Information for Parents
Admission book & waiting
Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. A child requiring a full-time place may have preference over one requiring a part-time place. This is dependent upon work commitments, occupancy and room availability. We operate a waiting list and places are offered on an availability basis.
We operate an inclusion and equality policy and ensure that all children have access to nursery places and services irrespective of their gender, race, disability, religion or belief or sexual orientation of parents.
Prior to a child attending nursery, parents must complete and sign a contract and registration form. These forms provide the nursery with personal details relating to the child. For example, name, date of birth, address, emergency contact details, parental responsibilities, dietary requirements, collection arrangements, fees and sessions, contact details for parents, doctor’s contact details, health visitor contact details, allergies, parental consent and vaccinations etc.
Gradual admission visits
At Scholars Childcare our aim is to work in partnership with parents and carers to help them become familiar with the setting. We know children learn best when they are healthy, safe and secure, we build positive relationships with parents to ensure we can meet children’s individual needs and help them settle quickly into nursery life. Each child is different so the length of time for settling in varies from child to child. We find this normally consists of 2-3 sessions. Therefore, we Welcome parents to stay with their child for the first visit for 1 hour, then we offer two further visits (free of charge) for 2 hours where the child stays by themselves. If staff feel that the child is showing signs of distress being left alone we may extend the settling in process.
Arrival & departure
It is our policy to welcome each child on their arrival in a warm and friendly manner. Parents/Carers are requested to pass the care of the child to a specific member of staff who will ensure their safety and record the child’s attendance in the register. A member of staff will also acknowledge the departure of each child in the register. Under no circumstances will the nursery release a child to anyone other than the known parent unless an agreement has been made at the time of arrival.
In the case of any emergency such as a parent being delayed, the parent should inform the nursery as soon as possible. It is the responsibility of the parent/carer to inform the Nursery if any other person should be collecting their child prior to collection. A password system is enforced to check identities and only people over the age of 18 years of age other than the parents are allowed to collect a child from nursery.
Health & illness
We ask that any children suffering from sickness and/or diarrhoea, or any other infectious illness must stay at home until the symptoms have disappeared. Please refer to Communicable Diseases information given to you. If your child becomes ill at nursery, every effort will be made to contact either of the parents. Please remember to update us if your child develops any allergies or has more immunisations as this information may help us in an emergency. In an emergency Senior Staff reserve the right to remove a child to hospital.
Accidents
If your child was to sustain an injury or accident whilst at nursery then full details concerning any accidents are recorded. Parents are informed of any accident however minor and are requested to sign and acknowledge the accident and may be informed by a member of the team via a telephone call. Parents are requested to inform us of any accident the child may have had at home before arriving at nursery by completing a ‘accidents on arrival form’ with the details of the accident including any visible marks and signed by the parent.
Child non-attendance
The nursery operates between the hours of 7.30am and 6.00pm inclusive of the optional early and late sessions that are bookable in advance. Children are marked in and a session secured for all booked days in accordance with each child’s registration form.
In the event that a child is to be absent from nursery we ask that parents/carers inform the nursery of any non-attendance and the reason why so we can record this on our child registers. Absences can be reported either via the telephone or email from the child’s parent/carer.