We suggest you have a small dedicated nursery bag which can be hung on your child’s peg. It needs to be taken home each day. It should contain seasonally appropriate spare clothing and any bottles/formula required.

Nursery fees do not include nappies. You can choose to send them in each day in the nursery bag or bring in a pack which we will label and store. We will let you know when more supplies are needed.

We encourage all children to wear their shoes. For the babies it gives them a stable base to practice their balancing skills. In the event of a building evacuation and the variety of activities your child will participate in it is safer to have shoes on but within certain physical development activities it is more beneficial for your child’s shoes to be off for example, yoga and dancing. At sleep time shoes are removed for comfort. Your child will definitely need a pair of wellies as all our children spend time outdoors each day.

You will receive a verbal handover from a member of staff each day. You will also be able to refer to parent zone which is your access to your child’s online journey which is set up for when your child starts.

Throughout your child’s time in caterpillar room you will receive information regarding meal times, sleep times and toileting routines both verbally and through parent zone. Your child’s key person will regularly update parent zone with observations, photos and videos regarding their day. Please note there may be a delay in you seeing this information due to them having to go through a moderation process and when we have special events on within nursery. As your child moves into butterfly room that information will only be relayed verbally. We encourage you to share your child’s home experiences through parent zone and request you complete our monthly home learning challenges which you will find on parent zone each month. We use the information, photos, videos that are shared by yourself to create purposeful conversations, activities with your child and share within a group time, extending their learning from your home experiences where possible.

We also have a parent’s notice board with the menu and nursery events displayed on the seasonal save the dates.

Each child has their own cup and water available throughout the day. At breakfast and afternoon snack there is a choice of milk or water. At lunch and evening snack water is served. You do not need to bring in a drink for your child; we promote healthy choices and dental care by only offering water and milk throughout the day. Please note we offer blue full fat milk up to the age of 2 and offer semi skimmed milk from the age of 2. We do not offer formula milk to children over the age of 12 months.

Our Caterpillar room has their own sleep room with cots and beds. The sleep mats we use are specifically designed for nurseries. Each child has their own sheet and blanket which are stored in their own sleep bag and washed at the end of each child’s week.

Our youngest children may benefit from bringing in a comforter to assist settling in and nap times. We have a wide variety of educational toys for children to use whilst at nursery and therefore discourage toys being brought in which may get lost or damaged. Staff plan specific activities to promote your child’s development, please feel free to speak to your child’s key person about these.

We plan a healthy balanced menu which covers all the food groups and meets recommended guidelines. The current menu is displayed on the parent’s notice board alongside the Food Standards Agency Eat Well Plate. We have a tooth brushing scheme which will need your consent. To support dental care we discourage over use of dummies and do not give children in our care juice or other beverages brought from home. Milk or water is served in age appropriate cups and we only offer bottles to our children in baby room for formula or breast milk. Children wash their hands especially before meal, snack times and cooking activities. We promote self- care by encouraging use of tissues, toileting care and appropriate disposal of waste items. The children participate in healthy eating activities including snack time, cookery and gardening. We work closely with Greater Manchester Sports who offer regular training to our staff team regarding physical activity in young children. We share what we have learnt from these sessions and how this will impact nursery and your children through regular updates via email.

Your child will have a key person who is responsible for completing their online learning journey. The parent zone app is always accessible to you and contains information about your child’s progress. Progress is monitored through regular observations carried out during the nursery day, conversations with you and termly development assessments. Key persons extend activities or evaluate responses to activities to plan next steps, promoting individual’s development. Please remember that children all develop at different rates. If we have any concerns we will discuss them with you and if you are concerned about anything please speak with your child’s key person. We hold parent’s meetings twice a year and when your child moves room you will be introduced to the new team and shown around the room your child will be transitioning too. You will have opportunity to ask any questions you have at this time or anytime during the transition period.

We welcome parents and family members into nursery. You may like to come in and help with a specific activity or share your skills with us. We have an active parent partnership group who meet once a year. This is a great opportunity to receive updates about nursery, contribute your ideas and meet other parents. Information about these meetings and the minutes are advertised in our email updates and on the parent’s notice board. They are run by Nia and Katie so please ask them for more details. We also promote home learning activities for parents through our home learning bags and home learning challenges. Recipes for baking, playdough, gloop and gardening activities are available on the parent notice boards or please pop a request in to us.

We have lots of fun sharing birthday celebrations with all the children in the room by wearing a special birthday hat, baking a cake together and eating it at snack time. There is no need to send in anything else. Unfortunately, we do not accept any food in nursery from home due to food allergies.

You will be notified if your child becomes unwell or requires medicine whilst at nursery via a telephone call. Following our policies and incubation periods set by Department of Health you may be asked to collect your child. Your child’s condition will be closely monitored by our fully trained Paediatric First Aid trained staff team.

You will be able to access your parent zone account for up to 2 months from your child leaving nursery. This should give you time to place your order for a paper copy of your child’s online learning journey or photo book.

You will need to request in writing should you wish to make a change to your child’s booking. This can be done by requesting a change of bookings form to complete or by contacting Jane – info@littlegreendaynursery.co.uk or
Nia – manager@littlegreendaynursery.co.uk

Your child will move up to the butterfly room around their second birthday depending on their stage of development. You will be kept fully informed of this transition period.