The Nursery

WELCOME!

Jigsaw Day Nursery is a privately owned nursery that has been successfully running since 1999.  We look forward to welcoming your child to Jigsaw Curzon House Day Nursery.

Starting at the Nursery

We understand that children and their parents have to make emotional adjustments when starting at a nursery. Parents and staff need to plan the entry of individual children to help them settle in as happily and as quickly as possible thereby giving parents the confidence that their child will be happy whilst without them.

At Jigsaw we feel it necessary for all children to have settling in sessions before they join the nursery, we suggest that a parent accompanies their child for a short introduction session where the parents can talk to the staff about their child’s needs and their routine. We then suggest for the children to attend on their own for at least two further sessions for a longer period. These experiences are invaluable and will enable us to begin to build important relationship with you and your child. Our aim is that on your first day of leaving your child at the nursery, you will feel happy, reassured and confident that your child is content and well cared for.

Arriving at the Nursery

Understandably new children find difficulty in parting from parents when starting nursery. However, all children come to accept such partings although this may take longer for some children than others. It has been found that most children and parents are more comfortable if there is a structured routine on arrival at nursery prior to parting.

For this reason all children are allocated a member of staff as their designated carer these are called Key Workers, who form a special relationship with the child and their parents.

All information gathered from you during your child’s settling in sessions will be shared with the rest of the team working in your child’s room, so that your child’s individual needs are fully understood the catered for.

Arrival and Departure times

To help us maintain the nursery ratio’s we need your help by committing to an arrival and departure time for your child on the days of the week they attend. These will help us staff accordingly to carry on maintaining these ratio’s at the beginning and end of the day.

Belongings

There are a few necessities that your child will require:

A backpack with ample spare clothes for your child depending on their development stage. e.g lots of pants if potty training

A pair of Wellington boots, sun hat and sun cream.

Babies and toddlers will require supplies of nappies, bottles of milk, a water beaker and skin-care products.

At nursery we provide individual flannels, bath towels and paper hand towels.

We are more than happy for a child to bring a favourite toy to the nursery that is a bedtime comfort, however we will try and take good care of the item, but cannot be held responsible for any damage or for any un-named articles that may be brought in to the nursery.

Articles of Interest

On occasions the children will be asked to bring things from home for special activities etc.  We hope that this will not be an inconvenience and that you will enjoy participating.  Should you come across any items of interest you would like to bring to nursery please don’t hesitate, it helps us in our role as educators.

Meals

Nutritious meals are provided for children who attend mornings or whole days at the nursery and any special dietary requests entered on the registration form will be respected.

Mid-morning, afternoon snacks, any drinks and a light afternoon tea are all provided free of charge.  The nursery has a commitment to providing a healthy balanced diet for our children and we endeavour to deliver the five portions of fruit and vegetables recommended each day.  This is achieved by the inclusion of plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit combined with home-cooked food daily.  We believe that establishing healthy eating habits in early life is essential and our menus are regularly reviewed to ensure that this is being achieved.

For babies, we request parents supply their child’s prepared feeds or supply powdered formula for preparation by the nursery.  All foods and any bottles supplied must be clearly labelled with the child’s name.  Please note we will be pleased to discuss the process of weaning and will accommodate parents’ wishes as far as possible regarding their choices of foods for their child.

Breakfast is available at a charge of 20p per day and may be given up until 9.00 a.m.

Staff

The quality of our trained staff is of prime importance to us.  The maximum ratio of children to staff is 3:1 for babies and toddlers, 4:1 for children 2 years old and 8:1 for children 3 to 5 years old.  The advantage given to children of pre-school experience by these low children-to-staff ratios is well proven in research.

All persons, including volunteers and students, who work in the nursery for any period of time, are CRB checked, either by us or by the college or association they are working for.

Cleaning and Maintenance

Cleaning is carried out at the end of the day by the staff and the cleaner.  All rooms are mopped, vacuumed and all surfaces cleaned.  All toys and equipment are washed every two weeks in the Toddlers, Tots and Pre-school rooms.  Hand to mouth toys in the Teenies and Tweenies rooms are washed after use. All children have their own bedding which is kept in bedding bags and washed on a weekly basis.

Outings

From time to time the nursery arranges outings for the children.  These are generally local so we travel in mini buses equipped with suitable child seats and harnesses.  Before any such trip parents will be given a permission letter with the outing’s details and if any financial contribution is required.  This must be returned to nursery, signed and with any fee, for your child to participate.

Fees

Fees are paid a month in advance by standing order, vouchers, cash or cheque. The nursery fees are calculated by the 51 weeks the nursery is open divided by 12 equal payments.  Failure will result in late payment charges.

We do not request a deposit to secure your child’s place, however we do require a registration fee of £45.00 when giving your enrolment form.

Late Payments

Fees that are paid against an invoice should be paid in full within seven days from receipt either by cheque or cash.  If payment is not received the child’s place may be withdrawn and proceedings will comment to collect payment as per the details below:

Step 1: Reminder invoice sent out
Step 2: A follow up letter advising 7 days to pay or commencement of court proceedings
Step 3: The child’s place will be withdrawn 
Step 4: Commencement of court proceedings

Temporary absence and Holidays

The fees at nursery have been set at a level consistent with payment for 51 week each year, therefore we do not reimburse fees for periods of absence but would request that you inform nursery of any absence due to sickness etc.  

The nursery is closed bank holidays and approximately one week over the Christmas period there is no charge for the Christmas week.  The exact dates of holidays are published in the nursery newsletters.

