Head Office : 01424 460600
STARTING NURSERY
Starting Nursery
Starting at nursery is a big step for children, and for families! At Jigsaw we have a settling in routine which we will personalise to your child’s needs. You will meet your child’s Key Person, and other staff who work here and begin to get to know them, too. We will ask you what your child likes/dislikes, what their current interests are, and plan some activities that we feel will help to settle into nursery. When you join we will email you another copy of our Terms of Business, our policies, privacy notice regarding Data Processing but here are a few details that may be helpful.
policies & procedures
If your child is under two years old and attending our St Pauls Road setting, you will meet our staff who have worked with our youngest children for many years. You will find out who will be your infant’s ‘Key Person’, the person who you and your baby will have most contact with, and who will keep a diary for you to see each day. We will ask you what routine you have developed at home, how you comfort him/her if necessary, favourite foods if your baby is weaned, and many more details.
We will of course, also ask you for any details of any health needs and would ask you to remember to let us know of any changes in your child’s health, so we are always kept up to date.
We recommend at least three settling in visits before you leave your baby/toddler with us and will go through everything you need to know. If we feel that this is not enough, we will let you know and are happy to offer further settling in sessions . Once you have started,
it is a good idea to let us have anything that you use to comfort your child and you are of course very welcome to call us to see how he/she is settling. We would always contact you if we could not settle your child, or if we felt they may be unwell.
For children over two, again we recommend at least three settling in sessions, but are happy to extend this if we feel that this would be beneficial.
Please remember to let us know of any changes in your child’s health, e.g. allergies, so that we are always up to date. For children with a known condition we will discuss a health plan with you.
We have a duty to reduce the spread of infection, so if your child is unwell, you should keep them home until they are better, apart from the most minor colds. We can administer medicines, but they must be prescribed for a current condition by a doctor, dentist or pharmacist. In the case of antibiotics the child should have been on them for at least 48 hours before returning to nursery. If your child has been sick or had diarrhoea, you must stay home until 48 hours after the last episode. Conjunctivitis (sticky eyes) is also very contagious, please stay home until the eye/s are no longer sticky and appropriate medication has worked.
If your child has a fever, please stay home even if you have given liquid paracetamol etc such as Calpol which has temporarily reduced the temperature, as the underlying reason for the fever will still be there.
Please also remember we must know of any change in your contact details or anyone else’s that you have named as an emergency contact, e.g. change of mobile ‘phone number, change of address.
When your child starts nursery, please could you send a smallclearly labelled rucksack
if you feel it could be needed for the day. This could include: Nappies, wipes, sunhat, sun cream, wellington boots if rainy, appropriate change of clothing if your child needs to be changed. Even if you travel in by car, please remember that we like to spend quite a bit of time outdoors so a coat/jacket/cardigan etc. might be needed at nursery! Please could you put a name on your child’s coat and their lunch box if they are bringing one in.
Please encourage your child to keep their own toys at home as some of them could be a choking hazard for our under 3 year olds, and we have plenty of resources available. If your child needs to bring in a comfort object in, e.g. blanket, soft toy, that is fine. We
can't accept responsibility for any toys brought in if they are lost, broken etc.
We try to keep children clean, and provide aprons for messy activities, but please don’t send your son/daughter in their ‘best’ clothes - as we have some messy activities going on every day, such as painting, clay, gardening, dough etc.
Likewise if your child is just learning how to use the toilet independently make sure that he/she has clothes on that are easy to put on/take off as children sometimes get into difficulties and very frustrated if they cannot manage belts, buttons on jeans, buckles, dungarees etc!
If your child is here in the morning or all day they will have their lunch at nursery. This link is kindly provided by First Steps Nutrition Trust and gives some great suggestions for a healthy packed lunch. As there are some children with nut allergies, you should not send any nut products in at all e.g. peanut butter/nutella etc.
Please supply your child with a healthy packed lunch - We have lots of ideas of healthy foods you could provide - just ask your child’s key person or the nursery manager if you are stuck for ideas, or have a look at the link given above.
We provide healthy snacks in the morning and afternoon and water is always available. We are happy for children to have juice if wished with their meals, but this is strongly discouraged at any other time as it causes tooth decay.
If you are going to be late for any reason, please call us, as sometimes children can become anxious if they are used to going home at a given time. If you, or a named emergency contact that we already know of, are unable to collect your child, we need to know who will be, and have your permission - we will not allow children to leave with anyone that we have not been notified of by you. It is recommended that you call us if you are not going to attend nursery for any reason, too.
Once your child has started with us, please feel free to ask us what she/he has been doing, or look at the plans we display, as sometimes children don’t remember everything we have done during the day.
If you have any questions, or concerns about anything we are always happy to help. If it is very busy at the time when you are dropping your child at nursery, or collecting, we will book a time when it is quieter for your child’s key person, or the nursery manager to talk with you.
We will meet with you regularly to discuss your child’s progress, please ask your nursery manager when these times will be.
