Introduction

Firstly let me apologise for not writing a newsletter in terms 1 and 2. The term was very extra busy for many reasons in the nursery and my own life so again I sincerely apologise. Christmas is well and truly over and I wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2016. We begun the term with a training day and all the staff attended Safe Guarding and E-Safety training for both themselves and to pass down to the children. I know the training was an eye opener for many of the staff team and proved very informative. Continual professional development is vital to the staff and their professionalism in all aspects of their job role and I thank you for being patient and accommodating for these days.

Staffing

This time last year, for those of you who are with us will recall Stephanie Richards left us to go onto maternity leave. Stephanie delivered a healthy baby boy and had decided to terminate her employment with us to be a full time mum. We also lost Carly this term to maternity leave and her baby is due in just a couple of weeks so i will put up a notice when I have any news. Katie, who all Kindergarten parents are familiar with will be covering her key group supported by Chloe who returned this week from sick leave.

During Term 1 we re-employed Pippa Baker, who was a member of the team for 3 years and left a couple of years ago to try other things. Pippa has her BA Hons in early years and will be supporting the nursery team until September 2016 when she hope to go back to Uni to complete her PGCE and move into teaching. In the same term we employed Nicky Webb (NVQ 3) as a 1:1 Assistant and casual nursery practitioner and finally we employed Jenny Kane, in the role of setting advisor, who worked for many years as an Ofsted inspector. Jenny works 3 day per week term time only and is employed to help identify improvements to staff practice, the environment and planning. We will have one more staff change in the next couple of weeks and that will be in the office. Since our old Office Manager passed away, Grace has been covering as a temp/office assistant whilst things settled down and we are now interviewing for a new Office Manager.

Professional Development

Chelsea completed her Foundation Degree last October and has continued to study for a Diploma in Leadership and Management. Carly commenced the second year on the Foundation Degree and you will see her popping in whilst on maternity leave to complete her course work. I continue my journey to qualify as an Ofsted inspector and am waiting for my second shadow whilst Chloe and Katie almost complete their NVQ 2. Both girls are looking to move straight onto the level 3. As mentioned earlier all staff up dated their Safe Guarding training and other training workshops individuals have attended include, forest School, language development, introducing mathematical context into the early years, first aid and assessment and recording.

Expenditure

We continue to put money back into the company by purchasing more community plaything furniture and you have probably all noticed the completion of all the building work and installation of fire safety appliances over the last 6 months. This was completed during the Christmas Holidays with the installation of electronic smoke detectors that connect straight to the fire alarm. I was worried about losing the nursery quiet room to a cloakroom, but the feedback for the extra space for hanging coats as been extremely positive, although change will mean that we will only be able to offer a maximum of 25 places a session in the nursery end of the setting. Any spare cash over terms 3, 4, 5 and 6 will hopefully go towards completely replacing the old metal framed chairs with the new community playthings wooden chairs, 2 new windows in the nursery and hopefully a new front door and frame.

Children’s clothing

Can I please take this opportunity to remind all parents to provide suitable clothes for the weather and some spare clothes on your child’s peg. As you are aware outdoor play is essential to children’s learning and development and we promote the outdoors being on offer to the children throughout the day, whatever the weather.

Medication

Can I please remind parents that all medication being provided to the nursery needs to be prescribed by a doctor and needs to be given to the key person, so it can be kept in a safe place.

Parent Classes

Some parents have been talking to Paul about parent classes so we have begun to design some short power point presentation on various subject like language development, behaviour management and the importance of outside play. We will be offering all parents the chance to attend these short courses so if you are interest in them then please see Paul for a list of what is on offer and dates and times will be advertised very shortly.

Funding

I have been asked a lot of questions recently about the government funding that the children receive. I’d like to confirm that It covers 15 hours per week over 38 weeks, but we are open 39 weeks meaning most parents receive at least 3 extra sessions free over the course of a school year. This allows me the flexibility to close for staff training along with Christchurch School as this makes things easier for parents with older siblings. Government state that the 15 hours must be taken as the child’s first 15 hours attended each week and parents pay for additional hours after the first 15 have been covered. Funding is granted to the children the Term school term after the child’s 3rd birthday ( or 2nd birthday for the Free for Two funding) For me to claim the funding for your children parents must:

  • Provide a copy of the child’s birth certificate as proof of eligibility
  • Sign a parent declaration form every term confirming the sessions the child attend.
  • For families accessing the Free for Two funding – on top of these parents must produce a qualifying email received from KCC clarifying eligibility before I can send of a New Starter form to claim the money

I know the process is complicated and I hope this gives you a better understanding of the system

Finally I just need to once again apologise for not delivering a newsletter last term and hope to be back on track from now on. If you do have any questions please do not hesitate to speak to your key Person or a member of the management

team and thank you for your continuing support with the nursery and we look forward to working with you all in the future

Kind Regards

JILL

Registered Address:

ChristchurchNursery School (Folkestone) Limited

The Annexe Ingles WayCoolinge Road Folkestone Kent CT20 1ER

Company No: 3869375