Care:
Starting Nursery can be a huge step for most children and can sometimes be their first experience of leaving home.

At the Queen of Hearts Nursery School our aim is to make the transition from home as easy as possible.

‘New’ parents are invited to spend time with their children in the Nursery prior to the child starting. This enables the parents and child to become familiar and comfortable with the Nursery and its routines and to get to know the staff.

These sessions are called “Tasters” and are generally shorter in duration that the normal sessions. However, they gradually increase in time as the child becomes more confident. Parents are welcome to phone the school at any time to reassure themselves that their child has settled.

Parents are actively encouraged to become involved in their child’s pre-school education. This is achieved by a constant dialogue between staff and parents which enables information regarding a child’s educational development to be shared.

Each year a series of ‘open days’ are held when parents are invited to discuss, in private, their child’s progress at the Nursery School. At other times issues can be addressed in a more informal manner either by staff or parents requesting a meeting.


The Curriculum:
The Queen of Hearts Nursery School is open to children of all abilities and those with additional educational needs and our aim is to allow the curriculum to be as accessible as possible. A carefully planned curriculum is therefore vital.

As a child develops and grows their needs will change and the curriculum must therefore be sufficiently flexible to cater for the needs of each individual child.

The Government has introduced a framework from 0 to 5 years of age “The Early Years Foundation Stage” to provide support, information and guidance for those with childcare responsibilities. As a consequence, the Curriculum planning at the Queen of Hearts Nursery School is ongoing.

The six areas of learning and development are:-

• Communication, language and literacy
• Problem solving, reasoning and numeracy
• Personal, social and emotional development
• Knowledge and understanding of the World
• Creative development
• Physical development

The importance of play cannot be over emphasised and the curriculum is carefully planned in order that each child learns through play and every opportunity to extend this play is taken. The topics are therefore fun and chid centred allowing for flexibility and spontaneity.

Staff:
A happy and caring atmosphere is essential and to promote this considerable care has been taken in selecting responsible, conscientious and professionally qualified staff.

In addition to the Head Mrs Valerie Parker, there is a manager, 3 supervisors, 2 senior nursery nurses and a graduate who is the Early Years Foundation Stage Co-ordinator. In addition, there are full and part time nursery Nurses and assistants. Enriching the team are qualified Music, dance and French teachers and a carefully planned rolling rota ensures that all of the children have the opportunity to take part in these activities.

The Nursery has a programme of continual training in order to ensure all members of staff are kept fully up to date with current legislation and good practice. The Queen of Hearts Nursery School is exceptionally proud of being recognised as being an “Investor in People” which it achieved in 1999 and for which the Nursery is regularly re-assessed.

The Nursery operates to a staff to children ratio of:
    1:4 for two to three year old children
    and 1:5 for the three year to school age children

However, a new child will be given “one to one” attention to ensure they feel safe and secure.

The Queen of Hearts Nursery School works on a “Key Worker” system where each member of staff is responsible for a small group of children, carefully observing them and taking photographs in order to retain a pictorial record of their ‘activities’ during their time at Nursery. Staff keep careful details of the child’s development, using this information to plan appropriate activities and eventually presenting the information in a portfolio to the child’s parents/carers.

The Queen of Hearts Nursery School has a Special Needs Co-ordinator whose role is to support colleagues in identifying and meeting special educational needs. The Co-ordinator also works closely with local agencies such as the Northamptonshire County Council’s Children and Young Peoples Services, inclusion and language therapists, educational psychologists and Social Services.

Nutrition, Health and Food Hygiene:
The aim of the Nursery School is to make mealtimes a social occasion for all the children.

The Nursery has two cooks and offers a tasty, interesting menu which consists of a healthy morning snack, lunch and tea for the children. A balanced healthy diet is of great importance and the menus are regularly reviewed for their nutritional content, variety and popularity!

The Nursery is always ready to discuss any special dietary requirements a child may have.

The weekly menus are displayed in both reception areas and may be observed on the blog page.

Kitchen staff are trained in food hygiene in order to ensure the School complies with the latest food and hygiene regulations.

Students:
The Nursery School works closely with local schools and colleges and the involvement of students within the Nursery is encouraged. All students are closely observed and supported in order to ensure they gain maximum experience thereby helping to develop their future learning.

Security:
Security is of paramount importance in order to ensure the safety of all the children whilst attending the Nursery. All doors are securely locked an only opened by senior members of staff.

Only named parents/carers are allowed to collect children, anyone who is not recognised is not allowed to enter the premises until security checks have been carried out with the child’s main parent/carer. Parents/carers are required to comply with all security measures adopted by the School.

The Queen of Hearts Nursery School operates a strict NO SMOKING policy and all staff, parents/carers, visitors and contractors are required to comply with this policy whilst on the School premises.