Thursday 25 June 2015

week commencing 29th June


Dear Parents

 

Sunflowers Graduation

The Sunflowers School Leavers Graduation is Thursday 16th July from 3.30-5pm.

We will be having a bouncy castle, party tea and the Graduation Ceremony will be 4.30-5pm.

 

Our 20th Birthday

It’s our 20th anniversary year so on Saturday 5th September we are having a big party at Shalford Village Hall.

Also if you know any of our “old” families please let them know as we would love to see them.

Please RSVP by 7th August so we know how many to cater for.

 

Leavers

Please remember we need a months’ notice for children leaving. Don’t forget to cancel your childcare vouchers!

 

Interactive Learning Diary

Don’t forget to check out all the exciting things your child has done this week, on their ILD profile.

We aim to put at least one observation up per week.


 

Policy of the week

We will be displaying a different policy every week at the bottom of the email newsletter.

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

Our Policy this week is:  Bruising on Not Independently Mobile Children

 

Useful websites:

Here are the links for the Surrey Family Information Service, Free Early Education (the 15 hours funding) and Free Early Education for Two year olds.

 


 

Menus

There are no planned changes to this week’s menu.

If you would like to see a copy of our allergens menu at any time please ask!

 

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, please visit:


 

This week’s planned activities are also now on the ILD’S.

 

Forest School

This week’s group made bark rubbings.

They sat under the tarpaulin and had a snack of hot chocolate.

They enjoyed playing a game where they had to follow a trail that Lee made!

 

Buttercups

Monday – Leanne’s group is naming parts of their bodies

Tuesday – Leanne’s group are playing peek-a-boo as they develop social communication

Wednesday – Mel’s group will be exploring shape sorters

Thursday – Charlotte’s group is dressing up with a selection of hats, tabards and bags

Friday Charlotte’s group will be investigating a range of ICT toys

Charlotte and Nilem are off Monday, Leanne is off Friday and Mel is off all week apart from Monday

 

Bluebells

Monday – Hannah’s group are getting messy as they play with cornflour

Tuesday – Donna’s group is counting using the mini motors.

Wednesday – Chloe’s group will be playing listening and copying games such as “Simon Says”

Thursday – Almu’s group are talking about how they feel.

Friday – Chloe’s group will be reading stories together in the story corner

Donna is off Monday and Wednesday, Chloe is off Thursday and Hannah and Almu are in all week

 

Sunflowers

The Sunflowers have one detailed weekly focused activity to ensure all the children have the opportunity to take part in it.

This will work alongside their weekly planned activity list which you can see in the room and on the ILD’S.

This week’s activity is Making Fruit kebabs

 

This week the Sunflowers will talk about being healthy and staying helathy as they make fruit kebabs.

They will also talk about good hygiene practices such as washing our hands.

 

The letter of the week is: Gg

This week’s activities are:

Using the G stencils

Making playdough letter G

Linking words to the letter G

Drawing gorillas

Talking about the garden

Jess is off Friday and has training on Tuesday afternoon, Megan and Becci are in all week
 
Enjoyed Armed Forces Day
Caroline and the South Hill team x

Friday 19 June 2015

week commencing 22nd June 2015


Dear Parents and carers

 

Father’s week

Thank you to all of the Dads who were able to join us for Father’s week. It was a great success and I hope you all enjoyed it.

 

Farm Visit

The mobile farm is coming to visit us on Wednesday 24th June.

If your child is not in on this day but would like to pop along, they can come at 3.30-4pm. They will need to be accompanied by an adult.

 

Term Dates

The last day of term is Tuesday 21st July.

However the 15 hours of Funding finishes on Friday 17th July.

 

Interactive Learning Diary

Don’t forget to check out all the exciting things your child has done this week, on their ILD profile.

We aim to put at least one observation up per week.


 

Policy of the week

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

Our Policy this week is:  Social Networking

 

Useful websites:

Here are the links for the Surrey Family Information Service, Free Early Education (the 15 hours funding) and Free Early Education for Two year olds.

 


 

Menus

 
If you would like to see a copy of our allergens menu at any time please ask!

 

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, please visit:


 

This week’s planned activities are also now on the ILD’S.

 

Buttercups

Monday – Mel’s group are making marks with pencils and crayons

Tuesday- Leanne’s group will be looking at picture books and pointing to different emotions.

Wednesday – Leanne’s group is exploring the small world toys and train track.

Thursday - Charlotte’s group will be singing number songs and rhymes.

