As the nights are so dark now, if you feel more comfortable, please feel free to use the main entrance instead. Hopefully, the works will be completed sooner rather than later. 

We’re pleased to confirm that, as of 13th October 2008, Linsey Brown will be coming back to work at Rum Tum Tugger’s following the birth of baby Alfie. Linsey will be known to many of you but for those who haven’t had the pleasure, Linsey ran our North Weald nursery until joining the Harlow time at the end of 2007. Linsey’s role in the team is Deputy Manager. A position she now job shares with Laura Boultwood. Linsey is our senior member of staff on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.

Linsey’s key areas of responsibility will be Health and Safety, Personnel and Inclusion Development. An experienced and highly successful member of the team, we’re delighted she’s back on board!

In order to continue to keep this facility at nursery, I need to know if you think it’s useful and value for money. Can you send me your comments please?

Hayley.

Below is a link to an Ofsted document which outlines the commitments as a provider on both registers.

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Forms-and-guidance/Browse-all-forms-and-guidance-by/Title-A-to-Z/Requirements-for-the-Childcare-Register-childcare-providers-on-non-domestic-or-domestic-premises/(language)/eng-GB
 I’m not suggesting that it’s the most interesting read but it’s important that parents are given access to information about the standards expected of childcare providers.

Just a reminder that you can access all Rum Tum Tugger’s Policies and Procedures through the blog.

Hayley

Needless to say we are not perfect and one area we are looking into is familiarity of staff and staff turnover.

In real terms, since January 2008, we have said good bye to 3 staff members. One as a result of the consolidation of the North Weald setting and one was a new recruit who found nursery life harder than expected after having worked with primary aged children. More recently, we said farewell to Leanne who wanted to try her hand and being a nanny. 2 members of the team are currently on maternity leave.

We really value our team. We have a rigourous selection process, involving 2 interviews, an assessment and 2 references. All people having access to children are CRB checked. We offer market related salaries and access to a pension scheme that the nursery contributes to. We offer a degree of paid sick leave and paid annual leave and bank holidays. We invest in regular training opportunities, including degree placements, work based training and appraisals to encourage our team in professional development.

From time to time, we use temporary staff to cover periods of annual leave, training or sickness. We choose these individuals from a team of regular relief staff on our payroll. If unavailable, we source cover from a local agency that we have worked with for many years, who supply experienced and vetted nursery nurses or nannies.

We also work closely with Harlow College and Trident to give quality training opportunties to students.

Temporary staff and students in the setting can give the appearence of high staff turn over so to help parents and carers identify who are permanent key members of the team, the staff have been issued with new badges stating their name and role. Badges have also been prepared for Relief Staff and Students so you can immediately place someone’s role within the team.

There is also a staff picture board in the main entrance.

I hope this helps. If anyone has any suggestions or comments, please feedback to me. Self-evaluation isn’t just once a year, it’s on going so keep in touch!

Our igloo will be of a 3m diameter. The dome will have a maximum height of about 6ft to allow easy adult access, windows at child level and the entrance will be through a short tunnel. The flooring of the igloo will be play bark.

We have been advised not to plant the willow strips this side of the winter to give them the very best chance of survival. Willow Man (his real name is Nick Hanson) will be back in the early spring to begin the planting. In the meantime, we need to dig off the turf to a diameter of 3.1m. If we do it sooner, rather than later, the ground will be nice and soft. If we wait until Spring, it could be like rock.

So far, I’ve had 1 gardening volunteer and 1 dad who has been kindly nominated by another family at nursery! (That’s what friends are for, eh?) Anyone else out there? We could crack it in much less time if we work together…….

In the meantime, I would like to find someone who makes or sells rustic benches for inside the igloo. Any suggestions????

Best news! Jil has had the all clear to begin a slow and gradual return to work. Starting next week, she’ll be doing short visits, hopefully on Wednesday and Friday.

Hurrah!

Despite not having a glorious summer, I’ve often thought our garden space, as large as it is, lacks features and is quite exposed. Trying to find  solutions such as awnings or sunsails were financially challenging. So I went back to the drawing board.

Our needs were to provide an interesting space to use as an out-door room. Offering shade, a little bit of shelter from light rain and wind. And something easy on the eye.

By chance, I got talking to a willow craftsmen at a local church fete and he showed me a photograph of a willow igloo, like the one above. It’s made by weaving together living willow strips, to create a leafy, shady den for the children to play in, make music in, have snacks in, read books in………

So next week, I’ve booked him to come and consider a suitable location for an igloo in our garden. He’s told me already that we will need to remove the top layer of turf ourselves, so if there are any willing parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts etc who are interested in being involved in Project Igloo, please let me know. Bring a spade!

One issue that came out of the recent evaluation exercise has been that parents would like to have a better knowledge of the planning and activities behind a day at nursery. As nursery practitioners, we track the children’s personal progress against a series of “Next Steps” in each of the areas of Learning & Development. By gathering evidence and making observations, we learn what each child needs to do to consolidate or extend their learning. I thought that some parents might like a copy of the Next Steps at home with some blank observation sheets. You could record events and activities at home and bring them in to nursery for inclusion in your child’s profile. This would create a much more rounded picture and keep you in the loop too!

If you like the sound of this, contact me through the comments facility and I’ll prepare the documents for you.

Hayley x

The package we are looking at would involve installing a finger print reader on the main entrance for access to the baby rooms and another reader on the door to the Rumpleteazers room which would also be the access point for the Mungojerries. (We just couldn’t afford to install a dedicated reader for every room!)

The software would enable those parents/carers registered on the system to have direct access to the nursery. Having positively identified your fingerprint, the door would unlock and you would be able to enter the permises without having to wait for a member of staff to open the door for you. (Significant benefit in weather like this morning.) It also ensures that at peak times, children’s learning and development suffers from less disruption and staff can continue to concentrate on caring for the children.

The software acts as a back up to our register system, recording every visitors time in and time out of the building. It is quick and easy to up date so nominated collectors can be added or taken off accordingly. The front door bell system will be retained for delivieries and collectors nominated at short notice.

The government’s agenda for children “Every Child Matter’s” has an outcome called ”Stay Safe” with a special reference to children’s security and protection from mistreatment and accidental injury.

We want to ensure that we have very effective measures that keep our premises secure and prevent children being collected by unauthorised adults. This technology is already used in nurseries across the UK, including the Busy Bees chain and Kids 1st. The comments from Ofsted have been most encouraging and parents suggest it gives greater peace of mind.

So my questions to you are:

Do you think a system like this would improve your peace of mind?

What are the benefits to you of controliing your own point of access?

What would concern you about the system?

Clearly, there is a considerable financial outlay for the equipment and prior to spending, it’s important to know parent/carer views.

Thanks for being involved.