Welcome Pack2016 – 2017

Telephone no: 07522 572303

Email: information@greatbentleypreschool.co.uk

Website: www.greatbentleypreschool.co.uk

Firstly we would like to welcome you and your family to Great Bentley Pre-school. We are a private run Pre-school that provides quality childcare facilities in a caring, intellectually stimulating, happy and safe environment that promotes

equal opportunities in all areas.

This pack has been put together to give you as much information as possible about our group and its day to day running.

We hope you find the pack contains all the answers to any questions you may have about the group, but if you have any queries that have not been covered

please feel free to speak to our group manager or any other member of our team.

Contents

Welcome to Great Bentley Pre-school

An Introduction - Page 2

Our Sessions and Fee’s - Page 3, 4 & 5

Session Structure - Page 6

Lunchtimes, Arrival and Collection Procedures - Page 7

Key Person System - Page 8

Manager Information - Page 9

Meet the Team - Page 10 & 11

Special Educational Needs - Page 12

Useful Information - Page 13, 14 & 15

Additional Useful Information - Page 16

List of our Policies & Procedures - Page 17

Page 1

Great Bentley Pre-school was formerly set up over two decades ago and has seen many changes over the years as it has developed to meet the needs of the

community it serves.

Originally begun as a private business, it then became a committee run Pre-school for 20 years and is now being managed and co-owned by Allison Hunt and Julie Wiles as a Community Interest Company with the help and support of Pre-

school Learning Alliance.

We are registered for full day care with Ofsted who inspect the group every two to four years. At our last inspection we were graded ‘Outstanding’ which we are all very proud of. We are also part of the Early Years Partnership in conjunction

with Essex County Council.

The Aims of Great Bentley Pre-school

Great Bentley Pre-school – An Introduction

. To provide a safe, secure and stimulating environment for the children

. To implement a specially tailored curriculum leading to the Early Learning Goals

. To provide an environment of fun and friendship with other children and adults.

. To enhance the development and education of children aged between two and five in a caring community

based group.

. To offer a high level of individual care and

attention made possible by the high ratios of

adults to children and the support of a personal key

person for each child.. To work within a framework which

ensures equality of opportunities for all children and their families.

. To offer opportunities for parents/carers and families to be directly involved in the activities of the group and their own children’s progress.

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We offer education and care for children aged from two years to rising fives, with the group receiving funding for all three and four year olds and some eligible 2

year olds.The sessions are held in Great Bentley Village Hall in the main hall on the

following days and times.

MorningSessions

Price Lunch Option

Price Afternoon Sessions

Price

Monday 9.15-12.15

£12.50

12.15-12.45

£2.60 12.45-3.30 £12.50

Tuesday 9.15-12.15

£12.50

Closed N/A Primary School 1:30-3pm £3.50

Wednesday

9.15-12.15

£12.50

12.15-12.45

£2.60 12.45-3.30 £12.50

Thursday 9.15-12.15

£12.50

12.15-12.45

£2.60 12.45-3.30 £12.50

Friday 9.15-12.15

£12.50

12.15-12.45

£2.60 12.45-3.30 £12.50

*Please note: Jo Jingle sessions on Monday PM carries a £3.50 extra charge*

We also offer a discounted rate for siblings.

Session Allocation and Waiting ListsThere are currently over seventy two children on our register and we operate a session maximum of 32. This does mean that, at times, we may need to operate a waiting list for certain sessions and priority may be given to the older children and children already attending the group. Please ask a member of staff for a copy of our admission policy.

Early Learning GoalsWithin our group all children are supported in developing their full potential at their own pace. The learning experiences that are used in the group are based on the ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’ curriculum set by the Department for Education.

Our staffing team work together to create a planned curriculum which is tailored to the needs of each individual child. This enables children to progress towards the ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’ throughout their time at Pre-school and prepares them for the National Curriculum, which begins at Year 1 in primary school.

We offer a full range of activities in various group sizes, using both adult led and free play activities where the children are given opportunities to play and learn on their own or with their peers.

