GRAFFHAM NURSERY SCHOOL

Graffham Nursery SchoolAt Graffham Infant School, Graffham, West Sussex, GU28 0NJ

Tel: 01798 867324Email: nursery@graffhaminfant.org.uk

Website: graffhamnursery.co.uk

Ofsted Registration Number: EY358768Registered Charity No: 1024518

WELCOME TO GRAFFHAM NURSERY SCHOOL

OUR VISION

To provide excellent care and education for children between 2.5yrs – 5yrs of age in a safe, caring and stimulating environment.

Working in partnership with you, to support your child and ensure they reach their full potential.

Providing an environment and curriculum that is carefully structured to enable children to develop and learn through a combination of child initiated play and teacher-led activities inside and outside. This encourages the development of independence, confidence and an intrinsic love of learning.

Our well resourced learning environment is situated within the main building of Graffham Infant School, in the idyllic South Downs village of Graffham.

Children have the freedom to access indoors and outdoors throughout the session.

Close links to Graffham School provide fantastic opportunities for the Nursery children:

Free flow - regular interaction between Nursery and Reception class.

School Assemblies/Performances – our pre-school aged children are involved in assemblies and the Summer and Christmas performances.

Forest School – our pre-school aged children team up with Reception Class to take part in our amazing Forest School experience.

Trips – our pre-school aged children take part in School trips and have had very enjoyable trips to places such as The Sealife Centre, Arundel Wetland Centre and Chichester Art Exhibition.

OUR TEAM

The highly qualified Early Years team is Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Disqualification and Health checked which ensure they are eligible to care and work with your children.

Our Team are: -

Sarah-Jane Wethered - Nursery Manager / Qualified TeacherJo Chambers - Deputy Nursery Manager / Early Years PractitionerChihiro Harrison - Early Years PractitionerEmma Holland - Early Years PractitionerDonna Leleu - Early Years Practitioner (Supply)Cece Fafin - Nursery AssistantSonya Gillespie - Nursery Administrator

ACTIVITIES & CURRICULUM

All children have access to a wide range of learning experiences.

There will be opportunities for all children to take part in music and movement, P.E, science experiments, cooking and gardening.

At Graffham Nursery we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum based on the underlying principles of a unique child developing positive relationships within an enabling environment, promoting individual learning and development.

The curriculum areas include: Personal, Social and Emotional development, Communication and Language, Physical development, Literacy, Maths, Understanding of the World, Expressive arts and design.

All areas of the curriculum are both supported and developed through child initiated learning and teacher-led activities. (Planning and access to the curriculum is designed to support the individual needs of every child attending the nursery). We have adopted the ‘planning in the moment’ practice.

A TYPICAL DAY

09:00 Registration and free flow activities inside and outside.

9.30 Activities. The children have access to the nursery classroom, Reception class and outside areas. Rolling snack.

11.30 Circle time, which includes singing, musical instruments, stories, rhyming,

show and tell.

12:00 Lunch

13:00 Free flow activities inside and outside. Walks into the woods, use of the climb-around.

14.15 Group snack.

14.40 Circle time. 15:00 Home time for all children

The children also take part in cooking and French lessons.

OUR HOURS & SESSION TIMES

Sessions Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday FridayMorning 09:00 – 12:00 09:00 – 12:00 09:00 – 12:00 09:00 – 12:00 09:00 – 12:00Lunch 12:00 – 13:00 12:00 – 13:00 12:00 – 13:00 12:00 – 13:00 12:00 – 13:00Afternoon 13:00 – 15:00 13:00 – 15:00 13:00 – 15:00 13:00 – 15:00 13.00 – 15.00

Minimum of two sessions booking per week. If you want to reserve any sessions for later in the year, then these will need to be paid in advance.

You are asked to collect your child promptly at the end of each session. If you are unavoidably delayed, please inform the Nursery staff as soon as possible. We reserve the right to charge an additional fee (equivalent to one morning session) if you are more than fifteen minutes late collecting your child. We follow a set policy if children are not collected, a copy of which is available at the Nursery.

OUR FEES

A £25 non-refundable registration fee is required per child for administration etc. Parents who are only claiming their free entitlement, will not be charged this fee. The fee will become due though should this ever be exceeded at a later date.

Sessions Time FeeMorning 09:00 – 12:00 £14.25Lunch 12:00 – 13:00 £4.75Afternoon 13:00 – 15:00 £9.50Full Day 09:00 – 15:00 £28.50

Children are eligible for government funding for Nursery sessions, usually from the term after their third birthday. Please check with the Nursery Administrator about the exact date your child may begin to claim funding. The funding is administered by the Nursery but you will be asked to confirm your child’s eligibility by bringing in their birth certificate and stating whether you are claiming funding with any other provider. Children are funded for a maximum of 15 hours per week, for 38 weeks a year. Graffham Nursery continues to offer funded places for all sessions including lunch, whereby children can bring in a packed lunch or where parents can order hot meals via Chartwells.

