Welcome Pack Nursery 2017-18

Thank you for choosing to send your child to Langley Nursery. In this booklet you will hopefully find all the information you need before your child starts with us. If there is anything else that you need to know or are unsure about please do not hesitate to ask a member of staff.

Overleaf you will find sections on; 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

Session Times From Home to Nursery Starting Nursery The Nursery Environment Uniform Self Help & Care Absence Our Links with you Snack Time 30 Hour Offer Sand Shoe bags Library Books Passport Photographs Safety

We look forward to having you and your child with us at Langley Nursery.

1. Session Times

Our Nursery offers 5 sessions a week, either morning or afternoons; Morning session 8.45am — 11.45am Afternoon session 12.30pm — 3.30pm A copy of the academic year calendar has been enclosed with your pack. Please check the term dates and training days for when school is open.

2. From Home to Nursery We hope that you and your child will be very happy here in nursery and we look forward to forming a close partnership with you for the benefit of your child. Starting nursery is an important step towards independence, when children start to do things without you for the very first time. We appreciate this can be a worrying time for parents, so our primary aim is for your child to feel happy and secure as soon as possible. In nursery we are available to talk to every day during drop off and pick up times, we pride ourselves on our close relationship with our parents/carers. It would really help if you could share with us your wide knowledge of your child. If your child has any medical problems or conditions, then it is vital that we are made aware of these. If you have any worries about your child’s hearing, speech or vision just let us know as we may be able to help. If there is anything worrying your child, both at home or at nursery, come and discuss it with us. Anything you tell us will be strictly confidential and never feel that some things are too small to mention.

3. Starting Nursery

Starting nursery is often a new experience for both children and parents but we will try to make this as easy as possible for everyone. The children start nursery in small groups from the beginning of the Autumn Term. They stay for a short time at first, then this is extended until they are able to stay for the whole session. We appreciate that leaving a child can be worrying for parents. If your child is happy to stay without your support you may want to leave almost immediately. Alternatively, you may feel happier staying for a short time in order to settle them if necessary. We appreciate you know your child better than anyone so the choice is yours depending on how your child settles.

4. The Nursery Environment Nursery is bright and inviting, filled with exciting areas and activities for the children to explore. The staff are caring and experienced in meeting the needs of young children. We encourage the children to become independent, to care for themselves, other children and the nursery environment. They quickly make friends, learn how to share and take turns and they develop rapidly once they have settled in. Nursery is the first year of the Early Years Foundation Stage, which covers two years—Nursery and Reception. The curriculum we offer is planned around the needs of the children, their natural curiosity and their boundless energy and we hope to foster in them a love of books, stories, rhymes, games, songs etc. all of which will help them in their future work in school.

5. Uniform

We ask that parents follow our uniform policy and dress children attending nursery in a white polo shirt / T-shirt and a red jumper (either school with school logo or plain red). For the bottom half we ask children wear clothing that is easy to get on and off for toileting such as jogging bottoms or leggings. The tops and jumpers can be ordered through school if parents wish, an order form can be found in this welcome pack.

6. Self Help and Care

During their time at Nursery, all children will be encouraged to be as independent as possible. However if they do struggle with clothes etc. we will be on hand to help. Please help encourage your child to take their coat and shoes on and off themselves to ensure their self-help skills develop appropriately.

7. Absence

Infections spread quickly through a large group of children. Please do not bring your child into nursery if they are unwell. We would appreciate a telephone call to let us know if your child is unable to attend. Children with sickness or diarrhoea should have 48 hours clear before they return to school.

8. Our Links with You There is a Notice Board in the nursery corridor which we use for communication between nursery and home. Parents are kept informed of events either through this, the school website, e-mail, text message, the school app and/or letters sent home. We also display details of the term’s curriculum, articles you may find useful and news of events happening in school or within the local community. Children have a Learning Journey which goes between nursery and home on a regular basis, as well as the class teddy. We welcome parent helpers in nursery once the children have settled. Parental help is invaluable to us and both the children and staff benefit enormously from it. Any parents who would like to help have to be police checked and will need to speak to staff to begin this process. Forms are available in nursery.

9.

Snack Time

The children have a snack during each session and can have either milk or water to drink, although we do encourage them to have milk as much as possible. Milk is provided free of charge from North Tyneside Council, however parents must register their child through the Cool Milk website, information can be found in this pack. Snack time is a social occasion in nursery just as meal times are at home and we encourage good manners and sensible, healthy eating. Snack takes place at our snack table or we may have a full class snack on the carpet. Please note NUTS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN SCHOOL. 10. 30 Hour Offer From September 2016 the Government is introducing an additional 15 hours childcare. The additional 15 hours of free childcare is available for families where both parents are working (or the sole parent is working in a lone-parent family), and each parent earns the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the national minimum or living wage, and earns less than £100,000 a year. We will be offering these additional hours in partnership with our wraparound provider, School’s out Northern. More information concerning School’s Out Northern and the eligibility criteria can be found enclosed in the pack. 11. Sandshoe Bags We ask that all children have a named sandshoe bag containing a full change of clothes and a pair of ‘slip on’ sandshoes. Children change into their sandshoes before coming into the classroom and these should be returned to their bag at the end of each session. This eliminates a lot of outside germs being brought into nursery and also ensures that the children are wearing safe footwear for P.E. and outside play.

Sandshoe bags are left in the cloakroom on the children’s pegs and only taken home each half term. We encourage the children to take off and put on their coats and shoes as independently as possible. School will provide wet weather clothing, however we ask parents to provide a pair of named wellingtons, which are to be left at nursery. This will allow children more access to the outside area.

Please put your child’s name in all articles of clothing and footwear. 12.

Library Books

13.

Passport Photographs and Birth Certificates

14.

Safety

The children bring a library book home each week to share with you. They choose this themselves from the Nursery library. We encourage children and parents to share this book at home and there is space for parents to add a comment. Please provide a named plastic folder for your child’s library books, available to purchase from the Nursery .

Children will need FOUR passport size photographs for self registration. We also need to see their original birth certificate which we will copy and return. These must be brought for the July transition visit.

As you will appreciate, we are very conscious of the children’s safety, so please inform us if someone other than whom we are expecting is collecting your child. It also helps if you can introduce us to childminders, grandparents etc. before they begin to pick up the children.

All Early Years staff are here to support the children and yourselves to ensure that the start to Nursery is as smooth as possible. If you have any concerns or problems please do not hesitate to speak to us. We look forward to working together over the coming year.