FAQ

Our nursery believes children thrive in an environment where play is tailored to their interests.

We believe that children settle best when they have a key person to relate to, who knows them and their parents well, and who can meet their individual needs. At Wokingham Day Nursery we try to ensure a key person is allocated before the child starts at our nursery however this is open to change should the child form a stronger bond with another member of the team once started. The key person will be responsible for the induction of the family and for settling the child into our setting.

Wokingham Day Nursery operate an on-line learning journal system which enables both the key worker to upload observations and assessments and the child’s parent to comment, ask questions and add any additional information or experiences outside of the nursery they would like to share. This system is fully secure with each individual parent being issued their own password to access only their child’s information.

Our core team have been working together at nursery for over 2 years, many of them having tenure of over 10 years. We also recruited a new Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator (SENCO) in September 2018.

We want your children to feel safe and happy at nursery. We recommend doing three thing: 1. We recommend a home visit for your child prior to their settling in sessions. This will be carried out by wherever possible by the proposed keyworker. The home visit not only allows the bonding process to start between staff member and your child but also mean they have a familiar face once their settling-in sessions begin. The home visit is also an opportunity to share information about your child. For example, likes and dislikes, their interests and ask any questions you may have at that time. 2. We encourage you to visit with your children during the weeks before admission. We would recommend a minimum of three visits prior to their start date, we would advise these being as close to their starting date as possible to help the settling process. Often parents will stay for the first visit familiarising themselves with the environment whilst you are with them and picking out some key toys and activities to look forward to playing with but we encourage you to leave your child mid-way through the second visit and at drop off on the third visit. Extra visits can be booked in, if needed, depending on the individual child. 3. Talk to your child about coming to nursery and help them visualise and look forward to fun things they will do at nursery.

The easiest way to register at the nursery is to complete the registration form. We highly recommend registering your child as soon as possible as we always have more requests than we can accommodate and run a waiting list. Feel free to telephone our Business Manager, Jo Noone, before completing the form to discuss our availability on 07775 678284 or 0118 9774930.

Nursery provides Breakfast and two additional snacks during the day as below. Parents are required to provide a packed lunch in a small washable plastic container that can be refrigerated each day. Packed lunches can include cold items such as sandwiches, salads, wraps etc but we are also happy to reheat meals such as pastas, soups if required. If a child is affected by an allergy notice of any restricted items will be given to all parents and we will ask that it is no longer included in lunches provided Nursery provides breakfast between 8am and 8.30am, this includes a variety of cereals, toast and a selection of fresh fruit. Morning snack is provided around 10am, this snack is optional for the children and usually consists of fruit and/or a small carbohydrate such as breadsticks or rice cakes with a choice of milk or water to drink. Our afternoon snack is served at 3.30pm and is more substantial, this changes on a daily basis but typically can be, beans on toast, pasta and cheese, soup and warm rolls or choices of sandwiches, bagels, wraps alongside a pudding of fruit or a yoghurt. All dietary requirements are catered for when preparing snacks and alternatives offered where needed. Water is available to all children throughout the day via individual water bottles provided by the nursery, with milk being offered at both snack times. We also have a fruit bowl, which is monitored by staff and allows children to access an additional piece of fruit per day if they wish to do so.

We do not currently charge extra fees for consumables.

The nursery can accommodate 22 children per session aged between 2 and 5 years old.

We are unable to share specific individual parents’ information but we would be able to put you in touch with our committee chair on request, the chair would currently have a child at nursery. We also hold a Spring Fayre which is open to anyone to come enjoy and would be an opportunity to meet other parents.

We are very proud of the calendar of events we hold, which vary each year. We include celebrations from a variety of cultures and religions as well as reaching out to the community and celebrating milestones within the nursery. Examples of previous events include, Eid al Fitr, Mother’s day brunch, valentine’s party, Chinese new year, Full moon party, graduation day, Easter, Christmas and End of term parties for all children, as well as some more unusual events such as national polar bear day, national butterfly day, Africa day and many more.

We take the children out in to the local area to discover the variety of opportunities and differences in the world around us. This can include shorts nature visits to the local park, a walk to the fire station or library or popping to the shops to purchase specific activity items. At WDN we like to give back to our local community and introduce the children to the idea of helping others. We run a food bank collection each Christmas and take the children to deliver the items we have collected, we also deliver Christmas cards to local businesses to spread a little Christmas cheer. As we are a charity run nursery we also collect and deliver unwanted items to local charity shops and take the children, along with some treats to the local nursing home at varying points throughout the year.

At WDN we offer free flow play each day, both morning and afternoon. This means that the outside area Is accessible to all children throughout the session, with staff based both inside and outside. We have a variety of easily accessible play equipment outside for the children to enjoy including a large sensory play area, soft play and resources to encourage construction. During term times we have one extra curricular activity session per week. This session is held on a different day and at a different time each week to allow all children to participate. We typically have an indoor dance session from September to February and change over to an outdoor activity for the remainder of the school year. We also have a music and movement session taken by the staff once per week throughout the entire year to encourage gross motor skills. We ask parents to provide a PE kit for these sessions to encourage independent dressing.

Our aim is to have a ratio of adult to child of 1:4 for under 3’s and 1:6 for over 3’s; ensuring individual attention to the needs and development of our children.