For invoicing purposes, funded hours will be used first for am sessions then for pm sessions. However this policy is open to change, with suitable notice, should it adversely affect the financial viability of the Nursery.

All fees will be invoiced at the beginning of each term and are due within 30 days. Any additional sessions which your child attends, will be invoiced towards the end of each term.

Refunds are not given for any sessions you have booked which your child does not attend. If the nursery is closed on a Bank Holiday or School Inset Day, then no refunds will be given for these closures.

Half a term’s notice of your intention to decrease your child’s hours or to withdraw your child from our nursery must be given in writing, otherwise a half term fee will be payable, equivalent to the amount of sessions that your child was due to attend. This includes all new admissions who have been secured a place at our setting. Those parents who are only claiming free funding will again be exempt from this condition.

Children are able to stay for lunch and afternoon sessions from their third birthday.

SETTLING IN

We encourage parents, if possible, to remain with their child for at least the first session attended in order to familiarise themselves and their child with the Nursery. Parents are also welcome to visit the Nursery with their child before the first morning's session.

Your child is welcome to bring along any “comfort” toy or blanket.

CLOTHING & SHOES

Children should attend Nursery in comfortable clothes. When doing particularly messy activities, your child will wear an apron, but since they will be very busy there may sometimes be spillages and we suggest that they do not wear their best clothes.

Your child will have their own peg in the Nursery cloakroom where they can hang their outdoor coat and leave their bag, which should always contain a change of clothes and nappies/wipes if necessary. Be aware that the pegs do move around depending on which children are in on which day.

Children are encouraged to access both indoor and outdoor environments throughout the session, whatever the weather, so please could you ensure that in winter your child brings wellies, a waterproof coat and enough clothes to keep warm. In summer, please send your child with sunscreen already applied and a sun hat.

If at all possible your child’s clothing and shoes should be labelled with their name.

NAPPY CHANGING & TOILET FACILITIES

If your child is wearing nappies we ask you to provide nappies and wipes.

The nursery staff liaise with parents/carers about the toileting support your child requires.

Children often worry about using toilets other than their own which is why our toilet cubicles have been colourfully designed with privacy from other children.

Adult supervision is tailored to meet each child’s needs.

HEALTHY EATING

We encourage children to develop healthy eating habits. The daily snack consists of fresh fruit or vegetables, with water or milk.

Any parent able to do so, should please give their child one piece of fresh fruit or vegetables, crackers, rice cakes, bread sticks, pitta breads etc. to bring to Nursery each day they attend.

We enjoy cooking sessions which the children in the Nursery and often eat the results! Please let us know immediately of any allergies or food intolerances your child may have.

Please note that our Nursery and Infant School is a ‘Nut Free’ site. No nut products should be brought onto the premises.

SICKNESS AND ACCIDENTS

Graffham Nursery staff are not able to administer medicine, except with the express written and signed permission of a parent/carer. While we understand the inevitability of coughs and colds, parents are asked to keep their children at home if they have a temperature. Any child who has had vomiting or diarrhoea must be kept away from Nursery for 48 hours following the last instance of vomiting or diarrhoea.

All accidents that occur at Nursery are recorded and you will be asked to sign the accident book when you collect your child. The Nursery staff will give you details of the incident and the actions they took. You will also be asked to sign a general consent form giving nursery staff permission to call a doctor or seek other appropriate medical advice or an ambulance in an emergency.

BEHAVIOUR

All children are supported in understanding positive behaviour through adult modelling, discussion and role play. Children learn to respect themselves, others and the environment.

Should a behavioural situation arise, a member of staff will calmly discuss the behaviour with the child on a one to one basis. This provides the child with a period of time in which to calm themselves with caring adult support. It is also an opportunity for the adult and child to discuss the child’s feelings about the behaviour and how they would respond to the situation in the future. We work closely with parents/carers to support all children’s behaviour.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION

We ask you for information about your child and your family for our records. We will also keep records about the progress of your child at Nursery. Included with this pack are the following: Photography consent form; Outings consent form; Allergy/medical action sheet. Please complete and return these as soon as possible.

We communicate to parents via various means including, our termly newsletter, via the whiteboard at the nursery entrance and correspondence whether it be by letter, email or text message. We offer a friendly an ‘open door’ approach at our setting and encourage all parents to come and talk to us, should they have any questions or concerns.

