Parents: This includes parents and carers
Child: Children aged 0-5 years old
All staff required to have a current paediatric first aid certificate for any trips.
First aid training must be:
Besides injuries, we also record incidents with no visible wounds as symptomsmay become apparent only after the event e.g. concussion.
We carry out an accidents and incident evaluation at the end of every term to identify any trends or recurring causes of injuriesto help us minimise the risk of occurrence.
We will only give advice on aftercare, such as advising parents to take their child to the Doctor or A/E and have the child checked out to ensure that all is well with the child whenever necessary.
We must request parental permission for emergency and medical treatment as part of our admissions process and we will make sure:
All incidents should be recorded in detail. These should include
In the record of the incident should be included:
A written record of all accidents and incidents to children will be kept in the Accident and Incident folder/ app.
Statement of intent
We intend to make our nursery accessible to children and families from all sections of the local community.
Aim:
We aim to ensure that all sections of our community have access to nursery through open, fair and clearly communicated procedures.
Methods
In order to achieve this aim, we operate the following admissions policy:
We arrange our waiting list in birth order.
In addition, our policy may take into account the following:
The nursery is open to every family in the community.
Children are admitted when they reach3 months, dependent upon the availability of space, and readiness of the individual child to stay happily within the group. A child can remain with us until the term before his or her 5th birthday.
The nursery aims to support the childcare needs of its staff where possible. Therefore, staff may enrol their children so long as this does not interfere with the effectiveness of the staff memberin the sessions and the se
If a child is to leave our setting before moving on to school, or to reduce the number of sessions attended, parents must give at least one month’s notice of the leaving date in writing. Fees will be payable (or grant claimed by us), until that date.
Therefore, if your child has not attended half of their sessions in any half term period (usually 6 or 7 weeks) they will lose their place at the nursery unless they have a valid reason (e.g. letter from doctor in the case of serious illness or holiday). If your child has not attended preschool for 3 weeks without any explanation, we reserve the right to offer their sessions to another child after contacting you and discussing the situation.
On arrival at the nursery, you will be expected to hand over your child to a Nursery Officer/Assistant.We must be informed if anyone other than the parent/carer or the persons mentioned as authorised to collect your child changes. You would then need to give the nursery a password which you would have issued to the person collecting the child.
To make the day meaningful to the child and to avoid disruption to the routine eg Lunch time and Sleep/rest times parents are requested to ensure that their child is present by 9.30am. If a parent intends to bring his/her child in for 11.30am they would still have to give prior notification to the nursery, in order for lunch to be prepared for that child. If you bring your child in at 11.30/12pm without prior notification, you must have fed your child or bring packed food with your child.
A child being collected after the session's closing time is also likely to occur occasionally. The following procedures set out action to be taken at the time and subsequently.
The nursery closes promptly at 6 p.m. each day,with the exception of pre-arranged stay till 6.30pm and parents and other responsible adults should be on the premises 10 minutes before to hand over time. This is a very busy time of day.
When completing the induction formalities, staff should discuss with parents the importance of being on time, and the importance of contacting the Setting if there are any problems with transport, etc.
If the parent or other responsible adult listed on the registration form are unable to collect the child, the parent should give details to the staff of the person who will be collecting. This must include their name, physical descriptions and any other information staff or parent may deem appropriate or a password which then be shared with the staff on duty. If your child is not collected on time, our legal liability relating to the staff/child ratio will be infringed as two members of staff must remain at the nursery until the last child has been collected Any parent/carer who is late collecting their child will have to pay a charge which helps to cover the additional staffing costs incurred for this reason. The charges for late collection is on our price list. We take lateness very seriously due to our insurance policy.
If you have not contacted the Nursery within 30 minutes after closing time,the manager or senior Member of staff will contact the Local Social Service.
When a child either bites another child or a member of staff whilst at nursery the following policy should be used to deal with the situation.
We are concerned about the welfare and safety of all our children and attempt to create an ethos in which pupils feel secure, valued, listened to and are taken seriously.
Working Together Under The Children Act, 1989’ requires all childcare settings to follow the procedures for protecting children from abuse. Settings are also expected to ensure that they have appropriate procedures in place for responding to situations in which they believe that a child has been abused or is at risk of abuse - these procedures should also cover circumstances in which a member of staff is accused or suspected of abuse.
