Our June blog
What a hot spell we have had over the last month! we have well and truly made the most and enjoyed lots of fun activities out in the sun while still keeping cool. A massive well done to the team for all they have done thoughout the heatwaves to keep the children safe and as cool as possible alongside still having the best time. As you will see in the posts below.
Our Turkeys have hatched!
After 28 days of egg turning and keeping an eye of our very large eggs we were rewarded with a full hatch rate (which is very rare). All the children were very interested to see how different the poults (baby turkeys) were to our chicks. Most agreed that they were a lot cuter than expected. The poults enjoyed the interactions with the children so much and it was lovely to have the children involved in caring for them. They did of course grow very quickly and were very very noisy so have now gone back to Sammy.
Beach day fun!
Well what a wonderful day we had, the weather was perfect! as you can see staff and children alike made the most of our beach themed day.
What better way is there to cool down than chomping down on some lovely frozen fruit in the shade!
One of the ways we have kept cool is by freezing our fruit! no nasty sugars and preservatives, just all the goodness of fruit but frozen. Simple, easy and super yummy.
A wonderful week of Nat
We had the wonderful Nat with us for a week this month. She helped us look after our growing areas and we set her a bit of a mission. I have been keen to work with the team on our outdoor spaces and Nat shared a great document a few months ago about the importance of mud kitchens, not just compost but actual mud so she worked hard to dig out part of the garden, sand was restocked and staff have ensured water is there to be accessed. This has really helped to promote our love of outdoor learning. It has been wonderful to see the children so engaged and having so much fun!
Babies enjoyed a sensory water tray using daisies, to mix the water around and smell them.
Our values and vision for food
Snapdragons are very proud of everything we do to ensure that children have the best nutrition possible while here at the nursery. We are over the moon to announce that we have retained our gold standard with the soil association once again.
But what does being gold even mean?
It means we use organic food from local suppliers who we work really closely with to ensure we are using what is in season. We had a wonderful visit to the Lovejoys warehouse, where the children got to see where the food is brought to from the farms and such a wide variety to explore. After a tour, snack and food quiz it was time to head to the one of the farms that supply our potatoes. It was great to see the grain, potato fields and cows. As you may know I have a love of animals and the temptation to bring a cow back to nursery was real.
It also means that we want our children to be part of their food journey from helping Mel prepare our meals to helping Charlotte in our growing areas we know how important it is that our children share our passion for food and it is a joy to see their excitiment at seeing plants grow from the seeds they helped to sow through to picking it, preparing it and then enjoying it!
Our passion for food had been also been recognised by the local high sheriff Martin who is focusing his role on the farm to fork campaign so came to nursery to see our growing areas and what we produce for the childrens meal times. The children loved to show him all that we do here. This is what he had to say following his visit- “Inspiring visit to Broadwood and Atworth Snapdragons nurseries – I saw really appealing healthy and nutritious food being prepared from scratch in the kitchens, and enthusiastic children picking raspberries and strawberries in well-maintained growing areas. A great example of what Food For Life can help passionate and committed people achieve.”
Snapfest 12th August
With it being festival season we thought why not host our own one for the children here, it will be a day of celebrating music and dance so we would love to see come in colourful clothes and ready to party the day away. If you play a musical instrument and would like to pop in to play a set please do get in touch.
Do you know a Snappy Super Star?
Is there a member of my team that has stood out to you that you think deserves a special mention? It means the world to the ladies to recieve a nomination so if there is someone who you would like to give a special mention to please follow the link below.
We are a Millie’s Mark accredited nursery. This means that all Snapdragons Atworth staff are paediatric first aid trained and are confident in how to respond to a paediatric first aid situation. This is a huge achievement and hopefully further reassures you all that your little Snappies are in safe hands. Please let me know if you would like any further information about this.
Permissions
As you may now notice we are putting together a monthly newsletter and I just wanted to reach out to check if you would like to change your childs permissions for photos to be included in these. The link is only sent to the parents who attend our nursery and these photos are not then included on social media. If this is something you would like to check or amend please feel free to email on in and we can get this changed for you. If you would also like to change your childs permissions for social media then again feel free to email in, this is a different permission to the one for our newsletter.
Dietaries
If your child has a dietary and you have recently made any changes could you please contact the office.
Mobile Phones
Can I kindly remind you of our Mobile phone policy here at the nursery- when dropping off or collecting your child could please leave your phone in your car in a pocket. You must not take any photos inside the nursery as this is against our safeguarding policy. Many thanks in advance for your co-operation with this.
Suncream and Hats
Dare we say the sun is starting to make an apperance so could we please ask that you bring in a named suncream and hat for your child.
Holidays
We know it might be the time of year where you have a few nice little breaks planned in. Could we please ask that you pop us a little email to let us know if your child will not be attending. This helps with us planning meals and knowing how many children to expect each day. Many thanks.
Bank Holidays
Just a reminder that we are not open for bank holidays.
Medication and Illness policies:
If your child has been prescribed medication then they will need to have had been taking it for 24hrs before returning to nursery.
Please do not leave any medication in your child’s bag, it must be handed to the office and a medication authorisation form must be filled out.
When Calpol or any temperature reducing medicine is given to your child prior to nursery, they are not able to attend nursery until they are 4 hours clear of the medication.
A little reminder about some of the more common illnesses and the exclusion periods:
Conjunctivitis - They have to have been treated for 24hours and the child has to be comfortable.
D&V - 48 hours clear of the last incident.
Chicken Pox - Children can’t return to nursery until the spots have all scabbed over and are completely dry.
Hand, Foot and Mouth - Children can return once all symptoms have subsided.
Thank you for your help and understanding. If you have any questions or are unsure of anything, please do get in touch with the office