Service Information

The Children's Nursery provides day care for children aged three months to five years. Priority is given to Swindon Borough Council employees but others are welcome to apply. A waiting list operates to allocate places.

The children are grouped into ‘home based' rooms according to age and their stage of development. These are:

• Pooh Corner: three months to two years
• Tigger's Territory: 18 months to three years
• Piglet's Place: 18 months to three years
• Eeyore's Empire: three years to five years

Nursery Opening Hours

• Monday to Friday, 51 weeks per year (closing for Christmas and New Year)
• Morning session 8.00am-12.45pm
• Afternoon session 12.45pm-5.30pm

Applications and Pricing

Application forms and details of pricing are available on request.

Meals

Meals are included in the nursery fees and are tailored to suit your child's individual needs, and our aim is to provide fresh food, prepared on-site, that is additive, preservative and GM free.

Our Aim

To provide a warm, friendly, caring atmosphere designed to promote happy, confident fulfilled children with the knowledge that they will receive a sound and relevant base for their education.

Child Centred Environment

Children are offered a range of stimulating equipment, which develops their natural curiosity, physical skills and social and emotional attitudes. All activities are planned and offered in a safe, caring, stimulating environment.

Children are offered a variety of individual activities to develop their physical and intellectual skills, language and literacy abilities and to promote social and emotional well being, by learning through play. Children's learning is observed and assessed regularly. We work within government statutory frameworks and guidance and are regularly inspected by Ofsted achieving a 'Good' standard at our last inspection with many areas that are 'Outstanding'.

Staff

Our staff are highly qualified and experienced in the childcare sector. They receive regular support sessions and excellent training and development opportunities. Although they are based in a particular room our whole nursery approach means staff can move around the nursery to support other members of the team or specific children when necessary.

Parental Involvement

We work in partnership with parents and carers consulting and sharing information with them about the needs and progress of each child. Every child is allocated a keyworker, who is responsible for this as well as producing regular reports on the child's development. We welcome and appreciate any new ideas or suggestions for activities you may have.

We also have a parent's committee, who have a notice board in the nursery. They meet from time to time to organise social and fund raising activities. They also provide a forum for communication and consultation between parents and staff. In the same way they offer their advice, suggestions and potential solutions for issues the nursery faces. If you would like to have a say in how the committee funds are spent to benefit the nursery and to share your views you will be welcome to join them.

Neighbourhood Links

We have five Neighbourhood Nursery Initiative places. Parents or carers of children who live in areas of disadvantage have priority for these places to enable them to return to work, education, training or adult learning. We also work in partnership with the Children's Centre located at Drove Primary School.

Early Education Funding and Preschool

Children qualify for funding in the term after their third birthday for free 2.5hour sessions (3 by 31st Aug for Sept term, by 31st Dec for Jan term and by 31st March for April term)– up to 5 per week for 38 weeks a year (school term time).

Families who require childcare are able to purchase wrap around sessions before and after the free sessions that added together provide for childcare throughout the whole day as is available in the rest of the nursery.

For families who just require access to their free entitlement we offer a preschool session in the morning from 9.00am to 11.30am Monday to Friday term time only.

Keeping in Touch Days

A new government initiative means while on maternity leave mum's and adoptive parents can now take up to 10 ‘keeping in touch days' without it affecting their statutory leave and pay. We may be able to assist with childcare to help make this easier even if you aren't planning for your child to take up a place at nursery– please contact us to check our availability.

Our Ethos

We believe our ethos is summed up in The Children's Nursery Equal Opportunities statement:

"We are committed to providing an environment where children feel valued and free from discrimination, which reflects our multicultural society and where families, staff and children work together. Today's children are tomorrow's adults and in providing equal opportunities we can strive to challenge discrimination and prejudice in future generations."

Award

The Children's Nursery were winners of the Swindon Borough Council Customer Services Team Excellence Award 2007

Contact

The Children's Nursery
Swindon Borough Council
Euclid Street
Swindon
SN1 2JH

Tel: 01793 463573
E-mail: childrensnursery@swindon.gov.uk

Business Manager: Lynn Webb
Childcare Manager: Jackie Hughes