Noah’s Ark

Preschool

Prospectus

2018 – 2019

Noah’s Ark Pre-School

Princecroft Lane Warminster

Wiltshire BA12 8NT

Tel: 01985219444 (Answer phone available outside of opening hours)

Website: www.noahsarkwarminster.co.uk

Opening Times

Monday to Friday Core Hours

9am to 3pm (packed lunch required) Or sessions: 9 to 12 noon and 12 to 3pm (packed lunch required.)

Fees - £4.50 per hour

£27.00 per day for children from the age of 2 years. Or £13.50 per session (9 -12 or 12 - 3.)

Out of Hours Clubs

We are now open for breakfast and supper clubs from 8am to 6pm

The extra hours will need to be taken alongside our core hours.

The cost will be our usual hourly rate or free if taken as funded hours.

Breakfast and supper will be healthy and

include a drink.

Due to staffing costs, payment is still required if your child is absent for any reason

Free (Government funded) sessions available for some 2, 3 and 4 year olds.

Ask for further details.

A £5.00 administration fee is payable on registration.

Welcome to Noah’s Ark Pre-School.

Our aim is to provide good quality early years care and education

in a safe and secure environment through purposeful play, in an

atmosphere of equality of opportunity with parents as equal

partners.

A place where your child’s individual needs are catered for and

where children can develop at their own pace.

We aspire to achieve these aims by:

Ensuring high staff/child ratios. Providing well-supported play activities both inside & outside,

that meet the developmental needs of the children. Keeping an open dialogue with parents, seeing them as primary

educator and carer.

Noah’s Ark is in the grounds of Princecroft School, where we have

use of the fields, playgrounds and school hall. All areas are strictly

no smoking. We value parent’s involvement and assistance. We

are a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance

and we are a registered charity. (Charity no:

1121428)

Staff Ratio

The ratio of staff to children is one adult to four children under

three, and one adult to eight children aged three and over. There

are a maximum of 24 children per session.

We currently have 5 staff members:

1. Debbie - Manager 2. Sonia - Deputy Manager 3. Phoebe - Play Assistant 4. Julia – Play Assistant 5. Kerry – Qualified Teacher

All our staff are qualified as required by the regulatory body. All

have attended appropriate childcare welfare and education

courses and continue to keep their training updated.

Our key person system ensures that each adult is responsible for

keeping records and observations of a small group of children so

that your child’s individual needs are planned for and monitored.

Tapestry Online Learning Journal

Noah’s Ark has an online system to record your child’s

progress and monitor their achievements. Your child’s

observations will be stored on a secure website called ‘Tapestry’

(www.tapestryjournal.com). Please rest assured that this is a

secure website and security settings are set to ensure that your

child’s learning journey will only be viewed by staff and your

chosen family members.

Observations, photos and videos will be uploaded by staff and you

will have the ability to login then view, like and comment on your

child’s learning journey via an individual account. In order to

access your child’s learning journey you will need to provide an

email address.

Parental Involvement

Please remember!

You are always welcome at Noah’s Ark- feel free to pop in

at anytime

Noah’s News

A newsletter is published

regularly with the latest

photos and information

Noah’s Nudge Box

A box is situated in the front

lobby area for you or your

child to put in any welcomed

suggestions for our topic and

for parents to volunteer to

assist with a topic using their

specialist skills and

knowledge

Children’s Interests

All children have different

interests. Tell a member of

staff what interests your child

or of any events in their lives

and we will be able to include

it in their individual plans.

Bentley Bear

Bentley Bear is the

preschool’s friendly bear for

your child to take home for the

weekend. Take a photo or

draw a picture of what you

have done together to go in

our Bentley’s adventures

album.

Tapestry Contribution

Via individual Tapestry

accounts, you are able to

login, view, like & comment on

observations by your child’s

key person. You are also

welcome to post your own

observations of your child’s

achievements at home.

Stay and Play Sessions

Come and join your child for

our ‘stay and play’ sessions.

These will be advertised in

Noah’s News.

Our Codes

At Noah’s Ark we have three ‘codes’. We feel if our

children (and adults) try to respect these ‘codes’, our

preschool environment will be a better one for all.

1. Kind Words

2. Listening Ears

3. Helpful Hands

The Early Years Foundation

Stage

Welcome to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which is how

the government and early years professionals describe the time in

your child’s life between birth and age 5. This is a very important

stage as it helps your child get ready for school as well as preparing

them for future learning and successes. From when your child is

born up until the age of 5, their early years experiences should be

happy, active, exciting, fun and secure.

All nurseries are required to deliver the Early Years Foundation

Stage Framework which explains how and what your child will be

learning to support their healthy development.

Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and

demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning

and development.

Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are:

• Communication and language

• Physical development

• Personal, social and emotional development

These prime areas are those most essential for

your child’s healthy development and future learning.

