Stirling Council Schools, Learning & Education Croftamie Nursery Handbook 2020/2021 Contents Chief Education Officer’s Foreword 3 Welcome from the Head of Nursery 4 Description of the Nursery 5 Nursery Information 6 Home Visit 7 Bringing Your Child to Nursery 7 Nursery Values and Aims 13 Curriculum 14 Working with Families 15 Regulation/Inspection 17 Nursery School Places 18 Child Protection and Safeguarding 18 Complaints 19 Digital Learning 21 Equalities 22 Free Nursery Meals 23 Getting it Right for Every Child 23 Inclusion 24 Insurance Information 25 Unexpected Closures 26 Privacy Notices 27 Holiday Dates 27 Parentzone 28 2 Stirling Council Schools, Learning and Education Stirling Council is committed to working in partnership with our communities to deliver the best possible services for all who live and work in the Stirling area. We have a clear focus on achieving the highest standards in our schools and nurseries so that the children, young people and citizens of Stirling benefit from first class services. Education is key to every child’s future and enables us to create a fairer and more inclusive society, where our young people secure positive destinations when they leave school. We attach great importance to lifelong learning, giving children the best possible start in life from nursery, through school, to life beyond school. We want all children and young people growing up in Stirling to be: safe and happy; listened to and respected; engaging in a wide range of active learning opportunities; and achieving positive outcomes. We will realise this ambition by putting children and young people first, promoting inclusion and delivering high quality services. The needs of our children and young people will be best met by working effectively together with parents, carers and a range of partners. We want parents and carers to be involved in their children’s learning. We look forward to working with you, as your child embarks on their transition to nursery. Kevin Kelman Chief Operating Officer (People) & Chief Education Officer Stirling Council April 2020 3 Welcome from the Head of Nursery Dear Parents/Carers and Families ,Witamy, καλως ΗΡΘΑΤΕ, Benvenuto, Salut, Namaste, Gaidits, ようこそ, Bienvenido أھﻼ ﺑك ,Welcome Fàilte. A very warm welcome to all parents, carers and families. The purpose of our handbook is to provide you with useful information about our nursery, values, vision and aims and. It also contains practical information which we hope you find informative. In order to ensure equity for all, our curriculum has been designed and is delivered alongside 45 community partners within the local authority. Within Croftamie nursery, spontaneous and planned purposeful play opportunities are offered, children are encouraged to identify and manage risk, investigate and explore their continually changing world; both indoors and out. Our children are provided with opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for future learning, life and work. It is values led and relevant to the lives of all of our children and families in Croftamie, offering equity and excellence. You are our most valued partner therefore throughout the year, information is shared through various forms of communication. Each child has an individual drawer with their name on it, please check this daily for essential information. We will also communicate with you via emails, learning events, family learning workshops and formal and informal meetings. Within our Nursery, we have a regularly updates parents wall with information about family learning and up and coming events. If you require any further information at any time, please do not hesitate to contact me. We look forward to working in partnership with you in order to promote positive outcomes for all of our children and families in Croftamie. Kind Regards, Patrick Robertson Head of Croftamie Nursery 4 Description of Croftamie Nursery Croftamie Nursery is a rural early years setting which opened in July 1997. We offer high quality, stimulating, flexible, early learning and childcare with the aim of meeting the needs of children and their families. We operate 45.6 weeks per year, and our opening times are between 8.00 am – 6.00 pm Monday to Friday. In January 2020, Stirling Council Children and Young People Committee agreed that in order to meet requirements of the Space to Grow document to provide the expanded provision of early learning and childcare; Nursery provision at Croftamie will cease permanently with effect from May 2021. Nursery provision will be created at Drymen Primary School. We have a wide catchment area covering the villages of Croftamie, Drymen, Balfron, Milton of Buchanan, Rowardennan, Killearn and Strathblane. Currently we provide a service to 43 families and are registered for 32 children. Children are encouraged to play, learn and make discoveries while accessing both the indoors and outdoors throughout their session in all weathers. Practitioners promote children’s curiosity and interests through responsive curriculum planning across Health and Wellbeing, Literacy, and Numeracy to ensure breadth and progression of learning. Children are encouraged to have real and relevant experiences and opportunities which are enhanced by community and family involvement enabling children to develop confidence, resilience and learn new skills. 