforce their learning of the world around them.

Tuesday – Chloe’s group are developing their gross motor skills as they play a throwing and catching game

Wednesday – Chloe’s group is looking at colours as they play a colour matching game.

Thursday – Chloe’s group are reading the story of ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’ and acting out parts of the story.

Friday – Jess’s group will be looking at themselves in the mirror and creating self portraits.

Jess is off all week, Chloe is off Tuesday, Alison is away for the summer holidays.

 

Caroline and the South Hill Team

Whistle Blowing policy

Whistle blowing

 

Whistle blowing is another way of saying “staff that make a disclosure in the public interest”

 

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 protects workers who “blow the whistle” about wrong doing. It applies where a worker has reasonable belief that their disclosure tends to show one or more of the following offences or breaches:

• A criminal offence:
• The breach of a legal obligation:
• A miscarriage of justice
• A danger to the health and safety of any individual:
• Damage to the environment
• Deliberate covering up of information tending to show any of the above.

 

Castle Daycare and Preschool strongly supports measures which protect whistleblowers from any form of victimisation. Castle Daycare and Preschool has a procedure to ensure concerns are dealt with effectively and efficiently and will do all that they can to preserve the confidentiality of workers who raise such concerns.

 

If you genuinely believe that people you work with are behaving in a way that seems wrong or have a serious concern about an aspect of service, you will be doing your duty and acting in the public interest by speaking out.

• If you are concerned about staff members or a working practice you are requested to speak to your Manager.
• The Manager will investigate the complaint and you will be informed of the outcome of the investigation. The Nursery will deal with a concern within ten days of receiving the concern.
• If it is the Manager you have a concern about, or the Manager has not dealt with any issues satisfactorily, you need to inform the Area Manager, who will then undertake an investigation.

 

Area Manager, Natalie Chrystie: 077 89 26 82 41 or 01293 772561

 

• If the matter is still not dealt with in a satisfactory way or the issue is very serious you can contact the Ofsted whistle blowing number:

0300123 3156

• Depending on the outcome of the investigation other agencies such as Ofsted or Surrey Safeguarding board may need to be contacted.

 

 

 

Castle Daycare and Preschool will respond to any concerns raised and will make every effort to not reveal the whistleblower’s identity, if they so wish. However during the investigation it may be necessary to make the origin of the complaint known to the person or persons the allegations concern. All concerns raised within the investigation process will be assessed to determine if the confidentiality extends to withholding the name of the complainant.

 

Whistleblowers should understand that their identity may be revealed by inference.

 

Castle Daycare and Preschool accepts that the deciding to report a concern can be very difficult and uncomfortable. If a member of staff makes an allegation in good faith, but it is not confirmed by the investigation, no action will be taken against him/her. If however a member of staff makes an allegation frivolously, maliciously of for personal gain, disciplinary action may be taken against them.

 

This may be a stressful time for the whistle blower so Castle Daycare and Preschool would recommend that support groups such as the Samaritans on: 08457 90 90 90 may be able to give impartial support.

week commencing 5th August

Dear Parents

 

Wow vouchers

I have attached Wow vouchers for you to complete at home over the summer. Any achievements your child completes at home over the summer we would like to hear about them! Don’t forget to get Grandparents and extended family involved too.

 Late Collections

Please can all parents collecting at lunch time ensure they are here by 1 pm. With our numbers being so high, late collections are meaning we can be over our ratios. Please bear in mind that we can charge for late pickups (for 1pm or 6pm collections) at a cost of £7.50 for the 1^st 15 minutes then £15 for every 15 minutes after. We have hardly ever had to use these charges and I hope this continues to be the case.

 

Holidays

Please can you let us know if you are away; as part of our policies we will call you if your child is expected in and does not arrive and we do not want to be bothering you whilst you are away!

 

This week’s activities

Each key person will be responsible for designing an activity based on their key children’s needs; however, all children who are in on that day will have the opportunity to access the activity too.

If the key person is on holiday or off, another staff member will be able to lead the activity in their place so that the children do not miss out.

For more information on the Early Years Foundation stage, the guidance we use to support our planning and practice, visit:

http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/

 

Buttercups

Monday – Leanne’s group will be exploring the texture of cornflour!

Tuesday- Charlotte’s group is developing language skills as they play together with the cars.

Wednesday – Nilem’s group is playing hide and seek as they develop an understanding of out of sight objects

Thursday – Magda’s group are exploring areas in the garden

Friday – Emma’s group will be visiting Bluebells as they are moving up soon!

Charlotte is off Monday, Emma is off all week, Nilem is off Friday, Magda is off Wednesday and Leanne is in all week

 

Bluebells

Monday -Donna’s group will be making star shortbread to celebrate Eid

Tuesday – Donna’s group are using magnifying glasses to explore their environment

Wednesday – Sophie’s group is using the animal puppets as they sing animals songs such as “Old McDonald”

Thursday – Donna’s group are developing vocabulary as they read books such as “Roar” and “Snap”

Friday – Sophie’s group will be getting creative as they paint pictures

Donna is off Friday, Sophie is off Thursday and Rose is in all week

 

Sunflowers

Books of the fortnight are:

22^nd- 29^th July Guess How much I Love You? By Sam Mc Bratney

5^th – 12^th August Super Worm by Julia Donaldson

19^th – 26^th August Going to School – Usbourne books

Monday – Jess’s group will be playing the alphabet soup game as they recognise letters

Tuesday – Jess’s group is taking their own photos with the cameras and printing them off afterwards.

Wednesday – Chloe’s group will be using number cards and bean bags in a throwing and counting game

Thursday – Chloe’s group are developing vocabulary as they play with the small world toys in groups.

Friday – Chloe’s group will be playing parachute games and developing their social and turn taking skills.

Jess is off Friday, Chloe is off Tuesday and Alison is off for the summer holidays!

What to do if staff are worried about a child - Child Protection policy

What to do if you are worried about a child?

 

1)     Talk to your CPLO or go to the Area Manager if you have concerns about the CPLO or Manager

 

2)     The CPLO will contact the Surrey County Council's Children's Service by telephoning the Surrey Contact Centre on 03456 009 009 or, in an emergency, you should report the matter to Surrey Police on 999. The Contact centre can offer advice on the issues raised.

 

 

3)     Outside of office hours and at weekends and public holidays, the Emergency Duty Team should be contacted by telephoning 01483 517898. However, if you are seriously concerned about a child's immediate safety, always dial 999.

 

4)     You should also confirm your referral in writing as quickly as possible. You can read the guidance on making a referral and download the multi-agency referral form at:

 

 

http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/childrens-social-care/protecting-children-from-harm/surrey-safeguarding-children-board

 

5)     If a member of staff has been accused of abuse, they must be suspended and a full investigation undertaken.

 

6)      If there is an allegation against a staff member the Manager or CPLO must inform the Surrey County Council Local authority child protection designated officer (LADO) on 01372 833321, whatever the outcome of the investigation.

 

7)     Ofsted need to be informed of any suspected abuse by a member of staff or person living or working on the premises. Ofsted will also need to be informed of the outcome of the investigation.