Kindergarten

Nursery School Prospectus

Welcome to K i n d e r g a r t e n

Welcome to Treehouse Kindergarten. We hope that you will find all the information you need here as an insight into what makes Treehouse services Ltd unique.

Treehouse Nursery Schools Ltd is a privately owned organisation. The Director and owner, Maria Sanchez holds a long standing passion for nurturing and caring for children. She is a qualified and experienced NNEB Nursery Nurse. She was driven to open Treehouse Nursery School through her experience as a midwife and mother of three children.

Maria’s family remains a constant and positive influence in the running of the provisions as her son; Glenn Hernandez is the Executive Administrator of Treehouse Nursery Schools Ltd. Paul Samouelle whose Maria Sanchez’s husband is the senior coordinator of the After School Club and is involved in the management of the Breakfast/After School and Holiday Club.

The organisation was set up to provide the highest quality care for children living in the local communities. The company has been running a nursery since 1991 and is now one of the largest childcare providers in the London Borough of Redbridge.

Established in 1991, we expanded our nursery and opened an After School Club in 1993. Treehouse Nursery Schools Ltd has a long history of success, opportunity and continuity in efficiency. With the continuing strong enhanced reputation that has grown in stature in nineteen years of operation. Subsequently a huge demand in Nursery care has developed. Thus we are now operating in the Grove Hall from September 2010, which has been renamed Treehouse Grove Hall.

Our vision and ethos is to provide Early Years Childcare and Education for parents and their children through sessional care. From the outset we want and continue to strive to make a positive impact on the lives of the children in our care. Whilst maintaining to serve the local community.

Our aim and goal is for our children to develop their physical, emotional and social well being by providing a safe, stimulating, tranquil and happy environment. We stay focused on learning through play. We enjoy excellent support from our parents.

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Mission Statement

Treehouse Kindergarten aim to:• Provide a happy, safe, warm and stimulating environment for all children to play, learn

and develop freely.• Help children to develop responsibility for themselves and their actions and to become

competent, confident, independent and co-operative individuals.• Encourage children to have a positive attitude and respect for both themselves and other people.• Promote a positive relationship with parents/carers and work in partnership with them to

provide high quality play and care for their children.• Offer inclusive services that are accessible to all children in the community.• Undergo regular monitoring and evaluation of our services to ensure that Treehouse

Kindergarten continue to meet the needs of children and parents/carers.• Support early developmental learning such as speech and language.

Treehouse Kindergarten is committed to meeting the needs of parents and carers by:• Listening and responding to their views and concerns.• Keeping them informed of our policies and procedures, including opening times, fees and

charges, and programmes of activities.• Sharing and discussing their child’s achievements, experiences, progress and friendships, along

with any difficulties that may arise.• Working alongside parents to ensure their child/children are gaining the most effective

experience from using the services provided.

Treehouse Kindergarten is committed to providing:• Care and activities that put the needs and safety of children first.• A programme of activities that is interesting, educational, stimulating and fun.• Activities that promote each child’s social, physical, moral and intellectual development.• Access to a variety of facilities and equipment under safe and supervised conditions.• A staff team that is experienced, well trained and properly supported.• Services that meet the conditions of the Children’s Act 1989 and all other relevant childcare

legislation, wherever they apply.legislation, wherever they apply.• An environment where no child is bullied or suffers discrimination in any form.

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Opening HoursWe are open from 9.30am – 12.30pm from Monday to Friday, Term Time Only (Parents can also choose to stay for lunch until 1pm – Optional)Treehouse Kindergarten operates during term time only. Fees are charged for absences at all times.

Staffing Treehouse Kindergarten is committed to placing the best interests of the children’s welfare, care and development at the centre of all staffing matters. Staff are one of Treehouse most valuable resource, as it is only through their commitment and effort that good quality provision can be both established and maintained. We are therefore committed to providing good training and development opportunities for staff so that they are able to perform their roles both efficiently and effectively.

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Staff InductionsNew members of staff are issued with a job description and a copy of Treehouse School’s policies and procedures. Staff also undergo an induction process during the first month of their employment and be assigned a mentor to help them settle in.

