fun, learning and growing

...Welcome to Little Stars Nursery

Little Stars is the place where your children will shine. Everything at our nursery has been designed around creating a safe, homely, supportive environment where children are happy and stimulated. And where you know they’re safe and sound at all times.

It starts with the nursery itself. It’s brightly decorated and highly colourful, to stimulate young imaginations. It’s well furnished and fully equipped with plenty of toys and arts and crafts materials, as well as new computers and an interactive whiteboard. The outside play areas are partially covered, so that the children can have a good run around and get fresh air every day.

It continues with our positive, caring and attentive team who are a good mix of young and older staff, many of them mums themselves. They are

highly trained too, with 80% achieving Level 3 or above in the NVQ in Childcare or equivalent BTEC qualification. One of our staff is a qualified dance teacher - everyone brings something to the nursery!

Little Stars Nursery also gives you a reassuring sense of security. It has a six feet high fence all round, CCTV with two weeks of playback and an intercom entry system.

You can get involved We want parents to take part too. We’ll communicate with you every day, and every month we hold ‘stay and play’ sessions where you can take part in some of our great activities and basically have fun. You can also bring along visitors, perhaps other mums or dads who may be looking for a nursery place for their child.

You can read our blog and you’ll also receive a newsletter from us every term, telling you all our latest news and what’s been happening at Little Stars.

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...Welcome to Little Stars Nursery

A supportive educational environment with lots of facilities Little Stars Nursery is based within the grounds of Grange Community School. This means that we can use the School’s facilities outside of school hours, and make the most of the garden, the sports hall and all of the play equipment.

As you would expect in an educational environment, we welcome children from all kinds of cultures and backgrounds. We have children from different countries and ethnic backgrounds and we encourage them all to mix and learn about each other and the world we live in.

One of the ways we do this is through our Talking Pen. This helps new children and parents who don’t have English as a first language, settle in and feel more at home with us.

The Talking Pen translates key words and phrases, and helps with basic but important communication. The languages available at present include Lithuanian, Gujarati, Chinese (Mandarin), Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Somali and Arabic. Our children and their parents love the Talking Pen!

We have made Little Stars Nursery cosy too, with full air-conditioning both hot and cold air and under-floor heating to keep tiny feet warm in winter.

“ The staff are really great and helpful. They always have time for you; they are always ready to explain anything, and one more very important thing - English is not first language in our family. Our daughter knew only few basic words. Now she speaks good English.”Margaret & Robert Deptula

More flexibility to suit busy parents We know that these days, most parents have busy lifestyles with both mum and dad often working full time.

That is why we operate more flexible hours designed to fit around working parents. In fact, you’ll find we’re more accommodating than most other nurseries.

To begin with, we offer a choice of a ‘9 to 4’ session which is the most popular, or ‘8 to 3’ or ’10 to 5’. You can also choose half days, 8am to 12.30pm or 1.30pm to 6pm, and full days from 8am to 6pm. So pick the session that suits you and your child best.

What is more, we’re open for 51 weeks every year and only close for Christmas and bank holidays.

We even help your money go further, with sibling discounts if you have more than one child who’s going to spend time with us.

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...taking care of your Little Stars

Taking care of Little Bears At Little Stars Nursery, we’re happy to take toddlers from as early as three months.

These are our Little Bears. And we look after them with professional dedication, care and attention.

When your toddler comes to us, we give you a choice of putting on terry nappies or disposables when they need changing. We also have in-house laundry, so we’re doing our bit for the environment.

We also offer help with potty training for slightly older Bears. Many nurseries require your toddlers to be clean and dry before they’ll take them on, but we don’t.

Getting Great Bears ready for school Great Bears are our three to five-year olds. And we see our job as getting them ready for going to school.

For Great Bears, all of our activities are geared around taking them the next step, with more learning involved as well as large amounts of play of course. At Little Stars, every child over three has their own display board where they can put up their own drawings, letters, scribbles, doodles and so on.

Care that goes that little bit further At Little Stars, we do all we can to look after every aspect of a child’s physical and mental well-being.

We give children the time and space to rest and take a break from busy activities. We provide healthy, nutritious food that’s prepared and cooked on-site every day. We can also cater for all kinds of special diets.

Naturally, we take extra care with those Bears that are under the weather or have special requirements. Our team is fully trained at looking after poorly Bears, applying creams, inhalers and administering insulin. In fact, over half of our staff are trained in diabetes care and can give insulin. This is important as there are more and more children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes these days, so it’s reassuring for you that we already have experience of dealing with this.

Little Stars is also able to accommodate children with a variety of special needs. We have a key worker system and have quite a bit of experience working with children with a variety of requirements.

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...taking care of your Little Stars

Meeting the National Curriculum In fact, all of our activities are designed to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum Early Years Foundation Stage, which has four key themes:

• A Unique Child

• Positive Relationships

• Enabling Environments

• Learning and Development

The principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum are simple. From birth, every child is a competent learner who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.

