Sgoil nan Loch

Little Lochies Nursery
Sgoil nan Loch
Leurbost
Isle of Lewis
HS2 9NH

Dear Parents

Welcome to Little Lochies Nursery. We hope that you and your child will enjoy the times you spend here with us. We trust you will find this ‘Welcome Handbook’ interesting and helpful.

Little Lochies Nursery is a childcare/preschool provider, run by the Comhairle, for children aged 2 ½ - 5 years. Priority will be given to children who are eligible for pre school funding. This group offers children a pre-school session and wraparound care.

The group is registered with the Care Commission, under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001. The group is inspected annually by a Care Commission Officer and is open to joint HMIE (H.M. Inspectorate of Education inspections). These reports are available from the playleader or www.carecommission.com or www.hmie.gov.uk

The group has a dedicated playroom within Sgoil nan Loch and access to the school library, gym, canteen and outside play areas. For the safety of all our children a door security system is in operation.

The service operates from 8.45am – 1.00pm, Monday to Friday for 38 weeks of the year. Please see the calendar within your pack for further details. The group follows Sgoil nan Loch’s holidays.

There are two permanent members of staff working in the group. The main contact is detailed below; she is responsible for the day-to-day running of the service. The Head Teacher of Sgoil nan Loch retains overall responsibility for the service.

The Nursery is open from 8.45am and closes at 1pm. Children eligible for pre school funding will have a maximum of 12.5 hours funded, however a snack fee is required. Please sign your child in when you arrive at the nursery and sign them out again when they are collected.

Wrap around care places will be allocated on a first come first serve basis, book early to avoid disappointment. Priority will be given to children who are eligible for pre school funding. Parents will be asked to sign a contract stating the child’s hours of attendance and will not receive a concession if their child is booked in and fails to attend. There are no refunds given for absent days or cancelled bookings. This includes - absence through sickness and any extra holidays taken, out with the nursery holidays. The nursery does however have the discretion to reduce fees in the event of a child’s long term sickness. The nursery manager will liaise with the parents with regard to this.

Please note: Parents must give 1 months notice in writing when leaving the Nursery or changing their contract. You may continue to be billed for your child’s place if you fail to do so.

Your child is entitled to a funded pre-school place in the term after their 3rd birthday.
Birthday                                             Funding
1st March – 31st August                      Autumn term
1st September – 31st December         Spring term
1st January – 29th February                Summer term

Children receiving a funded place are entitled to 475 hours over 38 weeks. Parents have the option of sending their child for their funded sessions only. A maximum of 12.5 pre school education hours will be provided in any one week; no child shall have more than 3.5 continuous hours of pre school education. The group charges for wraparound care on an hourly basis. The current charge for wraparound care is £2.90 per hour; this will increase annually each August by 10p. You may be able to claim help with childcare costs through the Childcare Tax Credits 0845 300 3900 www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/taxcredits

There is a charge for snack. This fee is charged on a weekly basis pro rata to number of funded sessions your child attends and must be paid regardless of whether your child attends or not. This includes child absence through sickness or additional holidays The snack money is also used to purchase extra treats for the children for example a gift (£5) at Christmas a gift (£5) for children leaving to go to school, food for parties, food for special tasting sessions in relation to plans, food for outings and trips.

The preferred method of payment is by Direct Debit, or for CNES employees by payroll - relevant forms have been enclosed in your parent pack and are available from the Education and Children’s Services Department, Early Years Office. If you have difficulty with this method of payment you are asked to contact the Education and Children’s Services Department, Early Years Office (01851 822280). Failure to pay your invoice can result in the service no longer being available to your child.

Please inform staff if someone other than yourself will be collecting your child from nursery. Also inform staff if someone is not allowed to collect your child. Please return to collect your child promptly at the end of the session. If you do not collect your child at the agreed time the Comhairle reserves the right to charge £15.00 over and above the normal fee. This charge will go towards paying additional staffing costs.

For the safety of your child and the smooth operation of the nursery it is essential that an application/registration, contract and consent form is completed by the parent/guardian before a child attends. All forms are included within the welcome pack.

It is very important that full details of your child's medical history are provided when completing the enrolment form. This ensures that staff are as prepared as possible should a health emergency arise. If a child becomes ill or has an accident while attending the group every attempt will be made to inform the parents. If the illness or accident is of a serious nature, the child will be taken to the Accident & Emergency Department of Western Isles Hospital, Telephone 01851 704704 and the parents will be contacted and advised to join the child there.

