Parents Information Pack
Yarrow Valley Out Of School Club
Introduction
On behalf of all of us at the Yarrow Valley Out of School Club, I would like to thank you for your interest in our setting. I hope that you will find this brochure both helpful and informative.
The information is intended to give you an insight into the life of our setting and, I hope, will encourage you to visit and see us in action. Visitors are welcome at anytime, so please feel free to call upon us at your convenience. We are required by Ofsted to see identification for all visitors.
Please do not hesitate to contact me, I will be happy to discuss any queries that you may have.
A Shepherd
Mrs Annette Shepherd
BA(hons), PGCE, MAed
Background
The Yarrow Valley Out of School Club is owned by Mrs. Annette Shepherd. Mrs. Shepherd is an early year’s teacher and was previously the early years and literacy co-ordinator at a primary school. Mrs. Shepherd is currently employed by Lancashire Education Authority’s Early Years and Childcare Service as a Senior Early Years Foundation Stage Consultant, advising on early years practice.
The manager of the club is Mrs. Brenda Foster, a fully qualified teacher with Early Years Professional Status.
Brenda Foster is a nominated lead practitioner, this means that we often have visits by other providers who come to share in our good practice, particularly in the learning environment that we provide for the children on a permanent basis.
To emphasise our commitment to constantly raising the quality of our provision we are currently undertaking Lancashire’s Quality Assurance Scheme, Step into Quality.
Our Aims
The Yarrow Valley Out of School Club has a caring family ethos where everyone works together to nurture and develop the whole child. We aim to enable all children in our care to enjoy their time with us, through following the guidance within the ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’ for children in reception, and the skills active playwork principles for all of our children. We aim to offer complimentary opportunities and experiences to those offered by the primary educators and carers.
Daily Routine
7.45am - 8.55am Breakfast club - School children play throughout the setting during this session. A range of breakfast cereals, milk, juice and water are available. Children will be escorted over to school by staff.
3.30pm - 5.45pm Children are collected from school and escorted across to the club building. They are then able to choose to play in any of the areas of continuous provision within the main room and outdoors. During this time they are supported by adults who play alongside them.
3.30pm - 4.15pm During this time the snack bar will be open for children to help themselves to a healthy snack. This will vary daily but will always include milk, water, juice, fruit or vegetables. Organic produce is used where possible. Water is permanently available in this area for children to independently access.
During the holiday club, the snack bar will also be open from 10.30am - 11.00am.
Continuous Provision
We have planned our setting very carefully in order to create a wide range of opportunities and experiences to meet the varied interests of all of our children. We have made the whole space homely, comfortable and relaxing.
We have several areas of continuous provision within the main room. These are areas that are permanently available for the children to choose.
They are:
·Painting
·Clay
·Small world
·Construction
·Workshop, where children can make their own models from junk materials, collage or design and make using the carpentry tools and workbench.
·Mark making or writing area
·Kitchen area - for children to role-play within the fitted kitchen.
·Bedroom area - set up as a nursery for the dolls and incorporating dressing up opportunities and a playstation.
·Book area - complete with a wide variety of books, puppets, story cd’s and heuristic treasure baskets for the children to explore. This area also has a television with a range of videos, DVDs and a playstation.
·Music - a range of instruments and microphones, are available for the children to explore, as well as cd players and a variety of music, songs and rhymes.
·Computer area - We have two computers for the children to use, this area doubles up as a ‘gaming’ area with an additional playstation and a games cube.
·Sand play
·Water play
·Emotion station - a small area for children to play games in order to support the recognition of a range of emotions.
Children can also choose to play board games or complete jigsaws after the snack bar has closed each day. As we encourage the children to choose between inside and outside as much as possible, many of these areas, or suitable alternatives, such as gardening instead of sand, battery operated remote control resources instead of the computer, are also permanently available outside. The outside area also provides the children with the opportunity for large physical active play too.
Learning Journeys
From September we will be tracking each reception child’s progress in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage by recording our observations of their play. We do this through individual records which we call the child’s own story. This tracks what takes place whilst they are with us. These are available for the children and their parents to access at any time.
The Early Years Foundation Stage
The Early Years Foundation Stage is divided into six areas of learning for children from birth until the end of their reception year in school, these are:-
1.Communication, Language and Literacy
2.Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
3.Knowledge and Understanding of the World
4.Creative Development
5.Physical Development
6.Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Each of the six areas of learning provides a set of Early Learning Goals. It is expected that most children will have achieved these goals by the end of the first term in their second year at school. If you would like further information please ask a member of staff.
General Information
·The club registration fee is £10
·Fees for breakfast club are £3.50 from 7.45am
·Fees for after school club are £7.50 from 3.30pm - 5.45pm.
·Fees for holiday club are £14 from 7.45am-12.45pm, £14 from 12.45pm - 5.45pm, or £25.00 per day
·Sessions must be booked on a permanent basis when registering.
·Two weeks notice must be given for the cancellation of sessions/places.
·Any missed sessions must be paid for.
·Any child registered with the club will be able to attend for occasional or additional extra sessions if these are available. Please note, such sessions can not be booked more than two weeks in advance of the date required.
·During holidays, children who are coming for the morning session will need to bring a packed lunch with them. This is stored in the kitchen. Any items that you would like refrigerating can be put into a plastic bag, labelled with the date and the name of your child, and handed to a member of staff at the beginning of the session. Please see advice at the end of the brochure about preparing packed lunches.
·Fees must be paid on the first day that the child is in attendance for the whole of that week. Where possible we would appreciate payments in cash, or cheques for the month or half term as we are charged by the bank for each cheque that we pay in. This will help us to keep session fees down.
·Collecting and dropping off children - Please use the main club door.
·Policies and procedures - A copy of all of the club’s policies and procedures are available for parents to read either in the entrance or on our website. www.yarrownursery.co.uk
·We are required to establish parental responsibility. Parental responsibility was established in the children Act 1989 and updated 2003. Not all parents have parental responsibility. These people have parental responsibility; the natural mother of the child; the natural father of the child provided he was married to the mother when the child was born, or registers the birth of the child alongside the mother, or subsequently marries her; anyone who has a residence order which is currently in force in respect of the child. Consent forms can only be signed by parents with parental responsibility.
Ten top tips for preparing packed lunches from the Environmental Health Department
1.Take chilled and frozen food home as quickly as possible
2.Keep cooked meats in the refrigerator
3.Cover foods to protect from contamination
4.Check dates on food products and use within the recommended period
5.keep the kitchen clean
6.Prepare food on the day of consumption
7.If lunches are made the previous night, keep refrigerated until the next day
8.Always wash hands with hot soapy water before preparing food
9.Keep lunchboxes clean
10.Where possible use insulated lunchboxes with a frozen ice pack to keep the temperature as low as possible
Parental Responsibility Information Sheet
Parental responsibility was established in the children act1989 and updated in 2003. Not all parents have parental responsibility.
These people have parental responsibility:
·The natural mother of the child.
·The natural Father of the child provided he was married to the mother when the child was born, or registers the birth of the child alongside the mother, or subsequently marries her.
·Anyone who has a residence order which is currently in force in respect of the child.
The people who do not automatically have parental responsibility:
·The father of the child if he and the mother have not been married and he has not registered the birth alongside the mother.
·Grandparents or relatives
·Step- Fathers
·Guardians of the child appointed by will.
What does this mean for my child in nursery?
·This means that at nursery, consent forms can only be signed by parents with parental responsibility.
·That children can be collected by parents who do not have parental responsibility, But staff should have written consent om the parent who has parental responsibility.
