Parent News

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Friday May 29^th (4pm – 5pm) we shall be holding an information session for those parents who will be applying for schools this year.  The session will outline the processes that take place and will also be an opportunity for any questions that you may have.  If you would like to attend, please could you advise Michelle via email.  Thank you

 

Please note that due to the bank holiday we will closed on Monday 25^th May and will re-open at 8.00am on Tuesday 26^th May.

 

If any parent has any of the following items that are no longer in use and would like to donate them to the nursery it will be very much appreciated. Hairdryers, curling tongs, hair rollers, empty shampoo and conditioner bottles, big clips, headbands, brushes, and combs. If you have any of the following items, please may they be passed on to Michelle in the office. Thank you!

 

Pre-school would like to ask parents not to bring in toys from home if these are not your child’s comforter as they get broken or lost. Thank you

 

At the beginning of July, Hannah who works in our Bumblebees will be moving rooms and will be working in the Ladybirds (18-24’s) alongside Abi and Kim to replace Naomi as she will be going on her maternity leave very soon. We are currently interviewing for a nursery assistant position to replace Hannah within our Bumblebees room. Hannah works 5 days a week from 8.30am until 5.30pm.

 

Please may I remind parents who would like their children to attend the farm trip on Friday 12^th June to return the payment slip by Wednesday 27^th May with the payment attached. If you have not yet received a letter and would like your child to attend, please see a member of staff within your child’s room.

Policies

Please find attached our every child matters policy.

Snails

The focus in the snails this week continues to be settling in new starters. The children will be able to experience a range of activities, including creating father’s day gifts, exploring the treasure baskets, looking and holding stories, taking part in Custards music class on Friday and to continue building the relationship with their key person. Garden activities this week include, exploring the bead mazes, playing with the tents and tunnels and free play with our Caterpillar children (12-18’s room).  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.

Amy – Monday

 

Caterpillars

This week the Caterpillars team will focus on the children getting to know themselves and to explore their body through singing songs and mirror play.  The children will be encouraged to explore block play by building towers and knocking them down, take part in water play, cornflour play, sand play and fitting puzzle pieces together. Outdoor activities this week include tents and tunnels, mark making and stacking cups. 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 – Thursday

Alisha – Friday

 

Ladybirds

The current interest in the Ladybirds this week is textures. The children will have the opportunity to play with pigs in cornflour, going on an egg hunt, exploring oaty playdough, exploring the sand pit, both indoors and outdoors, touchy feely sensory bags and filling and emptying containers with water. Outdoor activities this week include playing on the rollercoaster and turn taking, playing with the skittles, using the pedal bikes and playing in the tents and tunnels. 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 – Thursday      

Naomi – Thursday

 

Bumblebees

This week the children will be focusing on cooking, painting, construction and role play. Activities this week include dinosaur play – talking about what they are doing and using complex sentences. Making up our own stories using puppets, role playing with equipment, pretending it to be something else (block as a telephone), using scissors to make snips in paper, building with shaped blocks, printing with the alphabet sponges, mark making with pencils to create a shopping list, practicing our lines and circles and creating pictures of ourselves using the mirrors to distinguish what we need to draw, such as, eyes, nose, mouth. The story of the week this week is hands are not for hitting and feet are not for kicking. The cooking activity of next week is fruit tasting, a permission slip will be created for parents to sign to provide permission for children to try certain fruits and vegetables. The children will be encouraged to touch, smell and eat the food by preparing it using a knife, practicing our cutting skills. Outdoor activities this week include chalk drawing on the pavement, climbing on the climbing frame, ball games and sand and water play.  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.

 

Days off     

Jani – Friday

Jenni – Tuesday

Emma – Half term all week

 

Butterflies     

This week the butterflies are going to focus on sea life animals. The activities include talking about sea life animals by watching short videos, creating a 3D beach craft, making sea biscuits at cooking club on Wednesday, creating jellyfish by using paint and our hands, exploring the water tray with sea life animals and discussing what animals live in the sea. Outdoor activities include, create underwater scenes, playing in the water tray by making the water blue, playing shark attack, role play being on a submarine. The children will be focusing on the letter of the week, which is, ‘S’ and the number of the week, which is number 8. 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.

 

Pre-school have asked if it is possible for children not to bring in toys from home as they get broken and lost, comforters however are still welcomed.

