What Can I Say!

'Wellies provides a friendly, yet professionally run, environment for children. The activities are varied and fun and the outdoor play area is superb. In our son's first few weeks at the nursery the staff have dedicated extra effort to ensuring he settled well, which included personal touches such as getting his favourite toys out ready for when he arrived. I strongly believe it was these gestures which helped him settle so easily. He comes home happy and with lots of exciting things to tell us about!' Helen - mummy to Luke

Facilities

Wellies Day Nursery is in a converted & extended Farm Cottage. There are 6 rooms dedicated to the care of children, along with Kitchen, Office, Laundry, Reception & Parents Room, Children’s Bathrooms, Sluice/Nappy changing & Staff Room. Large Garden.

Baby Room where we care for babies up to 12 months of age, in a group of up to 9 by a team of 3 Nursery Nurses.
Pooh Bear Room - Toddlers aged from 12 to 18 months are cared for in a group of up to 9 by a team of 3 Nursery Nurses & Nursery Assistants.
Sluice & Nappy Changing area - For changing babies & toddlers nappies.
Threadbear Room - Toddlers aged from 18 months to 2 years are cared for in a group of up to 9 by a team of 3 Nursery Nurses & Nursery Assistants
Rupert Room - Children aged of 2 to 2½ years are cared for in a group of up to 8 by a team of 2 Nursery Nurses.
Paddington Room - Children aged 2½ to 3½ years are cared for in a group of up to 12 with 3 Nursery Nurses & Nursery Assistants
Children’s Bathroom - for those whose are potty training or using the toilet!
Kitchen - where the Cook prepares those delicious meals & snacks for us to eat!
Office - Administration is carried out here!
Reception & Parents Room - An area where you can relax, seek advice & talk 1:1 with a team member about any child management issues.

Super Ted’s - Children from the age of 3½ to School age are in a group of up to 20 with 3 Nursery Nurses - children will spend a full academic year in this group, before they go to school.
Children’s Bathroom - An area suitable for the pre school group to gain independent personal hygiene skills.
Staff Room - Somewhere for the team to have a break & rest!

Outdoor Play Area - Wellies has the largest outdoor play area for the under 5’s in Milton Keynes. The garden is mainly grass with a patio & 2 soft surface play areas. There are climbing frames, slides, houses & a sand pit - in amongst the trees. We are developing vegetable growing areas & mud for digging in. There are plenty of sit & ride toys, balls, bats, hoops & balancing equipment for the children to access. The children can see activity on the Farm from a safe distance, in the security of our garden - the big red tractor, green combine & sometimes the black dog - Spark. They may have the opportunity of ‘meeting the cows’ either in barns or in the field adjacent to the garden!
There is a smaller, soft surface area suitable for the Babies & Toddlers - where their needs can be individually met.

Childcare Team

Wellies is managed on a day to day basis by the owner. There is a Management team - Deputy, Third in Charge, Senior Nursery Nurse & 3 Team Leaders who all have an active role in childcare & developing systems at Wellies. They have achieved NVQ 4 in Management & the Team Leaders have achieved NVQ 2 in Team Leading.

We currently have 11 Qualified Nursery Nurses & 6 Nursery Assistants.
Wellies has an on site Cook - who prepares fresh meals, daily. We also have a Kitchen Assistant - who helps to serve meals & wash up, along with managing the Laundry at Wellies. The Cleaner comes to clean Wellies in the evenings - when all of the children have gone home!

All of the Team who have direct contact with children are CRB checked & have references checked from previous employer.

Care & Education

Wellies has a fun, loving & secure environment in which we teach young children, through the principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

We have a general daily routine to help plan & organise our day:
07.45 The Team welcome children into Nursery & liaise with Parents. The children enjoy playing either inside or in the garden. Nappies are checked on arrival.
09.00 toys are tidied away & children’s hands are washed.
09.15 to 09.30 fruit, toast & a drink are offered.
09.45 children play & the team follow planned activity - observing & recording children’s response & enjoyment. Some of this time will be spent outside.
11.40 rooms are prepared for lunch time - all toys are tidied away, children’s hands are washed, tables set & rooms made ready for sleep time as appropriate. The children enjoy ‘group time’ - when they sing, share stories & learn about conversation!
11.45 Lunch time for those under 18 months.
12.00 Lunch Time for those over 18 months. The older groups help themselves - with adult guidance.
12.30 Sleep for those who still need a daily nap. Quiet play for those children who do not sleep.
14.30 All of the children are usually awake by this time & we offer a drink of milk with a cake or biscuit.
14.45 Play continues - either inside or in the garden.
15.40 - Tidy up for tea time & wash children’s hands.
15.45 Tea time for under 18 months.
16.00 Tea time for over 18 months.
16.20 Tea is cleared away & it is time for another session of play - which may be outside.
Children are collected at the end of their session time, when a member of the Team will speak to you about your child’s day.
18.15 Wellies closes for the day.

This is intended as a guide for the children’s day & is adapted according to the age of the children & to meet their individual needs. Babies sleep as they need to during the day & have bottles according to their routine. Nappies are changed throughout the day - with a routine change for all children at set times during the day.

Early Years Foundation Stage

This incorporates the Statutory Framework for Day Care settings & here at Wellies we are already demonstrating how we meet the Principles of the Framework. To download this document, please use this link: www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/eyfs

There are four themes of EYFS -
A unique child - every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident & self assured.
Positive relationships - children learn to be strong & independent from a base of loving & secure relationships with parents &/or a key person.
Enabling Environments - the environment plays a key role in supporting & extending children’s development & learning.
Learning & Development - children develop & learn in different ways & at different rates & all areas of learning & development are equally important & inter-connected.

