Rules and regulations

This is a very brief list of guidelines that will hopefully point you in the right direction. It is not intended to be exhaustive. Please speak to the Nursery Manager or any member of staff if you have any questions.

What (not) to bring

  • Please bring in your own supply of nappies. Staff in the appropriate rooms will give you guidance on how many they can store and will inform you when fresh supplies are required.
  • Whatever their age, please provide spare clothes for your child. Play can sometimes get quite messy! 
  • We aim to play in the garden as much as possible so please include weather appropriate outer wear (waterproofs/sun hat/ woolly hat. gloves....).
  • The nursery will provide sun cream during the summer. Please ensure that you apply your child's suncream in the mornings, we will re-apply it in the afternoons. If your child requires a specific type of sun cream please provide some to be kept at the nursery.
  • Please do not provide your own snacks or drinks for your child. The older children are asked to bring in a water bottle.
  • Don't bring in toys. They tend to get forgotten about during the day and can easily get mixed up with nursery toys leading to distress at the end of the day!
  • Feel free to bring your child's comforter. We aim to instil confidence and independence in the children so as they get older and enter the cub room we encourage them to leave comforters at the side of the room during the day. When they join the lion room we encourage them to leave the comforter at home or with parent at the beginning of the day. This will help your child make the transition to school. 

(Back to top)

Medication

We believe that children with long-term medical needs have the same rights of admission to the setting as other children. We will work with staff, parents, children and relevant healthcare professionals to enable this to happen, whilst ensuring the safety of staff and children and recognising that there maybe circumstances in which this is unable to occur e.g. with complex medical procedures.

We aim to:

  • enable children with long-term medical needs to access the provision.
  • administer medicines for short-term medical needs to enable the child to attend the provision while recovering.
  • be clear on the responsibilities of parents, management and staff.
  • provide a safe and robust procedure for staff to follow

Prescription medicines

Medicines will only be administered when it is essential: that is where it would be detrimental to a child’s health if the medicine were not administered during the settings hours. Medicines must be provided in the original container as dispensed by the pharmacist and include the prescriber’s instructions of administration and medicines information leaflet. Staff will not accept tablet medicines that are not in a sealed foil packet, liquid or cream medication that has been taken out of the container or make changes to dosages or times on parental instruction. Medicines will only be given to the named person on the prescription label.

Prescribed oral medication

It is expected that children who are unwell and requiring antibiotics do not attend nursery until after the first full dose of medication (24 hours minimum). Any reactions to the medication should have appeared in this time and your child should be feeling well to attend nursery. We will not administer any type of paracetamol/aspirin/ibuprofen based medicines, even if prescribed. (Managers discretion)

Other prescribed medication (eye/ear drops)

We will administer other types of prescribed medication only once at least one dose has been administered by the parent/carer.

Non-prescription medicines

We will generally not administer non-prescription medicines to children. Parent/carers will need to discuss individual circumstances with the senior member of staff. We will never administer non-prescription medication that contains aspirin. We will apply creams to children when required for nappy rash or eczema etc, only if the parent has filled in an application of cream form. Babies may receive teething gel with signed permission from parents.

Emergency medical needs

Some children may require medicines in particular circumstances, Examples of emergency medication are Buccal Midazolam for epilepsy, inhalers for severe asthma and Epipen for severe allergic responses. Parents will need to meet with the senior staff and discuss any requirements.

We will aim to meet the need dependent on staff training, supervision needs, staff confidence and insurance cover. An Individual care plan and a long term medication and emergency medication administering form will be completed.

In cases where a child’s temperature reaches 100.4˚F (38˚C) then parents will be advised to pick up the child. If a child’s temperature reaches and exceeds 102.2˚F (39˚C) and the child’s records and parents give verbal permission, then Calpol may be administered.

In cases when a child has known allergies, we agree to keep Piriton or prescribed antihistamine as provided by their parents. This would be given in the case of an allergic reaction occurring. An individual healthcare plan must have been completed by the parents.

More information is available under policies and procedures and from the nursery manager.

(Back to top)

Incidents and accidents

Minor injuries are recorded on incident or accident forms that parents are required to sign when collecting their child. In the case of more serious injuries parents will be contacted immediately and a visit to the nursery requested.

(Back to top)

In case of sickness

This is a very brief overview of the sickness policy at the nursery. For more information please refer to the policies and procedures section.

The nursery is not a place for a sick child. When sending your child to nursery consider whether he or she can cope with the nursery day. Remember one-to-one care is not possible.

It is IMPERATIVE that children DO NOT return to nursery until 48hrs after the last episode of vomiting or diarrhoea.

If parents do not comply with this policy, Non-Compliance Procedures may commence. This involves a verbal warning, a first and final written warning and, finally, a notice of termination of the child’s placement at the Nursery. Small children are particularly vulnerable to these types of bugs.

They can become re-infected shortly after recovering from a bout of illness. Moreover, the ability of the nursery to function could be severely compromised if a large number of the staff are also affected.

Security

We take the security of the nursery extremely seriously. Camera entry phones are installed at both entrances.

Please look into the camera, state your name and your child's name when requesting access. Please don't hold your child up to the camera - we need to see you! Parents are not authorised to let anyone into the building. Anyone wishing to enter the nursery must press the door buzzer and look into the camera. 

Remember it is your child's safety that is at stake. More information is available in the policies and procedures section.

(Back to top)

Behaviour

We aim to provide a caring, happy, stimulating and friendly environment for our children. It is therefore important to provide a discipline policy which will promote positive behaviour within the Nursery. For more information on our behaviour management policy please refer to the policies and procedures section.

To ensure that the Nursery’s behaviour management policy is effective, it is essential that you are aware of the behaviour that we consider to be unacceptable, and is therefore not encouraged within the Nursery:

  • Biting
  • Climbing up onto furniture e.g. tables, chairs and cupboards.
  • Discriminatory abuse
  • Kicking
  • Pushing
  • Running indoors
  • Screaming
  • Shouting
  • Throwing sand, water or other items.
  • Any behaviour which could threaten the safety of the child or other children around them.

(Back to top)

Leaving the nursery

If you want to remove your child from the Nursery please give at least 8 weeks notice. Failure to provide this notice will result in loss of your deposit.

It is expected that the children who will be attending school each September will not attend Nursery following the August Bank Holiday. If you require a place for your child following the Bank Holiday please make the request to the Nursery Manager as early as possible.