Christmas Closure 

Nursery closes on Friday 23rd December and re opens on Tuesday 3rd January... 

This week on the Inventors 'Challenge Station' the challenge is to wrap string around different sticks and thread the string through wooden rings. This activity helps to strengthen the finger muscles ready for writing. 

Nursery News

DECEMBER 2016

A copy of the newsletter is available now in the Entrance. 

Partnerships with Parents

f you would like to share any special moments with us, please  email any  comments or photos to Danielle’s email and she will print them and pass to your child’s keyworker.

d.bickham@stmarysblackburn.ac.uk

Also we have ‘Wow Moment’ slips in the entrance for you to complete and

give to your child’s keyworker.

Discoverers

W/c 19th December is Christmas party week for the babies.

A Christmas party food list will be displayed soon , we would be grateful if you could pop your name down to an item you wish to bring for the party.

Dress code is winter wonderland theme.

Explorers

Explorers Christmas party will be held on the 21st

December 10:00-11:00 and the 22nd December  2:00-3:00. Invitations to follow. Father Christmas will be there to give them all with a present.

A Christmas party food list will be up in the Explorers room, we would be grateful if you could pop your name down to an item you wish to bring for the party.

Pre- School

Christmas nativity will be held on the 9th December at 10am and 2pm at the performing arts studio (situated on the college grounds opposite the sports hall) . The play is called ‘The Sleepy Shepherd’ Please ask a member of staff if you are unsure where the studio is..

Tickets are on sale now in the office at 75p each   .

Just a few  reminders

·  Children must not wear earrings for Nursery.

·  If your contact details or address change please inform Nursery.

· Please ensure that your child is collected from Nursery on time.

·  All items of clothing are clearly labelled with your child’s name.

· Do not leave children unattended in the car on the car park.

· Fees must be paid by the 5th of each month.

· Please do not leave any medicines in your child’s bag  

Mr Tumble Week

W/c 12th December

Safety Message:

“Make sure toys are safe for your age”

Healthy message:

REST

“Make sure you rest the night before Christmas”

‘Wear your PJ’s on the Friday 16th Dec’

Elf on the Shelf

During December our Provocations will be focused around ‘Elf on the Shelf’’

The Magical little Elf will be delivered by Santa on the 1st of December. I’m sure the children will tell you what he has been up to.

 

Baby Room Fun & Messy Play !!! 

We found a spider in the Explorers Room.... What a perfect 'Item' for our talking tables. Sparked lots of conversations and curiosity. 

The spider was then released into the nursery garden... 

Good Morning Britain investigates - are Nurseries safe???

Tuesday, 15 November 2016

Good Morning Britain investigates - are Nurseries safe???

This morning’s GMB programme highlighted some bad practice in 1 particular Nursery. This may have raised some anxieties and concerns for parents who use nursery provision.

The issues reported within the investigation included: 

·      Inadequate staff suitability checks

·      Poor levels of supervision 

·      Health and Safety concerns

Staff Suitability

At St Mary’s Nurseries the Safeguarding procedures are robust and inform the recruitment and selection process. We ensure that at least one member of the interview panel has completed the ‘Safer recruitment’ training. 

All staff including volunteers and students are interviewed, DBS checked, references sought, qualifications confirmed and receive a thorough induction. 

Supervision of children

The legal requirements for adult:child ratios are 

0-2years - 1 adult: 3 children

2-3years – 1 adult: 4 children 

3-5 Years- 1 adult: 8 children

These requirements are never compromised although there are times when a member of staff will be working on a 1:1 ratio during certain periods ie nappy changing, dealing with an accident, speaking to a parent.

Volunteers and students are NEVER left unsupervised with the children. It is on a very rare occasion that any member of staff will work alone due to the open plan layout and position of the office.

Health and Safety 

Plug sockets – during the investigation the reporter found that the nursery in question did not have plug socket covers. Recently it has been advised by electrical experts to remove all plug socket covers in care establishments, they are more dangerous when in use as they release the safety mechanism within UK electrical sockets. 

As with all NHS establishments St Mary’s Nurseries removed all socket covers in October 2016 following this advice.

Resources - During the report a child was playing with stilts  

The child apparently had one of the stilts hanging around his neck. This piece of equipment is appropriate for the age and stage of development for 3-5 year olds. The problem was that this activity was not adequately supervised. Although we do not have any stilts we do have pieces of equipment which children do wear over their heads such as handbags, scarves, capes etc. 

Accidents – The presenter informed viewers that ‘children are having accidents, head injuries, burns and breaking bones whilst in Nursery’.  This is true but children also have accidents, receive head injuries, burns and broken bones at home, at school, in the garden, at the park, at Grandmas, etc. 

At St Mary’s Nurseries the children are closely supervised at all times but, inevitably, we do get our fair share of bumps, bruises, bites and scratches. Every precaution is taken to avoid accidents; risk assessments are carried out but it must be remembered that children do receive knocks and bumps as a part of development, during play and physical activities. These unavoidable rough and tumble little accidents of childhood are mostly shrugged off fairly quickly by the children. We record in detail any accident/incident of whatever nature, and we ask the parent to read and sign our report. 

As far as we are concerned this investigation had some valid concerns for example ‘not vetting staff appropriately, leaving volunteers unsupervised and poor supervision of children’. However there were some scare mongering tactics in relation to  ‘no plug socket covers’, the use of equipment ie the stilts and children’s accidents.

If you have any concerns about this investigation or our response please speak to a member of the Management Team.

A parent spotted Wild Deer on our nursery field! How exciting.... The 'Inventors' children go to explore!!! They found foot prints and droppings, but the Deer had hidden from us...

The Team get into Exploring Role!!!

I think it went this way!

STOP!!!- Let's take a closer look... 

STOP! I've spotted something else...

WHAT AN EXCITING DAY!!!!

Provocation... Who has put paint on the floor!? 

"Oh No"!!! The children were shocked and came up with lots of suggestions why this might of happened, who did it?  why did they do it? what shall we do???  

The Children suggested cleaning the paint up with paper towels 

More children joined in and helped with the big clean up

                       

One of the children suggested that they needed more water and cloths... 

Halloween Fun in the Explorers Room...