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Park Nursery Handbook 2014-15

‘Hands on Education’

Cluster Head Teacher – Mrs Tania Mackie

Depute Head Teacher – Mrs Karen Cox

WELCOME TO PARK NURSERY

We very much hope that you and your child will enjoy your time at Park Nursery.

Your child is at a very crucial stage in his/her development as research has shown that children learn more rapidly in the first seven years of life than at any other time. For this reason it is really important that the children are given every opportunity to fulfil their potential. As a parent you play a vitally important part in the process. We in the Nursery hope to play our part by treating your child as an individual and offering him/her a variety of experiences and activities that are designed to further the development process.

We hope that your child finds out that learning can be an enjoyable and worthwhile process.

This handbook is intended to give you information about the Nursery, but please do not hesitate in contacting us if you have any queries or problems relating to your child’s nursery education.

_____________________’s starting date is ____________________

at _____________________

Our contact detail are:Park Nursery, Albany Road, Invergordon, IV180HA.

Tel: 01349 852037

Email: park.primary@highland.gov.ukWebsite: www.parkprimary.wordpress.com

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Mission StatementAt Park Primary we pride ourselves on being proactive and enthusiastic in delivering a curriculum that is inspiring and relevant. Children at Park Primary are provided with a quality educational experience and staff work as a team to ensure this.In the Nursery we aim to build on children’s natural curiosity and zest for life, developing and broadening their range of learning experiences and promoting positive attitudes and feelings for themselves and others.

‘Hands on Education’At Park School our school vision is:

Hands on pencils, hands on your work!Active fun for everyone.

Pupils at Park and South LodgeParents, community, it doesn’t matter who,

Yes! They can all help us in our learning too.

Friends there for each other,Achieving success, outdoor and in,Confident learners moving forward,

Excellence in everything we do!South Lodge and Park, together as two.

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Written by the pupils of Park and South Lodge Primary Schools. April 2013

When does Nursery start and finish?

Due to changes in nursery education. Sessions are changing from 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours 10. Our session hours will need to be confirmed and this information will be provided as soon as these time are finalised. Previous sessions have run from:

Morning session 9.00am ~ 11.30amAfternoon session 12.15pm ~ 2.45pmAll children must be accompanied to and from Nursery by an adult known to the child. If someone other than those listed is collecting your child, you must fill in and sign the temporary form and give it to the staff.

Please try to be as punctual as possible when collecting your child as some children can become very anxious if they are left at the end of the session.

Child Protection

In Park Nursery we follow Highland Council’s Child Protection Procedures and Policies. These, along with all our other policies can be viewed at any time in our Parents’ Policy folder, situated on the parents’ shelf.

Illness

If your child is ill, please do not bring him/her to nursery. If your child becomes ill or has an accident while attending nursery, we will contact you by telephone. If there is no reply, we will ring your emergency contact number to come and collect your child, so please ensure this is always up-to-date.

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How long should my child stay off with illness?

It is important that the following information and advice regarding common infections and length of time a child is required to be absent from nursery as stipulated by NHS Highland Infection Control (December 2006) is adhered to:

Vomiting/diarrhoea MUST be clear for 48 hours before returningChickenpox 5 days from onset of rash (blisters must be dry) Measles 5 days from onset of rashRubella 5 days from onset of rashMumps Until the swelling has subsided but not less than 10

days from the onset of symptomsSlap Cheek None unless fever is presentImpetigo Until lesions are healed

What are the dates for the school year?

Autumn Autumn term starts - 19 August 2014

Autumn term ends - 10 October 2014

Winter Winter term starts - 27 October 2014

Winter term ends – 19 December 2014

Spring Spring term starts - 5 January 2015

Mid term break – 16 - 17 February 2015

Spring term ends - 2 April 2015

Summer Summer term begins – 20 April 2015

Summer term ends – 2 July 2015

Public holidays Good Friday - 3 April 2015

Easter Monday - 6 April 2015

May Day – 4 May 2015

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In-service days The first day back after summer - Monday 18 August 2014

Thursday 25 September and Friday 26 September 2014

One day following the February mid-term break – Wednesday 18 February 2015

Monday 1 June 2015

Session 2015/16 Staff Commence - Monday 17 August 2015

Pupils Commence - Tuesday 18 August 2015

How often does my child come to nursery?

It is advisable that children in their pre-school year attend nursery for 5 sessions per week, for purposes of continuity and progression. Each session lasts for 2 hours 30 minutes.

