Our Policies

COVID -19 Policy

To protect all employees and service users of Laugh n Learn Day Nursery, including parents and children, from encountering Corona virus (COVID-19).

To maintain the minimum level of staff needed to continue to provide early years edcuation service and to meet the welfare and care needs of the children who attend the setting. To ensure that the prevention of the spread of Corona virus (COVID-19) remains at a minimum risk.

· Employee’s are always advised to practise strict hygiene and cleanliness procedures.

· Employee’s must wash their hands at regular intervals for a minimum of 20 seconds using soap and warm water.

· Employee’s are advised to avoid contact with others, such as handshakes and are to maintain a social distance of 2 meters (6ft)

· Employees are to avoid touching their eyes, nose, and face whilst on the premises and whilst children are in their care.

· At the end of each day, all employee’s must steam clean/ sanitise all surfaces, toys, fabrics, toileting areas, outdoor areas and equipment, ready for the following days usage, this includes all outside toys to be stored away in secure storage containers at the end of every working day and before weekend/holiday period closures or closures for health and safety measures.

· Only disposable towels, provided for by Laugh n Learn Day Nursery, will be permitted for use whilst on the premises.

· No prams, scooters, bikes, or any other items are to be left at the setting at any time.

No bags are to be brought from home into the setting. Your child must attend every day with the minimum requirement for the weather forecast for that day only. This could be, but not an exhaustive list of, weather sensible footwear, a coat, jumper/cardigan/t-shirt, pants, skirt, or shorts. Please assess the weather conditions before your child attend the setting each day. Only the minimum number of belongings will be allowed within the premises to minimise the spread and coming into contact of the coronavirus (CORVID-19).

· If your child stays for a lunch, Laugh N Learn will be providing hot meals on site however, Any Packed lunches food and drinks containers must be of a disposable nature, must come in a disposable bag and will be thrown away by our staff when used who will follow strict hygiene and storage policies. Children will be given drinks and healthy snacks as normal during the day using our items which are sterilised daily.

Arrivals and Departures Policy
Parents/carers are requested to pass over the care of their child to their child’s key person or other member of staff designated to their child’s room who will ensure their safety.
The front door is to be kept closed at all times. Staff monitor parents and the door to ensure that the door remains closed at all times, but parents should be vigilant that they ensure the door remains closed behind them. Upon arrival, the parent/carer will be asked to sign in their child (with the arrival time)
on the signing in sheet
If the child is not to be collected by the parent/carer at the end of their session, an agreed procedure must be followed to identify the nominated adult ie. A password may be asked for along with a brief description. This information must be passed onto the Nursery Manager and recorded in writing. No child will be handed over to anyone unless a previous agreement has been made. On departure, the child must be immediately marked out on the signing in sheet and a time written to show that the child is no longer on the premises.
Behaviour Management Policy
We require all staff, volunteers and students to use positive strategies for handling any conflict by helping children find solutions in ways which are appropriate for the children’s ages and stages of development – for example distraction, praise and reward.
We expect all members of the nursery – children, parents, staff, volunteers and students – to keep to the rules, requiring these to be applied consistently. We promote positive behaviour by modelling appropriate behaviour at all times and expect all parents and visitors to the nursery to do the same.
*Any form of inappropriate language or behaviour will be treated very seriously and could result in adults not being permitted to enter the premises.
Bullying Policy

Bullying involves the persistent physical or verbal abuse of another child/children or adult. The nursery takes bullying seriously, whether concerns are regarding children, parents or staff and will not tolerate bullying of any kind.

Charging Policy
We expect fees to be paid in advance either weekly or monthly by cash, bank transfer or childcare vouchers. If your child does not attend a booked session, the fee will still be payable as your child’s place is reserved.
We have a £10 late collection charge that will be applied if your child is collected later than the designated session time. If for any reason you are running late please contact us by phone so we are aware that you are running late. Persistent late collections may result in your child’s place being withdrawn.
Any additional hours may be added onto sessions if required; please speak to nursery manager. Minimum notice period for this is 24hours (additional hours or sessions are subject to availability).
Complaints Procedure
Statement of intent
 
Our nursery believes that children and parents are entitled to expect courtesy and prompt, careful attention to their needs and wishes. We welcome suggestions on how to improve our nursery and will give prompt and serious attention to any concerns about the running of the nursery. We anticipate that most concerns will be resolved quickly by an informal approach to the appropriate member of staff. If this does not achieve the desired result, we have a set of procedures for dealing with concerns.
 
Aim
We aim to bring all concerns about the running of our nursery to a satisfactory conclusion for all of the parties involved.
 
Methods
To achieve this, we operate the following complaints procedure.
 