 

Days off   

Stani – Friday                               

Tara – Tuesday

Jade – Wednesday

Lee – Half term all week

 

Every Child Matters Policy

 

Aim of Policy

 

To follow the five outcomes of every child matters:

 

• Being Healthy: enjoying good physical and mental health and living a healthy lifestyle.
• Staying safe: being protected from harm and neglect and growing up able to look after themselves.
• Enjoying and achieving: getting the most out of life and developing broad skills for adulthood.
• Making a positive contribution: to the community and to society and not engaging in anti-social behaviour.
• Economic well-being: overcoming socio-economic disadvantages to achieve their full potential.

 

Points to Consider

At Castle Daycare & Preschool we believe we have a responsibility in securing these outcomes. We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage to ensure we support the children and families with these outcomes. The overarching aim of the Early Years Foundation stage is to help young children achieve the five outcomes of Every Child Matters.  We also try to encourage a range of protective factors that can help children overcome disadvantage including:

• Positive role models
• Developing characteristics such as self esteem, self motivation and intelligence
• Recognition, praise and feeling valued.

Parent News

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Friday May 29^th (4pm – 5pm) we shall be holding an information session for those parents who will be applying for schools this year.  The session will outline the processes that take place and will also be an opportunity for any questions that you may have.  If you would like to attend, please could you advise Michelle via email.  Thank you

 

Please note that we close at 18.00 on Friday May 22^nd and re open on Tuesday May 26^th at 08.00am.

 

If any parent has any of the following items that are no longer in use and would like to donate them to the nursery it will be very much appreciated. Hairdryers, curling tongs, hair rollers, empty shampoo and conditioner bottles, big clips, headbands, brushes, and combs. If you have any of the following items, please may they be passed on to Michelle in the office. Thank you!

 

Pre-school would like to ask parents not to bring in toys from home if these are not your child’s comforter as they get broken or lost. Thank you

 

Policies

Please find attached our healthy eating policy.

Snails

The focus in the snails this week continues to be settling in new starters. The children will be able to experience a range of activities, including clay hand prints, cornflour play, mirror play, looking at books independently and with a key worker, exploring the treasure baskets, building towers with the mirrored blocks and exploring paint by mixing the colours. Garden activities this week include, sensory activities, such as exploring sensory bottles and sensory shapes and also exploring the sand pit with happy land people. 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.

Amy – Monday

 

Caterpillars

This week the Caterpillars team will focus on heuristic play.  The children will be encouraged to explore the heuristic play, experiment with different weighted objects and explore the uses of the objects. Activities this week include, shape sorters, filling and emptying containers, sponge painting, gluing and sticking, cornflour play, and water play. Outdoor activities this week include, tents and tunnels, sand play and walking with the walkers. 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 – Thursday

Alisha – Monday

 

Ladybirds

The current interest in the Ladybirds this week is block play and planting. The children will have the opportunity to water the flowers in the garden, plant sunflower seeds, decorate petals as a giant sunflower, explore large block play, take part in  an obstacle course, water painting using different types of bricks, exploring the ball run with water and different sized balls and exploring chalk drawing on the pavement. 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 – Thursday      

Naomi – Friday

 

 

Bumblebees

This week the children will be focusing on cooking and mark making. Activities this week include block play, making a car with the blocks and recognising the shapes, listening to familiar stories and the story of the week, which is, Peace at last and going on a bear hunt. Further activities are, balance on the balancing beam, action cards, building a train track and playing with happy land people and the village. The bumblebees this week will be making pizza muffins and drawing shapes and also exploring the texture of gloop play. Outdoor activities this week include, rolling different sized balls down the sloped guttering, using the climbing frame, painting with our feet, cars and trucks, parachute games and running games such as ‘what’s the time Mr. Wolf’. 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.

 

Days off     

Jani – Friday

Jenni – Monday

 

Butterflies     

This week the butterflies are going to focus of animals and pets. The activities include making animal footprints, making up a puppet show, taking part in animal worksheets (matching games), creating pictures of our pets, playing with animals, talking about where we live and the difference between us and animals, role playing a vets practice, a pet show on Friday (show and tell), and making animal masks. Outdoor activities include, balancing on one leg, building tents with the parachute, water play and exploring bubbles. Cooking club will take part on Wednesday and the children will be making cheese straws. The children will be focusing on the letter of the week, which is, ‘P’ and the number of the week, which is number 9. 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.

 

Pre-school have asked if it is possible for children not to bring in toys from home as they get broken and lost, comforters however are still welcomed.