Constant observation and evaluation of activities and children’s progress helps us ensure that all children have worthwhile learning experiences and achieve their full potential

Our Sessions

Page 3

Development RecordsWe use ‘Developmental Matters’ to record children’s achievements in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. These records are maintained by individual key persons and a summary of progress and development are passed onto the child’s Primary School when they leave our group. We use an electronic system within our group called Tapestry to record all this along with all the learning, fun, achievements, reports and next steps throughout your child’s Early Years Education. This system allows you to log onto your child’s unique online journal at any time through an app on your device or via the website. Their online journal includes lots of photo evidence as well as observations, initial assessments, a summary report of development in each area at the end of each term and their next steps for the following term. When anything is added to your child’s profile you will receive a notification, we encourage parents and carers to add to their child’s profile as we also value what they achieve at home and welcome any comments or feedback.Parents are offered individual appointments with their child’s key person at the annual parents meetings to discuss these records; however staff are always happy to discuss children’s progress at any time.To activate your account you will receive an email from Tapestry inviting you to click on a link and create a password, this link will expire within 30 days so please do so at your earliest convenience. Please check your spam too and if you haven’t received this email please let your keyperson know.Keeping your child safe is paramount to us and we have some guidelines and rules for using Tapestry which must be upheld by all parents and staff. These guidelines are included at the back of this pack along with your registration forms; we would appreciate it if you could sign this document and return it along with all other documents.From time to time other children may appear in your child’s photos, this can be important to show parents how their child is developing in certain areas. Although you may have already agreed that we can share your child’s photos on our registration forms, we thought it would be useful for this to be added in our ‘guidelines and rules’ too for added security and assurance.We have also produced a ‘Parents guide to using Tapestry’ document which is located in our main reception area. Please have a look at this and familiarise yourself with our online system.

Planned structured activitiesWe use planned structured activities, such as number printing when trying to achieve a specific learning goal. This activity will take into account the age and ability of the children, for example an older child could be expected to write their own numbers and a younger child could be expected to copy pre-printed numbers. All key staff are involved in planning for their individual children based on observations taken throughout the term. All information is carefully documented on our ‘Developmental Matters’ forms and sessions are carefully adapted and planned to suit individual children’s needs. The adults take an active role during these activities, giving direction, help, praise and encouragement when required.

Free Play – Inside and Outside ActivitiesFree play session time is available throughout the session and gives the children the opportunity to make their own decisions as to what activities/toys/games they wish to use and with what type and size group they do them in. These can be either adult or child led. Specific toys will be used during this time, if a child asks an adult for equipment that is not available at that specific time; it will be

Page 4

included where possible. The adult role during this time is more of a supervisory one; they will join in when appropriate or when asked. At our Pre-school we operate a full free flow system where children can choose to play inside or in the outside area. The outside area is accessible in all weathers, wellington boots, wet suits, gazebo’s and sun cream are available so children can play safely during all seasons.

Books and Story TimeWe encourage the use of books within all activities and display a large variety within each session for children to use at their own independence or adult led. An example of this can be when the children are bug hunting we will use a book to help identify the bugs/insects with them, or when we have the farmyard out we will include books on tractors or farm animals.Within each session we provide a story time too, this can be as a whole group or within smaller groups and can include story sacks or boards, storytelling with just visuals or through technology – DVD stories or CD’s and headphones.Books are important to develop their listening and attention skills, their vocabulary and communication and will promote their imagination and thinking too.

Circle TimeCircle time is used to bring the whole group together and children are encouraged to use musical instruments, join in with action songs or play ring and dancing games. This session is usually adult led developing confidence and independence through music and games.

Toilet TrainingWe actively support parents when the time comes to start toilet training. Children can ask to go to the toilet throughout the session which develops their self-help skills but when children are learning this new process they are fully supported with lots of encouragement, reminders and praise from their key person or buddy.