As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills

in 4 specific areas. These are:

• Literacy

• Mathematics

• Understanding the world

• Expressive arts and design

These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning

and activities. The professionals teaching and supporting your

child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s

unique needs. This is a bit like a curriculum in primary and

secondary schools, but it is designed for very young

children, and it is designed to be really flexible so that

staff can follow your child’s unique needs and

interests.

Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring,

being active and through creative and critical thinking

which takes place both indoors and outside.

For more details about all these aspects of learning and

development, please ask to see the Early Years Foundation Stage

practice guidance manual.

Policies and General Information

(A more detailed version of our policies is available at the front desk)

Equal Opportunities We are open to all pre-school children over the age of two years

regardless of gender, family status, disability, ethnic origin,

religion or belief and we seek to develop a community atmosphere

free from prejudice and discrimination.

Special Needs As it is Noahs Ark’s policy to make sure that its provision meets

the needs of each individual child, we take account of any special

needs a child may have. Noahs Ark works to the requirements of

the 1993 Education Act and the Special Educational Needs Code

of Practice (2001.)

Our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator is Sonia Tyler.

Behaviour We promote good behaviour by encouraging the children to learn

self-discipline and to develop respect for each other, thereby

creating a calm and friendly atmosphere where children can learn

through play without fear of being hurt, bullied or hindered by

anyone else.

Illness Please advise us of any infectious diseases your child may have as

soon as possible, as we may have to ask you to keep them away

and inform other parents of any risk of infection to their children.

In cases of diarrhoea or sickness,

please allow 48 hours to elapse

before returning.

Complaints, Concerns and Compliments Any feedback, either negative or positive will be gratefully

received and acted on to the best of our ability. Any matters you

wish to discuss with the staff will be in complete confidence.

Forms are available in the display folder at the front desk, to be

addressed to our chairperson.

Record Keeping We assess how young children are

learning and developing by observing

them frequently. We use information that we gain from

observations, as well as from photographs of the children, to

document their progress and where this may be leading them. We

believe that parents know their children best and we ask them to

contribute to assessments by sharing information about what their

children like to do at home and how they as parents are

supporting development.

Child Collections If an adult other than a parent/carer/nominated adult is collecting

a child, a member of staff must be informed.

Failure to Collect Child In the event of a parent/guardian or designated person failing to

collect a child, our play leader (or deputy) will make every effort to

contact that person as soon as possible. However, if, after 60

minutes, all attempts to contact a parent/legal guardian,

designated person or emergency contact fail then the local

authority duty social worker will be informed of the situation. It will

then be up to the social worker to take charge of the situation and

decide what happens next and whether the police need to be

involved in helping to trace the parent/guardian.

Refreshments

Milk and a snack are the healthy option provided

during the morning/afternoon sessions. If your child

is allergic to or does not like milk, please inform a

member of staff to discuss alternative arrangements.

Lunch Children are required to bring a packed lunch. Again,

the healthy option is preferable, packed in a suitable,

sealed and named container please, with icepack if

appropriate.

Dress Code Although we provide aprons to protect clothes, we like to

experiment with all kinds of materials,

including sand, water and messy ones- so

please dress your child in suitable clothing

that is easily washable- ‘DRESS FOR

MESS!!’

Nappies If your child wears nappies, we ask that you

provide a bag with some spare nappies & wipes.

Car Parking

Within the school grounds there is a small car park with restricted

turning space. For reasons of safety we ask

that parents do not drive in to Princecroft

School to drop children off or to collect them.

There are two larger car parks immediately

outside the school.

Management of the Setting

Noahs Ark Pre-school is a public limited

company – registered number 6319152. Copies of Memorandum

and Articles of Association are available on request. The

Management Committee is responsible for managing finances,

employing and managing staff, adopting policies to ensure a high

quality of service and for working in partnership with parents.

Insurance and Inspections We are covered by the Sun Alliance Insurance

and Pre-School Learning Alliance for Public

Liability. We are inspected by Ofsted regularly. A

copy of our latest inspection report is available on the Ofsted

website:

www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/

Leaving It is common courtesy to give notice that you intend to take your

child out of Noah’s Ark for whatever reason. All we ask is that you

give us at least 2 weeks notice so that

someone on our waiting list can fill your

child’s place.

Day Carers and Child Protection As a provider of day care registered with Ofsted, we are required

to follow the child protection procedures agreed through the Area

Child Protection Committee in Wiltshire.

In caring for your child, we will try at all times to share with you

any concerns that we may have. However, we do have a duty to

refer to Social Services if we suspect that child abuse may be an

issue. Our first concern will always be the welfare of your child.

We have a copy of the Child Protection in Wiltshire Procedures

and Guidance for you to see if you wish. You may also wish to see

the Noah’s Ark Pre-School Policy and Procedures relating to the

welfare and safeguarding of children in our care.

Our local Social Services duty office address and telephone

number is:

Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

Children’s Social Care

County Hall

Bythesea Road

TROWBRIDGE

BA14 8JN

Tel. 0300 456 0108 Fax: 01225 713887

Out of hours: 0300 456 0100

Email. mash@wiltshire.gcsx.gov.uk