A Day in the Life of a Bear Cub at Sandy Bear’s.
You and your child arrive, parents/carers sign their child in and handover to a member of staff any information that may be required. The daily dairy is handed back to staff to file in your child’s folder and any information written in it from home is noted by staff. Your child is helped to settle as you leave. Coats are hung on the pegs and changes of clothing and other items of your child’s personal items are placed in your child’s basket.
It is our aim that your child feels happy and secure in our care and also that through observations of their interests, your baby can be helped to learn and develop at their own pace and according to their developmental stage. You child may play in either of our two play areas. There is a soft surfaced area which includes cushions and support rings. This area is a comfortable area for babies and younger children to play on. The boxes of different toys are placed on here for play throughout the day and the contents are changed regularly. There is a basket of books for quiet time play and for one to one or group time reading. The other area used in the room is the hard surfaced area. It is on here that the babies get to experience messy and other forms of exploratory play. This may include painting, gloop or playing in shredded paper! The outdoor area is a great space for the children and the nursery makes good use of its double buggies for walks around Tattenhall too.
Your child will enjoy a healthy snack mid-morning consisting of fruit and a carbohydrate eg. Toast, cracker, rusk etc. At lunch time your child will eat a ‘home cooked’ two course meal similar to our sample menu. Meals will be served in the consistency appropriate to the personal age/stage of your child, this will be discussed regularly with yourselves. If your child is just beginning weaning, we will work alongside you to make the process as smooth as possible. Tea is also a freshly prepared two course meal usually consisting of a variety of finger foods for the older babies or for the younger babies another puréed light meal. Milk is given as per your wishes, we ask you to provide your own bottles with the quantity of cooled, boiled water in that you wish your child to have. These will be labelled and mixed with the formula powder that you will provide in another separate labelled container at the agreed times. Made-up bottles are kept for no longer that 1 hour and after this time they will be rinsed and put in your child’s basket ready to go home.
Your child’s nappy will be changed at specific times throughout the day and also as and when required.
Babies have the opportunity to sleep whenever they need to. There are two wooden cots, a smaller travel bed and a couple of prams that can be used to encourage sleep. Their individual home routine will be followed. Each child has their own clean sheets that are frequently laundered and placed in their baskets ready for their next use. Sleeping outside is actively encouraged, the children are strapped in and checked regularly, we do ask that you provide extra warm clothing if you wish your child to take advantage of our safe secure outside area for sleeping.
Your child will be able to play outside every day. We deem fresh air to be a vital ingredient for a happy, healthy child. If the weather is too cold for the babies to sit and play outside, they will be able to go on walks around the village in our double buggies to ensure that they receive ample fresh air.
At Sandy Bear’s we believe that singing is an important first step to talking and communicating. Every day your child will be involved in a singing/musical session, sometimes an outside professional will be brought in to enhance these sessions. There are a number of different musical instruments that the children can explore on their own and these are often used in our musical sessions too. Makaton is introduced as early as possible to the children. The signs used will be displayed on our noticeboard to help with recognition at home. If you wish to learn more about this form of communication please feel free to ask a member of staff.
In the Bear Cub room, the day’s activities are planned around the daily routine to ensure a feeling of consistency and security for your child, yet allowing room for both spontaneous and planned activities with your child.
If your child needs to take any medication during their time with us, we are able to administer this in accordance with our nursery policies. We will require you to sign a medication form authorising us to do so. All medication must be in its original container and the prescription label must state the name of your child, date etc. If required, as in the case of a high temperature or other emergency, Calpol can be administered from our nursery bottle only if a Calpol authorisation form has been completed. If you wish your child to have Calpol during their time at nursery eg. For teething problems, we ask that you bring your own bottle of Calpol labelled with your child’s name and sign a medication form stating when and what dose is required. This will be returned to you at the end of the day.
From time to time your child might accidentally hurt themselves. Any minor bumps or scrapes will be recorded on an accident report form. At the end of the day we will require your signature on this form to show that you have read and understood the nature of the accident. More serious accidents will be treated in accordance with our nursery policy and you will be informed immediately.
At the end of the day, a daily diary sheet will be given to you indicating important parts of your baby’s day, including sleep times, nappy changes and what your child has done that day. There is a section for information from home. Please feel free to write in this section any information that you feel we should know. This might include how your child has slept or eaten; any trips you have taken recently or any developmental milestones that your baby has reached. Feel free to give any feedback in this section. Please remember to bring back this sheet so that it can be filed in your child’s folder. After an exchange of information, you will be able to collect your child’s belongings and sign out before heading home.
Welcome to Bear Cubs