Regular attendance, while not compulsory, is desirable. If you know that you are not going to be coming to nursery for a while e.g. if you are going away on holiday, please try to let the staff know in advance. Your place in nursery will still be there when you return.

If you are ill yourself and unable to leave the house, try to arrange for a neighbour or other parent to bring your child to nursery so that he/she does not get out of the habit of coming. It could mean a much-needed break for you!

How much does Nursery cost?

Having received instruction from Highland Council in August 2011 that nurseries could not charge for snack, parents were in full agreement that they would continue to pay £2 per week, but this would be classed as a donation. This practice will be reviewed regularly. All monies received will continue to be audited fully.

Health Promotion

We are a health promoting nursery. The snack, often prepared by the children, varies from day to day, but always includes healthy food, e.g. fruit and/or vegetables. The children may be taught how to weigh and mix ingredients together to make cakes

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and biscuits, how to prepare sandwiches or fresh fruit, etc. Every child will be given the opportunity to participate in these preparations. The children will be offered milk or water to drink.We aim to develop a positive healthy attitude towards food.

What if my child is allergic to something or is a fussy eater?

If your child is allergic to particular foods, please ensure the staff have been informed so that these foods can be avoided. If your child is a fussy eater at home, you may find that in nursery he/she will happily accept what others are eating, especially if he has helped prepare it. Although every child will be encouraged to eat what is provided, no child will be forced to eat something he/she dislikes.

What should my child wear to Nursery? Some essentials your child will need for nursery

Gym shoes: It is essential that the nursery floor is kept clean and dry as the children enjoy floor play.We also have access to the school gym hall which requires us to wear gym shoes.

Suitable outdoor shoes/boots: They are necessary for outside play ALL year!

Jacket/Coat: We aim to go out most days. It can be chilly outside whatever the season!

Spare clothes: It is handy if you provide a labelled bag containing a complete change of spare clothes to keep in the nursery in case of accidents.

Nursery Uniform: Sweatshirts and polo shirts with our Park Nursery logo are available to buy from the nursery.

The nursery does provide aprons and overalls for ‘messy’ activities, e.g. painting, gluing, baking, etc., but new or expensive clothes are not recommended!

Please put your child’s name on gym shoes, wellingtons, sweatshirts, etc.

How is my child expected to behave in Nursery?

As in every community, it is necessary to impose basic rules of conduct and behaviour. Certain rules of safety MUST be observed and ALL CHILDREN will be expected to obey them. Most of these rules serve two needs ~ they prevent your child from doing something undesirable, and

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at the same time protects him/her from having something unpleasant done to him/her e.g. throwing sand, biting, kicking, etc.Other rules teach children to use equipment and apparatus correctly and some rules are concerned with common courtesies such as not pushing, learning how to share toys, tidying up and learning how to co-operate with others in the nursery.

Your child will soon learn what is and what is not acceptable behaviour in the nursery.What if my child misbehaves?

When your child starts nursery he/she may find it strange at first to adapt to the rules of the nursery and be unwilling to accept nursery discipline.

Physical force is never used in the nursery to discipline a child. Our policy is to use praise and

encouragement and to acknowledge good behaviour. The sanction for unacceptable behaviour is time out from a favourite activity. If unacceptable behaviour is a regular occurrence with your child, you will be informed of this and invited to meet with the nursery staff so together we can work out a way of dealing with the problem.

As you bring your child to nursery, you will be able to bring up any questions you may have when you meet the staff, so that if you have a concern, there will be an opportunity to discuss it before it becomes a more serious problem.

What if there are concerns about my child?

If either staff or you, as parents, have concerns about your child, for example communication problems, we would discuss these together in the first instance. Between us we may set some strategies in place to address these issues, but if it is felt that more support is required, we are able to call on the backing of other agencies e.g. speech and language therapists, pre-school visiting teachers, etc.

How can I help my child prepare for nursery?

Before your child can settle down in nursery he/she has two difficult obstacles to overcome.

Firstly he/she must come to terms with a separation from you, perhaps for the first time, and secondly he/she must face a new environment full of other children and some unfamiliar adults.

A little advance preparation makes the separation easier to manage. If possible try to make friends with another child who will be going to nursery at the same time, so your child will have a friend to go along with

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~ how often have you been glad of the company of a friend or relative when going to a new place for the first time? It helps to have someone with you.

