Welcome to Our Nursery!
We provide activities which are challenging, engaging, stimulating and exciting. Each week we plan for the children’s learning based on the early year’s curriculum, including festivals relevant to the very diverse Nest Community. We encourage self-initiated activities, giving children the independence of free choice. Activities are evaluated by the staff and children to see how successful they were and if not what changes need to be made.
Meal times
Mealtimes are a great social occasion where children can share their likes and dislikes, try new colourful and exciting foods and learn about what foods are good for our development and health. We provide a snack in the morning and afternoon, these usually consist of fruit.
Singing and story time
Children choose the songs they would like to sing as well as learning new ones. Action songs and rhymes introduce movement into singing time. Stories are appropriate for their age and we use story props to support them to fully engage in the stories.
Sleeping
The children have their own cots, please bring bedding and any comfort objects such as a soft toy, which we keep in a named bag for your child. and bedding. Soft classical music is played as they are stroked off to sleep in a dimmed area.
Yoga
We practise Yoga with our Children at Nest Nursery. This is especially important after the impact of Covid. We use well-being poses, where the children do real yoga poses whilst self-affirming; I am Strong, Kind, Brave etc.
Children's Surveys
We conduct Children’s Survey’s in our Owls Room as it is a wonderful technique to find out what the children think about our nursery. It also helps us plan new menus and activities...
Makaton
Makaton is useful to any non-verbal child as it supports them to communicate. Very young babies can be taught to sign. It can also support children with EAL.
Family Wall
We have Family Wall’s at Nest Nursery with photographs of the children with their families. These are simply a way for the children to be reminded of their families during the day, to talk about them and hopefully to comfort them.
Emotional Coaching
At Nest Nursery we practise Emotion Coaching, which was first introduced by John Gottman and his colleagues in the USA. Emotion coaching is about helping children to become more aware of their emotions.
Safety and Security
Please allocate a password to nominated persons collecting your child. We will not allow your child to be collected by any person who is not ‘nominated’ and/or does not have the password.
Daily risk assessments are carried out to ensure the nursery is safe. We regularly conduct fire drills and evaluate our evacuation procedures.
Mealtimes
Our children have regular access to water and we encourage Owls and Hatchlings to serve themselves at their water stations. We offer baby led weaning and if your child needs a breast feed, we have created a lovely space where you can sit and feed your baby comfortably.
Mealtimes are relaxed and staff eat with the children, often discussing the food and its nutritional value. Children are offered fruit, which they self prepare and serve during both am and pm sessions as well as natural yoghurt. Owls and Hatchlings cook once a week. The children have a mud kitchen in the garden to pretend to cook food. During special occasions and cultural festivals, we ask you to share your food and suggestions. The children gain an appreciation of food if we share culturally diverse recipes and meals frequently.
We encourage baby-led weaning with all children. We will of course help any child/baby who is having trouble feed themselves and make sure all food is cut up to the appropriate size to eliminate any choking hazards. Please note that we do not serve sausages or grapes or Blueberries at Nest Nursery due to the high risk of choking.
Sleep/rest
Younger children have naps when needed. Children are supported to get to sleep by a familiar adult who remains nearby. Children may have a bottle/cup of milk, or a comforter, such as a blanket, soft toy or a dummy from home. Dummies can be dangerous if children run with them in their mouths and can restrict speech, therefore we will try to encourage children to leave them in a safe place until rest times. Dummies, pros and cons: your dummy questions answered | NCT
Settling In
You will be contacted by Karen or Jade to arrange settling in sessions. We usually suggest a minimum of 3 staggered sessions to get your baby used to their new environment, the staff and their key person. These sessions are planned generally 1-2 weeks before your child is due to start nursery. You will complete an ‘All About Me’ All About Me Hatchlings or All About Me - Owls
To help your child settle in we make a Family Book / Poster with them (or for them depending on the age of the child). We will ask you to send in photos before your child arrives for their first settle so we can place these in the room together.
Our Nursery Fees
| Age of Child | Full day (8am - 6pm) | Friday (9-3) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 - 2 Years | £104 | £84 |
| 2 Years + | £94 | £74 |
| 3 Years + | £84 | £70 |
Available Discounts
NHS Staff - 10% off fees
Full time space - 10% off fees
Sibling discount - 12% off fees for eldest sibling
Meet The Team
Click HereHow to book
You can book using our Famly App. This app keeps parents in the loop and saves staff hours every day. With personal news feeds, care updates, invoices, payment processing, messaging, registration and so much more, Famly helps staff say goodbye to paperwork and hello to more time with the children.
Funding
Your child may be eligible to receive 15 or 30 hours of free government funded childcare.
Tax free childcare
Tax free childcare is a method of paying childcare costs (including your nursery invoice) which provides a significant saving each month. It can be used alongside both 15 and 30 hours of funding.
