Strong links with children and their families

It is our aim to ensure both child and parent feel at ease when starting Rock a Tots; we understand that this is an emotional time for you both. Through our settling-in sessions, we begin our parent partnership offering support, reassurance, and confidence.

Aiming for the most perfect educational support for your child, we want the activities to be tailored for his or her needs. Building close relationships with children’s parents and families allows us to gain insight into how that individual child learns best, as parents are a child’s first educator and witness their first learning experiences with the first, incredible steps of life. To build these close and trustworthy relationships with a child, we allocate you a practitioner who will work with you to ensure your child’s needs are fully met and fulfilled.

For more information, a parent information pack is available which provides details of what Rock a Tots has to offer. It also includes a registration form which secures your child’s place with us. Once the registration form and contract have been completed and sent back to the setting, we will contact you to arrange settling in sessions for your child. We will arrange a time and date for you to bring your child to the setting and discuss your child’s routine and needs, while your child plays and becomes familiar with their surroundings and our practitioners. The amount of settling sessions will depend on how you and the room leader feel your child is coping. It is encouraged that you can call the setting at any time to see how your child is settling in and to put your mind at rest.

Key person

A key person system is in place so each child will have their own practitioner to bond with. Your key person will develop a close relationship with you and your child ensuring all of your child’s needs are met. The key person will be available to discuss your child’s routine and likes and dislikes during their settling session. In addition, all children will be given a buddy in the event the key person is on holiday, on a course, or off sick.

Your key person is responsible for monitoring your child’s development and ensuring their next steps are completed and worked on. They will also be responsible for completing summative assessments and your child’s two-year-old development check (should this be necessary). Parent meetings can be arranged to discuss the assessments and two-year checks at a time convenient to you. The learning journals are available online and can be viewed by you at any time. We encourage you to also input onto the online learning journal sharing any special home moments with the nursery and key person. A tracker system helps to evaluate that all children are making progress in all areas of development and if necessary, further support can be provided by our Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator.

Homemade & Healthy Meals

At Rock a Tots we provide healthy nutritious meals, at breakfast, we provide toast and a selection of cereals. Our lunch meals consist of a healthy main meal and a dessert which is cooked on site. Rock a Tots also supply healthy snacks throughout the day & a tasty high tea.

We provide meals such as roast chicken, potatoes and vegetables, chicken & tomato pasta bake, fish pie & vegetables, a range of desserts from yogurt to fruit crumble and custard, ensuring that all food groups are provided. Children have a variety of meals throughout the month through a rolling three or four week menu. All food intolerances and dietary requirements are provided for and even children that have a preference to how their food is laid out e.g. food not touching each other will also be catered for.

At snack times children can have fresh drinking water or milk with a healthy snack option such as fruit, vegetables, crackers or breadsticks etc. Fresh drinking water will be provided at all times for children to have and drinks will also be taken outside during outside play.

We believe sitting together at meal times is an important social time where manners such as please and thank you can be modelled. Children of a suitable age and maturity are encouraged to pour their own drinks; this is an excellent opportunity where children can learn about healthy eating. On entry children’s dietary needs will be collected and any specific requirement will be discussed during settling in sessions. We will report daily information on your child’s food intake though their daily diaries.

Health, Hygiene And Self-Care

As practitioners, we do not underestimate the importance of the children’s awareness toward general and personal hygiene. For this reason, we take well into account our role in teaching and reminding them every day to take care of themselves and how it is important to do so. We encourage independent toileting and teach good practices regarding nose wiping and keeping our hands clean. As well as healthy meals we provide children with toothbrushes. Our caring staff encourage them to brush their teeth after every meal and support them with how to do so in a proper way. We also take them to wash their hands before and after each meal or snack and to wash their faces after each meal.

Safe Environment

Our environment is safe for children of every age. Adapting to their small and developing bodies, the furniture and resources we use are appropriate for their age. All resources, surfaces and touchpoints are regularly sanitised so as to ensure the highest level of protection. Security doors, leading to staff areas, are all secured, accessible only by the Rock a Tots staff.

Our key policies

We hold a full suite of policies and risk assessments to ensure everyone’s safety in our care. As part of our contract with parents, we ask them to sign that they understand these policies are in place and know how to access them. Individual documents can be emailed to you or paper copies are available from the office at any time so please do not hesitate to ask.

