The Hatchlings Nursery School News and Events Page

Important Dates For Worting Road

Good Friday (closed)                                        Friday 21st March 2008
Easter Monday (closed)                                   Monday 24th March 2008
May Day Bank Holiday (closed)                      Monday 5th May 2008
Whitsun Bank Holiday (closed)                      Monday 26th May 2008
August Bank Holiday (closed)                        Monday 25th August 2008
Worting Road Closes for Christmas             Wednesday 24th Dec 2008

Important Dates For Anstey Close

Spring Half Term (closed)                               18th Feb to 22nd Feb 2008
Good Friday Bank Holiday (closed)               Friday 21st March 2008
Easter Monday Bank Holiday (closed)          Monday 24th March 2008
Spring Terms Ends                                          Friday 4th April 2008
Summer Terms Starts                                     Monday21st April 2008
May Day Bank Holiday (closed)                      Monday 5th May 2008
Summer Half Term (closed)                           26th to 30th May 2008
Summer Term Ends                                         Wednesday 23rd July 2008
Autumn Term Starts                                          Wednesday 3rd Sept 2008
Autumn Half Term (closed)                             27th to 31st October 2008
Autumn Term Ends                                           Friday 19th December 2008                    

General useful information for both schools:

Please can you help us.
We are making collections of various items for children to explore; metal (eg: door knockers / handles, hinges, bell pushes etc), strong cardboard boxes, plastic containers with lids, old necklaces, bangles and rings. If you have anything like this that you no longer want then we would be most grateful.

Vouchers, Tokens and Points.
We are still collecting all types of tokens from various companies: Tesco, Sainsburys, or Nestle.  So if you see any in newspapers or on food/soap packets then please do cut them out for us.  We are truly grateful for your help. We can also receive extra Tesco vouchers by sending in old mobile phones (Sim card removed please) and ink cartridges.  We have ‘banked’ all our Tesco vouchers this year, so hopefully we’ll have a big order to make next year.

Visitors.
Please remember: we welcome any parents / carers or grandparents, who wish to come in to read or cook with the children.  The children need to learn about cultural differences and again anyone who can help us there will be most welcome.
Ellen Young has once again been to visit us with Ozzie the Guide Dog Puppy. This was his last time as he is now moving on to “Big Dog School”!  Hopefully, later in the Spring, Ellen will return with another puppy for us to watch grow! Thank you to everyone who contributed to our Guide Dog collecting box. The children do enjoy putting in the pennies, and there is still room for more before Ellen comes again! Thank you.
Each school had a visit from the local Community Police. The children always thoroughly enjoy these visits.

Nursery Car Park
Please remember when leaving the car park: South Ham Road is one way. There have been several incidents when cars have gone the wrong way and have had to reverse back.  South Ham Road is very busy! Please take care.

Toilets:
Remember: there are toilets available for children in the nursery. If you are early then please let us know so that they can use the facilities. Thank you.

Policies, your child’s records and Ofsted Reports.
These are available at school, please do ask to see your child’s records or have a look in the parents box for other useful bits of information.

Contact Numbers
Please would you all check that we have the correct contact numbers on file. Please check if you have recently changed your mobile phone or home number or place of work. It is very helpful if we can have as many numbers as possible, e.g. home, mobile, work, grandparents/friends, child minder and emergency numbers!

My home telephone number!!
Quite a few parents have been leaving messages on my (Elizabeth’s) home telephone number (01256 468904) to let us know that their child is sick or late etc.  Unfortunately I do not get these messages until 6 p.m. when I get home and therefore too late to do anything about them!
If your child attends Anstey Close the number is: 01256 333113.
If you child attends Worting Road the number is: 01256 331147.

Food Allergies
Throughout the year we have a few children who have allergic reactions to various foods, such as peanuts.  It mainly affects the children who stay for lunch.  Would it be possible to avoid putting such food (e.g. Nutella, peanut butter) in your child’s lunch box, which might cause an allergic reaction to other children who may come into contact with food containing nuts.  On our latest First Aid course it also was pointed out that children can choke on whole grapes. Please would you chop the grapes in half before sending them to school. Thank you very much for your continued support and co-operation.

Home/School Books and Planning.
The ‘Home/School’ Books are working well and we have found out about activities that the children have being doing at home.  We have also been able to pass on information about your child’s day.  We hope you find them useful.  We are still very glad that you come in talk to us as we do not want these books to replace the excellent verbal communication that the staff at the Hatchlings have with the parents / carers.  Please come in or phone at any time when you need to speak to us.
The planning for each week is now in a very prominent place in the Nursery. (In the hall way as you come in).  Please come and look to see what we are doing each week. Also, please, do stop to look at the photos on the computer in the link-way as you come in. It will give you as insight into the types of activities that we do with the children.

Shredded paper.
You are probably aware that the council cannot recycle shredded paper.  We have a wonderful use for it – Guinea pig bedding! So if you (or work) have any, we can make use of it!! Thank you.

School Uniform.
We have in stock, Hatchlings sweatshirts £8.00 and T-shirts £4.50. I now have two sizes of both items.  Having a sweatshirt or T-shirt gives the children a sense of identity and saves on their everyday clothes. Please ensure that your child’s name is in ALL clothing.