 

Days off   

Stani – Friday, training on Thursday, annual leave Wednesday                                

Tara – Tuesday

Jade – Monday

Lee – Forest School all day Monday, Forest School am Tuesday

 

Michelle is day off on Friday

 

Healthy Eating Policy

 

Aim of Policy

We at Castle Nursery want all of the children in our care to be healthy and happy. Eating healthy is vital to achieve this goal. We aim to provide the children in our care with a wide and nutritionally balanced diet to develop their health, growth and well being. This policy works with Every Child Matters (2003) and The Early Years Foundation stage (2012)

 

Points to Consider

 

We devise menus that are balanced and varied and contain foods from the four main food groups:

• Breads, cereals and potatoes
• Fruit and vegetables
• Full fat milk and dairy products
• Meat, fish or alternatives such as pulses

We offer water and milk to drink.

 

We offer healthy snacks such as different fruits, vegetable sticks, breadsticks or cheese cubes during the day.

 

The staff help the children to understand what is healthy and what is not. The staff also act as role models by eating healthy themselves, for example this may mean eating the same food as the children at meal or snack times.

 

Festivals and celebrations provide a valuable opportunity to include special occasion foods and to extend our knowledge of other cultures.

 

Promoting healthy eating is interwoven into daily practice at Castle Nursery, for example by talking about healthy foods, positively promoting healthy foods, and by making meal times a relaxed fun occasion.

Parent News

Dear Parents and Carers,

Many thanks to those of you who completed our on line survey, the results of which shall be published shortly.

On Friday May 29^th (4pm – 5pm) we shall be holding an information session for those parents who will be applying for schools this year.  The session will outline the processes that take place and will also be an opportunity for any questions that you may have.  If you would like to attend, please could you advise Michelle via email.  Thank you

Please note that we close at 18.00 on Friday May 22^nd and re open on Tuesday May 26^th at 08.00am.

 

Policies

Please find attached our mobile phone policy.

Snails

The focus in the snails this week continues to be settling in new starters. The children will be able to experience a range of activities, including practising gross motor skills such as rolling, crawling and pulling to a standing position.  Sensory play also dominates this weeks planned activities with mirror play, feathers and the metal treasure basket heavily focused upon. 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.

Amy – Monday

 

Caterpillars

This week the Caterpillars team will focus on the body and self.  The children will be encouraged to copy the actions of an adult, explore wet sand and empty and fill containers. Activities this week include, heuristic play, playdough and pop up toys.   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 – Thursday

Alisha – Monday

Stacy – Annual Leave Wednesday

Ladybirds

The current interest in the Ladybirds this week is baby animals & physical development. The children will have the opportunity to make a string painting, gluing and sticking baby chicks, pom pom painting and exploring the soft play. Outdoor activities this week include, big trucks and sand in the builders trays, big block construction, pavement chalking and the moving in and out of the tunnels. 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 – Thursday      

Naomi – Thursday

Bumblebees

This week the children will continue to focus on role play and will also explore box play, textures and stories. Activities this week include hand and feet painting, making our own stories, washing babies, using stamps and paint to mix colours and looking at our family books. is Yellow, in all areas of learning. The story of the week is The tiger that came to tea’. Outdoor activities this week include bikes and trikes, playing in the sand pit, drawing with pencils and making a reading den. 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.

 

Days off     

Jani – Friday, Annual leave Monday

Jenni – Monday

 

 

Butterflies     

This week the butterflies are going to continue to focus on the human body. The activities include making a giant skeleton, pretend to be doctors and patients in the role play, look at similarities between other and paint a skeleton using cotton wool buds. The children will be focusing on the letter of the week, which is, ‘T’ and the number of the week, which is number 7.

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 – Friday                                 

Tara – Tuesday

Jade – Thursday

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mobile phone Policy

 

 

Aim of policy

 

To give clear guidance on the use of mobile phones in the Nursery.

 

Points to consider

 

Castle Daycare and Preschool accept that mobile phones are a part of everyday life for parents, carers and for staff.

This policy is part of the Nursery’s wider commitment to safeguarding the welfare of children.

 

Castle Daycare and Preschool aim to achieve this by:

 

Staff working directly with children must not use mobile phones as it is inappropriate and distracts them from paying full attention to the children in their care.

