Your child is allocated a Key Person who will liaise with you about our settling in process. Your child’s Key Person will spend time with your child helping them to settle and advising you when is the right moment to leave your child fully in their care.

Our staff will keep you informed daily about what your child has been doing. This will be via verbal feedback at the end of their day or via a communication diary which is sent home to parents. Our online assessment system, Tapestry, also enables parents to view and comment on observations taken by staff of their child at play. Parents are very welcome to call the Nursery at any time to find out how their child is doing, particularly in those first few weeks as their child settles in to Nursery life.

All our staff undergo enhanced DBS Police checks before they are allowed to be with the children.

All the toys and equipment in the Nursery are of a high quality and regular Risk Assessments on equipment and procedures are carried out to ensure everything is maintained to the highest standard.

We carry out regular Fire Drills with the children, so that they become familiar with the routine so we will be able to clear the building quickly and safely in the event of an emergency.

Children must be signed in and out each day by a designated person (usually the parent/guardian).  If a child is to be collected by a different person (relative, friend etc.), staff must be notified at Registration.  We will not release a child to anyone unless we have confirmation from the parent to do so.

Security is very important to us here at Southover Pre-school –  CCTV and a security password is in place to ensure security is always maintained. At the outset, parents complete a Health form where they have the option to list those who are authorised to collect their child. Anyone else collecting the child (other than parent/guardian) needs to know the child’s unique password and is required to show their ID. Without a password and ID, we will not release a child.

Anyone not known to the nursery will be asked to identify themselves using a password. Only when satisfied of their identity will we allow them into the Nursery. All workmen are asked where possible for identification, and will never be left unsupervised around the children.

Lots of children have a favourite comforter like a dummy, blanket or teddy. If parents wish, the child can have these in the room at all times or they can be brought to the nursery and left in the child’s personal bag.

We ask parents to bring in their own nappies, wipes, and creams. These are put in an individually marked basket and are only used for your child. When you drop your child off, we will ask when they were last changed. Nappies are changed on a one-to-one basis. This gives the added benefit of adult/ child interaction and encourages language development.

Each child in the Nursery is assigned a Key Person. Your child’s key person is responsible for keeping records of your child’s progress on a day-to-day basis. They will also consider your child’s holistic developmental needs and ensure the activity plans and care routines reflect these needs. The Key Person will informally observe your child throughout the day and record their achievements. The record of this is available online through Tapestry.

We are happy to work with you to make the Nursery a great experience for your child.

The Nursery has disabled access throughout. If necessary, we will make every reasonable effort to make adaptations for access and inclusion to all activities undertaken within the nursery.

Discussions will take place between parents and relevant members of staff in order to look at ways to support you and your child. We have access to many different professionals who have expertise in many different areas to ensure we are meeting the individual needs of your child.

Our nursery SENCO supports staff in early recognition of additional needs. If necessary, an individual program will be put together for your child. The Key Person in partnership with you will set your child a learning focus and will identify methods to meet this through play and care routines. The learning focus is then used to inform the educational and care program for your child.

Where necessary we can help parents to get advice from external agencies. We can also support parents with processes like gaining a statement from the Local Education Authority that will support your child’s education within our setting and in any future school, they may attend.

If your child becomes sick when in Nursery we will contact you . If you are unavailable, we will call the emergency contacts provided on your enrolment form.

The Nursery follows rigorous cleaning and hygiene procedures to keep exposure to infectious diseases at bay. If a child in the Nursery shows signs of having an infectious disease, or is not coping with the day, we will send them home straight away. This will help us to ensure that it does not spread throughout the Nursery. This includes children vomiting or suffering from diarrhoea.

If your child is absent for any reason, and unable to attend Nursery, please get in touch with the Nursery to inform us on all occasions.

If your child has shown symptoms of any infectious disease, including vomiting and diarrhoea, the Health Standards state that a child cannot attend nursery for 48 hours after the symptoms have subsided. This helps us to stop infection being passed on to other children in the Nursery.

Any absences due to sickness must be paid in full and unfortunately we are unable to provide refunds in such instances.

Southover will only administer prescribed medicine to children whilst at nursery and with the written consent of those with parental responsibility. The first dose must be given at home 12 hours before attending nursery.

We follow a strict medication policy that will be followed at all times.

In case of an increase in a child’s temperature and when all other methods have been exhausted, a fever reducer will be administered with prior consent.

We encourage all our parent and carers to look around the nursery prior to registering with us. You can request an appointment by giving us a call on 07773360918 or on email at Info@southoverpreschool.com.

In order to register with us, we require our registration paperwork to be completed together with a non-refundable Registration Fee (Waiting List) per child.

Please note, at the registration stage we cannot guarantee you a place for your preferred sessions and start date but we will look at your application and do our best to accommodate your request. If you are placed on our waiting list, we would like to reassure you that we look at our new registration on a regular basis and we will be in touch as soon as we can offer you something in line with your preferred sessions.

Once we offer you a place, you accept it by paying a deposit which is refundable provided we receive the required notice before your child leaves the nursery. Please speak to the Manager about this.

We will then contact you closer to your child’s start date to arrange a settling in session which will take place a week prior to your child starting with us.

Please see under ‘Fees’ heading in main menu for further information.

Southover Pre-school is registered for Tax-Free Childcare.

Parents must inform us of the payment by email confirming: the date of payment, amount of transfer and reference number. This must consist of the following detail to ensure the funds are allocated to the correct child:

First three letters of child’s forename – Date of Birth – the reference number provided by the government.

It is the parents’ responsibility to set up a standing order so the monies are transferred automatically, or to make a manual payment each month; but the monthly confirmation email will still be required. We cannot call a Direct Debit for payments from a Tax-Free Childcare account.

If you are going on holiday or taking your child out of nursery, we would appreciate notice so that this can be recorded on the register. Any absences due to holidays must be paid in full.

Unfortunately, we are not able to swap or credit back sessions

The nursery is closed on public bank holidays. If your child’s session falls on a public bank holiday, we will charge you as per the industry standard. We still pay our staff on these days.

At Southover we believe that by investing in our staff we will continue to build a committed, effective and motivated team who can have a positive impact on children’s educational experiences. We keep all our staff up to date with current research, early years and education trends so they can implement the very best practice that training can empower them with and this is something that our existing parents appreciate. Accordingly, staff meetings are held throughout the year and we inform parents a year in advance of the exact days.

Yes, we understand that you may require extra sessions for your child at nursery. We will look at our availability and do our best to accommodate your request. Parents can inform us of their requirements in person, by phone or by email.

Yes, you are able to amend your child’s permanent sessions subject to availability and as long as you comply with the required minimum number of sessions for your child’s age group. Parents can inform their child’s Key person of their request and we will try our best to accommodate.

We require written notice before a child leaves the nursery. Please check with the Manager what the required notice period is.