DfES Circular ‘What To Do If You’re Worried A Child Is Being Abused’ (May ‘03) places the following responsibilities on all settings –
It also states that parents should be made aware of the Settings child’s protection policy and the fact that this may require cases to be referred to the investigative agencies in the interest of the child.
THE NURSERY MANAGER – Designated Child Protection Officer
The NURSERY MANAGER’S role will be:
Decide whether to take further action about specific concerns (e.g., refer to MASH /Social Services;
PROCEDURES
Staff should be concerned about a child if he or she:
If a child discloses that he or she has been abused in some way, the member of staff should:
When a child has disclosed the member of staff should:
Dealing with a disclosure from a child, and a child protection case in general, is likely to be a stressful experience. Therefore,The staff member should consider seeking support for him/herself and discuss this with the Nursery Manager.
If a child, or parent, makes a complaint of abuse against a member of staff, the person receiving the complaint must take it seriously and immediately inform the Nursery Manager.
Any member of staff who has reason to suspect that a child may have been abused by another member of staff, either at Nursery or elsewhere, must immediately inform the Nursery Manager. He or she should also make a record of the concerns including a note of anyone else who witnessed the incident or allegation. (If the concerns are about the Nursery Manager the Nursery Director should be informed.)
The Nursery Manager will not investigate the allegation herself, or take written or detailed statements, but he/she will assess whether it is necessary to refer to the local Social Services team following the child protection procedures. In doing this, the Nursery Manager may consult with the Child Protection Education Welfare Officer, Head of Education Welfare Service or a Senior Officer from Social Services.
If the Nursery Manager decides that the allegation warrants further action through child protection procedures,they must make a referral direct to the local Social Services team. If the allegations constitutes a serious criminal offence, it will be necessary to contact LADO before informing the member of staff.
If it is decided that it is not necessary to refer to Social Services the Nursery Manager will consider whether there needs to be an internal investigation.
ANY CONCERNS ABOUT A CHILD OR SUSPICION OF ABUSE, MUST BE REPORTED IMMEDIATELY TO THE NURSERY MANAGER OR IN HER ABSENCE THE NEXT IN CHARGE.
There is a fair way of dealing with issues as they arise informally, but parents may wish to exercise their right to make a formal complaint. They are informed of the procedure to do this, and complaints are responded to in a timely way. The same procedures apply to agencies that may have a grievance or complaint.
Applications, Regulatory and Contact (ARC) Team,Ofsted,Piccadilly Gate,Store Street,Manchester M1 2WD or telephone: 0300 123 1231
Ofsted complaints record
A record of complaints will be kept for at least 3 years.
This procedure is displayed on Parent Notice Board.
In a situation where a parent wishes to make a complaint and prefers to remain anonymous, a written complaint can be dropped in the post box and complaints will be treated confidentially.
Comments and compliments
Twinnie Day Nursery welcomes constructive criticism.Any comments on how the setting operates will inform future development plans.
Compliments are always welcome and will be passed on to the staff members to whom they are most pertinent.
Twinnie Day Nursery is committed to keeping information about children, parents and carers and staff as confidential as possible. At (Twinnie Day Nursery) we respect every parent and child's rights to confidentiality; with this in mind would all parents please be aware of the following points.
It is the responsibility of all members of staff to ensure that all confidential information including personal records for children, parents and staff remains confidential and within the confines of the setting.
The information stored in the nursery files about the children is available only to Setting staff and the individual child's parents. This information is stored securely. Please see the Data Protection and Information Sharing Policies for further details.
Parents and carers should feel that they can talk to a member of setting staff in complete confidence, if you would like this please speak to the member of staff of your choice, this information will not be shared unless it is in the best interests of the child, if the information is shared parents should feel secure that only setting staff will be privy to this information. Parents will be asked for their permission if the information is to be shared outwith the setting.
Any information given to us about parents or children at the nursery will be treated with the utmost respect and will remain confidential to all except for nursery staff. (Please note, staff will only be informed of any confidential information if it is important to the welfare of the child).
