Return to Nursery Update - 5 August 2020 Hamilton

Dear Parents/ Carers

I hope that this email finds you and your family well.

We are all very excited about the return to nursery life and having your children through our doors once again. Welcome too, to our new parents and children, we are looking forward to meeting you and welcoming you to our wonderful school community.

Please read over the following information carefully in preparation for school opening next week.

New entrance system

3-5 year olds

Instead of gaining entry to the nursery through the main entrance of the school as previously, if you park in the top car park, you will walk past the front of the school following the designated pathways to the very end of the car park and building, and turn left.  Facing you will be the nursery building. Continue down the path. On the left hand side is where you will find the new entrance for the 3-5 year old group.

Approaching the door, you will see a buzzer, on pressing it you will be greeted by a member of staff who will sign your child in, in your presence, and escort them into the Nursery. At pick up time, your child again will be brought to the door for you.

2 year olds

For children who are in this age group, the same directions should be followed around the school as mentioned above. Instead of turning left to the 3-5 years entrance, you will turn right and follow the pathway towards the “Welcome” sign.  Press the buzzer beside the gate and you will be greeted by a member of staff who will escort you to the Nursery door and sign your child in, in your presence. 

Carpark
The small section at the side of the lower carpark will now be designated for Nursery parents only and signposted accordingly. In the mornings, please feel free to use the intercom at the gate to gain access to this carpark.

In the afternoons, no vehicular access to the lower carpark will be granted between 3pm and 3:45pm. Please make note of this if you intend to pick up your child during these times.

Groups
As you may be aware our nursery it now set up specifically with areas for 2 year olds and 3-5 year olds.  Every effort will be taken to ensure that children remain in their group as much as possible with limited sharing of resources.

Lunch and snacks
As per the email issued recently which outlined the new procedure for lunches, we will also follow suit in the Nursery. Snacks will also come prepared from the kitchen for nursery children as usual.

We will be providing a packed lunch for children who are in Nursery at lunchtime, from the start of term until further notice.  An online, weekly pre-order service has been created for you and your child to choose their preferred lunch options and confirm any dietary requirements.  

Starting this week, you will receive a weekly reminder to complete this online form.  One form should be completed per child, per week with their lunch choices for the following week.  Forms should be submitted by Thursday evening every week, with the first form to be completed by this Thursday 6 August.  This will allow adequate time for the planning and ordering of each pupil’s preferred lunch choices.     

Suggestions or additions to the lunch choices available can be indicated using the feedback area at the end of the form.  We aim to add selected suggestions on a weekly basis.  

Feedback on the pre-order service itself should be emailed to [email protected].

Equipment
Only essential items can be brought with your child, for example jacket and wellies. Please do not bring toys etc to nursery as extra bags cannot stay in nursery.  For our 2 year old children, they will have an individual plastic box for their own supply of nappies if required.

A spare change of clothes should be left in the Nursery as normal practice for all children.

Outdoor space
In addition to our usual outdoor area, we are going to use the grassy area next to the nursery as a temporary outdoor space for our 3-5 year olds. You will see a fence being erected in coming weeks.

We will be utilising the outdoors even more than we usually do in the Nursery, taking every opportunity to eat snacks and lunches outside, along with our usual focus on outdoor learning.

Specialist Classes and Assemblies
Due to government guidelines our specialist classes and weekly assemblies cannot go ahead at the moment, however we fully intend to resume this as part of our service when government guidelines advise us.

We follow a strict infection control policy and rotation of resources is in place to ensure our children receive the highest quality learning experience whilst observing all government guidance. Policies are available on the school website. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Ms Wallace
Nursery Manager