Registered Childcare A Bit About Us and Our Daily Routine October 2011
Our family consists of Francesca who is 19, Nicola who is 16, myself, my husband Louis, and our cats Casper and Angel. We normally have breakfast at around 8-8.30am. Francesca is away at University, starting second year, and Nicola travels by bus to JFS 6th Form.
We drop off and collect from FRS Kindergarten across the road from our house and collect from Moss Hall Nursery morning session.
We spend most days playing in our home and garden and get the children out for a walk from time to time. Occasionally we get out to one of the local parks or other children's activities. Sometimes we do a small amount of shopping and occasionally we do need to go to the Doctor. Sometimes we have friends or family to visit and occasionally we visit friends. These would be mums with their own children or childminders with minded children.
During the April to June term we usually have a childcare student with us on placement from Barnet College.
We normally prepare lunch between 12 noon and 12.30pm. If, for some reason, your child sleeps through a mealtime, he or she will be fed on waking.
We do try to offer a varied and well-balanced diet for lunch and endeavour to accommodate individual tastes. Only Kosher meat is served. A selection of fromage frais/non-dairy yogurt and fresh fruit is usually offered in addition to the main course. We will let you know each day what your child has had to eat and drink. Depending on the requirements of each child and the length of their day, tea/supper will be provided.
We have a large selection of new and well-maintained toys, activity centres, small world play, construction, dressing-up clothes/hats, jigsaws, board games and art materials. We sing nursery rhymes with actions and musical instruments and listen to a variety of music.
We also read with the children - we have a huge supply of lovely books including many with multicultural themes. These materials help to develop fine manipulative skills, hand-eye coordination, speech and language, number skills, knowledge of the world and interaction with lots of opportunities for praise and encouragement. We aim to have a theme each week and use books, songs and other activities to reinforce the theme, e.g. counting, shapes, animals, celebrating festivals, and cover the EYFS six areas of learning.
We make formal and informal observations of all the children in our care to enable us to plan activities and be sure their development is on track, linking this to the Early Years Foundation Stage Areas of Learning. We also photograph and video the children so we can show you what they have been doing and for them to enjoy.
We sometimes watch some children’s television or a DVD.
As it is quite difficult to get out and about with the quantity and young age range of children we care for, we have had our garden specially designed and have a swing, rocker, climbing frame/slide, sand and water play, paddling pool, tunnels, pop up tents, gym mats, Wendy House, balls, jumbo chalks, roll-arounds, sit ‘n’ rides, cars, etc. for outside play. The children love to have a change of environment and this equipment gives them opportunities to develop gross motor skills and promote interaction and hand-eye coordination as well as aerobic exercise.
We do try to promote a safe, warm, caring, happy and stimulating environment and encourage the children to learn about sharing, taking turns and treating each other kindly. We are willing to help with toilet training and preparing children for nursery and school. We have a policy for behaviour management and are happy to discuss this or any concerns that may arise with you concerning your child. The children are not subjected to passive smoking.
We have First Aid Certificates, refreshing our training every three years, and have attended many childcare related training courses over the years, (more than eighty hours in 2009). I have an NVQ Level 3 in Early Years Care and Education and Louis holds a Food Hygiene and
Fire Safety Certificate.
We are registered by Ofsted to care for six children under five years and no more than three should be under one year at any one time. We are insured through the NCMA. Our car insurance covers us for transporting minded children and we use age appropriate car seats.
I have been registered since 1994 and Louis since 2000.
Our Registration Certificate and Public Liability Insurance Document are displayed in the hall and all other documentation including our latest Ofsted Inspection Report, policies and training details are available for parents to read. Copies of policies are given to parents with a copy of their signed contract.
We usually, (but not always), take holiday out of (JFS) term time; a couple of weeks during the summer holidays, some days over Christmas and Passover/Easter and perhaps over half term. We will aim to give you as much notice as possible when we need to take time off.
Time and children permitting, we do like to share with you on a regular basis details about your child's day and will ensure that you are kept informed about his or her mood, health, appetite and activities, details of which are written on our Daily Charts.
We make frequent and regular observations of the children, document their development and link this to the Early Years Foundation Stage Areas of Learning.
Days and hours of childminding: Monday to Thursday 8am to 6pm.
Last Ofsted Inspection: Monday 27 September 2010
Outcome: GOOD in all areas
BQAS: Full Quality Assurance Award November 2010
Wendy & Louis Bernardelle
The Wendy House N12