What parents need to know...
Important Information for Parents;
Enquiry to Start date
You will be asked to submit a new enquiry via our website, you will be contacted within 24 hours and offered a showaround. If you are happy our administrator Amanda will confirm if a place is available before arranging a parent meeting with your key person. You will attend an initial parent meeting with your key person without your child to complete all registration information including permissions, health information, emergency contacts and much more. Your second visit will be for your child to get to know their key person and explore the room and meet their new friends, you can stay but it is ideal if you can leave them for a short period. The third visit will be for you to drop them to nursery for a one hour period so that they get use to being left and can build up the trust that you will return for them after they've enjoyed some time with their key person. Your key person will lead your settling in sessions and if your child needs more she will discuss this and arrange this with you.
Arrival and Departures
Please walk your child along the pedestrian walkway safely onto the nursery grounds, if the children are indoors please use the button on the garden gates to gain entry to all rooms. If the children are playing outdoors please use the button on the main reception door. Again please follow the same procedure when departing the nursery, if the children are indoors please exit via the garden gates, if they are outside please use the main reception.Signing in and out
On arrival please follow our self registration process below before signing your sign into the nursery using the ipads, your key person will be on hand to support you with this.
Mobile phones
Personal mobile phones, cameras and video recording equipment (including smart watches) cannot be used within the setting, we ask all parents not to bring mobile phones into the setting when dropping or collecting children.
Self registration
Your child will have a registration photo for the coat peg pocket, please help your child find their picture and choose an empty coat peg so all of their belongings can be kept together, please encourage them to hang their bag and coat on their peg for the day.
Notifying us of Absence
If your child is going to be absent from nursery we ask you to email in to info@charliecaterpillars.co.uk including why your child will be absent and when you think they will return. Your child's attendance will be recorded on your child's record on our data base for monitoring purposes.
If you're unable to collect
On arrival you will be asked who will be collecting your child. If the person collecting is new to us or authorised but we haven't seen them for a while, your key person will issue you with a password and ask you to email in with their full name and an up to date mobile phone number. We will then use this information to verify their identity before allowing them into the nursery, it's important that you communicate this to them. If the person collecting is unable to give us the password or tell us the mobile phone number you have emailed us they will not gain entry into the setting and your child will not be released into their care.
Illness and Exclusion
If your child becomes ill in our care we will call you to let you know, we will care for your child until you arrive to collect. If your child has an illness that may be contagious the following will apply;
For rashes - We will contact you to collect and have the rash checked by a doctor.
For sickness - We will contact you following 1 bout of sickness.
For diarrhoea - We will contact you following 2 bouts of diarrhoea if it is accompanied by other symptoms such as fever, loss of appetite and tearful.
Administering medication
For all medications you will be asked to complete a form on arrival, you will be asked what time the last dose was administered and how much. The next dose due will be calculated using the instructions on the prescription label or instructions detailed for unexpected. Prescription medication will be administered for the duration detailed on the prescription label calculated from date medication was dispensed.
For teething - With your permission we will administer over the counter remedies and paracetamol in accordance with the guidance outlined on the leaflet in the box, if symptoms persist for more than 3 days medical advice will need to be sought. To help reduce the discomfort of teething we will have sterilised teething rings and sugar free ice pops available if needed.
For high temperatures - 15 minute observations will begin if child's temperature is above 37.5 degrees, if temperature is still raised after 15 minutes parents will be notified and asked to collect the child as soon as possible.
Please use the link below to read the childcare fact sheet for giving medication to children in registered childcare.
Allergies
A Health Care Plan will be completed during your initial parent meeting to find out everything about your child's allergens and allergy symptoms so that we can minimise the risk of exposure and understand what treatment to apply should they have a reaction in our care.
Health Care Plans
Children on long term medication such as inhalers or allergy medicines will have a HCP, this will be reviewed at our 6 monthly parent consultation meetings and at every opportunity in between should there be a change. In order to complete a health care plan we will ask you to provide further information from your GP, Asthma nurse or Paediatrician to ensure that we are following strict medical guidance. If you are unable to provide this information we will follow our Administering Medication policy above.
