Blog 28th July 2014

Parent News

Dear Parents and Carers

We hope you are enjoying this lovely weather we are currently enjoying, to reassure you all, we do apply sun cream morning and afternoon and during the hottest days the children are not allowed out between the hours of 11am and 3pm.

Michelle is now on annual leave and will be back in the office on the 11^th August. Leanne will be in the office Monday to Thursday and Tracy will man the office on  Fridays.

Can we please remind you that you do need to sign your children in on the register when they arrive and when they leave.  This is an OFSTED requirement but it also is important with regards to safeguarding your children, as we use this register as a checklist with regard to fire evacuation etc.

Caterpillars, Ladybirds and Bumblebees would like to request that you bring in photos of relevant people in your child/children’s lives, if you have not already done so, so that they can make a family book. This resource is excellent for helping settle children and really do aid their emotional development.

 Policies

Please find attached our Fire Safety policy.

Snails

The focus in the snails this week will continue to be transport. The children will be encouraged to sail boats in the water, move trains around the tracks, play with the happy land village and read stories about transport. Creative activities, this week, include collaging cars, painting with cars and making marks in sand with the trains.  The children will also be encouraged to sort shapes, build with blocks and enjoy looking at themselves in the mirror.

Planned activities within the Snails surround each child’s current interest in conjunction with supporting and extending their development.  To find out what activities are planned for your child for this week, please see your child’s keyworker who will be happy to take you through the planning.

Alisha –  Day off   Thursday                   Leanne – Day off Friday

Caterpillars

This week the Caterpillars team will continue to focus on sensory play and messy play.   The children will investigate heuristic and water play, soft play, as well as experimenting with ICT toys.  Creative activities this week include, exploring musical instruments, chalk drawings and table painting.

Planned activities within the Caterpillars surround each child’s current interest in conjunction with supporting and extending their development.  To find out what activities are planned for your child for this week, please see your child’s keyworker who will be happy to take you through the planning.

Days off Jamie – Monday (Day off) Wednesday (Annual leave)   Tara  - Friday (Day off)   Stacy – Tuesday (Annual leave)

Ladybirds

The current interest in the Ladybirds is water play and cars.  This week the children will be exploring red corn flour, pushing cars around the chalk road in the garden and exploring the water using sea life creatures and boats.  The book of the week is ’Doing the Animal Bop’.   Creative activities this week include sand painting, drawing and exploring the texture and scent of the sensory play dough.

Planned activities within the ladybirds surround each child’s current interest in conjunction with supporting and extending their development.  To find out what activities are planned for your child for this week, please see your child’s keyworker who will be happy to take you through the planning.

Days off   Abi – Wednesday (Day off) Tuesday (Annual leave)            Naomi – Wednesday & Thursday (Annual leave)   Kim – Friday (Annual leave)

Bumblebees

This week the children’s interests are Princes  & Princess and Vegetables, they will be dressing up as Princesses, making a castle in the role play area, as well as opening a fruit and veg shop. To help the children develop their understanding of the world, the children will be exploring ICT toys, using the remote ladybirds, simple programmes on the computer and using the camera to take pictures. Activities to support creative development include drawing Princes and Princesses, collaging vegetable shapes and fruit printing.   Literacy supported, this week, through writing letters on paper and in the sand as well as using letter lollies & letter factory. The books this week will be looking at Princess stories and looking at vegetable stories as well as non-fiction books.

 Planned activities within the Bumblebees surround each child’s current interest in conjunction with supporting and extending their development.  To find out what activities are planned for your child for this week, please see your child’s keyworker who will be happy to take you through the planning which is now displayed on the large notice board outside the Bumblebees room.

Days off      

Jani – Wednesday            Jenni – Monday (Annual leave), Tuesday (Day off)    Jade –  Friday (Annual Leave)    Amy – Monday (Day off)  Wednesday (Annual leave)

 

Butterflies                       

This week the children’s interest is imaginative play and the home corner will be turned into different scenarios each day.  The children will be washing and cutting hair in our hairdressers on Monday, Tuesday they will be taking care of any ailments in our doctor’s surgery. On Wednesday we shall be operating our own restaurant and this theme will be carried over to tea where some children will be waiters and the others can order from our menu. Thursday we shall be looking after sick animals in our vets and Friday we shall be selling things in our bric and brac shop.

Good news in the garden as our crop of tomatoes have just begun to turn red, we are looking to grow a pumpkin in time for Halloween so we can harvest it to make something yummy to eat and then carve the reminder to scare all our parents!

Planned activities within the Butterflies surround each child’s current interest in conjunction with supporting and extending their development.  To find out what activities are planned for your child for this week, please see your child’s keyworker who will be happy to take you through the planning.

Days off   Stani – (Annual Leave)        Tracy – Tuesday (Day off)    Lee – Annual Leave

 

Fire Safety policy

Aim of policy

This policy is designed to eliminate/reduce the risks to the health and safety of children, staff and users of the Nursery from fire and related hazards. 

 

Points to consider: Castle Daycare & Preschool can only ensure the health and safety of everyone using the Nursery with the co-operation of staff following/putting the procedures in place during evacuation in a fire emergency or training exercise.

 

The nominated fire warden is: Leanne Ellis

 

Castle Daycare and Preschool aim to achieve this by:

 

Having a procedure to ensure robust systems

 

In order to ensure robust systems exist to respond to an event of fire:

 

The Nursery Manager will:

 

•         Undertake a fire alarm/ bell test at least once a term.

•          Test emergency lighting every six months.

•          Keep a record of the tests to include date and time, faults/ issuers occurring if appropriate.

•          Develop a local setting fire evacuation procedure to include exits to be used, assembly area etc.

•          Carry out a Nursery evacuation procedure (fire drill) every quarter as a minimum.

•          Keep records of the fire drills to include time of drill, evacuation time and comments.

•          Ensure all staff members are aware of and understand the local setting evacuation procedure.

•          Ensure that all staff members have undertaken basic fire safety training during their initial induction and senior staff will undertake additional training annually.

 

All Nursery staff will:

 

•          Ensure that fire exits are not blocked.

•          Ensure routes of access and egress remain clear

•          Undertake regular fire safety training.

 

 

Procedure in the event of fire

 

In the event of fire

 

Any member of staff will

 

•          Alert all staff and children by sounding the alarm.

•          Evacuate the building with the children in their care in accordance with the local setting evacuation procedure.

•          Take out any registers for which they are responsible.

 

The Manager (where the Manager is not present the most senior Member of staff present) will:

 

•          Check toilets, utility room and kitchen. 

•          Ensure that registers of children are complete.

•          Ensure every child, member of staff and others are fully accounted for through taking registers and enquiry of staff.

•          Contact the fire service and other emergency services if required.

•          Act as the main point of contact for the fire service and other appropriate services.

•          Take responsibility for contacting parents/guardians/carers.

 

The water mains are outside the double gates on the street, the gas is in the box on the external wall by the staff room. Electricity mains are in the electricity cupboard by the front door and the fuse box is in the pantry in the kitchen.

 

 

 

IN THE EVENT OF FIRE NO ONE MUST GO BACK INSIDE FOR ANY REASON UNTIL THE FIRE SERVICE STATES IT IS SAFE TO DO SO.