Any information that a child gives us will be treated with the same confidentiality as that of their parents. If a child wishes to give us information that they do not feel they can share with their parents we are obliged to treat that information in strictest confidence, unless it is of detriment to the welfare of the child.
Any information that a parent wishes to give us about their child will be treated in strictest confidence. This information will not be shared with outside agencies without permission and if wished may be kept within the confines of the conversation.
Where a staff member feels that it is in the best interests of a child to pass on information,they will discuss this with the project manager in the first instance and appropriate action will be taken.
No member of staff will discuss individual children (unless it relates to the activities of the day) outwith the setting with anyone other than the child's parents/carers without the parents' permission.
All confidential information will be kept within the confines of the setting and will not be removed unless it is in e-format and password protected.
All members of setting staff will be aware of the confidentiality policy and procedure and will be required to accept and sign the settings confidentiality agreement.
At all times any information given by the parents, or the children will be treated with the safety and well being of the children in mind.
The setting will consider any unauthorised sharing of information as a serious offence and will take appropriate disciplinary action against anyone who breaks the confidentiality agreement.
All parents should note that in cases where there is a child protection concern for a child the setting has a legal responsibility to share this information and as such it does not fall within the scope of this policy
If you wish to speak to us about this policy please contact the nursery manager.
Twinnie Day Nursery Confidentiality Agreement
I …………………………………………………… (Insert name) confirm that I have read and accept the confidentiality policy for Twinnie Day Nursery.
I agree not to disclose any confidential information given to me by parents/carers or children without their permission or unless it is in the best interests of the child involved.
I will not disclose any confidential records or information belonging to Twinnie Day Nursery
Employee signature …………………………………………………………………………
Date ………………………………………………….
Manager signature ……………………………………………………………………...
Date ………………………………………………….
NAPPY CHANGING POLICY
PROCEDURE FOR NAPPY CHANGING :
Date ________________ Signed ____________________________
On hearing the fire alarm
Calmly call children in your care together
Visually check the space around you is empty
Leave the building via the nearest, safe emergency exit
Muster in the place stated on the safety
Headcount the children in your care, alerting the fire officer if any are missing
Remain outside the building until the fire officer deems the premises as safe
Take charge of the safe evacuation of your room and surrounding areas such as kitchens, toilets and offices
Put on the fluorescent jackets stored by the emergency exits
Check all spaces are empty by shouting clearly “There is a fire, is any one in there?” and making a visual check
Assist anyone with limited mobility in your area to the meeting point
Once you are sure that your area is clear, leave the building and join your group at the meeting point. Liaise with the fire services and advise your team when the all clear is given
In the event of a real emergency. Begin the call around to all families. Speak only to the person who answers the phone saying “There has been an emergency evacuation at Twinnie Day Nursery. Please inform Mr /Mrs/Ms ……………………. that they need to make immediate collection arrangements and hang up. Try to avoid getting into conversation. Be fast and concise to save telephone battery and time. Administer rations as necessary. Sign out each child as they leave your care. No staff can leave the premises until every child is collected and accounted for.
Twinnie Day Nursery regards snack and meal times as an important part of the setting's session/day. Eating represents a social time for children and adults and helps children to learn about healthy eating.
At snack time, we aim to provide nutritious food, which meets the children's individual dietary needs. We aim to meet the full requirements of The National Standards for Day Care on Food and Drink (Standard 8).
We use meal and snack times to help children to develop independencethrough making choices, serving food and drink and feeding themselves.
We have fresh drinking water constantly available for the children. We inform the children about how to obtain the water and that they can ask for water at any time during the session/day.
We inform parents who provide food for their children about the storagefacilities available in the setting.
In order to protect children with food allergies, we have rules about childrensharing and swapping their food with one another.
For children who drink milk, we provide pasteurised milk.
Staff sit with children to eat their lunch so that the mealtime is a social occasion.
The Management team at Twinnie Day Nursery takes it upon themselves to make sure that
The Nursery is safe and clean.
All equipment is safe and in good order and where appropriate will conform to British Standards.
Employees have healthy working conditions, including heating, adequate clean toilet facilities, staff room/rest area with tea/coffee making facilities and toilet facilities.