The eligibility criteria closely follows that of 30 hours funding. However, unlike 30 hours funding, it is available to all nursery age children. Full details of eligibility can be found here
We also offer a 10% discount to all NHS Staff
Workplace Nursery Incentive
We are excited to inform you about our partnership with 'Enjoy Benefits'. If you are working for yourself, are able to pay yourself through PAYE & use the co working hub as your workplace, then you could save up to £2700 per annum by using this scheme. Please take a look at this link for more information and if you need to call Enjoy Benefits, they can take you through the registration process which is very simple. This is a completely free benefit. Our nursery also benefits as we get an allowance from this scheme to spend on equipment.
Our Nursery
Example of Curriculum
At Mara Nursery we follow the Curiosity Approach and Planning in the Moment.
Following is a brief description of each.
If you would like more information, please contact us by email: [email protected].
A Baseline assessment is completed with the parent after the child’s initial six weeks in the nursery. This entails a zoom meeting between the parent and the child’s key person.
Planning: children are planned for individually. Each child is ‘focused’ on regularly. Parents are invited to help us to decide on the child’s next steps of learning which are facilitated during the two-week focus period.
We carry out three types of observations which help us to support the focus child’s learning and development.
- Objective led planning - when we work with the child we will have the identified next step in mind. We follow the child’s interest to support their learning.
- Planning in the moment – this is when we notice an opportunity to support the child’s learning during their play, this may or may not be linked to their next step.
- Spontaneous observations – we notice something the child is doing that we wish to record but we do not feel it appropriate or necessary to intervene.
Information including observations and photographs are entered onto a Nursery software programme called Famly which parents have access to. Parents can also add their own photos and information.
Running alongside the work we do with the Focus Children we have pre-planned Continuous Provision. Each age group (room) has a personalised Continuous Provision plan. The Continuous Provision plan offers age-appropriate ideas for activities in selected areas of learning to ensure we are offering the children a broad, rich curriculum full of exciting provocations to play and learn.
Workshop style opportunities run alongside to facilitate independent learning. Continuous Provision is on a 6-weekly cycle, it is flexible and adapted to meet children’s needs and interests.
The Curiosity Approach
Curiosity is the very foundation of learning. It is what drives children in the early years to explore, do, and think for themselves. It is the key to fostering that curiosity lies in the way you set out your environment.
In a Curiosity Approach setting, you won’t find brightly coloured walls and hundreds of shiny plastic toys. Instead, you will see wooden materials, natural resources, and neutral backgrounds that allow the colour to shine. Of course, stimulation is key to developing little brains and building those connections that help them learn. But bright, busy and plastic provisions are not doing it in the right way. Plastic all smells the same and feels the same. On the other hand, if you are recycling and sourcing open-ended resources and natural materials you are bringing different elements, textures, feels and smells. A sense of curiosity and wonder will come with it.
Summer Menu
| Snack offered at 9:30am: berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries) or natural yoghurt with milk or water | |||||
| Week 1 | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch 11.30 | *Mediterranean Mackerel Pasta Served with vegetables Vegetarian option: Vegetable Pasta |
Mild vegetable curry with cauliflower/potato mash Poppadoms Crunchy Carrot sticks |
Bulgur wheat and mince turkey, served with pepper slices Vegetarian option: Meat free mince |
Sesame fish balls served with crunchy carrots, cucumber slices and peas Vegetarian option: Potato cake and quorn |
Seasoned lemon chicken drumsticks with sweet potato wedges and peas Vegetarian option: Falafel balls |
| Snack offered after 2pm Fresh veg sticks, homemade dip served with whole milk or water. | |||||
| Tea - Light Meal 4.15 | Savoury shredded chicken & veg pancakes Served with Cottage Cheese |
Minced beef pepper, courgette, and cheese quesadilla served with tomatoes and veg sticks Vegetarian option: Vegetable and cheese |
*Orzo with Parmesan and Peas | *Lentil Bolognese | Selection of wholemeal wraps served with vegetable sticks & dips Homemade guacamole or hummus Options, Tuna & sweetcorn mayo |
| Snack offered at 9:30am: berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries) or natural yoghurt with milk or water | |||
| Week 1 | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch 11.30 | *Mediterranean Mackerel Pasta Served with vegetables Vegetarian option: Vegetable Pasta |
Mild vegetable curry with cauliflower/potato mash Poppadoms Crunchy Carrot sticks |
Bulgur wheat and mince turkey, served with pepper slices Vegetarian option: Meat free mince |
