Our Childcare Services to Children

Staff at The Sandpit Nursery carefully plan every day to ensure that each individual child receives the best learning opportunities in safe, fun and caring surroundings. The aim of these activities is to ensure that we meet the individual social, physical and emotional needs of each child.

The design of our rooms are such that we try to stimulate their senses. All rooms are bright, colourful and fun, with areas set aside for active play, quiet times, sleeping and eating. All equipment is age appropriate from toys to room furniture to bathrooms.

We believe strongly that your child receives the type and level of care that they would get at home. It is important that we create a strong, trusting relationship between parents/carers, nursery staff and children, from the very first day.

Settling In

Leaving your child for the first time in nursery is a very important time and can be stressful and upsetting. In order to try to alleviate this we offer an induction process or settling in process. This involves you and your child coming for the first session together and staying in the room together. This normally lasts for about half an hour. During this time you will have the opportunity to speak to the staff members who will be caring for your child. They will ask you to fill in an ‘All About Me’ form. This will provide the staff with valuable background information to help to build a relationship with your child

On the second visit we encourage you to stay for as long as you like but then to leave them for a short time. This shows that parents can leave but that they do come back and we are safe and have had fun. We can repeat this process as often as is necessary, everyone is different. Hopefully this gradual settling process will help you feel more comfortable and confident in leaving your child on their first day. You are welcome to stay as long as you need to feel satisfied that they have adapted to the new environment and are happy.

Communication

We ensure that you are given every opportunity to talk to your child’s Key Worker and other staff who work in their room. Staff give a comprehensive hand over at the end of each day so that you know what your child has been doing. They will also ask for any information that you can give when you drop them off. Good communication between staff and carers is vital.

Parent’s evenings are held every six months and written progress reports are sent home in between parent’s evenings. Monthly newsletters are produced by each room detailing what topics are going to be covered, the types of activities the children will be involved in and anything that we may need from home to help us. These newsletters also include any special events that are happening, any staff changes, policy changes and any other information that parents need to be aware of.

Every child will receive a portfolio of their achievements whilst at nursery. This provides a record of their progress through their early years both at home and at nursery. The Key Worker will be involved in building the record based on discussions, achievements and observations that are made by spending quality time with you and your child.