Parents Area

We want to find out as much as possible about your child and their routine and we’ll ask you to fill out a ‘welcome pack’ which includes sections that will give us lots of information about their home life, routine and what they do and don’t like.  We’ll ask about things like diet, allergies, sleep patterns and what their current development is, and what kind of things they love to do.  

Starting a new nursery can present lots of new experiences which your child may not have come across before. This might be confusing to start with, especially if your child is accustomed to spending much of their time with you.

To overcome this, we provide a settling week before your child starts nursery. This week will consist of one short session where you accompany your child to the setting, you will meet their key person and discuss any concerns, likes dislikes and any additional information you may wish to share. The rest of the week consists of sessions of incrementally increasing length to provide time for your child to explore their new environment, begin to build relationships with their key person, staff, and their peers within the room. This has the added bonus of giving you a clear idea of what your child will do in nursery.

We are very happy for you to call, so we can let you know how they are getting on, if you are worried.  When you come to collect your child, we will let you know how they have got on. 

We ask all parents to bring a full reusable water bottle (we will replenish as needed throughout the day), some spare changes of clothes, and for children two and under, any comforters or sleep bags, bottles for milk, formula, and dummies that your child uses at home.

We can accommodate all dietary and cultural requirements including vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, dairy free & nut free. We will provide soya milk. 

For lots of children and for all kinds of reasons, food can be a bit tricky. In fact, that’s exactly why we don’t allow packed lunches or snacks from home at our nurseries; some of the children in our care have allergies, and we just can’t put their safety at risk.

Instead, we provide fresh and tasty breakfasts, lunches, teas, and snacks. Our menus are healthy and varied, and we cater for special dietary requirements, cultural food choices and allergies, so every child can look forward to tasty food they will love to eat. All included in your nursery fee. You can take a look at an example menu by visitng our healthy eating & well being page. 

If your child is absent for any reason, and unable to attend nursery, please inform the nursery manager on all occasions.

If your child has shown symptoms of any infectious disease, including vomiting and diarrhoea, the Health Standards state that a child cannot attend nursery for 48 hours after the symptoms have subsided. This helps us to stop infection being passed on to other children in the nursery.

We have a Calpol and Medications Policy in the case of a child having a raised temperature whilst in our care or needing to be prescribed Prescription Medication throughout the day, E.G antibiotics or eye drops.  

Any child sent home from nursery with a temperature will be excluded for 24 hours or untill they no longer need medication to control their temperature. 

If your child becomes sick when in nursery, we will telephone you straight away to let you know and ask you to come to collect them. If you are unavailable, we will call the emergency contacts provided on your admissions form. We may advise you to make an appointment at the doctors for medical reassurance. In an emergency we will call 999 and you.

The nursery follows rigorous cleaning and hygiene procedures to keep exposure to infectious diseases at bay. If a child in the nursery shows signs of having an infectious disease, or is not coping with the day, we will send them home straight away. This will help us to ensure that it does not spread throughout the nursery. This includes, though not exclusively, children vomiting or suffering from diarrhoea.

We always want to hear if you or your child are unhappy with any aspect of the nursery.  Please raise any concerns you have initially with the nursery manager who will endeavour to resolve any complaint to your satisfaction if possible.

1 adult to 3 children for children under 2 years old.

1 adult to 4 children for children aged between 2 and 3 years old.

1 adult to 8 children for children aged 3 years and older.

1 Early Years Teacher to 13 Children aged 3 years and older.

Our staff includes a qualified Early Years Teacher, level 3 and level 2 Early Years Practitioners and sometimes students. All staff are committed to continual professional development training including Paediatric First Aid, Food Hygiene, and Safeguarding Children and many more. We ensure this training is continually updated and refreshed. As an organisation we are committed supporting our staff development and training and we ensure they complete a wide variety of courses relevant to their roles and responsibilities. 

We have excellent connections with local schools and colleges including apprenticeships providing the opportunity to gain firsthand experience working with children. They are supported throughout their course by a qualified member of staff, mentor, and qualified early years assessor.

All of our staff team will have Paediatric First Aid training during the first year of their employment, some will have completed this as part of their initial training. We strongly believe that every individual should be trained to support and respond to an accident or injury.

Funding is allocated for 38 weeks of the year. 

As we are a provider open all year round the funding is stretched over 51 weeks of the year. The 52nd week is payable in full as no funding is available.

For example, if your child is eligible for the universal 15 hours of funding, they will be entitled to 11.25 funded hours per week for 51 weeks, any additional hours or services outside of the funded hours will be charged at the daily / service rate. 

If your child is eligible for the extended hours, referred to as 30 funding, they will be entitled to 22.5 hours of funding per week for 51 weeks, any additional hours or services outside of the funded hours will be charged at the daily / service rate. You will be asked to prove to the nursery that you are eligible by providing your 30-hour funding eligibility code.

A limited number of funded only places may be available, subject to availability.

Yes, if your child is eligible for 2-year funding and we have a vacancy. 

You will be asked to provide prove to the nursery that you are eligible for the funding by providing a code issued from your local authority.  

The 15 hours of funding for 2-year-olds will be stretched over 51 weeks of the year. Any additional hours or services outside of the funded hours will be charged at the daily / service rate. 

Every child is eligible for the universal 15 hours of funding the term after their 3rd birthday, no code is needed.

In order to apply for the extended 30 hours of funding parents/carers will need to apply online through https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ .  Should your child be eligble for the extended 30 hours of funding you will need to supply the nursery with your child's unique 30 hours code. 

In order to apply for the extended 15 hours of 2-year-old funding parents/carers will need to apply online through https://www.familyspacecroydon.co.uk/.  Should your child be eligible for 15 hours of 2-year-old funding you will need to supply the nursery with your child's unique code. 

A Parental Agreement form will need to be completed to allow us to claim all funding.

Funding is taken between our operating hours of 8am-6pm. 

The role of a key person is to develop a relationship with your child. Additionally, the Key Person works with you to support your child in their learning to help them reach their full potential and works closely with the child and their parents/guardians. Every child attending Lullaby’s at the Little Village Nursery is assigned a key person.  

We use an online platform called Tapestry to communicate with all our families. 

We speak face to face at start and end of day.

Via email

As a parent, we appreciate that it is important for you have a good understanding of how your child is developing emotionally, physically, and socially.  We use an online system called Tapestry and update it regularly with observations on your child.

Your child’s key person is responsible for compiling your child's Tapestry learning journal.  A Learning journal is a collection of written and photographic evidence relating to your child's development and progress whilst they are at Abacus Childcare Settings.  It is important to remember that whilst the Key Person has responsibility for their child’s learning journal, all members of staff undertake observations on all children.

When children are very young, it is important that you know exactly when your child was last fed, slept and changed. For this reason, children will receive a day sheet, until they received their settling report after about 6-8 weeks. These day sheets will be emailed home, highlighting key information such as, feeding, sleep, nappy changes and for children in the Toddler room this information is tracked on a daily chart which will be communicated to you during collection.

Our nursery is closed for a between the Christmas / New Year period, we inform all of our families in advance of our closure dates for Christmas as they change each year. We are also closed on bank / public holidays and for 4 staff training days per year. 

If you are going on holiday or your child will not be attending their booked session, please inform us as soon as possible so this can be recorded. If we are not aware of any absence, then a courtesy call will be made to check on your child’s wellbeing.

Any absences due to holiday/sickness must be paid in full.