Training will be provided to ensure that all staff are aware of the health and safety policy and understand its importance.
Risk assessments will be carried out before playing in the gardens.
A minimum of two qualified First Aiders will be present in the Nursery and appropriate first aid arrangements will be provided.
Employees will also have a responsibility to take reasonable care of their own health and safety and of the children in their care.
All employees will be responsible for ensuring the following:
Keeping all fire exits clear at all times.
Keeping all electrical equipment well out of the reach of the children at all times.
Making sure that all external doors and gates are kept closed and secure and or locked at all times.
All medicines are kept out of the reach of the children and stored away from any accessible areas
All cleaning materials and equipment are kept locked away in their designated places.
All equipment is safe and in good condition. If not, it must be reported to the officer in charge.
Floors are mopped after all spillages or accidents.
Twinnie Day Nursery has a Health and safety officer available and performs regular checks and assessments on our Nursery
At Twinnie Day Nursery we have a Healthy Eating Policy. All meals and snacks are prepared on the premises by our own catering staff. We believe in incorporating fresh fruit into the children’s daily meals and offer only water to drink at mealtimes and a choice of milk or water at snack times.
We ensure all meals have the right balance of nutrients, minerals, vitamins, protein, calcium and all other compounds to make children’s bodies grow and flourish as set out by the “Eatwell” plate see: www.food.gov.uk.
The “Eatwell” plate from the FSA recommends that meals are provided in the following portions:
33% fruit and vegetables, 33% bread rice pasta and potato and other starchy food 12% meat fish eggs and beans and other non-dairy sources of protein, 15% milk and dairy foods, 8% foods and drinks high in fat and/or sugar.
Each child is catered for individually.We offer menus for cultural, medical and preferential dietary needs. We ask that parents take our healthy eating policy into consideration on children’s birthdays by bringing into nursery healthy treats only. Mealtimes are considered a social time for our children.We like our children to be involved in serving their own meals under the supervision of staff. This aids independence and self-help skills, giving them opportunity to make their own choices.The menus are displayed on the
Our aim is to promote the good health of the children in our care, take steps to prevent the spread of infection and take appropriate action when they are ill.
This includes monitoring the children for signs and symptoms of communicable diseases such as chickenpox, measles, mumps, rubella, meningitis, hepatitis, diarrhoea, vomiting and fevers of 101°F/38.5°C or over.
Should your child be unwell or sick before the start of the nursery session, we would kindly ask you not to bring your child to nursery. Nursery is an environment for well children, and not suitable for a child who is not well. This policy has been made with the best interests of the unwell child and all other children in mind.
With the welfare of the sick child in mind and in the interests of the remaining children in the nursery, if in the opinion of the staff a child is ill, then the parent/carer will be contacted and requested to collect him/her as soon as possible.We will endeavour to do all we can to comfort and reassure your child by taking them to a quiet place to rest whilst they are waiting to be collected. The staff of the nursery must be convinced that the child has returned to good health before re-admitting him/her.
Whilst at nursery, if a child’s temperature reaches 38.5°C parents will be contacted and asked to collect their child within the hour. In the event of us being unable to contact parents, emergency contacts will be called.
If a child is unwell at nursery an illness record form will be completed and the parent/carer will be asked to sign it on the collection of their child.
Although we understand that when a baby is teething, they may spike a temperature, we ask that they are not brought into nursery as a child with a temperature for whatever reason is still unfit to attend nursery. We are aware that if a child had a temperature of over 39°C there is an increased risk of having a seizure.
Any child needing Calpol or any other pain killer before their session will be excluded from nursery in accordance with the medication policy. We ask all parents to be honest with us.
A record of why a child was sent home will always be kept.
In the case of a serious accident or illness occurring then the parent/carer will be contacted immediately and the appropriate action taken. In the unlikely event of the parent not being available the senior staff member will assume charge and if necessary, take the child to hospital along with all relevant details.
The following procedures will be followed in the event of:
Major Accident
At all times the staff must wear protective clothing (disposable aprons and
gloves).
The manager and first aider will assess the situation and decide whether the child needs to go immediately to hospital or whether the child can wait for the parent/main carer to come.
If the first aider is unsure of what action to take NHS Direct will be contacted for advice on 111.