| Snack offered after 2pm Fresh veg sticks, homemade dip served with whole milk or water. | |||
| Tea - Light Meal 4.15 | Savoury shredded chicken & veg pancakes Served with Cottage Cheese |
Minced beef pepper, courgette, and cheese quesadilla served with tomatoes and veg sticks Vegetarian option: Vegetable and cheese |
*Orzo with Parmesan and Peas |
| Snack offered at 9:30am: berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries) or natural yoghurt with milk or water | ||
| Week 1 | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|
| Lunch 11.30 | Sesame fish balls served with crunchy carrots, cucumber slices and peas Vegetarian option: Potato cake and quorn |
Seasoned lemon chicken drumsticks with sweet potato wedges and peas Vegetarian option: Falafel balls |
| Snack offered after 2pm Fresh veg sticks, homemade dip served with whole milk or water. | ||
| Tea - Light Meal 4.15 | *Lentil Bolognese | Selection of wholemeal wraps served with vegetable sticks & dips Homemade guacamole or hummus Options, Tuna & sweetcorn mayo |
| Snack offered at 9:30am: berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries) or natural yoghurt with milk or water | |||||
| Week 2 | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch 11.30 | Hallomi curry served with egg rice | Loaded chicken and potato casserole Cucumber and tomato slices Vegetarian option:Tofu casserole |
Turkey burgers served with crunchy sweet potato cubes Vegetarian Vegan Corn burgers |
Vegetable lasagne served with crunchy garlic bites & cucumber | Chicken teriyaki served with basmati rice and broccoli florets Vegetarian option: Peppers and halloumi |
| Snack offered after 2pm (after nap): Fresh veg sticks or crackers with whole milk or water. | |||||
| Tea - Light Meal 4.15 | *Tuna sweetcorn bites served with rainbow & couscous (peppers, onion, courgette) Vegetarian option: Cous cous and begetarian bites |
*Pitta margarita pizzas served with crunchy carrot batons & toppings sliced mushrooms & peas | *Creamy Salmon Pasta served with cucumber & crunchy pepper strips Vegetarian option: creamy vegetarian pasta |
*Homemade pot noodle (sweetcorn & chopped green beans) | * Spinach, mixed beans & feta puff pastry triangles served with veg sticks and tzatziki dip |
| Snack offered at 9:30am: berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries) or natural yoghurt with milk or water | |||
| Week 2 | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch 11.30 | Hallomi curry served with egg rice | Loaded chicken and potato casserole Cucumber and tomato slices Vegetarian option:Tofu casserole |
Turkey burgers served with crunchy sweet potato cubes Vegetarian option: Vegan Corn burgers |
| Snack offered after 2pm (after nap): Fresh veg sticks or crackers with whole milk or water. | |||
| Tea - Light Meal 4.15 | *Tuna sweetcorn bites served with rainbow & couscous (peppers, onion, courgette) Vegetarian option: Cous cous and begetarian bites |
*Pitta margarita pizzas served with crunchy carrot batons & toppings sliced mushrooms & peas | *Creamy Salmon Pasta served with cucumber & crunchy pepper strips Vegetarian option: creamy vegetarian pasta |
| Snack offered at 9:30am: berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries) or natural yoghurt with milk or water | |||
| Week 2 | Thursday | Friday | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch 11.30 | Vegetable lasagne served with crunchy garlic bites & cucumber | Chicken teriyaki served with basmati rice and broccoli florets Vegetarian option: Peppers and halloumi |
|
| Snack offered after 2pm (after nap): Fresh veg sticks or crackers with whole milk or water. | |||
| Tea - Light Meal 4.15 | *Homemade pot noodle (sweetcorn & chopped green beans) | * Spinach, mixed beans & feta puff pastry triangles served with veg sticks and tzatziki dip | |
*Children are served breakfast between 8 - 8.45am selection of cereals and toast or fresh berries Pumpkins Room children may have more frequent meal options due to their age and stage of development, alongside formulae or milk. All children are provided with access to fresh jugs of water every day with beakers to help themselves. Pumpkins have beakers. All other children drink from a cup/china mug.
Routines during the day
Our daily routines for the younger children are split into morning and afternoon sessions.
The morning sessions run from 8am until 12.30pm. The afternoon sessions run from 1.30pm until 6pm.
Older children follow "The Curiosity Approach" with Prime areas incorporated throughout the whole day: personal, social and emotional development, physical development and communication and language.
Trips and visits
Trips from the
nursery are pre-planned and we aim to give parents at least a
weeks’ notice. The ratio of children to staff is 2:1 regardless of
age so children tend to go for trips in smaller groups.
We welcome any suggestions for local trips and visits. Please request our trips and visits policy from the office.
Some examples of trips that we conduct include; going to the post office, going to the local shops, a trip to the park or to Brook Farm Open Space. All trips must be risk assessed prior to the children leaving the nursery. Staff are required to complete an observation on the trip to show the educational significance of their trip and why it was carried out.
Virtual tour