It will also help if you remind your child of the types of activities he/she will experience ~ talk about playing in the sand, in the water, with the building bricks, baking, etc.Most importantly, make sure you have a positive attitude towards nursery and see it as an exciting

place where your child will learn lots of new skills.

What if my child does have a problem settling into nursery?

You may discover that despite your best efforts, your child may have problems settling in nursery. Not all children, even happy confident ones, will want to stay with a complete stranger for over two hours, especially if there are other tearful children around. Having said that, the majority of the children do settle in immediately, which means the staff are available to offer extra support for those who need it.

If your child is happy for you to leave him/her, then say goodbye and leave, but be sure to leave a phone number where you can be contacted should your child become distressed.

If, on the other hand, your child is obviously very tearful and upset at the thought of staying without you, then stay with him/her and explore the nursery together. If after a little while you feel he has had enough for one day, then take him/her home and repeat the process the following day and for however long it takes until your child gains enough confidence and is happy to stay without you. Sometimes it can be a good idea to come in later so you and your child leave at the same time as the other children

Please don’t give up or give in. Persevere and the eventual reward will be well worth the effort. In the meantime the nursery staff will be able to help you deal with the situation and offer support until a solution is found.

How will I find out about nursery activities?

There are notice boards in the entrance hall that will keep you informed about the current activities and other items of interest. Please remember to check them regularly. Further to this you will receive regular newsletters that will provide more detailed information and if required additional notes may be put in your child’s tray.

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What will my child do in nursery? Nursery education is about the development of the individual child and during your child’s time in nursery he/she will be introduced to a wide variety of exciting activities and experiences, based on the Curriculum for Excellence, which aims to enable each child to be a successful learner, confident individual, responsible citizen and effective contributor.

We will encourage children to be successful learners through:

using literacy, communication and numeracy skills using technology for learning thinking creatively and independently learning independently and as part of a group making reasoned evaluations linking and applying different kinds of learning in new situations

We will encourage children to be confident individuals by enabling them to:

relate to others and manage themselves pursue a healthy and active lifestyle be self aware develop and communicate their own beliefs and view of the world live as independently as they can assess risks and take informed decisions achieve success in different areas of activity

We will encourage children be responsible citizens so they can:

develop knowledge and understanding of the world and Scotland’s place in it

understand different beliefs and cultures make informed choices and decisions evaluate environmental, scientific and technological issues develop informed, ethical views of complex issues

We will encourage children to be effective contributors so they can:

communicate in different ways and in different settings work in partnership and teams take the initiative and lead apply critical thinking in new contexts create and develop solve problems

The curriculum consists of eight areas:

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Activities offered to the children include:

- Sand and water play - Construction toys e.g. lego, meccano, etc.- Painting - Role play e.g. house corner, dressing up, etc.- Modelling - Jigsaws- Board games - Drawing and mark-making- Baking - Cutting- Computer - Physical activities, indoors and out- Story corner - Listening centre- Musical instruments - Investigative/discovery activities

Through their play children learn to:

co-operate with each other sharelisten talk

measure weighorganise think

problem solve become more independentdevelop self-confidence

control their bodies use appropriate vocabulary

behave appropriately

Children will also be given opportunities to: listen to stories

sing and take part in a range of musical activities, learn poem visit their local environment, care for animals and plants, follow their own special interests.

How will I know how my child is doing?

In the nursery we have more contact with parents than at any other stage in the child’s education, so we welcome this opportunity to discuss your child’s progress at any time.

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Throughout the year we open the doors 15 minutes before the end of the session every Friday. This is to give you the opportunity to see what the children have been doing during the week, have a look at your own child’s folder and have a chat with us if you wish. We have a formal parent contact for the pre-school children at the end of January/beginning of February and at the end of May/beginning of June for the ante-pre-school children. Records of your child’s progress can be shared with you at any time throughout the year.

At the end of your child’s first few weeks, you will receive a “First Report” which will let you know how your child has settled into the nursery environment. Prior to the parent contact time in the fourth term, everyone will receive the progress report, which will show your child’s development over the year and will also be a memento of his/her time in nursery.

How can I be involved?

Once the children are settled in nursery, we really appreciate help from the parents. This can take the form of playing board games, helping a staff member bake with a group of children, helping supervise children on a local visit, or maybe you have a particular talent that you could share with us. All you need do is write your name on the appropriate calendar in the hall on the day you would like to join us.We also have to rely quite heavily on your help in fund raising. The money collected is used to purchase books and equipment for the nursery and to subsidise outings, etc. for your child, so we hope you will do all that you can to help, as it is your child that will benefit.