Minor Accident
At all times the staff must wear protective clothing (disposable aprons and gloves). The injury is assessed by the keyperson and a qualified first aider. If necessary, the manager or deputy will be called. The injury is then treated by a qualified first aider, according to recent first aid advice. The child is then resettled back into the base room and observed. The accident is then recorded on an accident form and the parent/carer is asked to sign on the collection of their child. The accident file is checked by a member of the management team at the end of each month to check for any patterns.
Exclusion Procedure For Illness / Communicable Disease
The minimum exclusion periods are shown below. In the event of a child or adult suffering from a notifiable disease e.g. meningitis, or in the case of food poisoning affecting two or more children, Ofsted will be informed.
Note: If an outbreak occurs, the exclusion period may be extended on the advice of Health Protection Agency.
If there are two or more reported cases of food poisoning in the nursery Ofsted will be
Parents will be informed of any contagious diseases and any risk to pregnant women will be highlighted.
In the event of an outbreak of sickness and/or diarrhoea the Health Protection Agency will be notified. The following procedures will be carried out.
The nursery Manager has a duty to think about the majority over the minority and for that reason if your child has an infectious illness or poses a risk of contamination to other children due to the illness being contagious, we reserve the right to exclude the child from nursery until it is cured
Twinnie Day Nursery places the child's well-being at the very core of the ethos of the setting. Staff are first aid trained but it is not a compulsory part of their job to administer medicine, and we respect the agreement and decision made by each individual member of staff.
We have a named co-ordinator in the Nursery who is responsible for all matters regarding First Aid.
It is our aim to safeguard and maintain the well-being of all children within the Nursery and the staff who look after them.Twinnie Day Nursery works in partnership with parents and information sharing in this area is vital so that staff respect and are aware of cultural, ethical or religious reasons which may relate directly to the administration of medicine.
The following procedure must be adhered to by parents and staff for the health and well-being of all children in the administration of medicine:
Twinnie Day Nursery requires written consent in advance from parents which clearly shows the date, dosage and expiry date.The label must have the name of the child on it.If the medicine has not been prescribed for the child, Twinnie Day Nursery will not administer it.
Twinnie Day Nursery requests that for us to administer any medicine, they must be prescribed by any of the following practitioners: Doctor, Nurse, Dentist or Pharmacist.
Twinnie Day Nursery will not administer antibiotics.
Twinnie Day Nursery reserves the right not to administer medication other than for emergency treatment of chronic illnesses.
The staff will administer medication for a maximum of 3 days, after which time they will no longer be able to continue giving the medication. At any time during the 3 days, if the staff deem that the child's health has deteriorated or they have concerns for his/her health, the parent will receive a telephone call to collect the child (or make arrangements for the child to be collected by another named person).
Written permission is required for emergency treatment of chronic illnesses, such as asthma where inhalers may need to be given on a long-term basis.
In the unlikely event of a child, going missing within the nursery the following procedure will be implemented immediately.
* All staff present will be informed and an immediate thorough search of the nursery will be made followed by a search of the surrounding areas, ensuring that all other children remain supervised throughout.
* A staff member will notify the Manager, whilst other staff continues searching.
* The Manager will carry out a second search of the area.
* If the Child is still not been accounted for the Manager will contact the police.
* The Manager will also contact the parents of the missing child.
* During this period, staff will be continually searching for the missing child, whilst other staff maintain normal routine as possible for the rest of the children in the Nursery.
* The Manager will meet the police and the parent/carers.
* The Manager will then await instructions from the police.
* Any incidents must be recorded in writing on an incident report form.
* OFSTED must be contacted and informed of any incidents.
In the event that a child is not collected by an authorised adult, we will ensure that the child receives a high standard of care in order to cause as little distress as possible. We inform parents/carers of our procedures so that, if they are unavoidably delayed, they will be reassured that their children will be properly cared for.
telephone, an alternative number must be given,
authorised by the parents to collect their child from the Nursery, for example a childminder or grandparent; and information about any person who does not have legal access to the child,
Parent/carers are regularly asked to update their contact information and staff will ask them for updated information if they know that there have been changes such as moving house.
