So I met the Willow Man again today. (And the Willow Lady too!) We’ve agreed a location for the igloo, a size and agenda for action.

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!

I’ve mentioned in previous blogs about the introduction of the new Early Years Foundation Stage. We are currently up-dating the profiles we keep on the children to bring them into line with the key changes.

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

Jil and I have been looking into increasing the access security for nursery. In particular, I have been researching biometric systems.

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.