Sunshine Nursery

Welcome to Sunshine Nursery

“Where children have the opportunity to learn whilst they play and have fun.”

Sunshine in Santon!

Established in 2011 by Sammy Dickaty, we are a small, friendly nursery in the parish of Santon – a countryside location between Castletown and Douglas on the Isle of Man.

The nursery is run in Santon Church Hall, a traditional style building built in 1980. We are fortunate to have access to a large enclosed grassed play area which allows us a safe and secure place for daily outdoor play.

We are currently registered for up to 18 children aged from 9 months to school age.

Our Mission Statement

Children learn best when they are healthy, safe and secure, when their individual needs are met and when they have positive relationships with adults caring for them. We strive to create a setting which is welcoming, safe and stimulating, and where children are able to enjoy themselves, to grow in confidence and to fulfil their potential.

Our Aim at Sunshine Nursery is to:

work in partnership with parents
have a friendly and happy environment
provide a high quality of care

Sunshine Nursery is open:

8.15am-5.30pm Monday to Friday

All year round, except for the Christmas and New Year period and all Bank Holidays.

Details of these dates are prominently displayed on the notice board in the front porch.

Age Groups

We strive to treat every child as an individual and understand the benefits of a grouping system according to age and ability within the group to offer the best educational provision to support learning outcomes in the following areas:

Our Baby room (0-2 years)

Our aim in this room is to create a homely and relaxed atmosphere where both the parents and their child can feel at home whilst in a safe and stimulating environment that will nurture your child’s every need with love, care, attention, happiness and security.

Children under the age of one year learn and develop mainly through the use of their senses; we feel it is important to provide exciting and colourful sensory toys and equipment to help stimulate your baby, They will have the opportunity to partake in hours of fun while learning fine and gross motor/manipulative skills.

Our Baby room (0-2 years)

Toddlers (children between 1-2 years)

During this age will meet many important milestones. To help achieve these important targets your child will have access to a wide variety of activities that will be set out within structured themes enabling children to ‘Learn through play’ with the support of staff working closely together with parents.

Toddlers (children between 1-2 years)

Sleeping area

The sleeping area for under 2’s is provided with cots and your child’s own bedding that is laundered often. Babies will be monitored always while sleeping, although the door will be closed it has clear glass for us to see and babies can easily be heard through this. We make sure every child is happy and content while going to sleep helping out if need by holding, rocking and soothing if needed. Children over 2 will have the opportunity to sleep or rest. We have soft sleeping mat and blankets in the area around the corner near the clock room. Children will be monitored at all times.

Sleeping area

Learning

Sunshine Nursery follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the Birth to Three Matters Framework and Baby Einstein Philosophy.

EYFS

The EYFS sets standards to enable early years providers to reflect the rich personalised experiences that many parents give their children at home that’s why we here at Sunshine Nursery, like parents strive to deliver individualised learning, development and care that enhances the development of each child in our care and gives all the children in our setting the best possible start in life.

Play underpins the delivery of all EYFS. It underpins all development and learning for young children. Most children play spontaneously, although some may need adult support, and it is through play that children develop intellectually, creatively, physically, social and emotionally.

Providing well-planned experiences based on children’s spontaneous play, both indoors and outdoors, is an important way we support young children to learn with enjoyment and challenge. In playing, children behave in different ways: sometimes their play will be responsive or boisterous, sometimes they may describe and discuss what they are doing and sometimes they will be quite and reflective as they play. We ensure a balance of child-initiated and adult-led play-based activities.

Through play, in a secure but challenging environment with effective adult support children can:

Explore, develop and represent learning experiences that help them to make sense of the world
Practise and build up ideas, concepts and skills
Learn how to understand the need for rules
Take risks and make mistakes
Think creatively and imaginatively
Communicate with others as they investigate or solve problems

‘Baby Einstein Philosophy’

The Baby Einstein Philosophy was founded by a new Mother who wanted to create a product that would encourage interactive experience between parents/cares and their young children as they discover the world together. The product was well received by parents around the world and quickly became a significant brand.

We have incorporated this philosophy into the development of the children and babies here at Sunshine Nursery. Where possible we utilise the benefits of interaction and stimulation though the following categories:

Watch together: By watching educative DVD’s and creating stories we open up a whole new world of discovery for our little ones
Listen together: One of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to share time together is to listen to or make music. No matter what the preferred genre, all children enjoy music. When we listen, clap, dance, or sing with our little ones, they become excited, alert, stimulated and build relationships
Talk and Read together: Not only do conversations and story-time foster language development and communication, they stimulate a child’s imagination. The more words a child hears, the more he or she can begin to express feelings, name objects and respond to you with sounds that will soon become word

Our Activities

For all our children including babies we hold a variety of activities such as messy play, music time, heuristic play, sensory areas and plenty of play opportunities, indoor and out.

There are many activities available for your child to enjoy at Sunshine Nursery. These are changed from the morning session to the afternoon, so children have a wide variety of developmental opportunities.