If a child is not collected at the end of their session/day staff, follow the following procedures:
Protection Policy. We contact our Borough’s Social Services Department and inform Ofsted,a full written report of the incident is recorded; and
additional hours worked by our staff.*
Please contact the office for prices.Prices are reviewed every January.
In the event that a child is not collected by an authorised adult, we will ensure that the child receives a high standard of care in order to cause as little distress as possible. We inform parents/carers of our procedures so that, if they are unavoidably delayed, they will be reassured that their children will be properly cared for.
Parent/carers are regularly asked to update their contact information and staff will ask them for updated information if they know that there have been changes such as moving house.
If a child is not collected at the end of their session/day staff, follow the following procedures:
Protection Policy. We contact our Borough’s Social Services Department and inform Ofsted,a full written report of the incident is recorded; and
Please contact the office for prices. Prices are reviewed every January.
Off-site visits are activities arranged by or on behalf of the nursery, and which take place outside the nursery grounds. The managers and nursery staff believe that off-site activities can supplement and enrich the curriculum of the nursery by providing experiences which would otherwise be impossible. All off-site activities must serve an educational purpose, enhancing and enriching our children’s learning experiences.
In this policy we seek to establish a clear and coherent structure for the planning and evaluation of our off-site visits, and to ensure that any risks are managed and kept to a minimum, for the safety and health of all children at all times. Within these limits we seek to make our visits available to all pupils, and wherever possible to make them accessible to those with disabilities. The visits usually take place within the nursery day.
We aim to organise more formal outings at least once a term.Charges for these outings, if applicable, will be notified to parents/carers in advance of the outing and will be payable before the outing. It is hoped that these outings will enhance and re-enforce, in a practical way, what your child is learning in the nursery. Risk Assessment will be carried out by managers prior to the visit and first aid equipment will be taken on the day. We will ask parents/carers to sign a consent form in advance of such outings and will offer opportunities for parents/ carers to accompany their child and the nursery on the outing.
The nursery’s managers are involved in the planning and management of off-site visits.
The Managers will:
It is our policy that all children should be able to participate in educational visits. Where a child with a disability is eligible for a trip, we will make every effort to ensure that s/he is included. We may seek guidance from parents to help us adapt our programme, and we will make any reasonable adjustments to our itinerary to include a child with disabilities. Any such adjustments will be included in the risk assessment.
A comprehensive risk assessment is carried out by the managers before the proposed visit. It will assess the risks which might be encountered on the visit and will indicate measures to prevent or reduce them. The risk assessment should be based on the following considerations:
Managers planning an off-site activity will make a preliminary visit to the venue, in order to carry out an on-site risk assessment. It is important to take into account the probable weather conditions at the time of year proposed for the trip, and the managers should take careful account of the facilities available, with due regard to the proposed size of the group. They should also assess the site’s suitability with regard to the age and any particular needs of the children. They will also consider the venue’s own approach to security and to health and safety. Venues providing instructor-led activities will have their own risk assessments for particular sessions, and these assessments may be adopted if it is impractical for the managers to experience the activity beforehand, or if she lacks the skills required to make informed judgements about the risks it may involve.
It is important to assess and record any health, safety or security issues that are identified during the preliminary visit. Any such issues will be taken into account when the final decision is taken on whether the visit should proceed, and the visit plan must state both the extent of any risks involved, and the measures that will be taken to reduce or eliminate them.
The managers leading the visit must complete a nursery visit risk assessment check list and keep in the risk assessment file. The cost of these preliminary visits will be borne by the nursery and should be built into the overall financial arrangements for the visit itself.
A risk assessment must also cover transport to and from the venue. Transport arrangements will allow a seat for each member of the party. It is our policy only to use coaches fitted with seat or lap belts, and to insist that they be worn by all those participating in the visit.
The parents of children taking part in an off-site activity should be provided with all appropriate information about the intended visit. Parents must give their permission in writing before a child can be involved in any off-site activities.
Funding for off-site activities is provided mainly by parental contributions. This must be made clear to parents in all correspondence about an educational visit at the planning stage.
All adults accompanying a party must be made aware, by the managers, of the emergency procedures which will apply. Each adult should be provided with an emergency telephone number. This will normally be the manager’s numbers.