A Typical Session Structure

On ArrivalChildren are encouraged to find their name cards in the foyer and place them on the turtle within the hall.Children will be greeted by a member of staff who will ensure they are happy and settled when leaving their parent/carer.When all parents/carers have left children are called to the mat where registration will begin.

RegistrationChildren will be encouraged to answer ‘hello’ and say the adults name when their names are called.Each child will be encouraged to help the adult count how many children there are.

Our Logo

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Lunch Time OptionChildren staying for lunch will be provided with a packed lunch from home. The children remaining for lunch will be encouraged to wash their hands beforecollecting their lunch boxes and sitting at the lunch table. When they have finished they are asked to pack it away, place it back on the trolley and play quietly while the rest of the children finish.Drinks need to be provided for the lunch time period,please also note that we have no fridge facility and it is therefore beneficial to supplyice packs in lunch boxes where necessary. At our Pre-school we encourage healthy eating and would ask that no sweets are provided at lunch time. To ensure safety we would also ask that grapes and tomatoes are cut in half. At times we may have children attending the group who have life threatening allergies; parents will be informed if restrictions may need to be placed on some food.

Dropping off and collecting your childOn arrival please wait in the lobby until the scheduled start time. A member of staff will man the inner door at the start of each session to ensure the safety and security of the children. It is very important that you ensure that your child enters the hall and that a member of staff is aware of their arrival as we cannot take responsibility for them until this has happened. Once all the children have arrived the outer doors are locked for security purposes. If you are late you need to ring the bell located to the left of the door for admission.If someone else is to collect your child please make prior arrangements with the staff and ensure the appropriate form is completed as we cannot release your child into the care of anyone who is not registered with us or if they are under 16 years of age. At closing time please arrive and wait in the lobby until your child is called. If you are going to be more than 10 minutes late please telephone us on 07522572303.Failure to contact the Pre-school would result in our Uncollected Child Policy being implemented and Social Services informed.

Collection procedureAt our Pre-school your child’s safety is paramount, we therefore have a collection procedure which we ask you to follow. A password system is in place and we will ask unfamiliar people the family password that has been supplied when completing your registration form.To save the ‘mad rush’ at the door, we respectfully ask parents and Primary School children to keep clear of the main hall door and your child will be called by the appropriate member of staff. If you need to speak to a member of staff or re-enter the hall for any reason, please wait until all children have been safely handed to their parent/carer.Please be assured that we will always have an open door policy, however we must ensure that the safety of all children remain our priority.

RegistrationChildren will be encouraged to answer ‘hello’ and say the adults name when their names are called.Each child will be encouraged to help the adult count how many children there are.

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Our Staff

We currently employ 11 members of staff, who with the support of our volunteers work as a team to deliver a balance curriculum to enable all of the children to reach their full potential in a safe, secure and happy environment.

In order to give the best quality of individual care and attention we maintain the following high ratios of adult to children.

- 1 adult to every 4 children under the age of 3- 1 adult to every 8 children aged between 3 and 5

Join us

Parents are always welcome and encouraged to help and visit the group. Please speak to Allison or Julie who will be happy to inform you which session would be appropriate.

Meet the Team….

THE KEY PERSON SYSTEM

Here at Great Bentley Pre-school we operate a key person system. Every child is allocated a member of staff from our key person team. Your key person will discuss a settling in package to help and support your child when they initially

join us.A key person will get to know you and your child so that we can meet your

needs in a caring, sensitive and supporting manner.A child’s key person will keep track of your entire child’s progress through

observations, photos and reports. These will be updated on a regular basis to help evaluate children’s progress so that specific activities and experiences can be planned to target children’s development needs and help them develop to their full potential. A Key person is available to discuss children’s progress at

any time, or if you would prefer you can add comments, questions or information to their Learning Journey for their key person to see.

Although all staff are there to care for all children we do operate a buddy system too, this is to support children, particularly during the settling in period, if their key person is not available, this ensures all children have the care and

attention that they need to develop and grow.