Craft-painting, cutting, sticking, play dough, clay etc can be enjoyed
Drawing/writing table where children can learn to hold a pencil correctly and various writing tools are available
Messy Tray! (Sand, water, foam etc)
Home corner where Children can enjoy role-play
Book corner and quite area
Listening mat where children have the opportunity to listen to different CD stories

Free Play

Free Play provides children with an abundance of play opportunities through direct experience and is available throughout the nursery with ample room indoors and out to encourage imaginary play.

Circle Time

Circle time is twice a day when all of the children gather together for a shared learning session. Circle time has been proven to be a very important social part of the day here which gives all children the opportunity to develop communication skills and self-esteem. The list of activities used in circle time is endless but some of our regulars are: days of the week, singing, stories, colours, counting, topic work and ‘What we did at the weekend/yesterday.

Name Recognition

Children are very found of ‘Name recognition’. We ensure that children receive lots of opportunity to practice this. At circle time we have a register which every child does themselves by finding their name and putting it on the board. We also have name pegs with can be found in the cloakroom.

Name Writing

Name writing is an extension to recognising their name and we will endeavour to help children learn how to write their own name correctly. Once preschool age (or if a child is interested before) each child will have their own writing folder within which they can begin to write their own name through tracing. As the children progress, and practise regularly they will eventually be able to write their name independently. However, all children acquire skills at different ages and there is no specific age when they should be able to write their name.

Pencil skills

Whilst learning to hold a pencil is a very difficult task, we provide every child with the opportunity to continually practise this skill. We have a writing table where children can choose to complete activities such as tracing, drawing, writing and colouring (Simply ‘pretending’ to write is the start of early writing skills) ‘Children need to be stretched, but not pushed beyond their capabilities, so that they can continue to enjoy learning’.

Letters, Colours, Numbers & Shapes

Letters, colours, numbers and shapes can be found on the display board in the main room of our nursery, every month the focus items are changed and these are integrated within day-to-day activities.

Outdoor play

Outdoor play is very important at Sunshine Nursery, we try to get outside at least once a day come rain or shine! We believe outdoor play is just as important as indoor play. Fresh air, freedom and time are all essential for children’s emotional, social and personal well-being. Outdoor play has fewer restrictions than indoors and children take more risks in their play, exploring spatial awareness, balance, and movement skills while allowing them time to consolidate the skills they have learned.

All activities are carefully planned in order to ensure the children reach the ‘stepping-stones’ set out by the ‘Early year’s curriculum guidelines’. We promote each individual child’s personal, social and emotional development not only at circle time, but at every opportunity throughout the day.

Sunshine Nursery are very fortunate to have access to a large secure out door play area, there are so many good reasons why young children should spend time outdoors – and as much as possible! This is why we aim to use the outdoors as a valuable learning tool, in all weathers.( We would ask parents to provide your child with wellies, sun hat, and high factor sun cream.)

Planning

At Sunshine Nursery we follow a short term plan and monthly theme displayed in the front porch. This enables the nursery to have a firm structure and routine while allowing children to learn and progress at their own level. These themes are integrated into many activities during the day and the children’s work is celebrated through attractive displays throughout the room.

Good planning is the key to making children’s learning effective, exciting, varied and progressive. This enables us to build up knowledge about how individual children learn and make progress. It is important to remember that no plan written weeks in advance can include a group’s interest in a spider’s web on a frosty morning or a particular child’s interest in transporting small objects in a favourite blue bucket, yet it is these interests which may lead to some powerful learning. Plans therefore will be flexible enough to adapt to circumstances.

Children are competent learners from birth and develop and learn in a wide variety of ways. Here at Sunshine Nursery we consider every child’s needs, their interests, and their stages of development and use all of this information to help plan a challenging and enjoyable experience across all areas of Learning and Development. These are the six areas covered by the ‘Early year’s curriculum guidelines’

Personal and Social Development

Becoming independent and confident
Establishing relationships with other children and adults
Concentrating
Sharing and taking turns
Learning how to behave appropriately
Respecting self and others
Being aware of cultural and religious events

Language and Literacy and Communication

Listening and talking
Using language to communicate feelings and ideas
Understanding that words and picture carry a meaning
Knowing how to use and handle books
Recognising patterns in the sounds of language and its written appearance
Knowing familiar written words, including children’s own names
Recognising individual letters
Using symbols to convey meaning

Numeracy, Problem solving and Reasoning

Using the language of maths to describe shapes, positions and quantities
Recognising patterns
Taking part in counting games and songs
Learning to sort, match, classify and arrange in sequence
Recognising and using numbers and using mathematics in particular ways

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

Through exploration, observing the features of the world and the similarities and differences between a range of objects and substances
Asking questions
Discussing their lives, families and environment
Using appropriate tools safely

Creative development

Representing feelings and experiences using a range of media
Enjoying rhythm
Taking part in stories and imaginative play
Exploring colour, shape and texture

Physical Development

Using both small and large equipment with increasing confidence and precision
Handling small tools such as pencils and scissors
Developing imagination and spatial awareness through bodily movement, both indoor and outdoors

Each parent/carer will receive information about what their child has been doing at nursery. For children in the over 2’s age group, this will be on a weekly basis, for children under 2 on a daily basis. Ongoing observational assessments will be conducted to inform planning for each child’s continuing development through play-based activities. These can be viewed by parents at anytime.

