FAQs

The funded hours are free but you pay for the special extras that we provide at Young Friends like highly trained staff, plant based meals, Nature Kindergarten experiences, washable nappies and wipes etc.

Early years funding policy

If you reach back to your own childhood or watch your children play now, what holds the most fascination? Cardboard boxes, digging in dirt, sand and water play, shells, pebbles and rocks, leaves, cones and conkers, building blocks, rope and string, fabric and scarves for den making? These all have one thing in common; they do not have a fixed purpose in the play context, they are open-ended, they are things that children are free to move around, combine and take apart. They are loose parts.

It does not mean free for all. It means a carefully set up environment tailored to the interests and development levels of the children attending. This allows children to flow freely whilst supported and interests extended by their key adults.

Does your child love to fill handbags, tins or pots with tiny things they have found? Are they obsessed with wheels, roundabouts or rolling things? These patterns of play are examples of schemas, behaviours that children go through when they are exploring the world and trying to find out how things work?

Researchers believe there are a number of different schemas; vertical (going up and down), enclosure (putting things inside other things), circular (going round and round), going over and under, going through. By going through these schemas, young children are equipping themselves with the knowledge and skills that lay the foundations for almost everything we do in later life, from writing to driving a car.

Two days. This is so children can settle and make bonds so they have an enjoyable time with us.

By adhering to higher ratios. Children and staff wear hi-vis tabards. We always have qualified staff members and first aiders on trips. We have nursery telephones and walkie talkies and keep in contact at all times. We have a strict Trip Policy that staff are trained in before leaving the premises. Out trip policy can be found in the parent portal

Yes.

Encourage playing alongside you at home before they come as opposed to being carried everywhere (if a baby).

Lots of play dates and trips out so they understand risk and begin to develop social skills.

Help your child by leaving them for short periods of time with trusted family members or friends and by encouraging them to play at home without constant physical touch.

If your child is breastfeeding, we suggest that you ensure they are used to accepting expressed milk from a bottle before they attend Young Friends. If they are also eating solid food and can get through their session happily without breast milk, we will require your child to be used to accepting water from a bottle or beaker to avoid dehydration

1-3 for the under 2’s. 1-5 for 2-3’s and 1-6 for over threes (legal requirement is 1:8).

We currently have have one Level 2 qualified, a teacher in our over 2’s group and a large percentage of Level 3 qualified educators. However on top of all of this we place equal importance on hiring for attitude and dedication to childcare and our ethos.

Emma, our manager has a masters degree and Jes, our deputy has a degree.

All meals–breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning and afternoon snack. They are all plant-based. Our lunches are outsourced from The Professional Nursery Kitchen and the rest of our meals are made on-site, often cooked with the children using products grown in our kitchen garden.

The Hedgehog Pod is 0-2’s and the Fox Pod is 2-5’s. All groups are structured re. vertical groupings which means within these two age ranges children learn from and look after each other.

Our sessions are:

8am-4pm or 9am-4pm

8am-6pm or 9am-6pm

We are unable to offer session swaps because it would be impossible to manage with the amount of families we have on our register. One off extra sessions may be able to be booked with notice.

We often say working in a nursery is like hanging about in a petri dish! We are at the coal face of your children building their immune systems, but want to offer a continuity of service (and get paid!) so it is of paramount importance that you adhere to our sickness policy. Please do not send your child in if they need Calpol in the morning to manage a fever, or if they have any sort of tummy bug, or other illness. The 11am Calpol wearing off period is well known among early years practitioners! Sick children need one-to-one attention, which we cannot give, and are usually highly contagious. We have a 48 hour sickness and loose bowels policy.

First of all PLEASE NAME EVERYTHING! We have a lost property box in each room and on the drive way. We clear these out and take them to charity shops once a month.

Our fees are calculated by taking your weekly rate and multiplying it by 50 (weeks open in the year) and dividing by 12. So we do not charge for closure days.

We will administer nursery Calpol, with your permission, for non-illness related pain relief and if your child is known to spike high temperatures.

Parents can arrange to come in and see their child in the nursery environment, help with activities and read stories. This will only be possible if it will not upset or unsettle your child too much and the Visiting Parent Policy is adhered to.