Admin matters
What to do if your child is unwell
We ask that you keep your child at home if they are ill. Please let us know that your child will be absent by telephoning reception on the first day of absence before the start of the session they are due to attend. This will help us to record absences appropriately and inform us of any general health issues across the school population.
Note that in the absence of any communication from you, school office staff will telephone to ascertain the reason for your child's absence and will ask for an indication of when they are likely to return to school.
We follow Public Health guidelines on infection control in schools and recommended exclusions. In particular, please ensure that you keep your child at home for 48 hours after the end of vomiting and/or diarrhoea symptoms. This quarantine period is essential to control the spread of stomach bugs, which are often prevalent in nursery. Note that we apply the same rules for our staff as for the children.
For childhood illnesses such as chickenpox there are different recommended exclusion times. This is important as there are often vulnerable or immune-compromised children in schools as well as pregnant mothers. If your child becomes ill during a session, we will call you or your emergency contact and ask that you come to collect as soon as possible.
Children who suffer from asthma should have a inhaler kept in school so that their medication is always on hand.
If a child has a serious diagnosed condition, we will always work with health professionals to secure the best outcomes for the child.
Other absences
We discourage the taking of holidays during term time and value the regular attendance of all our pupils. If you are planning for your child to be absent from nursery for any reason, please complete a Notification of Absence form available from the school office or online.
Accidents
Accidents happen! All accidents are logged, explaining how the accident occurred and what action was taken. If your child has any kind of head injury, even if it appears minor at the time, or if we feel they may need medical attention as the result of an injury, we will contact you or your emergency contact. This is usually for information only but if we feel you should come to collect your child, we will let you know. Otherwise, we are happy to monitor and you will be given a slip on your arrival, which should be shown to medical professionals should the child need treatment later.
In the extremely rare case of a serious injury or illness, if you were not readily available, a senior member of staff would accompany your child to hospital and remain on hand until you arrived.
Snacks and Milk
Children have access to a snack bar in Robin room and in Kingfisher room and are encouraged to take a break and have a drink or something to eat when they feel like it.
Milk is provided free under the Nursery Milk Scheme, which is operated on behalf of the Department of Health.
Allergens
The school is a nut-free zone. We sometimes use foodstuffs as curriculum resources for play and/or tasting so it is very important that we have information about any allergens or food intolerances the children may have.
If your child takes meals with Batford Day Care, you will be asked separately to provide details of food allergies and preferences.
What to Wear
It is important that children wear clothes and shoes they can manage for themselves, be comfortable in and safe to run jump and climb. Nursery school is a time for learning to be independent so that the children are really ready for primary school. Elasticated waists, Velcro shoes and easy on coats are a big help when you are three or four years old.
Uniform is not mandatory.
We have a very affordable uniform, which washes and wears well and this helps to give the children a sense of identity whilst also supporting good behaviour and encouraging full involvement in the curriculum (some children don’t want to be involved in messy play if they are wearing their best clothes). Essentially, uniform is good ‘work wear’ for small children and protects the rest of their wardrobe from accidental damage; however, although we encourage the wearing of our logo'd polo shirt and/or sweatshirt, the purchase of these items is entirely voluntary.
Beat School Uniforms can supply all your uniform needs and will deliver all items to your home within 48 hours of ordering - often quicker!
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Ordering is easy ONLINE at www.beatschooluniforms.co.uk BY PHONE on 020 3362 2930 or by visiting the shop at 4 Station Road, Harpenden AL5 4SE 9am - 5.30pm Monday to Saturday |
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We welcome donations of used uniform in good condition. These are then made available for a small contribution to school funds.
Unscheduled school closure
In the event of Batford Nursery School being closed in an emergency (e.g. severe weather, a boiler breakdown, flooding or emergency lockdown situations or evacuations), we will contact parents/guardians by text and email, so please make sure your contact details are kept up to date.
Money matters
We are funded by Hertfordshire County Council, using a national formula based largely on pupil numbers. You may know that nursery funding is currently not guaranteed beyond 2023 and that there has been no increase in funding rates for some time already. Batford Nursery School is fortunate to have the support of the Day Care, which helps us to remain financially sustainable and to continue to deliver the excellent provision of which we are so proud. However, we are not complacent and need to monitor our budget closely and it is likely that we will increasingly look to fundraising to help to continue to offer an enriched curriculum.
Voluntary contributions
Staff costs in nurseries are high and this sometimes means there is less money available for day to day resources, such as craft consumables. We therefore ask all parents if they are able to make a voluntary contribution (payable at the start of each term), which we use to cover cooking ingredients, compost, seeds and bulbs for growing, etc. as well as paying for the ‘Living Eggs’ programme, whereby we hatch chickens in the nursery and watch them grow for a week; and the butterfly hatching kit. It also pays for the annual visit from the owls.
We also ask for voluntary contributions based on cost for the visit from Ark Farm and for the entertainment for the Christmas party.
Fundraising
Throughout the year, we run a number of fundraising events which all contribute vital funds to the school. We have an annual ‘Sponsored Circuit’ as well as bottle tombolas and cake sales. Your participation in these events is much appreciated.
The school photographer visits regularly. Purchase of individual or group photos of your child is of course entirely voluntary but the school benefits from commission in respect of all sales.
For parents who shop via the Internet, we ask you to sign up to Easyfundraising: every time you shop online via easyfundraising at one of the 3,300 retailers in the scheme, including John Lewis, Sainsbury’s and Booking.com, a donation will be made to Batford Nursery School, and it won’t cost you any extra. This really is a case of looking after the pennies to look after the pounds, as every little contribution adds up.
It’s really simple to get started: Go to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/batfordnursery/
Gifts
We know that parents very often register their thanks for the work of staff in the form of a small personal gift, e.g. at Christmas or as children leave the school. The school’s Gifts and Hospitality Policy permits these, provided the gift is valued at no more than £30. However, gifts of money or goods above this amount should be made to the school, rather than to an individual, and are very gratefully received.
Charitable fundraising
In addition to our own fundraising, we also get involved with Sport Relief and Red Nose Day and encourage the children to take part in events to raise money for these worthy causes.
Moving on
Our children are with us for such a short time, but in the space of a year we get to know each individual very well and our goal is always to build those strong foundations that will ensure they are as prepared as possible for the next step in their educational career.
We work closely with the local primary schools to ease the children’s transition, especially where there are any special educational needs or personal circumstances that might otherwise provide a barrier to transition. On the schools' transition day in July, your child will spend a short time visiting their new school.
Your child’s Tapestry online learning journal will be shared with their new school.