Friday – Mel’s group is recognising themselves as they look in mirrors

Charlotte and Nilem are off Monday, Leanne is off Friday and Mel is off Tuesday

 

Bluebells

Monday- Almu’s group are watering the plants as they care for living things

Tuesday – Hannah’s group is making models with junk modelling pieces.

Wednesday – Almu’s group will be naming their peers and themselves

Thursday – Donna’s group are exploring the ICT toys

Friday – Donna’s group will be joining in with Eli and Custards music session.

Donna is off Monday, Chloe is off Thursday and Hannah and Almu are in all week.

 

Sunflowers

The Sunflowers have one detailed weekly focused activity to ensure all the children have the opportunity to take part in it.

This will work alongside their weekly planned activity list which you can see in the room and on the ILD’S.

This week’s activity is: Learning songs in English and French

 

As well as learning the song we will be making posters about the song.

 

Letter of the week: Ff

 

Using the F stencils

Feeding the fish

Making the letter f with playdough

Talking about our favourite foods

 

Jess is off Friday, Becci and Megan are in all week.
 
Have a great weekend
From the South Hill team x

Thursday 11 June 2015

Week Commencing 15th June


Dear Parents and Carers

 

Father’s week

Next week (15th) is Father’s week. We are looking forward to seeing all of our Daddies at the stay and play sessions during the week or at the Full English breakfast on Wednesday.

If you haven’t signed up yet for the stay and play sessions, ask the staff in your child’s room about the days and times. You can come to one of the sessions or all of them, it’s up to you!

 

Room books

I am currently updating the room books and I need your help. The room books are the booklets we give out when your child moves rooms or starts at the nursery along with your key person letter.

I am currently writing a parent information page, explaining to new parents or reminding old parents what we do at the nursery. This is what I have done so far, please let me know if you think these points are relevant or if you think I have missed anything:

 

If you would like to change your sessions or leave us, we require a month’s notice in writing.

Extra sessions/breakfast club can be booked 24 hours in advance but once booked will be charged.

 

We can only give prescribed medications, the exception to this is Calpol.

If your child is prescribed antibiotics they will need to be away from the nursery for the first 24 hours of taking the medication.

We are happy to administer prescribed eye drops but you will need to do the first dose at home.

We will contact you if your child needs Calpol. If they are still poorly one hour after having Calpol we will contact you again and ask you to collect.

 

We have a duty to record all accidents and bumps. This includes when the children come into nursery with a bump from home.

This is part of our practice and not us pointing the finger, so please don’t be offended!

 

If you run out of nappies or wipes at nursery we have to use our spare nappies.

These need to be replaced by you when you bring your new pack in. Please bear this in mind as you don’t want to run out again just after bringing a pack in!

 

As part of our observation system we will do an assessment on your child when they are two.

This works alongside the two year check the Health Visitor will do.

We will put this check on the ILD’S and print two copies, one for the Health Visitors records and one for your child’s red folder.

 

If your child is not going to be in on their regular day please let us know.

If we don’t hear from you, we will contact you to see if your child will be attending.

 

If you are ever unhappy with the nursery please talk to us. We have an open door policy and you can always talk to the manager or room leaders.

If you would like to arrange a meeting either over the phone or in person just ask.

If you are still unhappy you can also contact our operations manager Natalie Chrystie on 07789 268241.

 

I was also going to put information about the 15 hours funding in the Bluebells and Sunflowers books, would you want this information in the baby room book too?

 

Capital Expenditure

It’s the end of our financial year and as usual I have put in my (long) list for the 2015/2016 budgets.

Excitingly everything I have asked for has been approved!

Keep a watch out for the new garden shelter in the back garden, new equipment indoors and outdoors, a new front hedge as well as a six seater mega buggy!

 

Interactive Learning Diary

Don’t forget to check out all the exciting things your child has done this week, on their ILD profile.

We aim to put at least one observation up per week.


 

Policy of the week

We will be displaying a different policy every week at the bottom of this newsletter.

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

Our Policy this week is:  Suitable People and Safer Recruitment

 

 

Useful websites:

Here are the links for the Surrey Family Information Service, Free Early Education (the 15 hours funding) and Free Early Education for Two year olds.

 


 

Menus

There are no planned changes to this week’s menu, except Father’s day Breakfast on Wednesday.

See attached document for the weekly menu. If you would like to see a copy of our allergens menu at any time please ask!

 

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, please visit:


 

This week’s planned activities are also now on the ILD’S.

