About

Preschool visit information

The visit is to ensure the paperwork has been completed in preparation for your start date.  This is also a chance for us to meet your child and to give them a chance to explore our environment. 

We believe that having the opportunity to meet the child before they first start with us gives us a great start to building bonds with the child and yourselves. This ensures a smooth transition into preschool. It is also a chance for you to feel comfortable to ask us any questions or concerns you may have in an informal way.

We will look through your paperwork for you. This includes your registration form, all about me forms, funding forms.  

We take any orders for uniform, discuss fees/payments and take away the completed and signed forms.

The manager will need to see your child’s red book and take a copy of your child’s birth certificate. We ask for you to provide us with four passport size photographs and a local council tax bill (as proof of address).

Paperwork

You will have received an ‘All about me’ form from the child’s view. This is a view of things that are important to them, their likes and dislikes and anything they made need support with. We also ask that you bring a family photo in for us to use within the setting. We will be making a family display in our imaginative play area for each child to feel included and make the environment homely for each and every child.

These are vital for us to help support your child in the settling in process. We discuss the people who are close to them whilst also having resources available to support their interests. 

Key person

Enclosed in this pack is a picture of your child’s key person. We ask that you discuss the picture with your child, attach the picture to your fridge so they can be referred to and reminded of them on their build up to starting pre-school.

Your child’s key person will be the staff member who works with you and your child to support them settling into preschool and throughout their time with us. 

The key person will be someone that your child can form a bond with to help them feel safe and secure throughout their time with us. This key person will support your Childs individual needs and development. They will complete your Childs observations on their learning stories and meet with you once a term for a parents meeting to discuss progress.

ECAT

Little Blossoms Childcare supports ECAT (Every Child a Talker). ECAT is a project aimed at encouraging speech and language development and good interactions with children. ECAT is not aimed at any individual group of children or family, it is simply a way of encouraging and monitoring the use of language children use and extending it in a way that best suits them.

Sun cream

We ask that you please apply an all day wear suncream on your child before their session in warmer weather.

Snacks & Lunch club

We ask that you please provide a item of fresh fruit or vegetable for you child for mid morning snack. This can be some cucumber sticks or an apple for example.

At snack time we offer milk or water.  You do not need to provide water bottles or cups we provide this and support all children in using them.

We pride ourselves in ensuring snack time is healthy and educational too. We encourage the children to select and cut their own fruit/vegetables and pour their own drinks encouraging self-care skills and independence.  

If your child is staying for lunch club/afternoon session or attending full day care we ask that you bring a healthy balanced lunch and drink in a named lunch box/bag. We ask that their lunch contains no nuts or nut products.  Any items that are not in labelled packaging or states may contain nuts will be sent home. This is to ensure we are keeping everyone safe due to severe nut allergies within the preschool. Any items that are not in keeping with our healthy eating approach will also be sent home with a note to remind you.

Please include any dietary requirements on your registration form along with any allergies including medicines.

Policy for charging & prices

Fees are payable a minimum of 4 weeks in advance of a child's sessions. We offer a flexible payment scheme. For example, payment can be made every session, week, month, half term or termly to suit your personal circumstances.

Payment is necessary for every session/lunch that your child is booked in for regardless of whether your child attends due to Illness, holidays or school closures. A list of our term dates are available at all times and included within this pack.

If you decide to terminate your child’s place at the pre-school, four weeks written notice is to be given. Failure to do so whether your sessions are funded or not will leave you paying four weeks fees to the pre-school. 

If a child is collected late there will be a charge of £5 for between 5 & 15 minutes and £2 for every 5 minutes thereafter. 

If a parent is having difficulty paying fees on time or at all we would ask that you talk to the Manager as soon as possible, we will endeavour to assist you in any way we can.

However, if any fees are either not paid on time or if a cheque is returned to us unpaid, the following steps would be taken. Contact would be made with the parent to advise of non-payment and arrangements would be made to collect fees in a timely manner. If this arrangement was broken or we could not contact the parent verbally, a letter would be sent to the home address advising that the fees needed to be paid within two weeks or that contact needs to be made to discuss the matter.

Please note that any late fees are subject to a 15 % charge on the total. 