Toys.
We love it when your children want to share something they have that is special with us. These special items then go on the side after they have been shared and shown to everyone at register time. Many new children like to bring a cuddly toy with them as it helps to make them feel secure.  This is great and we encourage this.  BUT we are having trouble with children who won’t share their toys, such as cars and plastic figures.  PLEASE we do need your help with this: could children ONLY bring ONE cuddly toy (new children only) and not plastic figures or cars!  The idea is for the children to play with our educational toys and not to wander around clutching their toys!  As you have probably seen at the end of a session, it can be quite difficult handing out the toys and trying to remember to whom they belong!

A Little Plea.
Please would it be possible to keep your little ones (and big ones!) away from the door and the windows during story times, as the children in the nursery find it very distracting. Thank you very much for your co-operation.

Reminders: Please collect your child on time.  If you collect your child late i.e. after 4.30 p.m. or any other pre-arranged times there is a charge of £5.00 for each quarter of an hour.  This is chargeable after the first 5 minutes by the nursery clock.  Please try to be on time as this can cause distress to the child who is left despite our reassurance that Mummy etc. is coming.
It is very important that if your child is sick (for whatever reason), they do not attend nursery until 48 hours after the symptoms have cleared.  These are guidelines given to us by the Health and Safety Executive, and are in your child's best interest.  We usually send children home who have three loose bowel motions in one day.  If any other person than a parent / carer is collecting your child we MUST be informed who that person is, before collection.
In the event of the child leaving the school, or reducing the number of sessions attended, one month's notice must be given in writing.
Parents should be aware that we are obliged to inform Social Services of any concern we may have that a child may be at risk or has been abused. The safety of our children may include a duty to share confidential information with others involved in protecting children.
All days off, either through holiday or sickness must be paid for. All fees are payable, Monthly for Worting Road and Half Termly at Anstey Close, in advance by cheque or cash.  Cheques payable to "The Hatchlings Nursery School Ltd".  Late payment could result in your child losing his / her place. All late fees will be charged at £5.00 each day late after the date deadlines as shown on the invoice.
When you are leaving the premises, after dropping your child off, PLEASE alert a member of staff so that we can ensure that the door is locked behind you.  Thank you.

Medicine Policy: We can only give children medication if it has been prescribed by a Doctor for the child, and this must be after the first 48 hours of taking it, to ensure there is no allergic reaction to the medicine.  The guidelines we have are: that if the antibiotic is to be given three times a day, then it can be done before the child comes to school (first dose), when the child gets home (second dose) and when the child goes to bed (third dose).

Staff Courses

We welcome two new members of staff to the Hatchlings at Worting Road: Miss Stacey Broad and Miss Alex Purvis. Both have recently completed their Level 2 in childcare at BCOT. Congratulations go to Sharon Saunders who completed her Level 2 at Christmas; Well done!
We have all been very busy in the last two terms with courses we have been on:

Marika Groce: ‘Play with a purpose’, ‘Observation and assessment’, ‘Developing Personal, Social & Emotional Development’, ‘Outdoor Learning’, ‘Introduction to new Foundation Stage’, ‘Started NVQ Level 4’, ‘Evaluating Practice in the Foundation stage’, ‘Self Evaluation Toolkit’, ‘SEN Day’, ‘CAF Completers’.

Sarita Jones: ‘Puppet workshop’, ‘Introduction to Communication, Language & Literacy in Foundation stage’,  ‘Developing effective Early years practice’, ‘Started NVQ Level 3’, ‘SEN Day’, ‘Introduction to new Foundation Stage’.

Debbie Nash: ‘Evaluating Maths’, ‘Observation and assessment’, ‘Outdoor Learning’, Introduction to new Foundation Stage’, ‘Play with a purpose’, ‘Recruitment & Retention’, ‘Self Evaluation Toolkit’, ‘SEN Day’, ‘CAF Completers’. 

John Sudlow: ‘Child care and Nursery show’, ‘Supporting Self Evaluation Toolkit’, ‘Children centers & integrated childcare’, ‘Seminar; flexible entitlement’.

Laura Fisher: ‘SEN Introduction Training’, ‘Developing Music in the early years’, ‘SEN Day’, ‘Introduction to new Foundation Stage’.

Doreen Chapman: ‘Food Hygiene’, started NVQ Level 2, ‘SEN Briefing’, ‘Initial Child Protection’.

Sharon Saunders: ‘‘Introduction to Communication, Language & Literacy in Foundation stage’, ‘Completed NVQ Level 2’, ‘Outdoor Learning’, ‘Food Hygiene’, ‘Introducing Maths’, ‘SEN Day’.

Katy Franczuk: ‘Puppet workshop’, ‘Advanced Child Protection’, ‘Outdoor Learning’, ‘Bringing Story time alive,’ ‘Creativity’, ‘ Heuristic Play and Treasure Baskets’, ‘Started NVQ Level 2’, ‘Food Hygiene’, ‘Introducing Maths’, ‘SEN Briefing’, ‘SEN Day’.

Elizabeth Sudlow: ‘Outdoor Learning’, ‘Child care and Nursery show’, ‘Supporting Self Evaluation Toolkit’, ‘Children centers & integrated childcare’, ‘Toxic childhood’, ‘Birth to 3 – Guide to Good Practice’, ‘Foundations of Literacy’, ‘Seminar; flexible entitlement’, ‘Introduction to new Foundation Stage’.

Stacey Broad: ‘Initial Child Protection’.

Alex Purvis: ‘Started NVQ Level 3’.

Thank you to everyone for all your commitment to making Hatchlings a Professional and well trained nursery.