Preparing for the big day
What can you do to help your child prepare for this important milestone in their life?

Talk about what nursery will be like and all the fun things that your child will be doing during the day. You could also watch clips from BBC’s Time For School to help reassure them about what to expect. 

On the first day
Allow plenty of time. Your child may not want you to just drop him or her off and leave on the first day, so you may want to wait until he or she is settled. You may be feeling just as anxious and emotional as they are, but try to stay cheery and confident – children pick up on your feelings of apprehension. Explain to your child when you’ll be back – don’t fob him/her off  by saying things such as “Mummy’s just going to move the car” when you leave. Tell him/her you’ll be back after lunch/drink and biscuit time/story time.

If your child cries and won’t let you leave, ask staff for advice. In most cases they’ll ask you to stay for a while with your child in the early days. When you’ve said your goodbyes, try not to worry. If there is a problem, you’ll be contacted, but in most cases your child will be enjoying their exciting new experience.

You can talk to us when you are dropping off or picking up, or you can telephone or email.​

There will be information and permission slips that we will need from you and it is really important that we have your current mobile number. Please make sure that you let us know immediately if your number changes in case we need to contact you in an emergency. We use an electronic messaging service for urgent texts and weekly newsletters so it’s really useful to have your up to date emails as well.

Staff make regular observations of children in nursery and keep a record of their progress and development by completing the Foundation Stage Profile, which is linked to the seven areas of learning in the Foundation Stage curriculum. We feed this back to you regularly.

Of course, please don’t hesitate to book an appointment with the headteacher or the staff if you would like to speak to them.

While at nursery we will do a range of messy and creative play activities both inside and outside and clothing can get dirty. Therefore, we ask you to send your child to school in comfortable and suitable clothes for such activities. We encourage children to manage their own coats and shoes, so styles and fastenings which are easy for children are encouraged. They will also need a bag of spare clothes, which can be kept on their peg in case a change of clothes is needed.

For charges, please contact us.
 

Nursery

Morning Session
9am – 12 pm

Afternoon Session
12.00pm – 3.00*pm (*3.15pm collection is available at a nominal  fee)​

Nursery Day 
9am – 3.00*pm (*3.15pm collection is available at a nominal fee)

(6hr session includes lunch and snacks) 

Full Day
7.30am – 5.45pm (All meals and snacks included)

 

Out of Hours Care (Before, After School & Holidays)

Breakfast

7.30am – School Opens (includes breakfast: cereal, toast, yoghurts and fresh fruit).

Early Drop

8.30am-school starts

After School

until 5.45pm (includes light healthy snack) 

Holiday Full Day

7.30am – 5.45pm (Includes breakfast and light tea.) 

School Day

9am – 3pm (6hr Session)

Other charges that apply to both

Hourly Charge
2hr Minimum session (subject to availability) 

Late Charge

Plus Hourly Charge, failure to collect a child on time after any session without correspondence 

Late Collection Charge

5.45-6pm 

BOOKINGS

Please speak to staff about booking sessions. You can call 01782 394900 and follow the instructions to get hold of the team.

​Payment

15 Hours

All 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to funding of up to 15 hours of nursery provision per week (over 38 weeks or 570 hours a year).  However, we can ‘stretch’ these hours over our 48 weeks of the year at the moment.
This funding is available from the term after your child’s third birthday (so a birthday of 31st August means the fund is available on the 1st September. But a birthday of 1st September means you will have to wait until the 1st January next year).

​30 Hours​

Working parents who meet the earnings criteria could be entitled to an additional 15 hours of early education, making up a total of up to 30 hours per week (over 38 weeks, or 1140 hours across the year).
Successful applicants will receive a confirmation code from HMRC which will be sent to the parents new Gateway Account. Parents must pass the code onto their childcare provider to verify. Families who are eligible will be able to claim for the additional 15 hours from the term after parents have received their confirmation code from HMRC.