Personal Holidays

Please inform us of you are planning to ever be absent from the nursery, either holidays, time off or sickness. This is so we can monitor absence for safeguarding reasons.

Extra Days

If any extra days are booked but not attended by your child please be aware that these days must still be paid for in full.

Notice of Withdrawal
We require one month’s notice if you wish to withdraw your child from the nursery.  If not you will be required to pay for the remaining month up to a maximum of 30 days depending upon their leaving date.

Insurance

We have comprehensive insurances covering the following:
Public Liability 
Employer’s Liability 
Group & Personal Accident cover 
Personal belongings for children and staff
Nursery Equipment and Premises

No smoking policy

Jigsaw Day Nursery operates a strictly no-smoking policy throughout its premises.

Partnerships

At Jigsaw we welcome outside external professional into the setting to help with the child’s development and support families, such as Health visitors carrying out developmental checks on the premises.

Policies and procedures

Special Needs

We cater for all children with special educational needs.  We are always happy to discuss parents’ concerns before their child starts at Jigsaw and any issue will be handled sensitively.  Working as a team with parents we will be supportive and seek professional advice when necessary.  Staff observations of a child’s behaviour and performance provide vital information should specialist help be sought and we are committed to providing a helpful and positive role.  We have a more detailed policy on Special Needs, please ask if you wish to read it.

Equal opportunities and inclusion

All children will be respected and their individuality and potential recognised, valued and nurtured.  No child will be excluded from the Nursery on the grounds of class, disability, colour, ethnic origin, culture, religion or belief.
In order to promote equal opportunities we aim to provide resources and experiences that will allow children to explore, acknowledge and value similarities and differences between themselves and others. We have a more detailed policy on Equal opportunities, please ask if you wish to read it.

Security and Collection Procedure

The safety of the children at jigsaw is paramount, staff will be instructed to allow only named and know people to take your child from the nursery. Only the named people on the ID form will be allowed to collect your child. The procedure is as follows:

Staff will only permit your child to be taken from the nursery by an authorised person. Authorised persons are those people recorded on the child’s ID forms. It may occur that you are unable to collect your child. In these
circumstances the manager will ask the person you have asked to collect your child for a password that has been decided between you and the named person. If any person comes to collect your child who is not recorded on the ID form, you will be contacted for a description of the person and for your authorisation for you to allow them to collect your child. On no account will your child be allowed to leave the nursery without this procedure being adhered to, even if your child recognises an adult who has come to collect them.

Uncollected Child

If a child is not collected from the nursery, the nursery manager will use the details on the ID form to clarify the situation. If none of the people on the ID form can be contacted after a duration of 3 hours with no contact, the only solution may be to contact the local authority Social Services, it will be necessary for the manager to provide the social services officer with a copy of the ID form.

Please be aware our responsibility for children begins when they are handed over to a member of staff and ends when the parent or designated person collecting them meets the child for collection.

Health

Parents will naturally wish for an infection-free nursery and we would ask for their co-operation in achieving this.  Children must not be brought to the nursery when they have tummy upsets, vomiting, diarrhoea or other symptoms of ill-health. Children must be kept away from the nursery for 48 hours after the last bout of vomiting or diarrhoea. It is very important that any childhood diseases such as measles, mumps chicken-pox etc. are reported to the Nursery Manager and that the child is kept away during the infectious period. The infectious period can be clarified by your local GP or the nursery manager.

Should a child become ill during the day we shall look after them in a quiet place, but would expect that they be collected as soon as possible once contact had been made with the parent or emergency carer to minimise the spread of any infection.

Medicines and Medical Emergencies

If your child needs prescribed medicine (e.g. antibiotics) administering during nursery hours we will be happy to do so following your written instructions.  A medicine administration form must be filled in when dropping off your child and this will ensure the medicine is given at the times requested by you.  At the end of their day you will be asked to sign a medicine completion form which will state the exact time and dose given.

Should a medical emergency arise we wish to have the authority to take a child to hospital or to a doctor if the parent or emergency carer is unavailable.

Children’s Behaviour

In nursery we seek to encourage positive behaviour by setting clear boundaries and actively praising good behaviour and we believe it is important at this stage to encourage a positive self-image.  Bad behaviour often occurs when the fundamental needs of the children are frustrated therefore it is imperative that we provide a loving, caring and stimulating environment in order to meet these needs.  Parents will always be consulted if there are areas of concern e.g. persistent biting or similar.  An action plan will be drawn up and followed through in an effort to rectify the situation.  This can be a very difficult time for parents so we feel it is important that such a plan be seen as a positive step forward in helping manage their child’s behaviour.  Should you wish to read more about our behaviour policy please ask and a full copy will be provided.

Discipline

Children will be encouraged to understand the concept of good behaviour by the positive use of praise and reward.  Our staff will aim to avoid clashes by pre-empting such situations by distraction and by removing a child from a potentially tense situation.  We shall be kind, but firm, without raising our voices.  Staff will talk to parents should a problem arise.  However the nursery cannot accommodate constant disruption and we reserve the right to ask parents to remove a child if absolutely necessary. 

Missing child

If a child is found missing the officer in charge will be informed and a full search of the building and grounds will commence.  The parents of the child will be contacted and the police informed of the missing child.

Complaints

Any complaints will be dealt with in confidence. Staff will inform the officer in charge and the matter will be dealt with as quickly and efficiently as possible.  A record will be made of the complaint and the action taken to resolve the issue.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome there is a procedure laid down by OFSTED where you can take the complaint.  The telephone number is as follows:  0845601 4771

We trust that this document provides any information as required, however should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact the Nursery Manager.