1

Safety

  • Safeguarding
  • Whistleblowing
  • Safer recruitment
  • Mobile phone
  • Camera/images/internet
  • E-Safety
  • Confidentiality
  • CCTV
  • Zero tolerance staff abuse
2

Health and Wellbeing

  • Health & safety
  • Sick child and Illnesses
  • Medicine
  • Sun safety
  • Adverse weather
  • Sleeping children
  • Toileting and intimate care
  • No Smoking
  • Covid-19
  • Outings
  • Complaints’ procedure
3

Emergencies

  • Fire evacuation
  • Lost/missing child
  • Lockdown
4

Inclusion

  • Special Educational Needs
  • Equal Opportunities
  • Behaviour Management
  • Staff behaviour, code of conduct
  • Physical intervention
  • Manual handling

Illness

Rock A Tots has a proactive method to prevent sickness in the setting by excluding staff and children that are unwell. We endeavour to notify parents of any illnesses and their symptoms that have been reported to the nursery. We use guidance from the Local Authority and NHS to inform our policies. If a child becomes unwell with an infectious disease such as chicken pox, mumps, or measles they must not attend the setting until the recommended incubation period has passed and the child is clinically well.

If a child has vomited or had diarrhoea within the last 48 hours, they must not attend the setting until 2 full days clear from the last bout of sickness or diarrhoea. We ask parents to inform the setting of any illness to allow us to notify other parents and staff. If a child becomes unwell while at the setting, we will notify you and request that your child is collected. In the case of a child suddenly become seriously unwell or have a serious accident then the emergency services will be contacted.

We encourage good hygiene for staff and children, with fully accessible washing facilities, hand soap, warm water, paper towels and hand sanitizer. Rock A Tots will act in accordance with the Public Health (Infectious Diseases Regulations 1988) and will inform Ofsted if required.

The nursery has the right to refuse admission to a child who is unwell. This decision will be taken by the Manager or Deputy on duty and is non-negotiable. It is important that children are not subjected to the rigours of the nursery day, which requires socialising with other children and being part of a group setting. When they have first become ill and require a course of antibiotics our policy is to exclude children on antibiotics for the first two days of the course, this is to ensure that the antibiotics have time to work and to ensure children do not have an allergic reaction to them. Should a child have an infectious disease, such as an eye/ear infection or sickness and diarrhoea, they should not return to nursery until they have been clear for at least two full days.

Attentive and tailored education

When we structure your child’s educational journey, we very much work with you to tailor their opportunities and experiences based on their individual preferences; learning what they like and do not like and how they like to learn. Each of our nurseries has welcoming age appropriate rooms. Each area has its own individual routines that is created for the children’s needs and developmental stages. Each room incorporates different play activities that support and nurture children’s development levels, all incorporating lots of singing and storytime, creative messy play, sensory play, dance and movement time, and much more. The younger age groups will have sleep and rest times incorporated within their routines.

The teams

All Managers are Child Protection trained and are qualified support children with additional needs. All of Rock a Tots room supervisors have NVQ level 3 or equivalent in Early Years. We also ensure that all staff members are paediatric first aid trained and have key knowledge of safeguarding children. Through continual reflection we work hard together to ensure we achieve the best outcomes for all our children, continuing to evolve and develop and always striving to improve our offering.

Crownhill

Hayley and Anneka both manage this nursery. Hayley has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Early Childhood studies and Anneka has Early Years Professional status and leads the Pre-school.

West Moors

Managed by Anne-Marie and deputised by Vickie; both ladies hold a BA degree in Early Years.

Compton Acres

Managed by Anne-Marie (BA (Hons) Early Years) and deputised by Hannah who has a Level 4 certificate in Childcare and development and a Level 5 qualification in Business Management.

Activities

Our Ofsted Registered Rock a Tots (UK) Ltd nurseries promote links with the local fire brigade, Library, and Sure Start Centres. We like to show them the world that surrounds them, and make them aware of their part in it and the important part they play in their community. Not only will they learn the importance of a good book, education and of developing their knowledge, but also they will learn to appreciate the service that bodies like the fire brigade give us.

Throughout the nursery the children will largely follow a similar routine. This consists of a rolling breakfast, followed by free play. Staff will lead certain activities before we pack away for circle time and snack time. Outside play is always encouraged and free flow between in and out is allowed. Again there follows a mix of child-led and adult-led activities, more often following the children’s ideas before coming together for some carpet time to enjoy lots of singing and stories before hand-washing for lunch. Babies will follow their own nap time needs, otherwise most children will have a nap or restful meditation after lunch! Our afternoons mirror our morning routine incorporating snack time and tea time.

We actively encourage strong links with our local community and amenities, including visits to the library, local shops, farm, parks, woods and gardens and also invite visits from the emergency services from time to time. We sometimes have visits from dance teachers, local clubs and very often incorporate cooking into our weekly timetable.

Get in touch with us today & book your visit