Week Commencing 3rd July 2017

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

This week’s events:

 

Forest School  – This week at Forest School we have been using our creative role play to make a barbeque.  Some of the group were baking a sponge cake whilst the rest were collecting wood to light the fire.  Lee and Ines finished off our beautiful bench, we even have leg rests!  We also found a perfect tree to play ‘Pirate Ships’ and ‘cats’.  We had great fun exploring and playing with the materials around us!

 

In 2 Sports – There was no In 2 Sports this week.

 

 

Theatre bugs –

 

Up Coming Events

27^th July – Pre-School Graduation

 

Term Dates

A reminder that the last day of term is Friday 21^st July 2017.

The new Autumn term begins on 4^th September 2017.

 

Funding Dates

A reminder that The Early Years funding for this school year ends a week earlier on the 14^th July and will begin on the 4^th September.

 

School Leavers

Please remember we will still need a months’ notice for children leaving. Additionally, if you would like your child to stay on past the 1^st September please let us know so we can add these sessions on J

 

Menus

There are no planned changes to this week’s menu.

See attached document for the weekly menu. 

If you would like to see a copy of our allergens menu at any time please ask!

 

Useful websites

Here are the links for the Surrey Family Information Service, Free Early Education (the 15 hours funding), Free Early Education for Two year olds and Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP).

 

www.surreycc.gov.uk/fis
www.surreycc.gov.uk/fee
www.surreycc.gov.uk/feet  

www.surreycc.gov.uk/eypp

 

This week’s activities

Each key person will be responsible for designing an activity based on their key children’s needs; however, all children who are in on that day will have the opportunity to access the activity too.

If the key person is on holiday or off, another staff member will be able to lead the activity in their place so that the children do not miss out.

For more information on the Early Years Foundation stage, the guidance we use to support our planning and practice, please visit:

http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/ 

 

This week’s planned activities are also on the ILD’S.

 

Buttercups

 

Topic of the month: Under the Sea

 

Monday – Montse’s group are investigating how the electronic toys work by pressing the buttons and operating the switches

Tuesday –  Charlotte’s group are developing their construction skills and awareness of number names through building structures with the wooden blocks

Wednesday – Leanne’s group are exploring the toy cooker and toaster, supporting their imaginative play

Thursday – Nilem’s group will be looking at the ‘How Do You Feel?’ book and playing with the emotion dolls to develop their understanding of different emotions

Friday – Sammy’s group are extending their vocabulary through looking at photos and pictures on flashcards and naming what they can see

Charlotte is off Wednesday, Leanne is off Monday, Nilem is off Monday and Tuesday, Sammy and Montse are in all week.

 

Bluebells

 

Topic of the month: Minibeasts

 

Monday – Donna’s group will be using the mirrors and experimenting at pulling different types of faces to support the children’s awareness of emotions

Tuesday – Ruby’s group are developing their ICT skills by exploring the torches and experimenting with colours by wrapping coloured film around the light

Wednesday – Megan’s group will be practising making marks with a variety of objects in trays of sand

Thursday –  Megan’s group are counting how many bricks fit into different sized containers developing their understanding of quantity and measures

Friday– Carla’s group will be developing their pincer movements through using the tweezers to pick up pompoms and put them into baskets

Donna is off Tuesday and Friday, Megan is off Tuesday, Ruby and Carla are in all week.  

 

Sunflowers

 

The Sunflowers have one detailed weekly focused activity to ensure all the children have the opportunity to take part in it. The Key People link this activity to their individual Key Groups.

This will work alongside their weekly planned activity list which you can see in the room and on the ILD’S.

 

This week’s activity: Playing together in a small group with the doll’s house.

 

This week the children will be using the dolls to act out past experiences and special times in their lives.  They will also explore the ‘people who help us’ dolls and be encouraged to talk about different occupations and ways of life to develop their understanding about people and communities.  