A sick or infectious child may not attend the nursery. If a child becomes sick during his/her time at the nursery, parents or the emergency contact will be informed and asked to take the child home. Parents must inform nursery staff of any changes to the information held within the application/registration form and consent form.

The nursery is unable to look after children who are ill or who have contagious illnesses. If your child has a contagious illness, please notify us as soon as possible as it has implications for other service users.

It is our policy that staff apply sun cream to the children when children are out in the sun. Parents are asked to supply sun cream labelled with their child’s name. If there is any reason parents/guardians do not wish sun cream to be applied to their child their wishes should be put in writing and kept in the child’s records and all staff informed.

Staff are unable to give medication without written permission from parent/carer. Consent forms are available from the Playleader.
POLICIES

All policies will be displayed on the notice board with in the nursery. If you would like a copy to take home please ask the Playleader.

The nursery is open to children aged 2½ - 5 years and is registered with the Care Commission to provide a care service to a maximum of 15 children. Children aged 2½ can be enrolled at the group if there is sufficient space and their third birthday falls before the 28th of February of the current academic year. If demand for places outweighs supply priority will be given to children eligible for their pre-school funded place.

The admission policy is included within the welcome pack. This policy contains details on how to book childcare places; application; registration and consent forms.

The nursery aims to ensure that the admission of children is fair, equitable and responsive to the needs and preferences of individual children and their parents or carers. The nursery believes that no child should be excluded or disadvantaged because of ethnicity, culture, religious beliefs, language, family background, special educational needs, disability, gender or ability.

When a child starts at the nursery, staff recognise due care and attention must be given to the parents, carers and child needs. Staff aim to work in partnership with parents to settle the child into the new environment.

It may be necessary, occasionally, to close the nursery at short notice and send the pupils home e.g. in exceptionally bad weather or if the electricity or heating system fails. If parents are not regularly available / at home during group hours, they should always make arrangements to have someone collect their children should such an emergency occur. The group asks each parent to provide the name, address and phone number of a person who can be contacted in emergency circumstances.

Parents should also feel free to contact the nursery if they are concerned about their children in severe weather conditions and are free to collect them at any time.

In cases of closure prior to the pre-school day starting, the arrangements will be announced on local radio as soon as they are known. If Sgoil nan Loch is closed the pre-school will also be closed.

To ensure that the group is a happy place for each child it is important that everyone abides by a standard of appropriate behaviour. We have a simple group code for children to follow. The code is reinforced through encouragement and praise by the staff who will act consistently and fairly in dealing with children.

Where there is continued concern regarding behaviour it may be necessary to carry out a risk assessment to identify individual behaviours and potential triggers. This will allow parents and staff to identify appropriate and consistent approaches to behaviour.

The staff will at all times be calm and controlled and although they may deal firmly with the unwanted behaviour, they will not imply to the child that he/she is unworthy of love, respect and care.

Child Protection Information
As stated in the National Care Standards, staff “should have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in protecting children and young people from harm, abuse, bullying and neglect”, therefore all staff will attend child protection training and records kept of the training attended. The centre will take every step in its power to build up trusting and supportive relationships between families and staff. Where abuse at home is suspected, the centre will continue to welcome the child and family while the investigation proceeds. All staff in a childcare position will have a disclosure check.

The Comhairle’s Complaints Procedure governs the nursery. A copy of this policy is contained within the welcome pack. This procedure will be displayed within the nursery.

Parents may wish to contact “The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care Services.

In the interests of safety it is necessary for us to hold information on children. All information exchanged will be held in the strictest confidence. If you have anything you wish to discuss with the staff you can be safe in the knowledge that all information will be handled in accordance with the confidentiality policy. As dictated by the data Protection Act the group will hold no information on the children once they leave the nursery.

Staff raise awareness of healthy eating by providing snack. The children are encouraged to help in the preparation and serving of their snack. The snack fee is also used to provide the children with extra treats e.g. special tasting sessions in relation to their plans, Chinese New Year etc.

Please ensure that your child attends the group in clothes suitable for playing indoors and out. While every effort will be made to protect clothes group staff cannot guarantee that children’s clothes will remain clean!! Clothing labels are also advisable.