5 Nursery Information Nursery address Croftamie Nursery Glasgow Road Croftamie G63 0EU Telephone number 01360 660147 E-mail address [email protected] [email protected] Head (Peripatetic, Acting) Patrick Robertson Principal Early Childhood Educator Christopher Ogilvie (Acting Principal) Senior Early Childhood Educator Laura Burnside Early Childhood Educators Dawn Meggat Sarah Nugent Franqui Ritchie (Mornings) Bride Moore (Supply pool) Modern Apprentice Olivia Heron Support Worker Early Childhood Educator Nikki Franklin Administrative Assistant Sabeen Lochhead Caretaker/Cleaner Agnes Strathie The Nursery Day 2-5 Years Morning session 8.00 am – 1.00 pm Afternoon session 1.00 pm – 6 pm Full day provision 8.00 am – 6 pm 6 Home Visit Once you receive your acceptance letter, we also offer a home visit to our families. This is an opportunity for your child’s key worker and a member of management to visit the family home. During the visit the keyworker will spend time getting to know your child while the member of management and the parent/carer fill in all relevant paper work. Bringing Your Child to Nursery Your child will be allocated a key worker who will have main responsibility for your child’s early learning and childcare needs whilst at nursery. Key worker system enables children and families to develop and build a trusting relationship together through the sharing of significant information to best support transition. As part of our settling in procedures, your child’s first session at nursery will be shorter approximately for 1 hour. You, or your child’s carer, are asked to accompany your child and stay for this period of time. This process enables you and your child to have a positive first experience and provides the opportunity for staff to discuss the nursery ethos and routines and agree a settling-in and care plan specific to your child. Each child is allocated a coat peg and a personal drawer to create a sense of ownership and belonging within nursery. Please ensure your child comes to nursery in safe, comfortable clothing and footwear and brings along suitable clothing/footwear for outdoors. We ask parents/carers to supply a change of clothing. Please add your child’s name on to all belongings. We are committed to providing high quality early years' experiences for all children, and putting children first. This means acting in the best interests of children, paying attention to their views and supporting them in the best way possible, in partnership with our families. What You Might Need to Bring • Prescribed Medication (when appropriate). • Spare Clothes (child’s name written on labels). • Soft indoor shoes (labelled). • Appropriate clothing for rainy/snowy weather e.g. wellington boots/warm clothes. • Please remember the children are here to learn through play and it is helpful if you dress them in suitable clothing as we provide “messy” play. • Sun hats and sun cream on sunny days (labelled). • Lunch box with contents. All children accessing their entitlement will receive a lunch in the nursery. 7 Arrival/Collection of Children We have an ‘open door’ policy and a senior member of staff will always be available to parents. Please tell us if something is worrying you, if you are unhappy about something that has happened, or if we can help in any way. On arrival parents/carers are required to leave their child with a member of nursery staff. All children must be brought to nursery and collected by a responsible adult. When your child begins nursery, you should inform staff of the name of all authorised people other than yourself who will normally be collecting your child. On any occasion where your child will be collected by someone different, nursery must be notified. If this has not been given you will be contacted by a member of nursery staff to confirm and authorise collection. Children under sixteen years of age are not permitted to collect a child from the nursery. Also, staff will not release a child to any adult who appears to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Please also inform us, with as much notice as possible, if your child will not be attending for their allocated session. We are obliged to contact you regarding an unexplained absence. A phone call or email must be made to nursery within the first half hour of their unattended session. In an emergency we will need to get in touch with you, for example if your child becomes unwell or has an accident. Where a child is not collected, educators will attempt to contact the parents/guardians, if parents cannot be contacted the emergency contact number will be called.