 

Buttercups

Monday – Mel’s group will be looking at their photo cubes encouraging them to recognise themselves

Tuesday – Leanne’s group are pointing to their body parts in small groups  

Wednesday – Mel’s group are singing number songs

Thursday – Charlotte’s group will be singing ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ encouraging children to join in with the actions

Friday – Charlotte’s group are looking at animal picture books seeing what animal sounds they can make

Charlotte is off Monday, Leanne is off Friday, Mel is off Tuesday and Nilem is off Monday

 

Bluebells

Monday – Donna’s group will be looking at the photo cubes and talking about their Dads for Father’s Day

Tuesday – Chloe’s group is practising their ICT skills while operating the cameras and laptops

Wednesday – Almu’s group are going to be finger painting creating pictures of their choice

Thursday – Donna’s group will be practicing their listening skills while looking at books together

Friday – Hannah’s group will be exploring media while flick painting

Donna is off Friday, Hannah and Almu are in all week and Chloe is on holiday

 

Sunflowers

The Sunflowers have one detailed weekly focused activity to ensure all the children have the opportunity to take part in it.

This will work alongside their weekly planned activity list which you can see in the room and on the ILD’S.

This week’s activity is: Cooking for our Daddies!

We will be making delicious chocolate biscuits for Father’s Day. The children will be taking turns and talking about cooking rules!

 

The letter of the week is Ee

The Sunflowers will be:

Thinking about words that begin with E

Reading ‘Elma the Elephant’

Using E stencils

Stamping like Elephants

Making the letter E with play dough

Having egg and spoon races in the garden

Jess is off Friday, Megan and Becci are in all week

 

Policy of the week

 

Suitable People and Safer Recruitment

 

When potential staff apply for a position at the nursery, they are sent an application form, which clearly states that they will be required to disclose any criminal convictions and if successful in securing the position will be subject to a Disclosure and Baring Service Enhanced Disclosure DBS.


DISCLOSURE OF CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS 
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act allows for a person who has been convicted of a criminal offence involving a
sentence of not more than 2.5 years imprisonment and who has since lived trouble free for a specified period of time 
(related to the severity of the offence) to be treated as if the offence or sentence had never occurred, This is referred to
as a spent conviction. 
The job for which you are applying is one of those which is exempt from the provision of the Rehabilitation of Offenders 
Act 1974 in relation to spent convictions. You must therefore disclose whether you have any previous convictions, 
whether or not they are spent. However you should note that only convictions that are relevant to the job in question 
will be taken into account. 

Do you have any criminal convictions (whether spent or unspent), cautions, reprimands, final warnings or prosecutions 
pending? 
YES NO 
If yes, please state: 


If you do not disclose any convictions you have it will lead to your application being rejected, or, if you are appointed,
will lead later to your dismissal. People who have convictions will be treated fairly and given every opportunity to establish
their suitability for the job. All applicants will be considered on merit and ability. Any information that you provide will remain 
in strict confidence and will be used only in respect of your application for the job. 


Disclosure and Baring Service
Successful applicants will be required to apply for an enhanced Disclosure and Baring check.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


New staff who have not yet obtained their Enhanced DBS will under no circumstances be left unattended with the children or be allowed to give intimate care such as toileting or changing children’s clothing, until their DBS has come through as expected.

 

DBS’s will not be kept by the nursery in accordance to Data protection, however DBS reference numbers and the dates the DBS’s were made will be recorded for each staff member.

 

Any person living on the premises, working directly with the children or who works on the premises when the children are present (such as regular maintenance workers) will also need to hold a DBS.

 

Students and volunteers may not need to apply for a DBS as they will under no circumstances be left unattended with the children or be allowed to give intimate care such as toileting or changing children’s clothing. This will be made clear to them during their induction.

 

All staff will be asked each year to certify that they have received no cautions, convictions or anything else that may change their DBS check.

 

All staff are also asked to inform their manager if they feel anything may affect their DBS, including living in the same household as another person who has been disqualified from looking after children.

 

Castle Daycare and Preschool follows the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework with regards to contacting Ofsted and other relevant bodies such as the Disclosure and Barring Service when a member of staff is dismissed due to a safeguarding issue.

 

If a person becomes disqualified their employment at Castle Daycare and Preschool will be terminated and Ofsted will be informed as soon as possible and within 14 days. The Nursery will give Ofsted the following details:

 

  • Details of any order, determination, conviction or other ground for disqualification from registration under regulations made under section 75 of the Childcare Act 2006:
  • The date of the order, determination or conviction or the date when the other ground for disqualification arose:
  • The body or court which made the order, determination or conviction and the sentence (if any ) imposed and:
  • A certified copy of the relevant order (in relation to any order or conviction)

 

 

If a staff member fails to disclose a conviction or caution disciplinary procedures will follow and their employment may be terminated.

