Caterpillars & Butterflies 6 weeks up to 2 years
September 2022 saw us being able to extend our provision for the under 2’s with the opening of our Butterfly room. Both rooms are a welcoming and relaxed, small enough for your little ones to feel safe and secure with space to explore. We pride ourselves in providing a ‘home from home’ environment where our experienced staff work closely with parents/carers to ensure your child is happy and settled.
We follow a relaxed routine to enable each individual child’s needs to be met. We have cosy areas for sleeping and separate areas for nappy changing. The rooms are well equipped with resources and books for your child to explore. We use treasure baskets and natural resources to provide your child with heuristic play opportunities and also offer a variety of sensory activities such as mashed potato play, foam play and baking. Both rooms have access to their own little outside areas as well as the main garden and we also go out for walks around the village. The staff will complete a daily routine book which keeps you up to date with your little one’s busy day.
We do not have a set settling in routine, instead the staff will work with you to tailor a settling in pattern specific to your child. This may mean parents staying for a few sessions to begin with before gradually increasing the amount of time your child is left. We want both parents and children to feel safe, secure and happy.
Our Day
Each day our nursery opens at 8am and the rooms have a range of natural resources and exciting play provocations set up ready to explore. Throughout the morning the children are encouraged to explore the treasure baskets, home corner, books and other resources independently. They have free-flow access to their own little garden areas too. We also fit in times for snacks, stories and songs, as well as their own time in the larger, more challenging garden area.
Lunchtime is at 11.30am and we all sit down together at the table for our meal. The children can either have our homemade hot lunch (pre booked with the office – see our meals page for the current menu) or are welcome to bring in their own meal to be warmed up or a cold packed lunch. Parents are also asked to provide any bottles/feeds which are needed throughout the day. Naps are taken in the sleep area in our rooms, inline with parents requests and each child’s own routine.
Our afternoons are filled with more adventures and exploring, both indoors and out, and also another snack time.
Nursery closes at 5.45pm.
Key Person
All of our team will help with the care of your child and they will also have Key Person will spend time getting to know them and their family and will work closely with them throughout their journey. They will observe their play and plan opportunities to extend their learning based on their interests. Their progress and development will be shared with parents through their Tapestry online learning journeys and our parent consultations.
It is important that parents and nurseries work together. Try to speak to your child’s key person as often as possible about what your child has been doing, what they have enjoyed, what they need to be doing more of and what you can do at home.
Key Areas of Learning:
We follow 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 5 years old.
This is a very important stage as it helps your child get ready for school as well as preparing them for their future learning and successes. From when your child is born up until the age of 5, their early years experience should be happy, active, exciting, fun and secure; and support their development, care and learning needs.
In the Caterpillar and Butterfly rooms we focus on the 3 prime areas of learning and development, these are:
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional
- Communication and language
Your child’s belongings
You will be provided with a small basket to keep supplies of your child’s own nappies, creams and wipes in. We will inform you when we are running short.
Please provide your child with the following items:
√ Appropriate clothing and spare clothes – we get messy so not best clothes please!
√ Nappies, wipes and cream to be kept in their own basket if your child attends more than 2 days, otherwise brought in their bag daily.
√ Please handover and feeds or lunches to a member of staff to ensure it is refrigerated.
√ Comforters
√ Trainer cup for water
√ Formula – please provide an empty sterilized bottle and the correct amount of formula powder in a separate pot and please inform staff as to how many ounces of boiling water to add to the bottle when it is time.
√ Suitable coat – we go out to play in all weathers
√ Hat and gloves in winter/Sunhat and sun cream in summer
X We discourage children from bringing in their own toys. It makes sharing a lot harder and sometimes they get mislaid or broken. It also prevents cross contamination
Food & Drink
Lunchtime: 11.30am – Please either sign up for a nursery hot lunch or provide a microwavable hot meal or a cold packed lunch.
Teatime: 4.00pm – Please provide a microwavable hot meal or a cold packed tea.
Snacks: – Healthy snacks will be provided during the day.
Please ensure that you hand over any feeds or lunches to a member of staff to ensure that it is kept refrigerated.
Please provide your child with a beaker, to remain at nursery, which we will fill with water throughout the day and to which they will have constant access.
We welcome breastfeeding mothers and will always accomodate breastfeeding babies and children within the setting.
