Joining the Nursery

Admissions

Activeplay Nursery and Preschool has an equal opportunities policy which informs its admissions policy. We welcome children to this nursery from all kinds of family backgrounds without regard to their gender, race, beliefs, disability, sexuality or any other criteria, and regardless of where they live or whether they are cared for by parents, guardians or any other care provider.

When advertising the nursery, consideration is always given to whether advertising will be seen by all sectors of the community rather than a limited or particular audience.

We consult with parents individually about the needs of their children, and any cultural, access or other considerations which may be a factor in their ability to take up a place at the nursery. We will work with parents and any external agencies in order to provide care for a child with disabilities, providing we can safely accommodate that child within our building.

All applications for a place at the nursery which are held on a waiting list are considered fairly, with regard to the date of application and the age of the child.

The nursery’s only distinction with regard to priority given for places is in the case of existing clients wishing either to increase the number of sessions attended by a child who is already cared for at the nursery, or for a sibling of an enrolled child. We also have a legal obligation to give precedence to children entitled to Early Years Free Entitlement.

Settling in

When a new child is left with us for the first time, we invite the parent to ring at any time for an update on how their child is getting along. We can also send photographs or video via Tapestry so the parent can see what their child is up to.

Each new child is assigned a ‘key person’ to take particular care of them, and to help them make friends, etc. The key person will go through our ‘getting to know you’ form with the parents to learn all about the child’s habits, abilities, likes and dislikes. A member of staff will always speak to parents at picking up time to let them know how their child has been during the day. We have photos of staff on the wall, so that parents can easily identify staff members – we know it is difficult to remember who everyone is simply by being introduced.

Because every child is different, we work with the parents in each case to best settle in the child. We encourage parents to bring their child when first viewing the nursery so we can all see the child’s reaction to the new environment and this is a helpful starting point in deciding the best strategy to settle the child into their new routine. If you would like to arrange a home visit so your child can get to know their key person before joining the nursery, just let us know. We will happily arrange this on request.

Parents are referred to our Open Door policy, which recognises that parents may wish to spend time with their children when they are settling into the nursery, and indeed at any time during their child’s stay with us. Parents are always very welcome to attend nursery, or to telephone at any time to speak to a staff member.

All children have an online learning journal, which is a record of the child’s progress and development and will contain observations staff have made, supported by photographs if you have given permission for us to take photos. Babies have daily contact books to record events of the day. All rooms other than the baby room have a daily record book so that basic information can be passed to parents even if their child’s key person is not present when the child is picked up. Parents are able to access their child’s learning journal at any time via a secure server accessed by a private password, and can discuss entries with their child’s key person or add to the journal themselves with comments, photos and observations from home, at any time.

When children move up a room within the nursery they will always have visits to that room in advance of the move. Their current key person where possible will attend these visits with the child. A new key person will already have been assigned to the child before they move up so they will help the child to settle during visits, and will meet with the parent to complete a further ‘getting to know you’ form.

Revised April 2019