 

 

Topic of the month: School

We will be:

Talking about going to school and which school we are going to

Setting up the role play area as a school

Talking about what to expect when we go to school

Developing independence such as using the toilet independently, putting own shoes on and doing up our own zips and buttons.

 

 

The letter of the week is: Ff

 

The children will be:

Talking about words beginning with the letter F

Writing the letter F

Feeding the fish

Hopping like frogs

Drawing around our feet

 

 

The Number of the week is: 12

 

The children will be:

Counting to 12

Talking about how 12 looks and that it is a 1 and a 2

Jumping, clapping and stomping 12 times

Writing the number 12

 

 

The shape of the week is: Cylinder

 

The children will be:

Looking at a cylinder and talking about it

Counting how many sides a cylinder has

Looking for cylinders around the room

 

 

Becci is off Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Megan is in on Tuesday and Friday, Leanne is in on Thursday and Ines is in all week.

 

Jenni and Consuelo are also in all week.

 

 

Interactive Learning Diary

Don’t forget to check out all the exciting things your child has done this week, on their ILD profile.

We aim to put at least one observation up per week.

Follow the link below: www.interactivelearningdiary.co.uk

 

Our Policy of the Week: 

 

Behaviour management policy

 

Aim of policy

 

To clearly show how we manage behaviour of the children in our care. This policy will promote, encourage, reinforce and reward positive behaviour, enabling children to develop a sense of appropriate behaviour and a positive self-image.

 

Points to consider

 

Each child is different and will respond to different methods of behaviour management. The child’s key person can support other practitioners in managing behaviour by giving them information about the child.

 

Childcare and Learning Group aims to achieve this by:

• Never physically punishing a child. 
• Having a consistent approach to behaviour management and develop effective strategies using positive methods appropriate to the individual child.
• Promoting good behaviour at all times through praise and positive reinforcement.
• Practitioner’s role modelling good behaviour and language.
• Ensuring that all staff, students and anyone else working with the children is aware of how good behaviour is promoted and negative behaviour is addressed.
• Helping the children to understand the consequences of negative behaviour.
• Helping children to challenge bullying, harassment and name calling.
• Encouraging the children to be responsible through activities such as tidying up and creating their own rules.
• Reassuring children that they are valued even if their behaviour is sometimes unacceptable.
• Providing interesting, stimulating and fun activities, children who are not engaged in activities can become bored and misbehave.
• Providing adequate care routines. Children who are hungry or tired can misbehave.

 

Inappropriate behaviour almost invariably occurs when a child’s fundamental needs are frustrated.  The staff should always consider what the child’s needs are and how they can best be met in the setting.

 

The setting staff will act as appropriate role models and should encourage the development of a positive self-image in the child. 

 

In order to function acceptably, children need to feel valued and accepted in a group – to feel secure with the adults caring for them and with the routine of the setting.

 

Our staff will work with the children to agree acceptable boundaries.  Young children are still very egocentric and much of what society deems desirable, e.g. politeness, honesty, consideration for others, will be recognised and understood through expert role modelling.

 

We need children to understand what is required of them and why.  Staff at our nurseries will give consistent messages and guidelines for acceptable behaviour.

 

Positive methods are more effective than negative ones in shaping the behaviour of children.  Rewards and distractions are preferable to punishment.  Children need to know that despite their inappropriate behaviour we still ‘value’ them. 

 

It is the behaviour we dislike, not the child.  The setting staff should praise a child whenever they can.  They should give individual time and attention to the child.

Staff should encourage children to talk over a problem, anticipate and remove potential problems or re-direct them.  Staff should value the tangible contributions that the child offers, including drawings and pictures brought from home.  Each child should be given the opportunity to ‘shine’ at a particular activity or skill.

 

Children should know that staff like and respect their family too.  Staff should develop partnerships with parents and ensure that parents are fully informed about support and the policies and strategies used for managing unacceptable behaviour.