There are six areas of learning & development -
Personal Social & Emtional, Communication Language & Literacy, Problem Solving Reasoning & Numeracy, Knowledge & Understanding of the World, Physical, Creative.

See below for a broad description of development in each of these areas.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development

For children, being special to someone & well cared for is vital to their physical, social & emotional health & well being. Being acknowledged & affirmed by important people in their lives leads to children gaining a sense of confidence & inner strength through secure attachments to these people. Exploration within close relationships leads to the growth of self-assurance, promoting a sense of belonging which allows children to explore the world from a secure base. Children need adults to set a good example & to give the opportunities for interaction with others so that they can develop positive ideas about themselves & others. Children who are encouraged to feel free to express their ideas & their feelings, such as joy, sadness, frustration & fear, can develop strategies to cope with new or challenging situations.

Communication Language & Literacy

Communicating & being with others helps children to build social relationships which provide opportunities for friendship, empathy & sharing emotions. The ability to communicate helps children to participate more fully in society. To become skilful communicators, babies & children need to be with people who have meaning for them & with whom they have warm & loving relationships, such as their family or carers & in a group situation, a key person who they know & trust. Babies respond differently to different sounds & from an early age are able to distinguish sound patterns. They learn to talk by being talked to. Babies & children use their own voices to make contact & to let people know what they need & how they feel, establishing their own identities & personalities. Parents & immediate family members most easily understand their babies’ & children’s communications & can often interpret for others. All children learn best through activities & experiences that engage all the senses. For example, music, dance, rhymes & songs playa key role in language development. As children develop speaking & listening skills they build the foundations for literacy, for making sense of visual & verbal signs & ultimately fro reading & writing. Children need lots of opportunities to interact with others as they develop these skills, & to use a wide variety of resources for expressing their understanding, including mark making, drawing, modelling, reading & writing.

Problem solving, reasoning & Numeracy

Babies & children’s mathematical development occurs as they seek patterns, make connections & recognise relationships through finding out about & working with numbers & counting, with sorting & matching & with shape, space & measures. Children use their knowledge & skills in these areas to solve problems, generate new questions & make connections across other areas of learning & development.

Knowledge & understanding of the world

Babies & children find out about the world through exploration & from a variety of sources, including their families & friends, the media & through what they see & hear. Babies & children need regular opportunities to learn about different ways of life, to be given accurate information & to develop positive & caring attitudes towards others. Children should be helped to learn to respect & value all people & learn to avoid misapprehensions & negative attitudes towards others when they develop their knowledge & understanding of the world. Children should be involved in the practical applications of their knowledge & skills which promote self-esteem through allowing them to make decisions about what to investigate & how to do it.

Physical Development

Babies & children learn by being active & physical development takes place across all areas of learning & development. Physical development helps children gain confidence in what they can do. Physical development enables children to feel the positive benefits of being healthy & active. Physical development helps children to develop a positive sense of well-being. Good health in the early years helps to safeguard health & well-being throughout life. It is important that children develop healthy habits when they first learn about food & activity, Growing with appropriate weight gain in the first years of life helps to guard against obesity in later life

creative development

Creativity is about taking risks & making connections & is strongly linked to play. Creativity emerges as children become absorbed in action & explorations of their own ideas, expressing them through movement. Making & transforming things using media & materials such as crayons, paints, scissors, words, sounds, movement, props & make believe. Creativity involves children in initiating their own learning & making choices & decisions. Children’s responses to what they see, hear & experience through their senses are individual & the way the represent their experiences is unique & valuable. Being creative enables babies & children to explore many processes, media & materials & to make new things emerge as a result.

Other Activities at Wellies

A music teacher comes to Wellies once a week during term time. The children in the top 3 age groups participate in these sessions which are on a Wednesday morning & cost £3 per session (which will be added to your invoice). Please look at their website for further information - www.musicgoround.co.uk

We invite a variety of people from our community to visit us - which usually coincide with a topic we are learning about & may be one of the parents with a particular skill.
We take Super Ted’s on outings twice a term - we have visited Mead Open Farm, Salcey Forest, walked across the fields on the farm & been part of the audience for North Crawley first School Christmas Concert.

Nutrition

We have a 5 Star Rating from Milton Keynes for Food Hygiene!

www.scoresonthedoors.org.uk/results.php

Meals are freshly prepared & cooked every day here at Wellies. Meat is sourced from a local butcher - in Upper Shelton & milk is produced by a farmer at the other end of North Crawley village who delivers it to us along with eggs & yoghurt. Our menu is nutritionally balanced & the children are encouraged to try all of the food we provide.

Security - Health & Safety

We have a high regard for the safety of your child while in our care. The 2 front doors have finger print entry - for which anyone bringing or collecting a child needs to be registered before they have independent access. Parents are automatically invited to register & they have to give written permission for anyone else to be authorised for registration.

Any person involved with the care of your child will not disclose information about them or their family to a third party.

We are committed to effective controls on the spreading of illness & ask that you work with us in achieving this. To this end all children requiring prescribed medication must have the first 24 hours of medication at home - this ensures they are responding to the medication & helps to control infection.

In cases of sickness & diarrhoea you will be contacted for immediate collection & we ask you to ensure they have been symptom free for a minimum of 48 hours before they return to Nursery - please follow this in the event of illness at home. If your are unsure about any illness - please contact Wellies for advice - BEFORE bringing your child to Nursery.

At Wellies we intend to create an environment in which children are safe from abuse & in which any suspicion of abuse is promptly & appropriately responded to.

Fire - we have regular fire drills - so that the children become used to the sound of the alarms. The building has an electrical smoke detection system - which is maintained by Britannia Fire Ltd. In the event of non-return to the building, the children will be taken to the nearest place of safety - Orchard Farmhouse, the owners home which is within walking distance. A full contact list is kept there, so that collection can be arranged.