Before a party leaves the nursery, managers will provide a list of everyone, children and adults, travelling with the party, together with a programme and timetable for the offsite visit.
The safety of the party, and especially the children, is of paramount importance. During the activity the managers must take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that safety. This involves taking note of any information provided by medical registration forms, and ensuring that children are both safe and well looked after at all times.
The same standard of care and interaction with the children is expected of staff, volunteers and students on outings. The worker’s prime responsibility on outings is to ensure the safety of the children.
However, they will be expected to balance this responsibility with ensuring that children have the maximum opportunity to experience and explore new environments, to socialise and to have fun.
Different types of outings take place, and each will require slightly different preparations and staffing levels. These includetrips on foot, e.g. visits to the park, the library, local markets and places of interest. Trips on public transport to places like museums, farms, etc.
If the Nursery’s policies and procedures are being observed the likelihood of a child being lost is small. Very occasionally a child may become separated from the group on an outing or become lost. With careful planning and co-operative working amongst staff, children should not be out of sight of an adult during an outing. If it is realised that a child is no longer with the group, staff should look carefully all around without leaving the group. That Educator’s key children should be re-allocated to other members of staff. The Nursery managers will contact the parents immediately. The police will be informed, and all the children will be returned to the Nursery. At the end of the day the managers will complete an incident report.
The management team at the Twinnie day Nursery are committed to proactively identifying and managing risks within its day-to-day activities.
The need to identify risks both on a clinical basis and operational basis is paramount in safeguarding the health and well-being of clients, staff, and other users.
Risk assessments are vital in identifying issues that could harm people. The aim is to ensure that no one is injured or becomes ill due to conditions in the nursery or because of poor working practices.
By identifying risk, we will apply preventive and protective measures to create a healthier environment for all and meet statutory obligations.
The policy aims to:
The policy applies to all employees working at the Twinnie day Nursery.
Contractors working at the Twinnie day Nursery will be expected to undertake risk assessment relevant to their work activities and take preventative measures to reduce the risk. These risk assessments must be shared with the Registered Manager and Director of the Twinnie day Nursery.
Risk Assessment is the assessment of individual risks through identification of hazards followed by analysis of the risk from the hazard to see if
harm is likely to be caused.
Hazard – A hazard is something that has the potential to cause harm e.g. electricity, gas, chemicals, machinery or working environment etc.
Risk – Is the likelihood that the harm from a particular hazard could happen and the chance the risk could cause harm either great or small.
Plans – are the measures put in place to prevent the risk causing harm.
Risk Assessment is a legal requirement under the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulation 1992. It is very important in the prevention of accidents, injuries and ill health.
Risk Assessment involves a proactive approach to identify hazards evaluating the extent of the risks involved and taking the necessary action to remove/reduce the risks.
Risk Assessment documents must be maintained in a Register and held within the Twinnie day Nursery and reviewed regularly.
Any changes in working practice throughout Twinnie day Nursery must be risk assessed and documented before being forwarded to the manager.
One of the main problems when carrying out a risk assessment is the identification of risks. The main purpose of a risk assessment is to identify significant risks followed by more trivial risks.
Risk Assessment Policy & Procedure
Step 1 - Identifying hazards:
Step 2 - Decide who is likely to be harmed and how
Step 3 – Evaluate the risk arising from the hazard and decide if precautions are adequate or not.
Step 4 – Report your findings
Step 5 – Review the Assessment & Revise where necessary:
Reference should be made to the following Policies if they connect to a Risk Assessment:
Training and assistance in completing Risk Assessments and will be available within Twinnie day Nursery
In the unlikely event of a child, going missing within the nursery the following procedure will be implemented immediately.
The nursery highly values its staff. It is in the interests of the nursery, the children, families, and the individual, that each staff member be given the opportunity to develop their skills to their maximum and to broaden their knowledge and skills in caring for children.
Personal and professional development is essential to maintaining the quality and delivery of high-quality care and education for young children in early years. It underpins all aspects of curriculum delivery and positive interactions.
We strongly promote constant professional development, and all staff have individual training records and training plans to enhance their skills and expertise. External training and support is sought as appropriate to the needs of the nursery and the children attending and to renew/update staff qualifications.