QualificationsThe manager and all staff are suitably qualified, have relevant experience and have undergone full Criminal Records Bureau Checks.

Safety ChecksTreehouse Kindergarten does not employee staff, students or volunteers that have been convicted of an offence or have been the subject of an order that disqualifies them from registration under regulations made under schedule 9A of the Children’s Act 1989.

Dress Code Treehouse Kindergarten considers the way employees dress and their appearance is of significant importance in portraying a professional image and Health and Safety to all users of services, visitors, clients or colleagues. All employees are supplied with Treehouse School uniform and identity badge that must be worn at all times when on duty.

Staff to Children RatiosTreehouse Kindergarten are conscious of the importance to maintain adequate staff to child ratios, ensuring that children are cared for safely and given adequate attention and support. The minimum staffing ratio for children aged 2- 3 will be 1:4 and children aged 3 -5 will be 1:8.

Settling In We aim to support parents and other carers to help their children settle quickly and easily by giving consideration to the individual needs and circumstances of each child and their families. We encouraging the parents/carers and children to visit the nursery during the weeks before an admission is planned.

Planning settling in visits and introductory sessions are introduced. These will be provided free of charge over a one week period dependent on individual needs, age and stage of development. We welcome parents/carers to stay with their child during the first few weeks until the child feels settled and the parents/carers feel comfortable about leaving him/her.

Settling in visits and introductory sessions are key to a smooth transition and to ensure there is good communication and information sharing between staff and parents/carers.

A key person is allocated to each child before they start to attend the setting. The key person welcomes and looks after the child and his/her parents during the settling in period, and throughout his/her time at Kindergarten to ensure the family has a familiar contact person to assist with the settling in process.

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K i n d e r g a r t e n

Foundation Stage All our staff work to and comply with the five main outcomes of Every Child Matters.• Stay Safe.• Enjoying and achieving.• Be healthy.• Make a positive contribution.• Achieve economic well being.

These five outcomes for children are Treehouse Kindergartens underlying principles. In line with this we provide activities that are age and developmentally appropriate to the children, following the government guidelines on child care and education. All the activities that we provide offer the children a holistic approach to learning, but cover the six main areas of learning within the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Personal, social and emotional development• Having a positive approach to learning, and finding out about the world around them.• Having the confidence in themselves and their abilities, and valuing their own achievements.• Being able to make friends with other people both children and adults.• Becoming aware of, and keeping to the rules which we all need to help us look after ourselves,

other people and our environment.• Being able to have their views respected and respecting the views of others.

Communication language and literacy• Being able to use body language to express themselves.• Being able to use conversation and gestures on a one to one, small groups and large groups

to talk and listen to others.• Being able to use words to describe their experiences.• Knowing how to handle books appropriately.• Mark making, drawing recognisable pictures.

Problem solving and numeracy• Problem solving.• Building on ideas about, how much how far and how big.• Building on ideas about patterns, the shape of objects, and the amount of space taken up by objects.• Start to understand that numbers help us to answer questions about how many, how much,

how far, how big.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world• Finding out about the natural world and how it works.• Finding out about the made world and how it works• Learning how to chose and use the right tools for a given task.• Starting to put together ideas about past, present and future.• Learning about their own and other cultures.

Physical Development• Gaining control over their bodies.• Gaining control over their large movements.• Gaining control over their small movements, so they can pick up small objects, and

develop their fine motor skills.• Learning the importance of how to look after their bodies.

Creative development • Use paints, materials, music dance, words, stories and role play to express their ideas

and feelings.• Become interested in the way, paint, materials, music, dance, words, stories, and role

play can be used to express ideas and feelings.

Play helps children to build on previous experiences. Children learn and develop, by doing and talking. We operate a free flow play policy where by children chose the activities that they wish to take part in this gives them autonomy over their learning and development.

ObservationWe encourage our children to think and talk about their learning and develop self –control, independence and care for each other. Parents can view their children’s profiles at any time. Early identification of particular needs in a child leads to appropriate action being taken.