​We have an online payment system called ParentPay. Some parents/carers may wish to use childcare vouchers. The William Amory Nursery is registered for most but you may just need to speak to a member of staff to make sure.

The Small Print

​Refunds

We really do appreciate how tight money can be and that you can’t always make sessions. However we have to, by law, employ the right number of staff for each moment there are children in the building. For that reason it is worth thinking that you are not booking a place for your child, rather you are paying for the correct number of staff needed to look after your child. For that reason we do not offer refunds. However, we will always try our level best to help your situation if we can.

Cancelling and changing bookings
As above, if we have already arranged for staffing to be present for a session that you have booked we would expect you to honour that booking.

Changes during the school day
We understand that for events such as sports day the school will dismiss early and that you might attend and wish to pick up early. However, if a child has a place booked for after school we will send him or her up to the Nursery. ​

Absence, medication and illness
If your child is unwell, please telephone the school about your child’s absence informing us that they will not be attending nursery and the expected date of return. Please follow this up with a note explaining your child’s absence on their return. If your child has a medical appointment, please inform  the office and provide a copy of the appointment card or letter.

​Sickness and diarrhoea spread very quickly between children. For this reason please do not send your child back to school until a full 48 hours after the last bout of sickness or diarrhoea. We will give medication but only if a doctor prescribes it to be taken during the session. We don’t give out Calpol or similar and will only give antibiotics if they are prescribed to be given 4 times a day or during the session. In most cases, 3 doses can be provided before or after school by parents. A medicine form has to be filled in and kept on record in order for any staff to be able to administer medicine.

Insulin and other medication will be given but will need an initial meeting and a care plan and risk assessment to be carried out by the staff and parent/ carer.

 

Complaints Procedure

If you have a concern about your child’s education or pastoral care please do not hesitate to contact the class teacher. To do this you can either telephone school to make an appointment or contact the teacher in person or by letter. The teacher will endeavour to see you at the earliest possible mutually convenient time. The best time for teachers is at the end of afternoon school since the mornings are usually very busy. We hope that your concern does not become a complaint. If, however, you feel the need to complain please contact the Headteacher . If the need should arise, the Chair of Governors should be contacted.

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Disability and Discrimination Act.
We are committed to providing a fully accessible environment which values and includes all pupils, staff, parents and visitors, regardless of education, physical, sensory, social, spiritual, emotion or cultural needs. We are further committed to challenging attitudes about disability and accessibility and developing a culture of awareness, acceptance and inclusion. The school has developed its facilities to assist access to the school by pupils with disabilities and is working in partnership with the Local Authority in developing and implementing its access plan.

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Policies
All our policies are available to you on request. Statutory policies are on the website.

 

Contracts

For more information on the fund visit:

www.staffordshire.gov.uk/eef

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or contact the Family Information Service on

Tel: 0300 111 8007

or via email

fis@staffordshire.gov.uk

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We are required to give you a number of documents to sign. We have attempted to streamline those that the school requires onto one application form. However, there are a number of statutory forms that are outside our control.

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Early Years Education Fund
Can I take funded hours at more than one provider?
Yes, Parents can split funded hours between multiple providers, but no more than two sites in one day. This can be between any types of provider.
Parents will need to decide how many hours their child attends each setting as both providers must agree to this.

 

What if I want to change provider?
If you wish to change provider, you can do so and the funding will follow your child. Be sure you inform the provider your child is leaving and check the notice period length.  The new provider can then claim for your child from the start date.

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Getting Involved
We really try to involve parents and carers in as many things as we can in and around school so that you can see your child in action. We have regular events which you are welcome to attend to keep you up to date. 

 

A lot of parents get involved in the PTFA – the association that raises money for the school. They are a very friendly group and they don’t expect you to do everything even if you just turn up for one meeting. But it’s a good way of getting involved in the school, meeting people and knowing that you’ve done something useful for your child and all the other children.

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Contact us
The telephone number for nursery is 01782 394900.

To contact Tracey, our nursery manager, by email – tmycock@williamamory.staffs.sch.uk