 

Staff are not permitted to take images of the children on their mobiles or personal cameras. Staff mobile phones must be stored in the office and kept away from the children at all times. Staff are only permitted to use mobile phones away from the children whilst they are on breaks.

 

Staff who do not follow this policy will face disciplinary action.

 

We ask all parents and visitors to not use mobile phones whilst on the premises.

 

Images taken on mobile phones are easily shared and could fall into undesirable hands, either through the person forwarding pictures or a mobile being stolen.

 

Under no circumstances are staff allowed to take photographs or videos of the children at nursery on their mobile phones or personal cameras.

 

If you see a member of staff using a mobile phone or personal camera around the children you must report it to the manager.

 

This mobile phone policy is open to scrutiny and the management can withdraw or restrict authorisation at any time.

 

Parent News

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Friday May 15^th we have our photographer here (9am – 11.30am approximately) to take graduation photographs of our school leavers.  If your child is leaving us for school this year, however does not normally attend on Fridays, please see Michelle to make arrangements for your child to have their photo taken.  After the individual photographs there will be a class photograph taken of each group within the nursery.  As we cannot judge how long the photos will take we estimate that the group photographs will begin at approximately 10.30 am.  If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Michelle. 

Please note that we close at 18.00 on Friday May 1^st and re open on Tuesday May 5^th at 08.00am.

Date for your diary

On Saturday September 20^th (a long way ahead, I know) we are holding a hog roast at Shalford Community Centre to celebrate 20 years of Castle Nurseries.  We shall be inviting present and past parents and children from all 3 nurseries with lots of fun activities and entertainment.  Further details shall follow however if you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Michelle.

Friday 19^th June we are holding a Father’s Day Breakfast between 8am-9am, we will be serving bacon sandwiches, pain au chocolat, croissants and variety of juices. Please see a member of staff within your child’s room if you wish to attend.

Wednesday 24^th June we have Mill Farm coming to the setting so the children can experience and take part in activities with the range of animals, such as, petting, brushing, feeding and holding them. A permission slip will be within your child’s room, please see a member of staff so this can provide consent that you are happy for your children to touch the animals.

 

Policies

Please find attached our arrival and departure policy.

Snails

The focus in the snails this week is settling in new starters. The children will be able to experience a range of activities, whilst bonding with their new keyworker. The activities will be building blocks, knocking them down and building them up again, exploring the noises they make, playing and exploring with the ICT equipment, pressing the buttons and pushing parts to close, exploring sensory play by playing with cornflour and reading the story of the week which are ‘touch and feely books’. 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.

Amy – Annual leave all week

 

Caterpillars

This week the Caterpillars team will focus on sensory play by carrying out activities and to support the children learning about their body parts during play. Body painting is an example of the weekly focus, whereby the children are able to explore the paint using their whole bodies. Activities this week include, puppet play, singing with instruments, cornflour play, heuristic play, sand play, sensory bags and the balancing pebbles. 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 – Thursday

Alisha – Wednesday, annual leave Thursday and Friday

 

Ladybirds

The current interest in the Ladybirds this week is farmyard animals. The children will have the opportunity to play and explore with farmyard zip ups, animal feet painting, animal hide and seek, counting how many animals they can see, water play with ducks and animal glove puppets. Outdoor activities this week include, magnetic fishing, moving the way animals do, chalking on the pavement and playing with the happy land animals. 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 – Thursday      

Naomi – Friday

 

Bumblebees

This week the children will continue to focus on,  cooking, mark making and  role play. Activities this week include making ham and cheese twists, connecting together insert puzzles, building towers with big blocks, singing counting songs, playing Gruffalo bingo!, self-selecting activities in the role play area, identifying the colour of the week, which is Yellow, in all areas of learning. The letter of the week that we will be practising is ‘B’, the number of the week is ‘2’ and the story of the week is ‘Owl babies’. Outdoor activities this week include sweeping using the water and brushes, painting with dinosaurs, puzzles and compare bears, climbing frame and the bikes. 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.

Days off     

Jani – Friday

Jenni – Thursday

Amy E – Annual leave Tuesday and Wednesday

 

Butterflies     

This week the butterflies are going to focus on the human body. The activities include looking at the life cycle of a human, completing activity sheets about skeletons, using the light box with different resources, tracing around our bodies and naming the parts. The children will be focusing on the letter of the week, which is, ‘B’ and the number of the week, which is number 14.

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 – Friday                                 

Tara – Tuesday

Jade – Friday

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 been 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  have 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.