Welcome to Bunnies Room!
Welcome to our baby room which is known as Bunnies Room. Our aim is to provide a happy, stimulating environment where every child will be given the best possible opportunities to achieve their full potential and an education which will nurture their needs as individuals. We constantly review our provision and in consultation with parents and our wider community, we strive to retain our family ethos whilst also equipping our children for the future.
Meet the Bunnies room team
Bunnies Room
- Abi – Room Leader
- Kerri – Early Years Educator
- Lucy – Early Years Educator
- Claire – Early Years Educator
- Jade – Early Years Assistant
- Tina – Early Years Assistant
Office
- Hayley Clark – Nursery Manager
- Mo Gregory – Office administrator
Parents as Partners
We recognise the importance of parents and carers in a child’s developing stages. Parents are the child’s first educators and we greatly value any input, opinions and information you can share with us about your child’s learning and progress.
In Early Years, we are constantly observing and assessing the children. We take photographs and videos as evidence of the children’s experiences and achievements and we assess and monitor the children’s progress and highlight any areas for development. At the Hundred of Hoo Nursery we use Tapestry, which provides each individual child with an online Learning Journal where all of these observations can be recorded.
Once added to Tapestry, an email is automatically generated to parents/carers set up to that child’s account and they are informed that an observation has been added so they can have a look and add any of their own comments to it. Parents/carers can also add their own observations of their child to share progress and milestones at home. We would love for you to upload photos, drawings, mark making that they can proudly share with the staff.
We also encourage you to contribute to these by making small observations at home. This can be anything from days out, major milestones like crawling and walking to saying first words.
HOW SECURE IS IT? – Tapestry is hosted in the UK on dedicated, secure servers. These servers conform to very high safety standards and are proactively managed by a central security team. A copy of Tapestry’s Privacy Policy is available on their website.
WHO CAN ACCESS MY CHILD’S LEARNING JOURNAL? – The Hundred of Hoo Nursery staff have access to the children’s Learning Journals. You will only have access to your child’s journal and this cannot be seen by other parents. However, children in the class will sometimes be photographed with others as they work together. For this reason, we will ask permission for your child to appear in photographs within other children’s Learning Journals. It is crucial that you DO NOT share photos or videos from your child’s journal on social media or through other online platforms. All parents/carers will be requested to sign a consent form and if there are any incidents where confidentiality is broken, these will result in access to the system being withdrawn.
HOW DO I LOG ON? – Once you have signed and returned your consent form, you will be given your account login details. Further instructions can be found in the information packs.
All policies are available to parents; please ask a member of staff if you wish to see these. They are also available to see on our website.
Bunnies room is where the excitement begins! Your baby will learn in an environment which is developed around the baby’s interests. We pride ourselves on being an exciting and engaging place to be – encouraging our babies to be independent learners through a range of practical activities. We follow a curriculum which allows us to be creative with our learning and let the children lead their own learning and development.
During your baby’s settling in period we will ask you to complete some paperwork, including permission forms, emergency contact information and information about your baby’s routine. Please do not hesitate to discuss with us how you would like to settle your baby. We are here to help you and your baby settle in well. We have a flexible settling in policy and welcome you to call in and visit us at any time, spending time with your baby at the nursery until you are feeling happy and confident in leaving your baby with us.
Your baby will be designated a ‘Key person’ when they settle with us. The key person is a named member of staff who has responsibility for working with you and meeting your child’s individual needs. The importance of the key person is highlighted in childcare policy in England and Wales.
The key person will get to know you and your child really well, finding out about your child’s preferences and routines and will be the person that shares information with you about what your child has done during the session and information about their learning and development.
We use a care diary to keep you informed on what your baby has done throughout the day. You will find information on what they have eaten, how they have slept and nappy changes. You will also find a short description on what we have been doing during the day.
We can feed your baby breakfast in the morning from 8:15am usually until 9am. We have a variety of cereals including Weetabix and porridge. We also serve toast, just let us know what is preferred. We supply freshly cooked lunches, however if you prefer, in teddies room we are happy if you wish to supply your own home cooked dinners or jars for your baby. We can sterilise and make up baby milk for you or you can bring your bottles ready for us to make up.
We have a sleeping area in teddies room with cots. If your baby has a preference for a special blanket, snuggle, dummy or teddy please do not hesitate to bring it in.
Things to wear and bring to nursery
As our learning environment is both indoors and outdoors, we ask that you make sure your child is equipped for these areas at all times of year. Please ensure their clothing is practical and suitable for the seasonal changes. Waterproof jackets and winter clothing for cold weather; sun hat and protective clothing in the summer months. We ask that sun cream is applied before the children get to school so that they are ready for the day.
Our teaching is delivered through carefully planned tasks and guided key jobs. The children access their environment freely. Their development is tracked through detailed, daily observations and child-initiated interaction. This information is then transferred into your child’s personal learning journey – a diary of information and photographs. We use these to record individual interests, progress and plan the next steps of your child’s learning.
The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum
In nursery our children follow the curriculum guidance ‘Development matters 2021’. This curriculum is based upon ‘the characteristics of effective teaching and learning’.
In planning and guiding what children learn, practitioners reflect on the different rates at which children are developing and adjust their practice appropriately.
Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:
- playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’
- active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
- creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things
(Development Matters Non-statutory curriculum guidance for the early years foundation stage 2021)
Early Years Foundation stage
If you would like more information on how your baby learns please follow the link below. The document is called ‘What to expect in the Early Years Foundation Stage: a guide for parents’
Here are just some of the things we do in Bunnies room
Drawing
Painting
Music
Sand and Water
Construction
Story Time
Dressing Up
Singing
Music and Movement