If you wish to make a formal complaint about the Nursery, we have a procedure to follow which is set out in our complaints policy. This is displayed on the wall in the Nursery cloakroom. Except in the case of Child Protection, all relevant regulations will be followed and explained to parents from the outset.

MANAGEMENT AND PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

Graffham Nursery School is a registered charity managed by a voluntary committee of parents with children at the Nursery and Associates of Graffham Infant School. For details of the full Committee members please see the Display wall in the Nursery cloakroom. Below are the key Committee members:

Name Position Name PositionSonja Smithers Chair Laura Pearson SecretaryLouise Andrews Treasurer

When your child starts at Nursery, you automatically get family membership to Graffham Nursery School. This means that one parent or guardian can vote at any general meetings of the Nursery and be eligible to join the committee. There is at least one general meeting per year – the annual general meeting. You are encouraged to attend this meeting to hear reports on the year’s activities and plans for the future, and to elect the committee for the next year. More details can be found in our constitution, a copy of which is available at Nursery. If you would like your own copy please ask a member of staff.

We would love you to be as involved as you can be in the Nursery. If you would like to help out during sessions or on trips, do some garden maintenance, or if you have other relevant skills, expertise or time you can offer, then please contact the Nursery Manager or the Chairman of the committee.

The fees we charge cover our running expenses (staff salary, rent, utility bills, insurance etc) but to keep our equipment up to date and continuously improve the learning environment for the children we need to raise extra money. If you are able to help us with fundraising in any way, please contact the Nursery Manager or the Chair of the committee.

MOVING ONTO SCHOOL

We have a very close relationship with Graffham Infant School. Nursery and Reception class work together in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. Therefore the transition from Nursery to Primary is a smooth, happy experience.

Please be advised that the selection process for places at Graffham Infant School is carried out by West Sussex County Council and therefore, having a child at our Nursery does not guarantee a place at the School.

FURTHER INFORMATION

As an Ofsted registered Nursery and a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance, we try to ensure that our activities are properly regulated. Therefore we have the following additional policies and documents (see separate attached list) which are available for you to read at Nursery (or to have your own copies if you wish):

Latest Ofsted Report ConstitutionMinutes of committee meetings and general meetings

Confidentiality Procedure

Complaints Procedure Admissions PolicyStudent Placement Policy Staffing and Employment PolicyInclusion Policy Settling In PolicyParental Involvement Policy Health and Safety PolicyFood and Drink Policy Equipment and Resources PolicyEquality and Diversity Policy Child Protection PolicyBehaviour Management Policy Social DevelopmentThe Non Collection of Children Policy

FINALLY

Please feel free to raise at any time, with any member of staff or member of the committee, any suggestions you have for improving your experience of The Nursery or any questions or concerns that you might have.

We want to ensure that Graffham Nursery provides excellent provision for your child within a caring, friendly and welcoming environment.

Graffham NurseryPolicies and Procedures

CONTENTS1.0 Child Protection

1.1 Children’s rights and entitlements1.2 Safeguarding children and child protection1.3 Looked after children1.4 Uncollected child1.5 Missing child1.6 Use of mobile phones and cameras1.7 Social Networking Policy1.8 Lockdown Policy

2.0 Suitable People2.1 Employment2.2 Students placements2.3 Period of Time Without Official Deputy Manager

3.0 Staff Qualifications, Training, Support and Skills3.1 Induction of staff, volunteers and managers3.2 First aid3.3 Recruit and Selection of Staff Graffham Nursery Policy3.4 Appraisal and Capability Policy3.5 Behaviour in the Workplace Policy

4.0 Key Person4.1 The role of the key person and settling-in

5.0 Staff:Child Ratios5.1 Staffing

6.0 Health6.1 Administering medicines6.2 Managing children who are sick, infectious, or with allergies6.3 Recording and reporting of accidents and incidents6.4 Nappy changing6.5 Food and drink6.6 Food hygiene6.7 Basic kitchen opening and closing checks templates6.8 Bereavement

7.0 Managing Behaviour7.1 Achieving positive behaviour

8.0 Safety and Suitability of Premises, Environment and Equipment8.1 Health and Safety general standards8.2 Maintaining children’s safety and security on premises8.3 Supervision of children on outings and visits8.4 Risk Assessments8.5 Fire Safety and emergency evacuation8.6 Animals in the setting8.7 No-smoking8.8 Forest School policy and procedures

9.0 Equal Opportunities9.1 Valuing diversity and promoting equality9.2 Supporting children with special educational needs

10.0 Information and Records10.2 Admissions10.5 Parental involvement10.6 Children’s records10.7 Provider records10.8 Transfer of records to school10.9 Confidentiality and client access to records10.10 Information sharing10.11 Working in partnership with other agencies10.12 Making a complaint10.13 Separated Families