The foundation stage begins at birth until a child finishes reception class. Children are always having new experiences and trying to understand them in order to extend their skills. The foundation stages set out early learning goals which most children are expected to achieve by the end of their reception class year at school. These learning areas are:

• Language, literacy and communication

• Personal, social and emotional

• Problem solving, reasoning and numeracy

• Knowledge and understanding or the world

• Physical

• Creative

• Moral issues

• Religious issues

“ Tyler is lactose intolerant and Little Stars has been excellent in accommodating for his needs.”Emily Webb

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Little Stars Nursery- Our Policies At Little Stars Nursery, we have a number of policies in place which are designed to ensure that your child is safe, happy and healthy while attending the nursery. These policies also contribute towards the smooth running of the nursery at all times, for the benefit of all children, parents and our staff. These policies cover the following key areas, and full copies are available on request.

• Equal opportunities • Behaviour and bullying • Child protection• Diet • Special needs/SEN • Health and safety• Medicine and hygiene • Students • Confidentiality • Sick children • Uncollected children • Complaints procedure

RegistrationRegistration at Little Stars Nursery doesn’t guarantee a place at Grange Education Nursery or School. Should you require a place at either, you must apply direct to Grange Community School.

To secure a child’s place A non-refundable registration fee of £45 will be charged. This is to cover administration, settling-in sessions and includes a Little Stars T-shirt.

Nursery places We have a range of options as outlined on the Application Form. Additional hours may be agreed with the Nursery Manager or Business Manager at the discretion of the Management Committee.

Contact details A condition of attendance is that the residential address of parent/guardian, as well as telephone numbers, work details and approved contact person details are up to date.

Fee payment All fees will be calculated on an hourly basis, and will be billed on the 1st day of the month. Our policy is to send out reminder bills each week until the account is cleared. Every account MUST be cleared by the last working day of the current month. Weekly payment is an option. Cheques and cash will be accepted. Direct debit is not available. Fees are reviewed annually on the 1st September.

Non-payment If fees are not paid within the current month, we reserve the right to exclude the child/children without prior notice. Benefit and Tax Agencies will be notified of any exclusion within four weeks of the child leaving

- regardless of any involvement. If payment is not received within those four weeks we will then send details of the outstanding debt to our Debt Collecting Agency, Jack Russell of Northampton.

Illness and holidays Normal fees will apply during periods of absence such as sickness or parent holidays. Parents will not be charged for Bank Holidays or Christmas week.

Notice requirement Once a child has taken up a place, four weeks notice will be required if you wish to withdraw your child’s place. If you want to reduce or change sessions, written notice must be given and this will take effect from the 1st day of the following month.

Food Food is included in the fee, whether eaten or not. Special dietary requirements can be discussed with the Manager and arrangements made as necessary.

Uniform Wearing of nursery uniform is optional but is encouraged from one year upwards.

Complaints procedure Complaints should be made initially to the Nursery Manager. If issues are not resolved, please put your complaint in writing to the Head of Campus.

NappiesWe can use modern terry nappies while your child is in nursery if you so wish. If you’re interested, please speak to a member of staff during settling-in periods.

Terms and Conditions

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Little Stars Nursery- Our Policies

Why you should bring your little stars to Little Stars 4 We provide a safe, homely atmosphere where children are stimulated and

have fun

4 We’re open 51 weeks a year and we only close for Christmas and bank holidays

4 We offer more flexibility than most other nurseries

4 We offer sibling discounts, ideal if there is more than one child in the family

4 We’re an accredited nursery and registered with Ofsted (EY262573), LEA and the EYDCP

4 We have a good mix of young and older staff, many of them mums themselves

4 We have highly qualified staff, 80% of are Level 3 or above - NVQ in childcare or a BTEC qualification

4 We encourage parents to be involved with monthly ‘stay and play’ sessions

4 We provide a high level of security including CCTV with two weeks of playback

4 We are air-conditioned and have under-floor heating too

4 We are fully equipped with lots of toys and arts and crafts’ materials, as well as new computers and interactive whiteboard

4 We give you a choice of terry nappies or disposables, and provide full laundry facilities on-site

4 We offer help with potty training

4 We provide healthy home cooking that is prepared and cooked on-site

4 We are multi-cultural with children from different countries and ethnic backgrounds

4 We have a talking pen that helps new children and parents settle, when English isn’t their first language

4 We provide a free T-shirt for all children*

“ Little stars have provided a friendly, loving but structural place to be for my girls, but foremost it has a very strict safety procedure and all childrens’ safety and well being are paramount to Little Stars staff. Well done to all concerned for providing what a nursery should be.”Joan Butlin

*upon payment of registration fees 7

Why not come and have a browse around Little Stars Nursery soon. We’d love to see you all and say hello!

Please contact:

The Nursery Manager Little Stars Nursery Jean Road Entrance Kettering Northamptonshire NN16 0PL

Tel: 01536 503368 (select option 2) Fax: 01536 511151 E-mail: info@littlestarsdaynursery.co.uk

www.littlestarsdaynursery.co.uk

“ At 15 months, my son developed diabetes. This meant he had to have blood tests and injections throughout the day. The staff really go above and beyond for our family and we are so grateful that Rhys is safe and looked after in a fantastic environment he enjoys so much.”Christine Tebbutt

“ I have seen positive changes in Marcus in terms of growth, development and confidence and I feel this is related to the support, nurturing and positive relations that staff have with the children at the nursery. Staff were also warm and approachable and I felt free to express any concerns.”Camilee Scafe

Ofsted Registration No. EY262573 2010/04 v1