How to complain
 
Stage 1
  • Any parent/ professional who is uneasy about an aspect of the nurseries provision talks over, first of all, his/her worries and anxieties with the Nursery Manager/Deputy.
  • A note is made of any complaints in a Complaints Book, which is available to see at any time.
  • Parents will be told of the outcome of the investigation within 28 days of the nursery having received the complaint.
Stage 2
  • If this does not have a satisfactory outcome, or if the problem recurs, the parent moves to Stage 2 of the procedure by putting the concerns or complaint in writing to the Nursery Manager and the owner. Parents will be told of the outcome of the investigation within 28 days of the nursery having received the complaint.
  • Most complaints should be able to be resolved informally at Stage1 or at Stage2.
Stage 3
  • The parent requests a meeting with the Nursery Manager and the owner. Both the parent and the Manager should have a friend or partner/room leader present if required. An agreed written record of the discussion is made. All of the parties present at the meeting sign the record and receive a copy of it.
  • This signed record signifies that the procedure has concluded.
Confidentiality Policy
Parents have ready access to the files and records of their own children but do not have access to information about any other child.
All records kept (on the computer and on paper) are with regard to the Data Protection Act and Freedom of information Act.
Staff will not discuss personal information given by parents with other members of staff, except where it affects planning for the child’s needs. Staff induction includes an awareness of the importance of confidentiality in the role of the key person.
Any concerns/evidence relating to a child’s personal safety are kept in a secure, confidential file and are shared with as few people as possible on a “need-to-know” basis.
Health & Safety Policy
This nursery believes that the health and safety of children is of paramount importance. We make our nursery a safe and healthy place for children, parents, staff and volunteers.
We aim to make children, parents and staff aware of health and safety issues and to minimise the hazards and risks to enable the children to thrive in a healthy and safe environment. We have risk assessments in place to ensure that the nursery environment is safe and suitable for children from birth to 12 years. Our staff carry out daily risk assessments both indoors and outdoors to ensure the premises is constantly safe and secure at all times.
Illness & Exclusion Policy
Our policy for the exclusion of ill or infectious children is discussed with parents using guidelines from the  World Health Organisation (WHO).This document contains comprehensive notes on how long a child should be kept off
nursery following various illnesses. Please do ask if you are not sure how long you should keep your child at home.
Children suffering from sickness or diarrhoea will not be able to attend nursery until 48 hours after the last bout of illness. This will assist in preventing spread of infection to other children and nursery staff.
Parents are asked to inform the nursery as to the nature of any illness or infectious disease so that the nursery can alert other parents. Staff will make careful observations of any child who seems unwell.
A notice will be displayed on the Parents’ Notice boards to notify parents of any cases of communicable or infectious diseases that have been reported to the nursery.
When a child becomes ill at nursery every effort will be made to contact the parent so that the child can be collected. Whilst waiting for the parent to arrive a member of staff will sit with the child in a quiet area and care for the child’s needs appropriately. The nursery has a duty to notify Ofsted of any notifiable diseases such as scarlet fever, mumps, meningitis.
Mobile Phone Policy
To ensure that there is no possibility of un-authorised photographs being taken of the children, these steps should always be followed:
  • No photographs should be taken of the children on any phones, either personal or nursery-owned.
  • Parent’s phones should remain in their pockets in the presence of anychildren. Incoming calls can be answered outside of the building as long as no children are present. Otherwise, calls must be answered off the nursery premises.
Safeguarding Children Policy
1.1 Safeguarding is defined as –
  • Protecting children from maltreatment;
  • Preventing impairment of children’s health or development;
  • Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and
  • Taking action to enable all children to have the best life chances.
1.2 Eminant Childcare  is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all its pupils/students.
             We believe that:
  • All children/young people have the right to be protected from harm;
  • Children/young people need to be safe and to feel safe in school;
  • Children/young people need support which matches their individual needs, including those who may have experienced abuse;
  • All children/young people have the right to speak freely and voice their values and beliefs;
  • All children/young people must be encouraged to respect each other’s values and support each other;
  • All children/young people have the right to be supported to meet their emotional, and social needs as well as their educational needs – a happy healthy sociable child/young person will achieve better educationally;
  • Early Years settings can and do contribute to the prevention of abuse, victimisation, bullying, exploitation, extreme behaviours, discriminatory views and risk taking behaviours; and
  • All staff and visitors have an important role to play in safeguarding children and protecting them from abuse.
Our staff members all have a duty to notify the relevant services if they have reason to believe a child is being abused or neglected. We contact the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) and follow the relevant safeguarding or Common Assessment Framework (CAF) procedures.
Settling in Policy
We want children to feel safe, stimulated and happy in the nursery and to feel secure and comfortable with staff. We also want parents to have confidence in both their children’s well being and their role as active partners with the nursery.
We aim to make the nursery a welcome place where children settle quickly and easily because consideration has been given to the individual needs and circumstances of children and their families. All children must ideally have at least six settling in sessions which are free of charge for one hour so that there is a gradual induction into the nursery and the child feels safe and secure when their parent or carer leaves them with us for a full session. We are lead by the child and parents or care givers and children can have more settling in sessions if required.
It is completely normal for children to get a little upset or tearful when parents leave a child in a childcare setting initially and sometimes it can take a while for children to fully settle in, especially if it is the first time they are attending a nursery. We encourage parents to be consistent with sessions otherwise the settling in process can take much longer and be more upsetting for the child in the long run. Our experienced staff will use a wide range of strategies to help children to settle into the nursery by using distraction techniques, praise and comfort, and finding out likes and dislikes from parents or carers.
SEN Policy
We have regard for the DfES Special Educational Needs Code of Practice 2014 and implement it where necessary.
  • We have regard for the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and code of practice.
  • We include all children in our provision.
  • We provide practitioners to help support parents and children with special educational needs (SEN). Parents are informed and kept up to date with all processes and information concerning their child, and we have regular meetings with parents to discuss progress reports. Parents are always welcome to talk to staff at any time with regard to their child.
  • We identify the specific needs of children with SEN and meet those needs through a range of strategies.
Strategies may include; increased differentiation (replacing the play plan format), Record of additional needs, SEN Support and SEN and Early Support (for children who have a range of professionals working with the child or family including CAF).
  • We work in partnership with parents and other agencies in meeting individual children’s needs. We liaise with outside agencies with regards to Special Educational needs. This includes Speech and Language therapists, Physiotherapists and hospital consultants.
  • We monitor and review our practice and provision and, if necessary, make adjustments.
We work closely with the Area SENCO Team and our designated Area SENCO is Sue Mitchell who supports and advises us with any SEN related queries.We actively work with the ‘Birmingham offer’ to signpost parents and professionals to support and organisations that specialise in a variety of support for local children and families.