SpaceThe environment in which our children learn has adequate space, facilities and equipment and is always organised with regard to Health and Safety.

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Health, Illness and EmergencyTreehouse Kindergarten is committed to encouraging and promoting good health and to deal efficiently and effectively with illness and emergencies that may arise while children are in our care. Treehouse Kindergarten has a designed member of staff responsible for First Aid, this person has an up to date First Aid certificate. The first aider is responsible for maintaining the correct contents of all First Aid boxes and administering basic First Aid when necessary and appropriate. No medicine is administrated to a child until a consent form is signed by the parent/carer.

Healthy EatingTreehouse Kindergarten recognise the importance of healthy eating and a balanced and nutritious diet. Because of this, Treehouse Kindergarten will endeavour to make a variety of foods available including; meat, vegetarian and vegan options, plenty of fruit and low fat and low sugar food. Treehouse Kindergarten and their staff are committed to embracing the culture and religious diversity of the families who use our services.

KitchenThe kitchen is designed to the highest standards and food provided is to the highest quality. Our menus are planned carefully to ensure a good nutritional balance for all children and meeting children’s choices. We cater for all children with special dietary requirements which are prepared on site.

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Health and Safety

InsuranceThe Children Act 1989 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, place a number of legal responsibilities on Treehouse Kindergaten. Therefore, Treehouse Kindergarten have Employers insurance cover appropriate to its duties under this legislation, including Employer’ Liability Insurance and public liability insurance.

LiabilityUnder provisions contained in the Occupiers Liability Act 1957, Treehouse Kindergarten have a duty to ensure that both children and any visitors are kept reasonably safe. Our policy is to provide and maintain safe and healthy working conditions, equipment and systems of work for all our employees, and a safe early learning environment for the children to be cared, and learn in. We provide information, training and supervision to meet this purpose.

Fire procedureWe have a fire evacuation procedure displayed on the wall, which we put into practice where necessary.

We carry out fire drills on a regular basis to ensure that staff and children are familiar with the procedure.

Safety GuidelinesChildren are not permitted in the kitchen at any time.Toys are check on a regular basis ensuring that they are safe and age appropriate.

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Arrivals and Departures Treehouse Kindergarten gives a warm and friendly welcome to each child on arrival and ensure that they depart safely at the end of each session.

Parents are required to sign in and sign out their children on the register.

If the child is to be collected by someone other than the parent/carer. The adult nominated to collect a child must be one of those named on the Registration Form and they must know the password. Only adults aged 16 years and over, and with suitable identification, will be authorised to collect children.

If the parent/carer or alternative nominated adult is going to be late to collect their child, staff must be informed of this and parents/careers will be charged a fee if the lateness is consistent. If the designated adult is late in picking up their child without prior warning, the provisions of the Uncollected Children policy will be activated.

Upon departure, the register is marked to show that the child has left the premises. The time of departure will also be recorded.

Sick ChildrenFor the well being of all the children attending Treehouse Kindergarten, we would ask that if your child is sick, that they remain at home, we follow the guidelines listed below to indicate the length of time your child should remain at home in order to prevent further infection.

Sickness or upset stomach 48 hours from last sickness or movement.

Chicken pox 6 days from the onset of the rash.

German measles 4 days from the onset of the rash.

Measles 5 days from the onset of the rash

Infectious jaundice 7 days from onset

Mumps Until swelling subsides

Whooping cough 21 days from onset

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Equal OpportunitiesTreehouse Kindergarten are committed to taking positive and proactive steps to ensure that we provide a safe and caring environment, free from discrimination, for everyone in our community.

Treehouse Kindergarten equal opportunities procedures aim to help everyone involved in Treehouse Kindergarten to counteract and eliminate both direct and indirect discrimination in decision making, employment practices and service provision and to ensure that our services strive to achieve equality of opportunity for all.

