Facilities

Our main priority is to provide a safe and organised caring environment for every child in which to learn and play. We offer a wide range of toys, equipment and play materials along with plenty of well planned and age appropriate activities to help each child to progress in all areas of their development.

The nursery complies with the learning and development requirements and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

All the equipment is carefully selected to ensure that it is safe to use and that it provides the children with a wealth of opportunity for high quality play and learning experiences, appropriate to their age and ability. To help the children gain the maximum benefit from their time in nursery, staff will take time to evaluate the activities and experiences they provide.

A healthy child is a happy child – following this philosophy, the nurseries provide seasonal fresh and nutritious meals and snacks daily for the children or which meet the children’s individual needs and requirements. These are prepared by a professional chef in the nurseries’s own kitchen.

Children with dietary requirements have alternative meals cooked on an individual basis.

We focus on making each mealtime for every baby and child an enjoyable social occasion.

The meals run on a four weekly rolling programme and menus can be viewed in Reception at both nurseries.

Special Dietary Requirements are catered for and the children enjoy a delicious, varied and balanced diet with fresh fruit available throughout the day.

A balanced and healthy breakfast , hot midday meal, tea and daily snacks are provided for children attending a full day at nursery.

The children are encouraged to drink milk or water at snack and meal times. Fresh drinking water is constantly available inside and outside and is frequently offered to all of the children and babies.

All babies and children have the opportunity to participate in baking and cooking activities as part of their learning experience. A wide range of recipes are used in the nursery and children have the opportunity to:

• Make savoury and sweet foods
• Make hot and cold foods
• Help to prepare their own snack and tea
• Make foods that reflect different cultures, celebrations and current themes

Good food hygiene practices are fully encouraged as part of the learning experience. Most foods made will be sent home at the end of the session but on occasions will be eaten at snack times. Children with allergies or special dietary requirements will be taken into account in this instance.

Our dedicated nursery teams are totally committed to each and every child, and are trained to provide the optimum day care experience. We at the Old School House fully understand how important this decision is for you as a parent, so we have an expert team of knowledgeable and friendly staff to help you every step of the way.

Staff work closely in partnership with parents and others to ensure every child is fully included and their individual needs are met.

All the staff are truly exceptional and Parents love the caring environment that the nurseries provide and are reassured by the warm and friendly faces they are met with when they leave their children.

The high ratio of staff to children ensures that every child’s needs are catered for and while the focus is always on play and environment, specialist teachers in subjects like reading, writing, Maths, French, music and tennis really make the Old School House Nursery Schools stand out.

Outdoor Visitors – These help enrich the children’s nursery experience eg. A yearly topic of ‘People who help us’ – Representatives from the Fire Brigade, the police, Lolipop men and ladies, dentists, doctors and Guide Dogs for the blind are invited in to speak to the children.

Partnership with Parents/Carers – may need to move elsewhere

Pride is taken in offering a personal, friendly and professional service in order to build good relationships with children, their parents and their carers.

Settling in – We appreciate that leaving your child at nursery for the first time can be difficult and so we do all we can to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible. It is our aim to ensure that the process of settling in children to nursery life is as happy and as pleasant an experience as possible. We appreciate that as well as the children needing to feel comfortable it is also important that parents/carers feel at ease with the process.

We aim to follow the home routine as much as possible in order to cause minimal disruption to your child and help them settle in. In addition, your child can have as many settling in sessions as you feel necessary.

Communication with Parents/Carers

We know that parents/carers are the most important people in a child’s life and their most important educators and should be centrally involved in their child’s experiences and development.

Effective communication means there is a two-way flow of information, knowledge and expertise between parents and staff. Staff are always available to give feedback about your child’s day and talk about significant events with you. Daily feedback is always given and documented in a care sheet for you to take home.

We operate an ‘open door policy’ – parents and carers are always welcome

The Welfare of the Children

• We have a strict medication policy to control the administration of medication
• There are 3 nominated Senior Staff in each nursery with paediatric first aid. However all members of staff have either paediatric first aid or have completed a recognised first aid course. We are an accredited training centre and train our own staff in First Aid.
• Strict infection control measures are in place including no outdoor shoes in the baby and toddler rooms and stringent hand-washing procedures in all areas including the provision of hand gels and foams.
• All staff closely follow the nursery's Policies and Procedures and inparticular the safeguarding and Health & Safety policies and procedures found in Reception at both nurseries.

Every child is allocated a ‘Key Person’ who will be ultimately responsible to ensure that the needs of each child in their care are met. Whilst all staff work as a team together and will be involved with your child on a daily basis, the Key Person is in the best position to understand your child’s needs and to share information with other staff and yourself concerning your child’s experiences in nursery.

Parents in turn will be able to share their experiences at home in respect of their child with the Key Person.

The Key Person will observe their children in their play and activities in order that they can plan future opportunities and experiences that best meet their needs and interest in the next stages of their development.

Observation, recording and planning children’s progress

Every Key Person plans activities to enrich their children’s learning and development. Observations of each child are evaluated and linked to the Early Years’ Foundation Stage Curriculum.

This allows for every individual development to be monitored and their progress recorded in the child’s individual Development Record. This is a record of their interests, significant achievements and development throughout their time at the Old School House Nursery School.

Planning for each child will consist of:-

• Observations

These can be small snap shots or detailed recordings of significant moments that have been observed of the play and experiences you child engages in.

• Photographs and examples of work

These help to highlight what your child enjoys in nursery which in turn can be used to highlight every child’s progress in their development

All this information helps the Key Person to plan experiences that support the interests and further development of every child to help them in their next steps.

We at the Old School House welcome parental contributions about their child and all parents/carers have access to their child’s Development Record. In any event, these are sent home twice a year and parents are encouraged and given an opportunity to make comments.
 

Our Specialist Baby Units provide a unique ‘home from home’ environment to ensure that your baby’s routine remains unchanged. The units have separate sleep rooms including a fully equipped, peaceful separate baby room complete with cots and baby monitors. The babies sleep in the separate sleep rooms are monitored every five minutes.

At the Old School House Nursery we acknowledge the importance of the babies spending time outside. Both nurseries enjoy a separate area outside away from the bigger children in order that they too get to play and explore outside. In addition, the babies are frequently taken out for walks in buggies, giving the babies that unique ‘home from home’ experience.

The unique demands of baby care call for special skills – and so all staff in the Specialist Baby Units are trained and hand-picked for the job. It’s here that children stay until they take those first few steps.

Whatever the weather - the children at both the Nurseries are given lots of opportunities to explore and play in our fantastic, richly resourced colourful outdoor areas to stimulate and challenge children further. The Outdoor areas at both nurseries are also used for Short Tennis.

Babies are frequently taken out for walks in prams whilst the pre-school children explore the neighbouring parks and areas with the Forest Schools.