Labelling personal belongings
Please label all items of clothing as we have a high volume of lost property, all labelled property can be found and returned to you but due to many children having the same items they do get lost or mistaken for other children's.
Lost Property
All lost property is placed on the shelves in the corridor through the green door, they are emptied on 15th of each month. Items are kept for approx. 2 weeks before being recycled into nursery spares or put in our Air Ambulance clothes bank located outside.
Welly boots
We spend a lot of time outside, we provide waterproof all in one suits but do ask you to provide your child with welly boots, unfortunately we can not store all of the children's welly boots as we have upto 100 children attend during any week so please take them home and bring them back for their next session.
Sunhat and Sun cream
During the warmer months we ask you to apply sun cream to your child before arriving at nursery and to provide a sun hat. We will keep in stock "Nivea Sun Kids 50+" to top up children that attend all day, again we cannot store a bottle of sun cream for every child as this is unmanageable. We will need permission to apply sun cream to your child so please ensure you agree to this on your administration form.
Toothbrushes
We ask you to send in a toothbrush in a clearly labelled bag or container so that we can support your child to brush their teeth after meals. Unfortunately again, we cannot store every child's toothbrush so this will be kept in your child's bag for you to clean, check and replace regularly. We will provide "Aquafresh milk teeth" toothpaste so you don't need to send this in.
Arriving early
We are unable to let you in before your session time starts so if you arrive early please wait in the corridor through the green door. Early morning the staff will be setting up the rooms ready to greet the children and lunchtime we will be waiting for our morning children to leave to ensure we maintain ratios at all times.
Collecting late
If you are running late please call into nursery and let us know, we will wait with your child until your safe arrival. If you are persistently late, twice or more you will be charged a £40 late fee. If you are late for a 1pm collection this has a massive impact on our ratios, the morning children leaving replace afternoon children arriving. It is imperative that our team maintain a health work life balance as they need to be in optimum health to care for your children, they are very committed and often work very long days so leaving work late can have a huge impact on their well being.
Contacting us out of hours
The most reliable form of communication out of hours is email to our info@charliecaterpillars.co.uk, facebook and telephone is not a reliable method of out of hours. Our emails aren't monitored however they are checked periodically, if you have an emergency or safeguarding concern we would always advise to contact the police.
News and information for parents
Topical news and information for parents will be circulated via email through parent zone. Information, advice and guidance will also be shared on our Charlies Facebook page, please click the link above to access our page, please like and follow page to keep up to date.
Charges for snacks and meals
Snacks and meals are included in our full day care price however they are charged separately for funding only sessions.
Bookings and cancellations
Staffing rota's are set in advance therefore we require 7 days notice to book or cancel extra sessions wherever possible. Set monthly bookings cannot be cancelled.
Management Team
Joanne Morgan is the Nursery Manager and has overall responsibility for the quality of service across all areas, Joanne is supported by Deputy Managers Sophie Gough and Karen Bennett. Sophie is SENCO (Special educational needs and disability co-ordinator) and has responsibility for overall Learning & Development, Karen is PANCO (Physical and nutrition co-ordinator) and is responsible for Safeguarding support and health and safety.
Complaints, comments and suggestions
In the first instance we ask all parents to raise any concerns with their key person who will attempt to resolve matters immediately for you. If you feel that there is no improvement we ask parents to escalate concerns to one of the Deputy Managers who will endeavour to resolve matters immediately for you. If you feel that again there are still no improvements we ask you to put your concerns in writing to joanne.morgan@charliecaterpillars.co.uk who will contact you immediately to establish more information and will resolve matters for you. If you are still unsatisfied then we encourage our parents to contact ofsted to raise your concerns;
Tel: 0300 123 1231
Or you can write to Ofsted:
Applications, Regulatory and
Contact (ARC) Team
Ofsted
Piccadilly Gate
Store Street
Manchester M1 2WD
Safeguarding children
If we are concerned about something your child has shared with us, we will in the first instance speak to you to establish more information, if we feel that this would put your child at risk we would share our concerns following the procedures outlined on the WSCB )Walsall Safeguarding Childrens Board).
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