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Noah’s Ark
Preschool
Prospectus
2018 – 2019
Noah’s Ark Pre-School
Princecroft Lane Warminster
Wiltshire BA12 8NT
Tel: 01985219444 (Answer phone available outside of opening hours)
Website: www.noahsarkwarminster.co.uk
Opening Times
Monday to Friday Core Hours
9am to 3pm (packed lunch required) Or sessions: 9 to 12 noon and 12 to 3pm (packed lunch required.)
Fees - £4.50 per hour
£27.00 per day for children from the age of 2 years. Or £13.50 per session (9 -12 or 12 - 3.)
Out of Hours Clubs
We are now open for breakfast and supper clubs from 8am to 6pm
The extra hours will need to be taken alongside our core hours.
The cost will be our usual hourly rate or free if taken as funded hours.
Breakfast and supper will be healthy and
include a drink.
Due to staffing costs, payment is still required if your child is absent for any reason
Free (Government funded) sessions available for some 2, 3 and 4 year olds.
Ask for further details.
A £5.00 administration fee is payable on registration.
Welcome to Noah’s Ark Pre-School.
Our aim is to provide good quality early years care and education
in a safe and secure environment through purposeful play, in an
atmosphere of equality of opportunity with parents as equal
partners.
A place where your child’s individual needs are catered for and
where children can develop at their own pace.
We aspire to achieve these aims by:
Ensuring high staff/child ratios. Providing well-supported play activities both inside & outside,
that meet the developmental needs of the children. Keeping an open dialogue with parents, seeing them as primary
educator and carer.
Noah’s Ark is in the grounds of Princecroft School, where we have
use of the fields, playgrounds and school hall. All areas are strictly
no smoking. We value parent’s involvement and assistance. We
are a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance
and we are a registered charity. (Charity no:
1121428)
Staff Ratio
The ratio of staff to children is one adult to four children under
three, and one adult to eight children aged three and over. There
are a maximum of 24 children per session.
We currently have 5 staff members:
1. Debbie - Manager 2. Sonia - Deputy Manager 3. Phoebe - Play Assistant 4. Julia – Play Assistant 5. Kerry – Qualified Teacher
All our staff are qualified as required by the regulatory body. All
have attended appropriate childcare welfare and education
courses and continue to keep their training updated.
Our key person system ensures that each adult is responsible for
keeping records and observations of a small group of children so
that your child’s individual needs are planned for and monitored.
Tapestry Online Learning Journal
Noah’s Ark has an online system to record your child’s
progress and monitor their achievements. Your child’s
observations will be stored on a secure website called ‘Tapestry’
(www.tapestryjournal.com). Please rest assured that this is a
secure website and security settings are set to ensure that your
child’s learning journey will only be viewed by staff and your
chosen family members.
Observations, photos and videos will be uploaded by staff and you
will have the ability to login then view, like and comment on your
child’s learning journey via an individual account. In order to
access your child’s learning journey you will need to provide an
email address.
Parental Involvement
Please remember!
You are always welcome at Noah’s Ark- feel free to pop in
at anytime
Noah’s News
A newsletter is published
regularly with the latest
photos and information
Noah’s Nudge Box
A box is situated in the front
lobby area for you or your
child to put in any welcomed
suggestions for our topic and
for parents to volunteer to
assist with a topic using their
specialist skills and
knowledge
Children’s Interests
All children have different
interests. Tell a member of
staff what interests your child
or of any events in their lives
and we will be able to include
it in their individual plans.
Bentley Bear
Bentley Bear is the
preschool’s friendly bear for
your child to take home for the
weekend. Take a photo or
draw a picture of what you
have done together to go in
our Bentley’s adventures
album.
Tapestry Contribution
Via individual Tapestry
accounts, you are able to
login, view, like & comment on
observations by your child’s
key person. You are also
welcome to post your own
observations of your child’s
achievements at home.
Stay and Play Sessions
Come and join your child for
our ‘stay and play’ sessions.
These will be advertised in
Noah’s News.
Our Codes
At Noah’s Ark we have three ‘codes’. We feel if our
children (and adults) try to respect these ‘codes’, our
preschool environment will be a better one for all.
1. Kind Words
2. Listening Ears
3. Helpful Hands
The Early Years Foundation
Stage
Welcome to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which is how
the government and early years professionals describe the time in
your child’s life between birth and age 5. This is a very important
stage as it helps your child get ready for school as well as preparing
them for future learning and successes. From when your child is
born up until the age of 5, their early years experiences should be
happy, active, exciting, fun and secure.
All nurseries are required to deliver the Early Years Foundation
Stage Framework which explains how and what your child will be
learning to support their healthy development.
Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and
demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning
and development.
Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are:
• Communication and language
• Physical development
• Personal, social and emotional development
These prime areas are those most essential for
your child’s healthy development and future learning.
