Phone

01925 642812

Email

thelakes@rngroup.co.uk

Parent Information

Getting Started

Nursery and pre-school should be a wonderful experience for both children and parents. We work closely with you every step of the way to ensure your child feels secure and supported from the word go – which means a happy and trouble-free transition for them, and peace of mind for you.

Settling In
Lots of nurseries follow a set procedure for settling a child into nursery. It could be one week of visits every day (a little longer each time), or 8 weeks of sporadic short visits. At our nurseries we tailor a settling-in programme specifically for your child – because what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for all. Once you’re booked in, we’ll sit and talk to you about what will suit your child best, and arrange a series of visits to fit the bill. If you want to stay and play a few times, no problem. If you’re nervous about naps, we’ll slowly work up to a visit involving a sleep. In short, whatever you and your child need, we’ll arrange the smoothest possible transition for a happy start to your child’s time with us.
Your child’s key person
Every child has a designated key person. Unlike many nurseries, we don’t allocate your child’s key person in advance – instead, we observe whom your child is particularly drawn to in their initial few weeks, in order place your child with the best person for them. There to monitor, support and encourage your child’s unique interests and development, the key person is your main point of contact. They will record your child’s individual learning journey and share their experiences, challenges and mini breakthroughs with you.

Following your child's journey

We continue to work closely with parents throughout their children’s time with us, running Parents Evenings, Workshops, Stay & Play sessions and the Parent Portal.

Play hard, rest hard!

For our littlest ones who need sleeps during the day, we aim to follow whatever routine you adopt at home – before your baby starts with us, we’ll find out from you how best to ensure they get their 40 winks, whatever it takes! Our baby rooms all have cots available, as well as sleep coracles and buggies. For older children who still need a nap after lunch, we lay down sleep mats in the quieter areas of the nursery, so that those keen to carry on playing can do so elsewhere. We find older children naturally nap around the same time each day but our space also allows us to always cater for those who need a sleep earlier or later than others.

Delicious food, fresh every day

A happy tummy means a happy child – which is why we cook everything fresh on site each day. Breakfast, snacks, lunch and tea are all included. A typical day? Fortified cereal, porridge or toast for breakfast, crudités and crackers at snack time, Ocean Pie and vegetables for lunch and a Pasta Bake for tea. Our 5-week rolling menus are varied and nutritious, packed with protein, fruit and veg, carbohydrates and dairy. Take a look at an example weekly menu. We don’t use nuts in the kitchen as a safeguard for children with allergies; and any other dietary requirements can also be catered for. All children have access to drinking water throughout the day. And because we love to cook, we love to cook with little ones too! You’ll often find a lovingly crafted fairy cake or a slice of banana loaf waiting for you at pick-up…

 

FAQ's

EEF stands for  Early Education Funding. All 3 and 4 year old children are eligible for this, which equates to 15 hours of free childcare per week (working families may be eligible for an extra 15 hours per week of free childcare so 30 in all – visit www.childcarechoices.gov.uk to check eligibility). Once your child is 3, you will simply need to complete some paperwork that we provide, to apply for EEF. After that, however many days or half days you book at one of our nurseries, you will effectively not be charged for 15 or 30 of those hours per week. However there will be a charge for meals and consumables because the EEF does not cover these. A helpful leaflet explaining this has been provided by the National Day Nurseries Association.

2-Year Funded places also equate to 15 hours of free childcare a week, but for children as young as 2. For this funding there is a certain list of criteria that must be met. If you’d like to find out more about this, do contact us

The government has various schemes to help parents fund their childcare. Besides the EEF 15 hr and 30 hr mentioned above, parents can claim tax credits against the amount they pay for childcare. The amount will be dependent upon the hours of work you do, the number of children, the childcare costs, any partner and other details. There are two schemes. The Working Tax Credits scheme recovers up to 70% of the cost of childcare whilst the new Universal Tax Credit can recover up to 85%. There are also opportunities for you to reduce tax and national insurance if your employer has a childcare scheme, but this cannot be used with a tax credit scheme. More information is available on the government website. There is also a childcare calculator to work out what assistance you can claim. You can also contact us and we will assist where we can.

In line with government regulations:-

For little ones aged 3 months to 2 years, the ratio of practitioners to children is 1:3.
For children aged 2 and 3 years the ratio is 1:4.
For children aged 4 and above the ratio is 1:8.
For after-school children the ratio is 1:10.

We understand that some children can find nursery a little overwhelming – so much to see and do, and so many other little people darting about! Each of our settings includes cosy, homely spaces to play in – somewhere a little quieter to soak everything up. Our practitioners are very sensitive to the individual needs of children, so if a child is feeling a little unsure they’ll often spend some one-on-one time with a grown-up settling in, reading books, playing with familiar toys.

Each of our settings is fully inclusive to welcome children of all needs. We have experience of working with those on the autistic spectrum, children with tactile needs, behavioural needs, dyspraxia, epilepsy and other conditions. We work with parents and carers to ensure every child gets what they need – as well as outside agencies including physiotherapists, speech and occupational therapists. We also have a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO).

If your child has been sick or had diarrhoea you must wait 48 hours (since their last symptoms) before bringing them back to nursery. Contagious illnesses such as chicken pox require a longer absence from nursery. We will advise you of the exclusion period or as described in our sickness and absence policy.

On return from absence if your child is completing a course of prescribed medication, such as antibiotics, we are able to administer this at nursery as described in our medicine policy. Please note that for each course of antibiotics that your child requires they must have been taking it for at least 24 hours prior to us administering it. This is to ensure that there is no risk of your child having a bad reaction to the medicine whilst in our care.

Not necessarily. The most important thing is that your child has a smooth and happy start to their time with us. There are no rigid age brackets per ‘room’, because children progress at different stages. For this reason, we’ll chat to you about what you think will best suit your child – if they’re ready to start straight away at Naturegarten, that’s what we’ll do. Or if you think they need a few months at Rosebank first, that’s fine too (after all, Naturegarten is essentially the same nursery, just located a quick stroll away – the transition to Naturegarten should be just as smooth as when a child moves up a room at Rosebank).

We take your lead. Whatever you do at home, we will follow as best we can at nursery/pre-school. We have potties and child-sized toilets at all our settings – our aim is to be consistent, and to support your child, whatever stage they’re at. If you’re having challenges with toilet training, tell us and we’ll do our best to help. Children deal with this task in very different ways, so we like to take your lead, but can also draw the breadth of experience we’ve had with other children (we also provide toilet training workshops where you can access further tips and support). All we ask is that you bring plenty of spare clothes for those ‘little accident’ moments!

Exceptional Childcare in Warrington

Please come and meet our team, see how we care and educate children first-hand through play. You’ll know which nursery is right for you immediately when you find it, it will feel comfortable, interesting and give you peace of mind. You can choose to bring your little one with you, or come for a second visit with them.
Book a visit

Email

thelakes@rngroup.co.uk

Phone

01925 642812

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