ADVERSE WEATHER
We do not take the decision to close Pre-School lightly but there may be occasions such as adverse weather conditions where we do need to close. We will do our best to contact you through email or Facebook with as much warning as possible therefore, please ensure your contact details are kept up to date.
Animals
We encourage visits from animal handlers into the setting to help introduce the children to various different creatures such as snakes, tortoise and sheep to name just a few that we have had in the past! These visits are always advertised well in advance and if you do not wish your child to participate for any reason please do let us know.
Attendance
Attendance is really important for establishing a good routine. If, for any reason, your child cannot attend please you ring the Pre-School phone and leave a message on the answer machine so we can adjust our register accordingly.
Book bags
Book bags are available to purchase at £3.00 each. Book bags are helpful in order for us to send paperwork, notices and art home. We also invite children with book bags to choose a different books to take home and enjoy with you.
Building
We are very lucky to rent the lovely St. Giles Parish Centre in a quiet and picturesque setting and have the support of the wider Codicote Community in a lot of what we do. As we rent the building, we sometimes have to do things a little differently as we cannot fully adapt the space for our sole purpose. However, we work closely with the Parish Church Committee to do as much as we can and appreciate your understanding in those areas that we need to adjust.
Child Protection
It is our policy to monitor and observe all children for signs of abuse. We shall contact Social Services if we have any concerns. Amy Wilson, our Leader, is our Designated Senior Person (DSP) for the pre-school.
Comments
Your views are very important to us and we would appreciate any suggestions or feedback of anything you would like us to be doing or just purely a comment to tell us what you think we are doing well.
Comments can be made via email to the office – info@codicotepreschool.co.uk or can be anonymous and left in the post box at the end of the drive. We occasionally do parental questionnaires to get feedback so we can keep improving and we feed these back through our you said “_____ “we did_____ board.
Communication
At any point, if you have a question about your child, please approach your key person or alternatively the Leader to discuss. If neither of these routes resolve your question, the Committee Chair is your next point of contact – codicotepscommittee@gmail.com and can help advise or step in where appropriate.
Complaints Procedure
There are formal procedures in place which are there for you to use should you feel dissatisfied with the outcome of any problem. The policy can be found on our policies page or here, which describes how a complaint can raised and the steps we will go through to resolve it.
Emergency Procedure
In case of a fire, all adults and children must exit via the nearest available fire door and gather in the car park located at the front of the building (being aware of any vehicles). Fire drills will be practiced with the children so they are familiar with the procedure.
Fundraising
Pre-School is a registered charity so it is essential we fundraise so we can buy equipment and resources. We have previously raised money for the sun canopy, garden renovation and much more. We will be organising lots of family friendly events throughout the year as well as opportunities to purchase gifts the children have made for you on special occasions at a small fee which will all help towards our fundraising goals. We hope you will help support us with these endeavours.
Illness and absence
If your child is going to be absent from Pre-School for any reason please leave a message on our office phone; 07542 285412.
To avoid the spread of infection, if your child suffers from sickness and/or diarrhoea, please keep them at home for 48 hours after the last bout of illness.
Nappy Policy
If you child is still in nappies (often the case when they start) please provide nappies and wipes in their changing bag when dropped off each morning. We do have emergency ones but it is best to use the ones they are used to. If you have any spare nappies, once your child is potty trained, we would appreciate donations.
We ask that you send your child in a fresh nappy and for the main sessions we will only change if soiled or very wet. All staff are happy to change nappies and are DBS checked/certified to work with children. However, if you would prefer alternative arrangements, please let us know accordingly. We kindly ask that Parents take their child’s nappies home (which we will label and leave at the front door) as we are in a shared community building that does not have access to a licensed contractor for nappy disposal. Thank you for working with us on this one.
If you are about to start potty training please let your key-person know and make sure they understand your approach. Please also make sure enough spare clothes are provided in-case of accidents. If your child frequently has accidents in the setting, we reserve the right to review the approach discussed. We are happy to support you through this milestone but we also need to consider the welfare of everyone else in the setting.
Ofsted
If you would like to read our latest Ofsted report there is a copy pinned up onto the notice board inside the setting. There is also an electronic copy for your reference on our website and here on the Ofsted page.
Parent communication
Please make sure we have your up to date contact details at all times so we can get letters and emails to you efficiently. We post updates on facebook as well as send out newsletters and emails regularly. In addition, please keep a look out for notices on the whiteboard at the entrance of Pre-School each day.
Parent consultations
Each term you will have the opportunity to come in and meet with your child’s key worker and discuss their progress, developmental milestones and any issues either you or we have. We run these over the course of a week with two slots before session, two slots after session and evening slots where required. We give plenty of notice so hopefully you can attend. If you cannot, telephone consultations can be arranged.
Parking
There is plenty of car parking at the Pre-School, however it does get busy. Please take care when manoeuvring around and be aware of small children being below your vision line.
Also, please could we ask you to refrain from sitting in your cars with the engine on as we are located next to the Prayer Chapel and neither the church, children or local wildlife enjoy the fumes.
PHONES
In line with our safeguarding policy, parents/carers are not allowed to enter the Pre-School whilst talking on their mobile phones. Please finish your call before entering Pre-School.
Pick up time
The Parish Centre is used by lots of other groups and events and so it is important that we leave the setting in good time so they can be in promptly. This requires you to be on time to pick up your child. If you are running late, please ring and let us know so we can make arrangements.
Policies
Copies of the Pre-School’s policies are available on our website or in the setting. Please ask a member of staff if you wish to see them.
Progress check
If your child is two when they start with us, you will have a meeting with your child’s Key person once your child is settled. You will receive a written summary of how your child is progressing called a Two Year check. This will highlight where your child is progressing well and if there are any areas where they might need some extra help.
RELIGION
We have, on occasion, visited the church (next door) as it is a wonderful building and can help bring to life events in the diary. We do cover other religious faiths and events in the curriculum and teach children about their significance. If you have any insight into other faiths we would love to hear from you. Likewise, if you do not wish your child to be involved in faith-based learning please let us know and we will find alternative activities for them so they don’t miss out.
Snack Donations
We welcome contributions towards the cost of snack. We suggest a voluntary donation of £1 per week. We stress that this is a voluntary donation! You’ll be able to see this on your termly invoice to pay electronically.
Toilet Policy
In order to make sure children are supervised at all times, if and when children need to use the toilet they must ask a member of staff. They can then be escorted to the toilet.
TOPICS
Each week we have a focus topic. This will be displayed on the white board to help prompt conversations with your little ones.
Toys
Although it is lovely that children want to bring toys to show at school, we ask that you please limit this to a special occasion e.g. birthdays, as toys from home can cause disputes and get damaged.
During a settling in period, please speak to your child’s key person if a specific comforter is to be used. We can then work with you to phase this out when appropriate and make sure to keep an extra eye on it during session time.
VISITOR
When the topic allows, we like to encourage visits from professionals outside of the children’s experience – farmers, fire-fighters, police or postmen. This helps open up discussions with the children and provide a really engaging activity. All visitors are supervised and the event is advertised well in advance so we can prepare the children. Sometimes the visitors bring their vehicles into the car park for the children to inspect which is often a highlight. All such activities will be monitored and supervised accordingly.
Wrap around care
If you need more hours of care for your child than we can offer, we have some wonderful nanny’s and childminders that we can put you in touch with. Plus don’t forget if you are eligible for 30 hour funded early years education we may be able to split these with other settings.
Terminology
EYFS – Early years Foundation Stage
This is the document we use to enable us to support the children’s learning and development. More details can be found at www.education.gov.uk/eyfs-handbook
Characteristics of effective learning
We talk about these characteristics and they are divided into 3 areas:
– Playing and exploring (P&E).
This is ‘being willing to have a go’ and ‘finding out and exploring’.
– Active learning (AL).
This covers ‘being involved and concentrating’, ‘keeping trying’
and ‘enjoying achieving’.
– Creating and Thinking Critically (C&TC).
This covers ‘making links and thinking critically’ and ‘choosing ways
to do things’.
Prime areas of learning and development
There are 3 prime areas of learning and development:
– Personal, social and emotional – PSED
– Physical Development – PD
– Communication and Langauge – C&L
Specific areas of learning and development
There are 4 specific areas of learning and development.
– Literacy – Lit
– Mathematics – Maths
– Understanding the World – UTW
– Expressive Arts and Design – EA&D