To facilitate the development of staff we:
1 coach, lead and role model with staff, and offer encouragement and support to achieve a high level of morale and motivation
2 promote teamwork through ongoing communication, involvement and a no blame culture to enhance nursery practice
3 provide opportunities for delegation based on skills and expertise to offer recognition and stimulate staff
4 encourage staff to contribute ideas for change within the nursery and hold regular staff meetings and team meetings to develop these ideas. Regular meetings are also held to discuss strategy, policy and curriculum planning
5 encourage staff to further their experience and knowledge by attending relevant external training courses
6 encourage staff to pass on their knowledge to those who are less experienced and disseminate knowledge from external training to small groups of staff within the nursery
7 provide regular in-house training relevant to the needs of the nursery
8 carry out ongoing supervision with all staff. Staff appraisals are carried out every year where objectives and action plans for staff are set out, whilst also sourcing training according to their individual needs
9 develop a training plan addressing both qualifications and continuous professional development needs of the setting and of individual staff
10 promote a positive learning culture within the setting
11 delegate responsibilities according to an individual’s expertise
12 cascade information and hold regular internal training events
13 carry out training needs analysis for all individual staff, the team as a whole, and for the nursery
14 carry out full evaluations of all training events and use these to evaluate the training against the aims set to enable the development of future training programmes to improve effectiveness and staff learning
15 provide inductions to welcome all new staff and assign a ‘work-buddy’ to coach and support new staff
16 offer ongoing support and guidance
17 offer to staff varied information sources including national publications and literature
The nursery recognises that parents are the child’s first carers and educators and therefore their views and knowledge of their children are paramount in ensuring that we are able to provide the best possible care.
The nursery operates a key person approach in order to provide the best possible working relationship for each child and their family and to ensure that individual needs are recognised and supported. For more information on how the nursery operates the key person approach please refer to the policy.
The nursery encourages the sharing of information both on a daily basis and setting aside regular times to discuss each child’s developmental progress with their nominated key person. Each key person is responsible for collecting a portfolio of evidence for their key child’s developmental profile. This is looked upon as being a shared document and parents and carers are encouraged to provide information through their own observations and photos to also be included as for example, with our weekly “parent diary”. We rely on parents to keep us updated on their child’s progress at home and concerning any changes to routine, diet and general health and well-being. Each child’s individual planning sheet has a parents’ contribution box so that information regarding the child’s current interests and learning at home is taken into account to help inform the planning choices made by staff. We strongly believe that the more information shared between the nursery and parents regarding the child’s learning leads to improved outcomes for the children.
The nursery regularly provides parents with information regarding the nursery through newsletters, posters, profile meetings, Childcare Forum meetings and information evenings.
We believe that a parent’s involvement in nursery life enriches a child’s experience, and we therefore invite and encourage parents and carers to become actively involved from sharing particular talents, reading a story (particularly in a different home language) to simply joining us on our different fun days and events.
Mothers are welcome to visit the nursery during the day to breastfeed their child.
The nursery will host a childcare forum each semester which is an opportunity for nursery staff and parents to join together and discuss any relevant issues concerning the running of the service.
The nursery is committed to ensuring all families feel welcome and included in the setting and we have adopted certain practices to help support families with EAL. We also support children within the setting by using lots of visual aids, signing, props and puppets, labels and signs in home languages, multi-language books and tapes and finding out key words to help with communication to name but a few.
When initially settling a new child into the nursery, we work together with the parents to devise the best induction programme that will help both the child, and their parents become confident with the nursery routines and familiar with the staff.
Before a child is due to move up from their room to the next age-appropriate room, their key person will take them on integration visits, slowly building up the amount of time they spend in the room.
The nursery operates an ‘open-door’ policy with regard to discussing any concerns with parents and we are committed to working together to resolve any problems or worries about a child or the care that they receive.
If a parent has a concern about their child, they are encouraged to speak to their child’s key person. Any other issues regarding the nursery should be taken to the nursery manager who can organise a meeting, if appropriate, to discuss them. If the parent is unhappy with the outcome and feels it has not been successfully resolved, they should follow the nursery’s complaints procedure.