If the previous step’s still leave the matter unsolved then the child would be denied access to the setting until all late fees were paid up to date. If unpaid then the child would lose their place in the setting completely and the fees will be collected through the small claims court. Court fees and any additional costs including interest will be paid by you.

In an emergency situation in which we cannot take the children within the preschool you will be called to cancel your session and refunded the sessions fees.

Funding

We accept two year old funding which entitles you to 15 hours free childcare for no less than 38 weeks of the year. This is available the term after your child turns two. Please speak to the manager if you think you may be eligible for this funding and we can check for you. You can also use this link to see if you are entitled  Free places for 2 year olds.

The term after your childs third birthday they will be entitled to 15 hours funding. You may be entitled to 30 hours free childcare, to see if you are eligible please visit the HMRC website which will provide you with information regarding the 30 hours childcare and how to apply Funded hours can be taken however you wish, you may use your 15/30 hours as 5 mornings or afternoons or full day care, or a mixture of sessions and lunch clubs. 

You can also use this funding between two settings but you must inform both settings so this can be claim correctly by each setting.

We also accept childcare vouchers. If we are not at present with your childcare company please inform us and we can join.

Clothing

We have little blossom logo T-shirts and fleeces available for sale if you would like to purchase these. 

The T-shirts are available in pink, red, blue or green and are £9 each. The fleeces are £16 each and are also available in red, green or blue. Orders for uniform will be taken with payment on your home visit. Please have the correct money available if possible. We will bring samples of the clothing with us for you to see.

Please be aware although most children wear uniform it is not compulsory. If your child is not wearing uniform please ensure that they are wearing clothes suitable and weather appropriate for pre-school. 

The children are very creative and do become very messy. Their clothes must be practical for climbing and easy movement, with suitable footwear. Shoes that are enclosed (no flip flops,) wellington boots can be worn to and from pre-school but a change of shoes will be needed for the session.  

Please put your child’s name on all clothing including coats and shoes.  If your child has a comforter please bring it in (named if possible). If your child is in nappies please bring in spare nappies, wipes and nappy bags in a named bag (please note we are not permitted to use our wipes for allergy reasons, so you may be called back if they are not provided and your child needs to be changed).

Earrings

Where parents wish their children to have their ears pierced, all earrings must be a simple stud earring-type for health and safety reasons.  We ask that any piercings are carried out at the start of the summer term to enable the earlobe to heal over the 6 week break.  The preschool will not take any responsibility for lost earrings. 

Please note that staff cannot remove or replace earrings in a child’s ear.

Safety

We ask that you leave a security password in the case of an emergency where you require someone else to collect your child. The password you have given us will need to be confirmed by the person picking up your child. If they cannot confirm the password your child will not be allowed to go with them until we have contacted the parent/carer for confirmation of the person collecting. If your password changes at anytime please inform the settings manager.  Please do not use a football team or a family member’s name.

Photographs

As part of the observations for each child and their individual development records, the staff regularly take photographs of the children during their play. These photographs are used for our online learning journeys.  We may also record events and activities on video. 

Photos and videos are stored on the setting’s laptop/tablets only, which remain at the setting and are locked with a password. We only store images during the period your child is with us, they then remain in archive for a year on the online system.  If we would like to use any image of your child for training, publicity or marketing purposes, we will always seek your written consent for each image we intend to use.  

During the year we hold events that parents are invited to such as sports day, Christmas carols and other events. 

We also have group photographs taken at the end of the school year by a professional photographer.

Please inform us in writing if you would not like other parents/staff/photography company to take photos during such events and if you do not wish your child to participate in these photographs. 

Emergencies

In the event of an accident or emergency involving your child every effort will be made to contact you immediately.  Emergency services will be called as necessary. If the child is taken to the hospital the setting manager (or authorised supervisor) will accompany them and stay with them until you are reunited with your child. For emergency treatment the health professionals are responsible for any decisions on medical treatment in your absence. 

Policies & Procedure

Our policies and procedures provide an essential framework for the staff to ensure we are keeping everyone in a safe and secure environment. 

Our policies are reviewed yearly to ensure compliance with legislation and current guidelines. You will be offered a copy of our policies in small print on your visit date. Larger print and additional copies are available at the pre-school.

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We hope your child will be happy at Little Blossoms preschool and we look forward to welcoming them to our group. For any further questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact us.

Beverley Cornwall
Preschool Owner