Orchard Day Nursery

The Nursery

Baby Room (for babies from 6 months)

In September 2005 we became registered to care for babies from 6 months.

The baby room is a bright and colourful space which is a shoe free zone. We have a quiet carpet area where the younger babies play. We encourage babies to experience lots of messy play including painting, water / sand play, as well as music, songs and games, and lots of stories. We visit Queens Park as often as the weather permits in our double buggies. We also encourage as much outdoor play as possible.

Our baby room staff are trained in the care of babies and young children. We do not move staff around to ensure continuity for the babies and toddlers, and happily we have never had a high turnover of staff.

We will complete a Daily Record Sheet for babies aged 6 months to 2 years, which will contain details of how much your baby has eaten, how long baby has slept and details of nappy changes etc. The sheet is for you to take home. As well as this, staff will be able to talk to you about your baby / toddler.

What you need to bring for children less than 12 months

Milk feeds and drinks for the day
Food i.e. Breakfast (if you want your child to have their breakfast with us)
Lunch - this can be heated in our microwave
Afternoon Tea
Nappies / cream (if used) - we provide baby wipes and nappy sacks.
Terri nappies - we will remove soiled area and leave nappies on your peg.
Spare clothes.

What you need to bring for children older than 12 months.

Lunch - this can be heated in our microwave or a packed lunch whichever you prefer.
Nappies/cream if used - we provide wipes and nappy sacks.
Terri nappies - we will remove soiled area and leave the nappies on your peg.
Spare clothes.

Please clearly mark all of your child's belongings with their name. We cannot accept responsibility of the loss of any items.

Sleep Room

We have a separate cosy sleep room with cots for younger babies. Sleeping babies are checked every 10 minutes and we have baby monitors to alert us when the babies wake up. We also have CCTV to monitor babies whilst they sleep.

Changing Area

This is adjacent to the baby / toddler room and is equipped with changing mats, a small toddler-sized toilet, sink and bath. High standards of hygiene are maintained in our nappy changing area. Staff wear gloves, which are changed between each child. Changing mats are wiped with Milton between changes and nappies are disposed of and collected by a clinical waste contractor.

Toilets

These are next to the main hall downstairs and are equipped with three wash hand basins, a small toddler-sized toilet and two large toilets. We have a further three toilets upstairs and two separate staff toilets.

Main Hall

The age range of the children in the hall is around 2 to 3 years of age. The hall is a light and airy room providing areas for messy play, sand and water,role-play, a book corner, a home corner and lots of arts and crafts. A daily information sheet is hung in the lobby to let you know how well your child has eaten and if they have slept. Staff are on hand to give verbal feedback.

Foundation stage

This is our Pre-School group for children aged 3 to rising fives and is staffed by qualified foundation stage practitioners and nursery nurses. We have two rooms, one for role-play and the computer and one which is set out to cover all areas of early learning in the foundation stage. We have three cubical toilets upstairs.

Kitchen

Whilst we do not prepare lunch on our premises we do have a well-equipped kitchen and supply breakfast, tea and snacks. The kitchen is thoroughly cleaned every day by a professional cleaning company and food is stored in the fridge. We have microwave ovens for any food you send in for your child. We are regularly inspected by environmental health.

Please label all pots, bottles and containers with permanent pen as we wash them before we return them to the lunchbox

Outside Play

We have an outside play area, which has two large sun awnings to shade in hot weather. We like to play outside as much as possible and have a soft covering that we use for the younger babies. We have plenty of outside play equipment. When the weather is good we operate a free flow system, which allows the children to use the outdoor space whenever they like.

Lobby

Each child has its own peg, which we ask you to provide a photograph for. We ask you leave a bag of spare clothes all marked with your child's name, for the inevitable spillages and toilet accidents that can happen at nursery. Please leave your child's lunchbox on the trolley here and we will put the food in the fridge.