We welcome children aged 2 and rising 3 at Little Oaks One, where they will spend an exciting year of discovery fuelled by the rapid development of their memory skills. A toddler’s third year is an exciting time of imitating and remembering lots of new language, learning about the world, and also about their own emotions and feelings.
Between the ages of 2 and 3 their brain power increases at an astonishing rate, so their improved thinking, learning and memory skills give them all kinds of new ways to play, explore and express their opinions. At this stage toddlers’ brains are like sponges, absorbing the way people act towards each other; remembering places and faces they’ve seen before; learning how toys work and games are played; and recognising familiar noises, songs and rhymes – sometimes joining in with the words and actions. We support and extend children’s cognitive and emotional development through our warm, friendly and richly-resourced environment.
Following the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum closely, with an individual learning plan for each child, we ensure rapid progress from children’s starting points and ensure a well-rounded, happy experience.
In October 2016, Ofsted graded us OUTSTANDING in all areas. They said:
‘Children thoroughly explore the outdoors every day and they gain excellent skills, such as climbing and running. They explore different roles, for example, as they use their imagination to cook pretend food or dress up as different characters. Children thrive in an environment where they make excellent progress from their starting points. They are highly motivated, confident and eager to learn. Children develop a vast array of key skills and high levels of well-being that support their future learning and readiness for school.’
‘Staff recognise the uniqueness of each child and help them to experiment and explore, using their interests to come to a better understanding. Children remain fascinated and engrossed. They gain an excellent sense of satisfaction as staff expertly encourage them to think about their learning and find different ways to make something work.’
Term Dates
Autumn 2019
Term Starts: 16/09/2019
Term Ends: 12/12/2019
Half Term: 28/10 - 01/11/2019
Spring 2020
Term Starts: 09/01/2020
Term Ends: 27/03/2020
Half Term: 17 - 21/02/2019
Summer 2020
Term Starts: 21/04/2020
Term Ends: 09/07/2020
Half Term: 25 - 29/05/2020
Admissions and Fees
Our fees are £8.00 per hour and invoices are issued at the start of the year. Parents have three payment options: monthly over 10 months, termly (September, January and April) or the whole amount in September.
Funding
Unfortunately, government funding does not cover our costs; we operate with a child/staff ratio of a maximum of 4 children to 1 member of staff, compared to the government limits of 8 or even 13 to 1. However, conscious of rising living costs to families, and believing that parents are entitled to financial assistance from the government we are registered as a funded provider, whilst asking parents to make a contribution to bridge the gap between the government funding and our actual running costs. This will allow us to continue to offer an outstanding nursery environment with low ratios of staff to children whilst enabling parents to significantly reduce their childcare costs.
However, if you wish to avail yourself of only the funded hours please alert us when nominating your preferred sessions. We accept payment by childcare vouchers and have accounts with all of the major providers.
Helpful Hints:
· Children become eligible to claim funding from the start of the term following their third birthday
· A child born between 1 January and 31 March is entitled to claim from the start of the summer term
· A child born between 1 April and 31 August is entitled to claim from the start of the autumn term
· A child born between 1 September and 31 December is entitled to claim from the start of the spring term
· Full fees apply to any hours over 15 per week
When your child is eligible we will give you a parental agreement form to complete. You will need to fill out the form and return it to us, so that we can then make a claim for funding from the Early Years Team.
Fees are reviewed on an annual basis.
For our full admissions policy please drop us a line for it to be sent to you by email.