 

The setting staff should be consistent in their treatment of children; there should be fairness in access to toys, etc.  The same treatment should apply for both the individual and the group.  The rewards given should be consistent – in praise for actions, favours and privileges.  Staff should remember to reward children when they are good.

 

The staff should be aware of making emotional moral judgements.  We believe if a child is labelled; there is a danger of negative expectation.

 

Account must be taken in each case of the age and stage of the child’s development and staff will modify their expectations in light of the child’s level of maturity and ability.  Goals will be specified precisely in language everyone, including the child, can understand.  They should be broken down into small steps, starting with what the child can be relied upon to achieve and building up slowly.

 

If sanctions are carried out, they will be appropriate – they will also be given at the time of the inappropriate behaviour, be relevant and fair.  Never issue a warning or condition that is unrealistic – be prepared to carry it through.

 

Methods of dealing with unacceptable behaviour:

 

Distraction

To avoid potential unacceptable behaviour – divert the child’s attention.  Offer the child something more attractive and positive to do – if possible, let them ‘help’ you to do something.  This may be particularly useful with young children who do not understand verbal reasoning.

 

Individual attention

Physically removing the child from the situation can stop undesirable behaviour by giving the child time to stop and think away from the problem, object or situation.  If a child needs to be removed from a group activity, the time spent outside the group gives them a chance to see what they are missing.  Such time out should be brief but immediate.  The child should not be removed from the room unless this sanction has not worked. 

 

Reprimand initially should be a private affair between the member of staff and child.  In the setting, staff members need to have established the meaning of talking to the child ‘in a stern voice’ – this is not shouting.

 

Staff should remember that there is a need to ‘build a warm bridge’ again as soon as possible – conflicts should never linger.

 

Removing the object

This can work in the same way as taking the child away but an alternative activity should be offered.

 

Physical restraint

This can help with tantrums where a child is in danger of hurting themselves.    If physical intervention is seen as appropriate, ensure that the intervention is achieved with minimum

force and for minimum time.  (As per Safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare as part of the Statutory Framework for The Early Years Foundation Stage). Any time physical restraint is used, an incident form must be completed.

 

Biting behaviour must be recorded as an Incident but staff should not disclose the name of the biter when talking to the parents of the bitten child. See the biting policy

 

In this setting the Behaviour Management officer is: Becci Stone

 

Any child presenting difficult behaviour on a regular basis should become the subject for close observation.  Staff should identify:

 

• The nature of the behaviour
• Factors or circumstances which trigger it
• Timing – when and for how long
• People involved
• How does it end

 

The observations need to be written and examined for identifiable patterns and then decisions made about future handling.  Such written observations can provide objective evidence in discussion with parents and other professionals.

 

An incident record should be kept in the setting to record incidences of severe inappropriate behaviour, i.e. behaviour that causes injury to another child.

 

Staff should share their concerns with others and remember that they are only human and may need time out too.  It is not a sign of personal failure to ask for help and advice; it is a sign of maturity, intelligence and understanding.

Staff should always take time to stand back from situations and observe.

 

Never physically punish a child.  A common sense guideline is that staff should only physically remove a child from a situation if they are at physical risk of endangering themselves or the safety of others.

 

SMACKING, BITING OR SHAKING OF CHILDREN IN THE SETTING IS FORBIDDEN

 

Reminders:

Remember that corporal punishment (smacking, biting, and shaking) is illegal, as is depriving a child of food or drink or forcing a child to consume it. 

 

In addition, staff must not use practices that humiliate or frighten children such as poking fun, sarcasm, shouting, using derogatory language, verbal or physical threats or taunts.

 

Violence or abuse of a child by a staff member will result in instant suspension pending a full investigation which will lead to dismissal if proved to be valid.

 

Any programme of behaviour management needs to be continuously evaluated.

 

There are no hard and fast rules or answers to dealing with problem behaviour – what may be an answer for one child’s individual needs may not be suitable for another.

 

 

Kind Regards,

 

Jess, Charlotte and the South Hill Team