Information for Parents/Carers
We are open from 7.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday, apart from a Christmas closure, Bank Holidays and five staff training days a year for children aged 0-3years. Wraparound care is provided during term time for Batford Nursery School Children. All children attending Batford Day Care have access to a large, well-resourced, and inspiring environment, both inside and outside.
As an early years provider, we follow the Statutory Framework for Early Years Foundation Stage and are subject to inspection by Ofsted.
Our rooms
Buntings - 6 weeks to 2 years
Cuckoo's - 2 years to the term after their 3rd birthday
Rainbows - the term after their 3rd birthday to 4 years
Playing, learning, and exploring
At Batford Day Care, we pride ourselves on providing a warm and nurturing environment. There are numerous opportunities for the children to explore, and we plan suitable activities and resources throughout the day, to ensure the children are appropriately stimulated and can begin to choose independently what they would like to do. We recognise that children learn best if they are interested and excited by the process. Therefore, we plan in response to children’s emerging interests and preferences following our curriculum. Children do not make a distinction between learning and play and neither do we. The children are encouraged to be independent from the earliest stage. The play is generally 'free flow', meaning that children can choose whether to be indoors or outdoors and what they would like to do. Experienced and enthusiastic staff identify the opportunities for teaching and learning and weave all aspects of the seven areas of learning of the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework into both structured sessions and everyday activities.
We are lucky to have such a lovely, well equipped outdoor environment for the children to explore. We encourage children to spend time outside in all weathers and they have access to the garden every day. The children have excellent opportunities to explore the world around them for example, through walks, visits to the park and trips to the shops. We are also very passionate about supporting the wider community so the children regularly visit the local care home to spend time with the elderly, they take part in a sponsored walk to raise money for children in need and we even try to spread joy in the Christmas holidays by handing out gifts to our local community.
We like to collaborate closely with parents/carers to support their child's learning and development and therefore offer opportunities such as, tea parties and stay and play sessions for parents/carers to attend so that they can gain an insight into what their children get up to.
For further information about the Early Years Foundation Stage, we recommend: Early learning and development
Partnership with parents/carers
As day care providers, our relationship is as much with parents/carers as with the children in our care. No one knows your children better than you and the more information we have about their likes and dislikes and their routines at home, the better we can look after them. Practitioners will be available for 'handover' when you drop off and when you collect and we make sure you know all about your child's busy day in day care!
Key Person
Each child is assigned a key person who is responsible for building relationships with both the child and their parents/carers. The key person will collaborate closely with parents/carers to ensure that children have a smooth and positive transition, in a warm and nurturing environment. They will ensure that the care provided is tailored to meet each child's individual needs and support them through their learning and development. Following our outstanding curriculum, your child's key person will track their development, conduct observations, and use this information alongside their interests to plan and set up an environment that supports their next steps. They will also help families to access more specialist support if required. If your child turns 2 when in our care, we will liaise with parents/carers to conduct a thorough statutory 2 year check incorporating both the views of parents/carers and the key person.
Transitions
At Batford Day Care, we pride ourselves on our transition process. We ensure that all transitions are thoughtfully planned, with robust settling-in sessions as children progress through the setting. We work closely with Batford Nursery School to ensure a smooth transition to nursery education.
Meals and snacks
All our meals are freshly prepared on site by our experienced chef, using quality ingredients. We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage nutrition guidance and with input from the children, we create seasonal, healthy, balanced menus which are shared with you via tapestry. We can cater for most dietary needs and preferences. It is important that parents/carers keep us up to date with their child's allergen information.
Bottle Feeding
We encourage responsive feeding for babies and are able to provide formula or give expressed breast milk from home. Parents/carers are required to bring in bottles which will be stored in individual children's boxes.
Parents who exclusively breastfeed are welcome to come in and breastfeed their child during the day.
Introducing solids
We begin introducing solids around 6 months old when the child is able to:
- stay in a sitting position and hold their head steady
- co-ordinate their eyes, hands, and mouth so they can look at the food, pick it up and put it in their mouth by themselves
- swallow food (rather than spit it back out)
We create a warm, family-style environment that encourages the development of social skills and positive table manners. Children are supported to try new foods alongside their peers, while staff eat with them to model the respectful and positive behaviours we encourage.
Rest and Sleep
We operate a responsive sleeping approach for children within Batford Day Care, which means we support the children in napping when they show physical signs of being tired or ask to go to sleep. Each child has their own 'sleep box' which contains their bedding and comforter if they have one. Children have the opportunity to sleep in the morning in Bunting's and after lunch in both Cuckoo's and Bunting's. The children are placed to sleep in a cot, coracle, or mat, in a cosy, quiet area within the room. There are also quiet spaces within Rainbow's, with cushions and soft furnishings, where children can rest and relax.
We follow the most up to date guidance on Safer Sleep, DfE, The Lullaby Trust and The Early Years Foundation Stage.
Feeling unwell
Children can be prone to illness and if your child is unwell, the best place for them to be is at home. Please phone the day care as soon as possible to inform us of any absence due to illness.
In most cases for infectious diseases, we follow and enforce the exclusion guidelines set out in the guide to health protection in schools and other childcare facilities, published by Public Health England alongside our policies and procedures. In cases of sickness or diarrhoea children must not return to the Day Care until they have been symptom free for 48 hours.
If children become unwell during the day, we will telephone the parent/carer or other emergency contact to request that they are collected. Provided parental permission has been given, staff will administer a paracetamol suspension if the child has a raised and prolonged temperature of 39C and above. We will of course ensure the child remains comforted and comfortable until they can go home.
In some circumstances we may need to make an executive decision for children to remain home if we need to try and minimise the spread of infection.
Short-term medical needs
Many children will need to take medicines during the day at some time during their time in the setting. This will usually be for a brief period only, for example to finish a course of antibiotics or to apply a lotion. To allow children to do this will minimise the time that they need to be absent. However, such medicines should only be taken to the setting where it would be detrimental to a child’s health if it were not administered during the session or day. Parents/carers should allow at least 24 hours after the start of a course of antibiotics before sending a child back to the day care.
Chronic medical conditions
Where children have longer term medical needs, we will work with parents/carers to develop an appropriate personal health care plan to ensure those children are supported to be able to access and enjoy the day care provision. Medication will be administered by qualified staff providing parental consent has been obtained and that the maximum dosage and times of previous dosage has been checked. We will endeavour to seek specialist training for staff wherever needed; however, we do reserve the right to refuse to administer medication or procedures in exceptional circumstances.
Accidents
Accidents happen! There will always be a first-aid trained member of staff on duty and minor injuries will be treated in accordance with Ofsted guidance. All minor injuries will be documented on an accident form to be signed by the parent/carer and kept on site; a copy will be given to parent/carer. In the event of any head bumps or other more significant injury, a courtesy call will be made prior to pick up.
Batford Day Care Closures
Our scheduled closure dates can be found below:
Batford Day Care will endeavour to stay open in all circumstances. Please note however that if the setting is closed for health and safety reasons or, for example, due to inclement weather or failure of utility services, there will be no refund for sessions booked.
In the event of the Batford Nursery School and Day Care site being closed in such an emergency, we will use email and tapestry to contact you, so please make sure we have the correct address.