Lillian de Lissa Nursery School

Parents

General Information

Collecting Your Child

Children must be collected promptly at 3.00 p.m. (and at 11.30 am on Wednesday mornings for part time) after our story sessions. It is important that children are collected on time as they can become distressed if left. The staff also have a variety of commitments after school including staff and planning meetings.

If you arrive early, please wait in the outside area until the doors to the school are opened at 2.50pm to avoid the session at the end of the day being disrupted. If you need to collect your child earlier than this to get to another school, please come at 2.30pm before our final session starts to cause the least disruption. Please do not use your mobile phones in school when collecting your child. They disturb the story sessions, can be intrusive and the staff may need to talk to you at the end of the school day.

Children should be collected by a parent or familiar adult. Children will not be released to anyone under the age of sixteen or to taxi companies. Please telephone if you know you are going to be late and let the staff know if someone different is collecting your child. Children will only be released to the adults named on the collection consent form, unless we receive a message from you.

*Let school know if there is someone who should not collect your child.*

Healthy Eating

Please do not send your child to school with sweets, biscuits, crisps etc. If however your child would like to bring some food into school to share with their group please send a piece of fruit. We usually have children in school with a number of allergies, some very severe, and it could be dangerous if children share food from home.

We provide fresh fruit and toast daily for the children. Children also have access to drinking water whenever they wish.

In July 2017 we were awarded Startwell Level 3 in recognition of our commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles for children and families.

Dinner Money and Free School Meals

If your child stays for lunch, dinner money must be paid on Monday mornings for the week (or Wednesday for part time). Please place the correct amount of money in an envelope, supplied by school, with your child's name on it and hand it to the office. We have great difficulty in supplying change so we would prefer the exact amount, or we will put any change back in the envelope to be collected on Monday afternoon from reception. The current amount is £2.00 a day.

If you receive certain benefits you may be entitled to free school meals. Please see reception to obtain further information and an application form.

School Funds

We ask for a voluntary contribution of £2 per week for children attending full time and £1 for part time children and children paying for the extra 15 hours. We rely on and appreciate your contributions, without it we would be unable to provide many of the extras in school e.g. daily fruit and toast, cookery ingredients, celebrations and some visits. Please give the School Fund to staff in the classrooms each week.

Visits & Visitors

We like to extend the children's learning experiences outside the school environment as often as possible by going, for example, on local walks and visits to shops, parks, and farms. We like to welcome visitors to our school including artists, musicians, friends of the school and many more. We receive many visitors from Birmingham, other parts of the country and sometimes from abroad, who come to observe, discuss and share our good practice. Occasionally visitors
and students like to take photographs in school of the children's learning. You will be asked to sign a consent form regarding photos but please see Miss O'Neill if you have any concerns.

Students-We provide placements in school each year for pupils from secondary schools and for early years and childcare and teaching students to gain valuable practical experience necessary for their training.

Toys

Children are not encouraged to bring their toys to school as they can become damaged or lost and this causes distress. If your child is keen to bring a toy to show a member of staff please take it home when you leave, or ask the staff to keep it until the end of the day.

Children will occasionally come home with small toys or pieces of apparatus in their pockets. If this happens please do not be embarrassed but return them to school as soon as possible, as equipment which is broken or has pieces missing is not very inviting and can be expensive to replace.

Toy Safety

Play is not risk-free - and nor should it be - but we can control most of the hazard's children are exposed to. Toys must be safe by law, but how they are used, and the age of the child are important factors in preventing accidents.

Although toys are involved in more than 40,000 accidents each year, their safety is only part of the problem. Many accidents involving toys occur when people trip over them and when babies play with toys intended for older child.

Online marketplaces don't do safety checks of toys they sell. And reports show increasing numbers of dangerous toys available on online marketplaces from third party sellers. Financial pressures and the promise of bargains mean unsafe toys may well be bought by unsuspecting parents.

Top 10 toy safety tips

Buy toys only from reputable outlets - look for the CE symbol
Make sure the toy is suitable for the child - check the age range
Be particularly careful with toys for children under three
Be wary of young children playing with older children's toys
Check for loose hair and small parts, sharp edges and points
Ensure that garden swings and slides are robust and are not a strangulation hazard
Check toys regularly for wear and repair or dispose of them where necessary
Keep play areas tidy
Follow the instructions and warnings provided with toys
Supervise young children at play

Make sure the toys are suitable. Some children, particularly those under three, are more vulnerable, especially to choking, and less able to cope with some toys than older children. It should also be remembered there will be significant differences in the abilities of those in the same age group, and those children with special needs.

Charging Policy

We follow the Local Authority guidelines on charging and our charging policy is based on this. All children have an entitlement to participate fully in nursery activities and visits regardless of family income.

All contributions for nursery events and trips are voluntary payments and are usually subsidised by school. If however we do not receive sufficient voluntary contributions certain visits or activities may not be able to take place.

Clothing
Clothing should be suitable for play and easy for your child to manage in order to go to the toilet independently. Belts and dungarees can cause problems if your child is in a hurry to go to the toilet and should be avoided. Children do occasionally have a toileting accident so you may like to leave a change of clothes in a small bag on your child's peg just in case. We are always happy to accept clothing that your children have outgrown, particularly pants and trousers, to use as spare clothing. Please label items of clothing especially school sweatshirts, coats, hats, gloves and wellington boots with your child's name.

Outside Play
Outdoor play is an important part of children's learning at our school and whenever possible all children spend part of each day playing outside. Please ensure that they come in suitable clothes and provide some spare clothing in case they get dirty. If your child comes to school in boots or wellingtons in bad weather, please send a change of shoes for them to wear indoors. If the weather is very hot and sunny please send your child with a sun hat.

School Sweatshirts
You will be given the chance to purchase sweatshirts and t-shirts with the school logo on. Please make sure they are labelled with your child's name inside as they can easily get mixed up.

Jewellery and Valuables
Please make sure that your child doesn't come to school with any valuable items such as jewellery. If your child has pierced ears please make sure that earrings are the stud types as these are less likely to cause injury.

Birthdays

Many children like to celebrate their birthday in school. If so please see your child's member of staff who will suggest what you could send into school to share.