We use photographs to record evidence of participation in activities and progress of child's development. In line with Local Authority policy parents will be requested to give permission in writing allowing their child to be photographed.

In the group we celebrate birthdays so parents may bring in a bought cake for the occasion. If children are not to be given sweets or cakes it is most important that the staff are told at the beginning of the year.

Parents are welcome to come in at any time and discuss their child's progress.

Parents are the primary educators of their children and have an important role to play in their children's development. Parental contribution is invaluable and greatly appreciated and encouraged at the group. We welcome support from parents at all times.

Parents will be asked to contribute to the first part of the profile e.g. their child's likes and interests. The profiles will be kept in the nursery where parents and children can have access to their own profile.

During the year the nurseries will hold an open day when parents/grandparents and any interested person can come in to talk to the nursery staff.

We frequently visit places of interest and attend events in the wider community. At such times we need more adult supervision. Staff will follow the guidelines set out within the school’s administration handbook section M.3 “Use of Voluntary Helpers in Schools”.

The nursery occasionally needs parent volunteers to help within the nursery and for outings/trips. Where volunteers are used regularly and are left on their own for short periods of time with the children it is necessary for those volunteers to have a Disclosure check. Information on the use of voluntary helpers is included within your pack along with an application form. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for the nursery please fill in the form in the Welcome Pack and return it to the playleader. Extra help is always appreciated!

In order to provide you with a good quality of pre-school education we at Little Lochies Playgroup have set ourselves the following aims.

environment providing appropriate opportunities
for learning through play in each of the key
aspects in children's development and learning.

Curriculum
Our Curriculum is changing. The new 3-18 Curriculum for Excellence is beginning to replace a Curriculum Framework for children 3-5. The Curriculum for Excellence extends the approaches used in pre-school into the early years of primary.

Recognising that people learn in a variety of different ways we believe that for very young children the following opportunities make powerful contributions to a child's learning:

Young children learn very naturally through play and they enjoy learning. In their play they may find out about materials, use and develop language, act out situations, ask questions, look for information in books, make friends, see how their actions affect other people, try out ideas, learn rules or read stories.

Young children come to the group as active, experienced learners with a natural curiosity. They are unique individuals eager to make sense of their world, to develop relationships and to extend their skills.

Children develop understanding in many ways but they learn best in an environment where they feel safe, secure, and confident and have opportunities for enjoyment. Children deepen awareness of themselves as learners by planning, questioning and reflecting. They consolidate this learning when they have time and space to engage in activities in depth. They develop theories through investigation, first hand experience, talk and play.

A copy of the record of achievement profile will be given to parents at the end of the school year.

The child’s profile and a transition assessment overview follow the children from the nursery to P1. The contents of the folder i.e. children's progress and achievements, is shared with parents at a pre-arranged meeting with nursery staff and forwarded to the receiving school.

Contact	Title	Contact details	Responsibility
Mr Andrew Reeves	Head Teacher Sgoil nan Loch	01851 705187 sgoilnanloch@gnes.net	Overall management of the service
Patricia MacAskill	Playleader	01851 705187 x 226 littlelochies@gnes.net	Day to day running of the service
Bernard Chisholm	Head of Inclusion and Early Education	01851 709435 b.chisholm@cne-siar.gov.uk	Overall management of Inclusion and Early Education section
Catherine Maclennan	Lead Quality Improvement Officer	01870 603579 cmaclennan@cne-siar.gov.uk	Line Manager of Quality Improvement Officers and curriculum
Patricia White	Early Years Services manager	01851 822280 pwhite@cne-siar.gov.uk	Early Years Services Manager
Alison MacLeod	Early Years Support Officer	01851 822280 alison.macleod@cne-siar.gov.uk	Early Years Support Officer
Gillian MacKenzie	Admin Assistant Early Education	01851 822283 gillian.mackenzie@cne-siar.gov.uk	Administration of main pre-school place funding Funding and transport for children with Additional Support Needs (pre-school only)
Margaret Smith	Team Leader Care Commission	01851 706157 Margaret.smith@carecommission.com	Regulation and Inspection of the service
Working Tax Credit		08453003900 www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/taxcredits	Assistance with Childcare costs

Little Lochies Nursery Parents’ Handbook

Dear Parents

IN PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE