Children in need 2016

Thank you for you kind donations

 We raised £66.00

Our trip to the forest......

We love books .......

• Looks at books independently 
• Handles books carefully 
• Holds books the correct way up and turns the pages 

• Shows awareness of rhyme and alliteration 
• Listens to and joins in with stories, one to one and in small groups 
• Joins in with repeated refrains and anticipates key events and phrases in rhymes and stories

• Listens to stories with increasing attention and recall 

• We enjoy visiting the library for stories 
• Has some favourite stories, rhymes, songs and poems
• Repeats words or phrases from familiar stories 

• Listens with interest to the noises adults make when the read
• Begin to ask simple questions 

• Interested in books and may have a favourite 
• Handles books and printed materials with interest

• Handles books carefully 
• Enjoys looking at books 

• Copies familiar expressions 
• Shows interest in books 

The children enjoy exploring our story sacks. This one is 'The Hungry Caterpillar' 

Rain Gauge

Pre School have been having lots of discussions about the rain. They have made a rain gauge to put in our garden. Everyday the children look at and measure how much rain it has collected.
If you would like to make a rain gauge at home all you need is an empty plastic bottle- cut the top off, turn it upside down and tape it to the inside of the bottle so it acts as a funnel. Please keep us upto date with regular photos of how much rain you collect.

Good Morning Britain investigates - are Nurseries safe???

This morning’s GMB programme highlighted some bad practice in 1 particular Nursery. This may have raised some anxieties and concerns for parents who use nursery provision.

The issues reported within the investigation included:

·      Inadequate staff suitability checks

·      Poor levels of supervision

·      Health and Safety concerns

Staff Suitability

At St Mary’s Nurseries the Safeguarding procedures are robust and inform the recruitment and selection process. We ensure that at least one member of the interview panel has completed the ‘Safer recruitment’ training.

All staff including volunteers and students are interviewed, DBS checked, references sought, qualifications confirmed and receive a thorough induction.

Supervision of children

The legal requirements for adult:child ratios are

0-2years - 1 adult: 3 children

2-3years – 1 adult: 4 children

3-5 Years- 1 adult: 8 children

These requirements are never compromised although there are times when a member of staff will be working on a 1:1 ratio during certain periods ie nappy changing, dealing with an accident, speaking to a parent.

Volunteers and students are NEVER left unsupervised with the children. It is on a very rare occasion that any member of staff will work alone due to the open plan layout and position of the office.

Health and Safety

Plug sockets – during the investigation the reporter found that the nursery in question did not have plug socket covers. Recently it has been advised by electrical experts to remove all plug socket covers in care establishments, they are more dangerous when in use as they release the safety mechanism within UK electrical sockets.

As with all NHS establishments St Mary’s Nurseries removed all socket covers in October 2016 following this advice.

Resources - During the report a child was playing with stilts  

The child apparently had one of the stilts hanging around his neck. This piece of equipment is appropriate for the age and stage of development for 3-5 year olds. The problem was that this activity was not adequately supervised. Although we do not have any stilts we do have pieces of equipment which children do wear over their heads such as handbags, scarves, capes etc.

Accidents – The presenter informed viewers that ‘children are having accidents, head injuries, burns and breaking bones whilst in Nursery’.  This is true but children also have accidents, receive head injuries, burns and broken bones at home, at school, in the garden, at the park, at Grandmas, etc.

At St Mary’s Nurseries the children are closely supervised at all times but, inevitably, we do get our fair share of bumps, bruises, bites and scratches. Every precaution is taken to avoid accidents; risk assessments are carried out but it must be remembered that children do receive knocks and bumps as a part of development, during play and physical activities. These unavoidable rough and tumble little accidents of childhood are mostly shrugged off fairly quickly by the children. We record in detail any accident/incident of whatever nature, and we ask the parent to read and sign our report.

As far as we are concerned this investigation had some valid concerns for example ‘not vetting staff appropriately, leaving volunteers unsupervised and poor supervision of children’. However there were some scare mongering tactics in relation to  ‘no plug socket covers’, the use of equipment ie the stilts and children’s accidents.

If you have any concerns about this investigation or our response please speak to a member of the Management Team.

Don't forget ........

Children in Need 

Friday 18th November 2016

'The Big Spotacular' 

Remember to wear as many spots to Nursery and donate £1.00 to raise money to help change the lives of disadvantaged children and young people in the UK. 

SPARE CLOTHES

  The weather is changing!!

          Here at St. Mary's Nursery we 'Play and Learn' outdoors whatever the weather......

     

Please ensure your child has 1 or 2 sets of spare clothes in their bag incase they need to get changed. 

If you have borrowed some of Nurseries spare clothes please could you return the ASAP because we have none left !!!

If your child has out grown some of their clothes we would really appreciate any donations for our 'spare clothe' box. 

Thank you 

Wc 7th November - Baby Room Learning and Development

     

    

Areas of Learning and Development we are focusing on are:  

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development - Making relationships, Self confidence and self awareness, Managing feelings and behaviour.
• Physical Development - Health and self care
• Communication and Language Development - Listening and attention, Speaking 
• Literacy Development - Reading 
• Mathematical Development - Numbers 
• Understanding the World - The World 
• Expressive Arts and Design - Exploring media and materials 

      

    

Maths Outdoor at St Mary's - part 1

How many watering cans of water will we need to make a muddy puddle??

Counting muddy hand prints

Who has made the 'most' muddy hand prints??

Counting with conkers - How many 'more' do you need ?

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9...

Who has got the 'most'??