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Joint Manager, Owner & SENco – Allison Hunt

Allison has over 17 years’ experience of working with children aged 2-5, and has been the Manager and Owner of the Pre-school since September 2008. Allison is also the SENco for the Pre-school Qualifications. Diploma in Pre-school Practice. First Aid for Child Carers Certificate. Safeguarding children Basic Awareness

Joint Manager, Owner & SENco – Allison Hunt

Allison has over 17 years’ experience of working with children aged 2-5, and has been the Manager and Owner of the Pre-school since September 2008. Allison is also the SENco for the Pre-school Qualifications. Diploma in Pre-school Practice. First Aid for Child Carers Certificate. Safeguarding children Basic Awareness

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Our highly qualified and enthusiastic Pre-school Assistants have a huge level of experience and have undergone many training courses to enhance their individual skills.

Laura Gethen Qualifications include:Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People’s

WorkforceFirst Aid TrainedGetting to Know the EYFSKey Person ApproachChild Development 30-50 months

Continuous CPD training courses

Louise Shaw Qualifications include:

Level 3 Diploma in Pre-school PracticeSENco code of practiceFirst Aid TrainedVarious SENco coursesChild Development 30-50 months

Continuous CPD training courses

Donna Wright Qualifications include: Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young Peoples Workforce

Getting to know the EYFSWorking with ParentsFirst AidOn-line safeguarding and working with parent coursesContinuous CPD training courses

Joanne Herbert Qualifications include: Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young Peoples Workforce

Getting to know the EYFSWorking with Parents First AidVarious online training coursesContinuous CPD training courses

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Carrie Kemp

Qualifications include:Level 3 Diploma in Pre-school practiceVarious SENCO coursesIDP and Ecal. Safeguarding children Basic AwarenessFirst aid Trained

At Great Bentley Pre-school we strive to be part of the community and value any contributions from outside agencies.

‘Jo Jingles’

Our staff are a friendly, dedicated team who support each other within the sessions. They undergo regular training to ensure they are up to date with new legislation and techniques and are an important part of the Key person team. They work under the direction of the Manager and Deputy and assist on running the daily sessions. They help to implement the daily session plans and are involved in the medium and short term planning of activities for the group.All staff are eager to work with outside professionals and of course parents. Please feel free to speak to any member of staff if you have any concerns or problems.

Our Community

Our staff are a friendly, dedicated team who support each other within the sessions. They undergo regular training to ensure they are up to date with new legislation and techniques and are an important part of the Key person team. All our staff are first aid trained. They work under the direction of the Managers and assist on running the daily sessions. They help to implement

the daily session plans and are involved planning for the group.

All staff are eager to work with outside professionals and parents. Please feel free to speak to any member of staff if you have any concerns or problems.

Caroline White Qualifications include

Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young Peoples Workforce Getting to know the EYFS Working with Parents First Aid

On-line safeguarding and working with parent coursesContinuous CPD training courses

Helen Williams

Relief member of staff – Qualifications includeLevel 3 Diploma in Pre-school PracticeSafeguarding and Child Protection

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Anneka Leech Qualifications include Level 2 Certificate in Pre-school Practice First Aid trained On-line safeguarding and Autism awareness

Lorraine Collins Qualifications include Level 1 Introduction to Pre-school Practice EYFS awareness training First Aid trained On-line safeguarding and Autism awareness

Our Special Educational Needs coordinator is Allison Hunt. Allison liaises with outside agencies and our Area SENco to provide detailed plans to support children with additional needs.

At Great Bentley Pre-school we strive to be part of the community and value any contributions from outside agencies.

Jo JinglesWe introduced Jo Jingles in September 2007, they provide this service on a

Mondayafternoon and is open to all the children who attend on this session. ‘Jo

Jingles’ is a music and movement group who specialise in promoting music to Pre-school children. This session has been highly successful, children are well

Useful Information about Our Pre-school

Special Educational Needs

Fully Inclusive Setting

At Great Bentley Pre-school we pride ourselves in offering a fully inclusive practice and welcome children and families who have additional needs. Our hall has a ramp at the entrance and a disabled toilet to make accessibility

easier. We encourage all families to join us and work with outside agencies to support every child in our care.

