Little Saints Nursery

Little Saints Nursery aims to give children the best possible start to their early years. In the Baby Room they will immediately become a valued member of the nursery.

The nursery follows the Early Years Framework, ensuring that all children’s needs are met. Close attention is paid to their physical and emotional development, but of course there are plenty of opportunities for them to play. These include:

• Musical instruments
• Sand
• Water
• Treasure Baskets
• Painting

Parents will be introduced to all the staff and children in the nursery. Each child is assigned a Key Carer who follows the child’s progress throughout their time in the Baby Room.

Prospective parents and children are normally invited to spend up to three visits before becoming members. The first visit gives Mum or Dad the opportunity to tell us about things their children like or don’t like, while the second visit involves children being left for about an hour to play with new friends. The third visit will be for about 2 hours with the option of staying for lunch.

At the end of each day children are given a daily chart to take home to show Mum and Dad what they’ve done at nursery that day, incuding routines like eating and sleeping.

When your child starts at nursery you will need to complete a registration pack which includes information on your child’s dietary needs, allergies, contact numbers and so forth. You will also need to bring:

• A complete set of spare clothes
• Bottle feeds and dummies (if needed)
• Nappies
• Wipes
• Cream
• Sun cream and a hat for the Summer

When children are two and a half years old they are introduced to the Toddler Room. Here, they are offered a very wide variety of opportunities to learn and gain new experiences through and experiences through play.

Some of the play facilities include:

• Sand
• Water
• Treasure Baskets
• Messy play
• Construction
• Role play

Staff in the Toddler Room work to the EYFS framework. Examples can be seen all around the nursery. and examples of these can be seen all around the nursery.

At the end of each day, Mums and Dads are told about everything their child has done, including how they played, what they ate and when they slept.

Potty training normally begins in the Toddler Room, so long as your child is willing and ready. You are asked to provide your child with at least two sets of clothes as toileting accidents and messy play can happen…

You will also need to bring:

• Nappies, wipes and cream (if needed)
• Spare clothes (labeled)
• A coat, hat, gloves andWellingtonboots in winter
• A sunhat and sun cream in the summer

Children join the Pre-School room when they are three years old. This is a fun and stimulating room where children explore a variety of things through play. This helps them prepare for starting school.

There are six areas of learning:

Knowledge and Understanding of the world

Here, children look at the world they live in by exploring  science and information technology.

Creativity

Children have their imaginations fired with lots of fun and messy art opportunities. They are provided with lots of role play equipment for pretending and re-enacting.

Maths

Children play with toys and equipment to help them count, recognize numbers and shapes, sort objects, look at size and measurements, and calculate.

Physical development

Children use play opportunities to encourage their gross and fine motor skills both indoors and outdoors. This includes dancing, indoor games, splashing in puddles, riding bikes, climbing and threading, playing with small equipment like Lego

Communication, Language and Literacy

Children learn to communicate effectively by using books, singing, recognising and learning letters, and using various writing materials.

Personal, Social and Emotional development

Children learn from relationships and participate in lots of group opportunities such as cooking and circle games, learning to share, taking turns, and working as a team. Children are always encouraged to be themselves, and to develop independence by choosing their own learning experiences during the day.

InPre School we ask parents to provide their child with:

• A complete set of spare clothes. Children have a lot of fun, but it can get messy!
• A coat andWellingtonboots in the winter. Maybe an umbrella too
• Sun hat and sun cream in the summer.

For Trust and NHS employees the fees are

• £38.50 a day for 0-2 year olds
• £37.50 a day for 2-5 year olds
• £180.00 a week

Here are a selection of comments from parents past and present who have used Little Saints Nursery

“We greatly value the care and education that the staff at Little Saints Day nursery give our 2 children. They are clearly very happy at nursery and have made many good friends. They are well looked-after from physical… and emotional perspectives. Key to this, we think, is the continuity of a strong and able team of staff. The small groups in which our children spend their days at nursery, allow them the right balance of social and educational stimuli for their developmental stages; they experience a wide range of activities each and every day, many of them requiring the skills that we lack!”

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“My son loves nursery and would spend 7 days a week there if he could! He makes it easier for me to go to work because he enjoys it so much. The last 4 and a half years have been a real positive journey for his education and learning. He enjoys playing with all his friends and interacts with others easily. The nursery provides good quality of care and he is in safe hands. Little Saints Day Nursery is brilliant. I would recommend to friends.”

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“We absolutely love the nursery and what originally attracted us to it was the warm family-feel atmosphere that it has. We now have our 3 children in nursery and what is so wonderful is how all the staff welcome the children. There is a strong nursery/ parent relationship and we are always confident that our children are happy, cared for and well looked after. We feel the nursery has given our children a fantastic start and has defnitely developed their social interaction skills and communication. We feel so confident in the staff’s abilities and know it has really helped prepare my son for school life.”

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“I have a child in the baby room and I would recommend the nursery to anyone. You are constantly kept up to date with your child’s progress and informed of any issues. A great place to send my child.”

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“I would like to express my sincere thanks and congratulations to you and your staff for providing such an excellent service over the last 4 years. [Your] dedication, fun and caring approach to providing such outstanding childcare has always filled me with great confidence and has given both my children many opportunities and much pleasure. It has helped to develop them in so many ways, and prepare them for school life.”

The most recent Ofsted report for Little Saints Day Nursery was carried out in February 2011. Inspectors found that the overall quality of provision was ‘good’, and that:

“Children enjoy their time at this welcoming and friendly nursery. They make good progress in their learning and development and are support by experienced, enthusiastic, well-qualified practitioners. Inclusion is given excellent consideration and practitioners recognise and value each child’s unique characteristics. Very effective partnerships with parents, carers and other agencies ensure children’s needs are met and their protection assured. Ongoing improvement, linked to well- targeted action plans are evident and demonstrate the settings commitment to future improvement.”

Of 17 performance criteria, the nursery scored ‘Outstanding’ in two categories, and ‘Good’ in all others.

Read the full Ofsted report here