As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills
in 4 specific areas. These are:
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design
These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning
and activities. The professionals teaching and supporting your
child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s
unique needs. This is a bit like a curriculum in primary and
secondary schools, but it is designed for very young
children, and it is designed to be really flexible so that
staff can follow your child’s unique needs and
interests.
Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring,
being active and through creative and critical thinking
which takes place both indoors and outside.
For more details about all these aspects of learning and
development, please ask to see the Early Years Foundation Stage
practice guidance manual.
Policies and General Information
(A more detailed version of our policies is available at the front desk)
Equal Opportunities We are open to all pre-school children over the age of two years
regardless of gender, family status, disability, ethnic origin,
religion or belief and we seek to develop a community atmosphere
free from prejudice and discrimination.
Special Needs As it is Noahs Ark’s policy to make sure that its provision meets
the needs of each individual child, we take account of any special
needs a child may have. Noahs Ark works to the requirements of
the 1993 Education Act and the Special Educational Needs Code
of Practice (2001.)
Our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator is Sonia Tyler.
Behaviour We promote good behaviour by encouraging the children to learn
self-discipline and to develop respect for each other, thereby
creating a calm and friendly atmosphere where children can learn
through play without fear of being hurt, bullied or hindered by
anyone else.
Illness Please advise us of any infectious diseases your child may have as
soon as possible, as we may have to ask you to keep them away
and inform other parents of any risk of infection to their children.
In cases of diarrhoea or sickness,
please allow 48 hours to elapse
before returning.
Complaints, Concerns and Compliments Any feedback, either negative or positive will be gratefully
received and acted on to the best of our ability. Any matters you
wish to discuss with the staff will be in complete confidence.
Forms are available in the display folder at the front desk, to be
addressed to our chairperson.
Record Keeping We assess how young children are
learning and developing by observing
them frequently. We use information that we gain from
observations, as well as from photographs of the children, to
document their progress and where this may be leading them. We
believe that parents know their children best and we ask them to
contribute to assessments by sharing information about what their
children like to do at home and how they as parents are
supporting development.
Child Collections If an adult other than a parent/carer/nominated adult is collecting
a child, a member of staff must be informed.
Failure to Collect Child In the event of a parent/guardian or designated person failing to
collect a child, our play leader (or deputy) will make every effort to
contact that person as soon as possible. However, if, after 60
minutes, all attempts to contact a parent/legal guardian,
designated person or emergency contact fail then the local
authority duty social worker will be informed of the situation. It will
then be up to the social worker to take charge of the situation and
decide what happens next and whether the police need to be
involved in helping to trace the parent/guardian.
Refreshments
Milk and a snack are the healthy option provided
during the morning/afternoon sessions. If your child
is allergic to or does not like milk, please inform a
member of staff to discuss alternative arrangements.
Lunch Children are required to bring a packed lunch. Again,
the healthy option is preferable, packed in a suitable,
sealed and named container please, with icepack if
appropriate.
Dress Code Although we provide aprons to protect clothes, we like to
experiment with all kinds of materials,
including sand, water and messy ones- so
please dress your child in suitable clothing
that is easily washable- ‘DRESS FOR
MESS!!’
Nappies If your child wears nappies, we ask that you
provide a bag with some spare nappies & wipes.
Car Parking
Within the school grounds there is a small car park with restricted
turning space. For reasons of safety we ask
that parents do not drive in to Princecroft
School to drop children off or to collect them.
There are two larger car parks immediately
outside the school.
Management of the Setting
Noahs Ark Pre-school is a public limited
company – registered number 6319152. Copies of Memorandum
and Articles of Association are available on request. The
Management Committee is responsible for managing finances,
employing and managing staff, adopting policies to ensure a high
quality of service and for working in partnership with parents.
Insurance and Inspections We are covered by the Sun Alliance Insurance
and Pre-School Learning Alliance for Public
Liability. We are inspected by Ofsted regularly. A
copy of our latest inspection report is available on the Ofsted
website:
www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/
Leaving It is common courtesy to give notice that you intend to take your
child out of Noah’s Ark for whatever reason. All we ask is that you
give us at least 2 weeks notice so that
someone on our waiting list can fill your
child’s place.
Day Carers and Child Protection As a provider of day care registered with Ofsted, we are required
to follow the child protection procedures agreed through the Area
Child Protection Committee in Wiltshire.
In caring for your child, we will try at all times to share with you
any concerns that we may have. However, we do have a duty to
refer to Social Services if we suspect that child abuse may be an
issue. Our first concern will always be the welfare of your child.
We have a copy of the Child Protection in Wiltshire Procedures
and Guidance for you to see if you wish. You may also wish to see
the Noah’s Ark Pre-School Policy and Procedures relating to the
welfare and safeguarding of children in our care.
Our local Social Services duty office address and telephone
number is:
Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
Children’s Social Care
County Hall
Bythesea Road
TROWBRIDGE
BA14 8JN
Tel. 0300 456 0108 Fax: 01225 713887
Out of hours: 0300 456 0100
Email. [email protected]