Treehouse Kindergarten aims to provide a welcoming and caring environment that promotes and reflects cultural and social diversity and is equally accessible to all. Treehouse Kindergarten will endeavour to challenge any offensive behaviour, language or attitudes with regards to race, ethnicity, nationality, class, religion, culture, gender, language, sexual orientation and disability.Treehouse Kindergarten recognises that achieving the objectives of our equal opportunities policy relies on the active involvement of parents/carers.

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Special Needs Treehouse Kindergarten are aware that some children have special educational needs and/or physical disabilities, which require particular support and assistance. We are committed to taking appropriate action to make sure that all children are able to access our services, made to feel welcome, and that our activities promote their welfare and development.

Treehouse Kindergarten are committed to the integration of all children in its care. Treehouse Kindergarten also believe that children with special educational needs and/or physical disabilities have a right to play, learn and be able to develop to their full potential alongside other children. Children with special educational needs and/or physical disabilities will have access to the same facilities, activities and play opportunities as their peers. Everybody stands to gain if all children are allowed to share the same opportunities and are helped to overcome any disadvantages that they may face.

Partnership with Parents and CarersTreehouse Kindergarten recognise that parents/carers play the fundamental role in a child’s development and this should be acknowledged as the basis for a partnership between Treehouse Kindergarten and parents/carers.

The staff team are committed to working in partnership with parent/carers to provide high quality, safe and stimulating care, learning and play opportunities for children. Treehouse Kindergarten aim to achieve this by ensuring that parents/carers are made to feel welcome and valued in all dealings with Treehouse Kindergarten. Ensuring that parents/carers concerns are always listened to by Treehouse Kindergarten whenever they are raised.

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Safeguarding ChildrenTreehouse Kindergarten believe that children have the right to be completely secure from both the fear and reality of abuse, and we are committed to protecting all the children in our care from harm.

Recognising Child AbuseChild abuse manifests itself in a variety of different ways, some overt and others much less so. All staff have Safeguarding training and will be vigilant to signs and evidence of physical, sexual and emotional abuse or neglect.

Staff Support and TrainingTreehouse Kindergarten and their staff are committed to ensuring that they meet their responsibilities in respect of Safeguarding through the provision of support and training staff.

Safe CaringAll staff understand Treehouse Kindergarten Safeguarding procedures and have had appropriate training and guidance in the principles of safe caring.

Dealing With AllegationsTreehouse Kindergaten are committed to ensuring that they meet their responsibilities in respect of Safeguarding by treating any allegation seriously and sensitively. Treehouse Kindergarten will not carry out any investigation itself into a suspected child abuse incident. On discovering an allegation of abuse, the Safeguarding Officer will immediately refer the case to the local statutory Safeguarding agencies.

Whistle BlowingTreehouse supports the whistle blowing procedure and if any member of staff or Body who work with the organisation witness bad practice within their workplace they must bring this to the attention of Treehouse office/or the manager or they can contact Ofsted’s Whistle Blowing Hotline on: 08456 404046 (Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm).Via Email: whitsleblowing@ofsted.gov.uk

Or write toWBHLOfstedRoyal exchange BuildingsSt Annes SquareManchesterM2 7LA

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Complaints ProcedureThe person in charge deals initially with any general concerns/issues about the setting. Any complaint is dealt with promptly by the senior management team immediately. We keep a written record of the nature of the complaint, the action taken, the person responsible for investigating and taking action, the timescale and the outcome. We keep secure copies of this record. We provide parents with details of how to contact OFSTED, should the need arise

Making a Complaint to OfstedParents/carers can, at any time, submit a complaint to Ofsted about any aspect of registered childcare provision. Ofsted will consider and investigate all complaints received.

Telephone number: 08456 404040

Email: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk

Ofsted address:Royal Exchange BuildingsSt Ann’s SquareManchesterM2 7LA

Complaints ProcedureThis policy constitutes formal Complaints Procedure. It will be displayed on Treehouse Kindergarten premises at all times.

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Grove Hall, Nightingale Lane, Wanstead, London, E11 2DH

Tel: 0208 989 9846 Tel: 0208 532 2535

www.treehousenursery.co.uk Email: treehousenursery@fsmail.netBrochure design & print: www.theschoolprintcompany.co.uk

Kindergarten