Autism Spectrum Disorder

We have recently worked hard on gaining the Good Beginnings: Early Years Autism-friendly Setting Silver

Award. For this award we provided lots of training on Autism for our Staff, we have introduced

strategies and visual aids to support children on the Spectrum, we have obtained good links with outside agencies and other Early Years settings to enhance

our learning and have started a monthly coffee morning to support families in the Village who are

living with a ASD child.

Policies and Procedures

We have a fully operational Special Educational Needs policy – please ask a member of staff to view this policy, for any further information regarding Special

Needs please do not hesitate to speak to your Key person or Allison Hunt.

‘Local Offer and Website

In addition to our policy we also have our ‘Local Offer’, this is a detailed document explaining exactly what we can offer children with additional needs – you can

download this document by visiting our website www.greatbentleypreschool.co.uk and clicking on the Local offer document

tab on the front page. Page 12

Car

Jo JinglesWe introduced Jo Jingles in September 2007, they provide this service on a

Mondayafternoon and is open to all the children who attend on this session. ‘Jo

Jingles’ is a music and movement group who specialise in promoting music to Pre-school children. This session has been highly successful, children are well

Festivals

We have links with both St Mary’s Church and the Methodist Church who visit us on a regular basis,

promoting various festivals and giving short services to the children and parents. The

Reverend has helped judge our Easter Bonnet Parades and attends the group for Harvest

Festival. We also regularly hold our Nativity/Christmas assembly at St Mary’s Church

in Great Bentley.

Great Bentley Primary SchoolThe Pre-school enjoys close links with the Primary School and visits them on a regular

basis. We are fully aware how difficult it can be for children to move onto Primary School, so at Great Bentley Pre-school we are fully committed to making the transition

as easy as possible for both the children and parents.A term before the academic year starts, each Tuesday afternoon are fully dedicated to

the children who will be moving onto Primary School within the next academic year. Fully trained staff meet the children at school and work within the environment, using all facilities that the school has to offer. This helps children to explore the school and

become confident and independent with trusted adults and children.This is open to all children who have been offered and accepted a place at the Primary

School and will begin a term before admission for the new academic year starts.

Page 13Great Bentley Toddler Group

To ensure the smooth transition into Pre-school the Managers will attend the local Toddler Group from time to

time to meet the children and parents. This enables the children to have a

familiar face when they first come to our Pre-school.

Sure Start Grant – Story Sack Library

In 2009 we were successful in applying for a £1,000 grant. This enabled us to start up our own Story Sack Library which parents can hire

out on a weekly basis.

We have 13 story sacks – a story sack consists of books, cd’s, puppets and various resources

to allow really young children engage in storytelling.

It is a great way for the whole family to get involved with stories and providing your

children with the love of books.

If you would like to join our story sack library please complete the form in this welcome pack

and pass it back to a member of staff.

Strawberry Picking at Carpenters Farm

Page 15

Sure Start Grant – Story Sack Library

In 2009 we were successful in applying for a £1,000 grant. This enabled us to start up our own Story Sack Library which parents can hire

out on a weekly basis.

We have 13 story sacks – a story sack consists of books, cd’s, puppets and various resources

to allow really young children engage in storytelling.

It is a great way for the whole family to get involved with stories and providing your

children with the love of books.

If you would like to join our story sack library please complete the form in this welcome pack

and pass it back to a member of staff.

Strawberry Picking at Carpenters Farm

Our Annual Outing

Each year all children and parents are invited to join us on an organised day trip out.

Trips have included The Zoo, Jimmy’s Farm, Clacton Seaquarium and The Pier. These are wonderful, educational planned days for all children and their families.

Double decker buses are provided for the children and families who join us on these days, a small fee is sometimes charged for these activities but the main cost is paid

for by Pre-school.

Sports day

We hold our annual sports day on the green, generally towards the end of the

Summer Term so we can all enjoy a picnic together too.