If you have any good ideas for fund raising, please let us know!

Who do I see if I think there is a problem?

If you have concerns about anything to do with your child’s education or the nursery itself, please do not hesitate to speak to Mrs Banks our Nursery Assistant.

If you feel your concerns have not been dealt with satisfactorily, the matter can be raised with the Head Teacher, Mrs Mackie; if you still have concerns you should contact the Area Education Manager or the Care Commission:

Mr Maurice MacIntyre SCSWIS

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Education, Culture and Sport Manager Pavilion 5Highland Council Fairways Business ParkArea Education Office Inverness13 Castle Street, Dingwall, Ross-shire.IV15 9HU.

Emergency/Early Closure Procedure

If the school has to close early, we will contact the home, but, in case you are unavailable, please ensure your emergency contact number is up to date.

During periods of heavy snow, when school is to be closed, parents should listen to Moray Firth Radio, which will be informed of closures or phone the school telephone messaging service on 0870 054 6999 pin no. 04 2770.If in any doubt, do not send your child to nursery during periods of heavy snow.

In the event of the school requiring to be evacuated in an emergency, pupils will be taken to Invergordon Leisure Centre.

Fire drills are held at regular intervals.

Some suggestions for helping your child at home

At the beginning of this handbook we stressed the importance of parental involvement in the development of the child and how this can influence their future learning.

Immediately after birth, babies are learning how the world works and their place in it. Two of the skills they will eventually learn are reading and writing. However the skills needed to learn to read and write are not acquired automatically. They have to be encouraged from birth. As a parent you can help your child to acquire pre-reading skills in many simple ways that, along with the time spent in nursery, will be of considerable value in helping your child prepare for formal learning in school.

TALKING AND LISTENING

- Talk to your child- Name objects when you show them to your child- Teach the colours, using the words regularly- Use describing words- Talk about television programmes the child has watched- Teach your child nursery rhymes

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- Rhythm is important in words – use words of different lengths- Young children enjoy repetition- They also enjoy alliteration – a string of words beginning with the

same letter

MOVING AND DOING

- Clapping helps the hearing and memory. Ask your child to copy a simple rhythm and build up to a longer one.- Play games like ‘Simon Says’, making sure that the whole body is involved in the movements, and include words that cause

difficulty like ‘up’, ‘on’, ‘off’, for example.- Dancing which includes clapping and stamping helps rhythm.

HAND CONTROL

- Encourage the muscles that will eventually hold a pencil with activities that involve gripping and small hand movements.

- Playing with water, sand and playdough.- Supervised cutting with proper scissors.- Baking- Modeling with junk.- Tracing, colouring pictures, dot-to-dots and mazes- Playing with toy cars, straws, bead threading, peg patterns and

games that use counters and dice.

HELP IN READING

- Encourage reading by creating a cosy situation that discourages other

distractions and interruptions.- Use books with flaps.- Ask the child to guess what will happen next from looking at the pictures.- Substitute a rhyming word to see if the child is listening.- Stop reading a book that the child is not enjoying and choose

another.- Continue reading aloud to your child long after he can read.

LISTENING AND LOOKING

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- Training will help your child to listen and look more carefully- Shut your eyes and tell each other which noises you hear.- Take turns to find rhyming words e.g. sun, bun, run, etc.- Encourage your child to describe well-known objects and people.- Play memory games, e.g. place some objects on a tray and cover

them with a tea towel. Ask your child to remember them, or remove

one and ask which one it is.

SOCIAL PLAY

- Play games with your child to encourage turn-taking and sharing.- Teach your child to follow simple instructions- Teach independence by training your child to do simple tasks for himself or for you.

Please see the main school booklet for further information on whole school policies, improvements and information.

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Some final thoughts

Most of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned at nursery school. Wisdom was not at the top of the university mountain but there in the sandpit. These are the things I learned. Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Live a balanced life. Learn a bit and think a bit and draw and sing and dance and play and work every day.Take a nap in the afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together. Be aware of wonder. ……and remember one of the first words you learned to read, the biggest of all; look. Think what a better world it would be if we all had biscuits and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy always to put things back where we found them and cleared up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

Robert Fulgnum

All children are gifted, some simply open their presentsearlier than others.

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