All staff are qualified to the minimum of Level 2 in childcare. We may occasionally use an unqualified person for bank staff.plus

The number of adults present in the nursery enables us to provide individual attention for each child. Each child is able to progress at his/her own rate in all areas of development and this is true for children with or without disabilities or learning difficulties. We are experienced in working closely with professionals across the range of special needs. If you would like to discuss the group's abilities to meet your child's special needs, we recommend talking to our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO).

Pre-arranged visitors coming to WDN are required to bring with them photgraphic ID to allow them entrance to the building. Once inside they must sign-in and a member of staff will stay with them at all times. Unexpected visitors are not permitted entry to the nursery, they are asked to wait outside until a member of the management team is available to assist them. Parents are required to provide nursery with a collection password should another adult need to collect their child as well as the name of the individual making the collection. Children under the age of 16 are not permitted to collect children from nursery.

We are registered with the majority of childcare voucher providers, you may need our Ofsted number which is 148629 or for the voucher provider Edenred you will need our account no P514295 to register us against your account. We also accept HMRC vouchers, we ask you to let us know your HMRC reference so we can tie your payment with your child’s account.

At WDN we encourage children to talk about any disagreements they may have with their peers with an adult and think about how we might resolve the issue. Staff talk to the children about how their actions may make others feel and what they could do as an alternative should the same situation arise again. In an instance where one child is hurt by another purposefully our first priority is to assist and deal with any injuries cause, the other child will be moved from the area by another member of staff and have a couple of minutes of calm to think about what has happened. As above we will talk to the children about the situation and try to establish a cause. In these situations an accident/incident form will be completed and parents of children involved will be informed at pick up time.

We encourage parental support in nursery. Do let us know if you are able to come and help (e.g. reading / signing) or help support special events.

Our Business Manager and Nursery Manager, along with a management committee (whose members are elected by parents of children attending the nursery), manage the nursery. The elections take place at our Annual General Meeting. The committee is responsible for: - managing the nursery’s finances - employing and managing the staff - making sure that the nursery has, and works to, policies that help to provide a high-quality service; and - making sure that the nursery works in partnership with the children’s parents.

The Annual General Meeting is open to the parents of all the children who attend the nursery. It is our shared forum for looking back over the previous year’s activities and shaping the coming year’s plan. If you may be interested in joining the committee please contact our business manager Jo Noone, who can put you in touch with our current chairs Kerry Bridge-Collier and Emma Bennett.

Clothing you are expected to supply: - A PE kit (drawstring PE bag with shorts, t-shirt and change of footwear ie pumps or trainers), plimsoles) to leave at the nursery, each item labelled with your child’s name. - A pair of wellington boots to leave at the nursery labelled with your child’s name. - At least one change of clothes, more if your child is being toilet trained. Clothing suggestions: - We offer several messy play activities, so it is best to send children dressed in easily washable clothes that are not too new (that you would not be upset if they got stained). Whilst we do provide aprons for messy activities, these don’t always protect everything. - Please label all garments clearly with your child’s name. - We would appreciate your support in encouraging your children to dress and undress for themselves. We promote a caring environment that encourages children towards independence and school readiness. - Do think about garments with easy fastenings. - We don’t recommend earrings. Only stud earrings to be worn please as others can get caught-up during play. - We don’t recommend sunglasses Clothing the nursery provides: - Nursery provides a Wokingham Day Nursery branded bag for your child’s items, which can be taken home every session with any new artwork.

Food and drink that the nursery provides: We provide a mid-morning rolling snack bar between 9.45am and 10.45am and mid-afternoon tea at 3.30pm. The morning snack is light, comprising of mainly fruit or vegetables, with the afternoon snack being slightly more substantial. Snacks will vary every day but will include a carbohydrate choice i.e. cheese on toast or cheesy pasta along with seasonal fruits and vegetables. We try to provide foods that are topical - rice and noodles at Chinese New Year, pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, hot cross buns at Easter, etc. Information of food provided can found in the nursery foyer on the snack board. Drinks of milk and water are provided by the nursery and offered at snacks and lunch time. Each child is provided with their own labelled water bottle (at the water station), which is available outside these times. Food you are expected to bring: If your child is on a morning session, please provide their lunch in a labelled plastic lunchbox. When you visit, we suggest you look at an example lunchbox / lunch to give you ideas for what is typical to bring. Please do not include sweets, chewing gum, any food containing nuts or carbonated drinks. If a child with a specific allergy joins the nursery, we will inform parents of any changes that might be needed in children’s lunch boxes.

All staff welcome feedback and suggestions. Additionally, the nursery has a physical suggestions box in the nursery foyer and an online suggestions form. The purpose of the suggestion box is to encourage parents and employees to make suggestions that will further our nursery mission and objectives: - Provide a diverse range of activities and experiences - Enhance the development, education and well-being of our children - Be flexible for families - Offer a high-quality service at an affordable price - Ensure a safe, positive and stimulating environment - Ensure WDN offers a supportive and positive work environment and retains and attracts the best staff - Encourage parents to support the nursery by joining nursery trips, events and supporting fundraising activities

Please telephone the nursery to let us know if your child will be absent for whatever reason. Parents are asked not to return any child to nursery who has been vomiting or had diarrhoea until at least 48 hours has elapsed since the last attack. Please report any contagious diseases for example chicken pox, conjunctivitis, whooping cough, so that we may alert other parents.