All families are welcome but please remember your running shoes as

everyone gets involved!

We also include our sponsored walk within this event where we have for

several years raised money for Barnardo’s and Clic Sargent.

Great Bentley Carnival

We love to be involved in the community and every year we attend the Carnival as a whole

group.

We invite all children and a responsible adult to dress up and walk along with our float that we prepare together with

the children.

We are very proud of our creations and how the children all turn out to support this day

and as a group we have on many years come 1st.

Stay in touch with us by liking our Great Bentley Pre-school ‘Facebook’ page – this will give you up to date reminders of what is happening and

when!

Additional Useful Information

FeesAn invoice is issued to parents at the beginning of each month and we would ask

that all fees are paid by the end of the month. All parents/carers are asked to sign a fee paying policy outlining our terms and conditions of payment. 2 copies are

enclosed in this welcome pack for your information, please sign 1 copy and return it to a member of staff.

Payment can be by Cheque, Cash, Direct Debit or Child Care Vouchers.

If you wish to set up a Direct Debit or online banking our bank details are as follows:-

Barclays Bank – Sort code: 20-22-67, Account Number: 63064034

Appropriate Clothing

At Great Bentley Pre-school we provide a rich, child centered environment and we encourage children to explore all our activities we have on offer. We therefore ask that appropriate clothing and footwear are worn. Please think about sensible shoes for your children, for example trainers, flip flops or wellington boots aren’t really suitable for a Pre-school environment. Old clothes or Pre-school uniform should be worn so children

can enjoy messy play.Pre-school uniform that is available on request is

Polo Shirt – Age 1-2, 3-4 or 5-6 @ £10.80Sweater - Age 1-2, 3-4 or 5-6 @ £11.80Fleece - Age 1-2, 3-4 or 5-6 @ £16.00

We enjoy lots of outside play at Pre-school so we do provide a selection of wellington boots and wet suits for children to use in wet or cold weather.

If children have their ears pierced, studs should be worn to ensure safety.

We welcome children who are in nappies however please provide a named bag containing nappies, wipes and a change of clothes, do not leave medicines or

creams in bags. All coats and clothing needs to be labeled.

And Finally

We hope you have enjoyed reading our Welcome Pack, if you need any further information please do

not hesitate to contact us on 07522572303 or on our website or email:

information@greatbentleypreschool.co.uk

www.greatbentleypreschool.co.uk Page 16

A Comprehensive List of our Policies and Procedures – all available on request

Administration of medicationAchieving Positive Behaviour

Admissions and Attendance PolicyAsthma Policy

British Values and Prevent Duty Policy and ProceduresClosure Procedure

Children’s rights and entitlementsComplaints procedure

Confidentiality and clients access to recordsDiet Policy

Equality, Inclusion and Valuing Diversity PolicyEnvironmental Policy

Fee Paying PolicyFire Safety and emergency Evacuation

First AidFood hygiene

Grouping and Learning Experiences within the CurriculumHealth and Safety

Health and HygieneInformation sharing

Intruder PolicyLooked after Child Policy

Lost Child Procedure and PolicyMaintaining children’s safety and security on premises

Managing children with allergies or who are sick or infectiousMobile Phone Policy

Nappy ChangingNon Collection of child policy

No Smoking policyOutings and Visits

Parental InvolvementRetirement PolicyRisk Assessment

Safeguarding Children PolicySafety

Selecting Play equipment and ToysSocial Networking Policy

The Role of a Key Person and settling into Pre-schoolSpecial Educational Needs Policy

Staffing and EmploymentStudent Placements

Please note that we take Safeguarding Children extremely seriously and have a comprehensive Safeguarding policy in place which will be carried out

effectively to Safeguard any children we feel could be at risk of significant harm.

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Great Bentley Pre-schoolStory Sack Registration Form

Name…………………………………………………………………………………….Address ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Post code……………………… Telephone ………………………………..

I agree that I will be responsible for any items lost or damaged and I will pay for items that need to be replaced.

Signed …………………………………………………… Date……………………………….