Sunshine Nursery use Tapestry, which is an online journal used to record the learning and fun of children’s early years education. This is linked to the early year foundation stage, and your child’s targets will be monitored accordingly.

2-5 years age group

Full Day

8.15am – 5.30pm

£41

School Day

8.15am – 3.30pm

£36

Morning Session

8.15am – 12.45pm

£28

Afternoon Session

1pm – 5.30pm

£24

9 months – 2 years age group

Full Day

8.15am – 5.30pm

£51

School Day

8.15am – 3.30pm

£46

Morning Session

8.15am – 12.30pm

£37

Afternoon Session

1pm – 5.30pm

£34

A minimum of 2 sessions must be booked per week.

There are only limited spaces available in the 9mths – 2 years age group for each session so we ask that each booking is for a minimum amount of 2 full days or 3 mornings/afternoons per week.

A monthly payment in advance is required. You will need to pay this before your child’s first day. You will then be given an invoice mid-month for payment for the following month, which must be paid by the 26th of each month.

If you would like to enrol your child into Sunshine Nursery, registration forms must be completed and returned, along with the sessions you would like your child to attend and a start date.

If you require your child to start within 2 weeks of returning the application, confirmation will be sent stating if a place is available along with an invoice for payment for your child’s first month. This would need to be paid before or on your child’s first day.

If a place is unavailable or if your child will be starting nursery more than 2 weeks after your application, your child’s name will be placed on a waiting list for the sessions you require. Places will be offered on a first-come-first -served basis. When a space becomes available, confirmation will be sent to you along with an invoice for your first month’s payment. If you no longer require a space, please inform Sunshine Nursery as soon as possible. (No refund of deposit will be available).

A large car park is available at the side of the nursery; signs for this are located at the road side. Please exercise great care when bringing and collecting your child. Sunshine Nursery can not accept any responsibility for any injury, damage or loss to persons. Anyone using the car park does so at their own risk.

We would ask parents to provide your child with wellies for your child to change into as needed at nursery, sun hat, and high factor sun cream.

Please make sure children are in comfortable clothes, so they can move around and play freely without worrying about keeping them clean. We ask that all clothing, including shoes, is labelled with your child’s name.

Sunshine Nursery is happy to accept children in nappies providing parents supply nappies, wipes and a change of clothing. These should be kept in a bag that’s clearly labelled and be kept on your child’s peg.

All belonging should have your child’s name clearly labelled.

Please provide an ice pack in your child’s lunch bag. We do not have a fridge facility.

2-5 yrs age group

Children attending a full day or morning session must bring a packed lunch and an extra item for snack time. Those who attend the afternoon session must bring a snack. You should provide your child with a water/juice cup/bottle that will be topped up with water through out the day at Sunshine Nursery.

Under 2 yrs age group

All food and/or milk must be provided by the parent/carer that is required for the day. There are facilities for heating up bottles as and when required. From 18 months we will no longer heat food, meals should be finger food eg Sandwiches.

We ask that packed lunches do not contain sweets, chocolate or fizzy drinks.

We will be happy to celebrate your child’s birthday. This will take place at snack time when children will gather together to sing. If you would like to supply a cake please let a member of staff know at the beginning of the week, however we do ask parents not to supply sweets or fizzy pop for the children. If for any reason you do not want your child’s birthday to be celebrated, please tell a member of staff.

Discipline

Staff set positive role models for the children by their polite, respectful, friendly and caring manner.

Unacceptable behaviour is discouraged by distraction or explaining the reasons why they should not act a certain way.

Occasionally, children may be asked to sit out from a particular activity then asked to return when they are ready to behave, usually a few minutes. We will inform the parent/carer if unacceptable behaviour is persistent or of a serious nature. No child will be physically punished.

Equal Opportunities

All children will be given equal opportunities regardless of gender, race, cultural background, physical ability and religion.
Child Protection:
In accordance with regulations set by Social Services, all parents/carers must be aware of our responsibilities for

Child Protection

If there is any reason to suspect child abuse, or if there are any causes for concern, we have a responsibility to contact the Duty Social Worker or health visitor supervising the family, who will initiate an investigation immediately.

We also have a responsibility to keep a record of any injuries seen and of the child’s condition, including the child’s emotional presentation, hygiene, clothing and behaviour. This record could be used in the investigation of a suspected case.

It is no the responsibility of nursery staff to investigate such suspected cases and all matters will be treated in the strictest confidence.