General Information

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General Information

Garden

The new playground area at the rear of St Georges provides first class fun and safety for our children.The large space will accommodate even the most energetic youngster with our new climbing frame, sand pit and water feature with an especially safe play area for the toddlers. For the older children the tarmac area adapts for football, netball and for the use of roller boots, scooters, pogo sticks and stilts. The Den is our purpose-built timber building that incorporates sensory and physical equipment for all the children all year round.

Buggy Park

Now that the new playground area has been revamped we have pleasure in inviting you to leave your buggy in our new enclosed buggy park. You can leave the buggy for the duration of your childs day with us knowing it will be dry and safe on our premises - St Georges does not hold any liabilty for damage or theft!

Kitchen/Food

Lunch,tea, morning and afternoon snacks are all prepared and cooked daily in our own very modern kitchen by our experienced chef and his assistant. We try to ensure that all the children receive a sensible balanced diet and our menu has the Kent Heartbeat Award to reflect its variety and healthiness, together with a recent assessment from Dietary Scientist Gaynor Bussell, who has given a glowing report!!
Milk or water are provided with each snack or meal however please let us know if your child has any special dietary requirements and we will always do our best to accommodate your wishes. The five week rota for the menu and the After School Club/Holiday Playscheme tea menu are displayed in the appropriate hallways and are monitored by a parents food focus group. Please click here to view nursery menu and click here to view out of school menu

Minibus

Our sixteen seater mini-bus is available for all the children’s groups within the Project for outings and safely transports the children from school to After School Club each evening in term time. All Minibus drivers have passed the KCC Minibus Driver’s Course.
All staff and children wear high visibility jackets for easy recognition.

Car Park

Our newly re-designed large car park also ensures that you can deliver your children right to our door - drop off zones and a disabled space are provided. Also the new level access available via the gate, to the left of the building, enables easy access for those with disabilities and the many parents with pushchairs.

Safety

Safety is always a priority and regular safety checks of equipment and surroundings are carried out. The mini-bus is fully equipped with specially designed adjustable seat belts to fit any size of passenger and carries adult attendants to supervise the children. The garden has safety matting under all equipment and a special spongy surface under the climibing frame.
Fire drills are carried out at regular intervals and a security system is installed for entry to the building. See our Policies on Health & Safety.

Staff Qualifications

Staff qualifications are essential and the nursery staff in charge of a group of children hold as a minimum the NVQ 11/111 qualification. This means that your children are being left in the care of staff who have had the advantage of at least two years at college together with further practical experience in childcare. The Playgroup staff are qualified or studying towards the NVQ 111 and staff working within the After School and Holiday Playscheme have certificates/good experience within childcare /childminding.
To assist children and their families a hallway photo board displays all staff and their position within the project.

Students & Volunteers

From time to time college or school students are invdividualy referred to us by their tutors work within the Project to gain experience. Students and volunteers will always be additional to the regular staff members, not in place of them. They all wear identity badges.

Toys and Equipment

All toys and equipment are regularly up-dated and selected to stimulate the developmental progress of the children within the differing age groups as well as for play value, safety and durability. We endeavour to provide equipment that will meet the needs of both boys and girls, special needs, gifted and children from all social, cultural and religious backgrounds.

Clothing

Although aprons are provided for messy/wet activities and provided for the all the under-five children at meal times, children do sometimes get messy. Therefore practical and comfortable clothing and shoes for your child is preferred especially trainers for the garden. If your child should have the occasional accident we will provide clothing but we do however ask you to wash and return them promptly as our supply is not limitless. We ask parents to provide their toddlers with their own nappies, nappy wipes and cream. If, on the odd occasion, we run out of your own nappies and need to use nappies from our own supply we will ask for a small payment to cover the cost. Name tapes are required for coats, pushchairs or any item left in the cloakrooms.

Drop Ins

Before starting in the Project’s childcare areas we will ask you to set aside two separate occasions for an hour or two with your child. Your child will have the opportunity to become familiar with his/her room and to meet the staff and other children, safe in the knowledge that you are on hand. It will also give you the opportunity to see how the staff organise the childrens day and give you the chance to ask questions and pass on information to assist with the smooth introduction of your child into the group.

Illness

The registered person promotes the good health of children and takes positive steps to prevent the spread of infection and appropriate measures when they are ill
Therefore, a child who is obviously unwell should not be brought into the Project. If your child does become unwell whilst in the Project we will contact you and arrange immediate collection. At least one emergency number should be on our records to contact someone in the event of a sudden illness or accident.
Particularly, we must emphasise the exclusion of any child who has suffered a bout of diarrhoea or sickness, a child must not return until more than 48 hours have elapsed and they are well enough to return.
Also the exclusion of any child suffering from conjunctivitis until their eyes are clear and free from infection.
If live hair lice are found, parents will be asked to remove their child from the premises and apply the appropriate treatment, the child may be returned to the Project once they are free of head lice.
Please read our Projects Policies on Infection Control and quarantine periods.

Medication

If your child has been prescribed medication from their doctor the childcare staff will administer the dosage as and when it is required. You will be asked to complete and sign paperwork on these occasions. The Project is not permitted to keep or administer any other medication other than those listed and accepted on the consent form. Therefore skin creams and other non-prescribed medication must be supplied by parents and clearly marked with their child’s name.

Absences

We would appreciate notification if your child is to be absent from their normal session. Ofsted require us to mark the registers differently for holidays and sickness and if their absence is due to a contagious or infectious illness we need to notify other parents by displaying this information on the notice boards. All absences must be paid for.

Birthdays

If you wish your child to celebrate his/her birthday within the Project please speak to the staff member in charge of your child’s group about arranging a small party.

Collecting your child

If anyone, other than yourself, is to collect your child it is vital that you advise the staff member in charge of your childs group of their name, description and relationship i.e. Auntie, Granddad etc and a suitable secret password that only you and the collecting adult is aware of. Failure to do so could result in confusion and embarrassment as we will refuse to release your child into the care of anyone not authorised by you to collect.

Much loved home toys

If your child is inseparable from his/her teddy or blanket etc. we will always do our best to keep child and “cuddly” together, especially during the younger ones settling-in process. However, with so many children and toys coming through our doors, we might not always be able to guarantee the safe return of said “cuddly” or special collection cards for the older children at the end of the day. Therefore if there is a less prized substitute that your child will be happy with, then it would be sensible to bring that instead.

Cloakrooms

Each childcare area has their own cloakroom Please mark your child’s coat, hat etc clearly with their name. Clearly marked items help staff identify each child’s belongings especially when we have two identical coats in the cloakroom and also prevent personal effects being taken by others by mistake.

We have worked hard over the years, and constantly continue to do so to make sure our premises provide a safe and caring environment for your child. As you walk around the building and the grounds you will see that there is a flat access entrance taking you across our playground to the buggy park, a disabled toilet on the ground floor, lowered handrails on steps and stairs, gates with noisy buzzers to make sure the children are safely in their allotted rooms and many more safety features, too many to mention here. Your comments are always welcome if you consider there is something we can improve on - do email/phone or pop into the main office with your comments - thank you.

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