 

So as to minimise the risk of employing or engaging an individual who poses a predictable risk to them, the Nursery should consider, with respect to candidates who will be working with children (either in a paid or unpaid capacity) a safer recruitment process.

 

This is done by advertising in relevant and suitable places, applying techniques that are helpful in identifying unsuitable people and analysing information and whenever possible verifying through references, the information is correct.

 

Kind regards,

 

Jess Smith

Third in Charge, SENCO

Castle Nursery Celebrating 20 years of care and education 1995-2015

Thursday 4 June 2015

week commencing 8th June


Dear Parents and Carers

 

Events

We have some lovely events coming up so get your diaries!

 

Father’s week -Week commencing 15Th June

Calling all Dad’s!!!!

Come and join us for our stay and play sessions or why not have bacon sandwiches at breakfast with us. Please sign up in your child’s room.

 

Farm Visit

The mobile farm is coming to visit us on Wednesday 24th June.

If your child is not in on this day but would like to pop along, they can come at 3.30-4pm. They will need to be accompanied by an adult.

 

Sunflowers Graduation

The Sunflowers School Leavers Graduation is Thursday 16th July from 3.30-5pm.

We will be having a bouncy castle, party tea and the Graduation Ceremony will be 4.30-5pm.

 

Our 20th Birthday

It’s our 20th anniversary year so on Saturday 5th September we are having a big party at Shalford Village Hall.

Invites will be going out shortly but make sure you save the date.

Also if you know any of our “old” families please let them know as we would love to see them.

 

School leavers

It’s getting to that time of year again (sob!) when all our school children are leaving.

Please remember we need a months’ notice for last days. Don’t forget to cancel voucher payments as well.

 

Interactive Learning Diary

Don’t forget to check out all the exciting things your child has done this week, on their ILD profile.

We aim to put at least one observation up per week.


 

Policy of the week

We will be displaying a different policy every week on the newsletter.

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

Our Policy this week is:  Safeguarding training

 

Useful websites:

Here are the links for the Surrey Family Information Service, Free Early Education (the 15 hours funding) and Free Early Education for Two year olds.

 


 

Menus

There are no planned changes to this week’s menu.

If you would like to see a copy of our allergens menu at any time please ask!

 

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, please visit:


 

This week’s planned activities are also are now on the ILD’S

 

Forest School

This week was the last session for the current group. Next week the next group will start their 6 week sessions.

For their last week the group went to a different part of the forest and had to go down steps to get there.

They made the tarpaulin into a hammock. They had to use their balancing skills to walk across ropes between the trees.

They enjoyed their physical challenges.

 

Buttercups

Monday – Leanne’s group will be using the emotion dolls to sing about feelings.

Tuesday – Leanne’s group is painting with toy cars to explore patterns

Wednesday – Mel’s group are singing songs that name the children in the room

Thursday – Charlotte’s group is dancing to Bhangra, African and Salsa music

Friday – Charlotte’s group will be climbing on and over soft play

Charlotte is off all week except Tuesday, Leanne is off Tuesday, Mel is off Tuesday and Nilem is off Monday

 

Bluebells

Monday – Donna’s group will be using the remote control cars to explore technology

Tuesday – Hannah’s group is practising sitting and listening to stories at circle time.

Wednesday – Hannah’s group are exploring the sand pit and looking at measuring as they pour and fill buckets and cups.

Thursday – Donna’s group is using the mini motors to practice counting skills.

Friday – Chloe’s group will be singing rhymes and filling in the missing word from the songs

Donna is off Friday, Hannah and Almu are in all week and Chloe is on holiday

 

Sunflowers

The Sunflowers have one detailed weekly focused activity to ensure all the children have the opportunity to take part in it.

This will work alongside their weekly planned activity list which you can see in the room and on the ILD’S.

This week’s activity is: Making Father’s Day cards

We will be talking about our Daddies and what our Daddies Favourite things are.

 

The letter of the week is Dd

The Sunflowers will be:

Using Diggers in the sand

Digging treasure in the garden

Using D stencils

Playing with the Dinosaurs

Talking about Danger and what is safe

Making the letter D with play dough

Jess is off Friday, Megan and Becci are in all week