Corsham's Happy Place

Congratulations to everyone at Snapdragons Corsham which has recently received its latest Ofsted report following an inspection just before the lockdown.

It seems a very long time ago now – we’ve all been through such strange times since then! I think we all agree it’s good to be back to something approaching normality for the children as they return to nursery and their friends and nursery ‘family’. We’re certainly enjoying seeing everyone again.

The Ofsted inspector was struck by the enthusiasm of the children and the activities and resources, saying,

“Children are motivated and keen to explore the wide range of interesting activities and resources.”

She also commented on the commitment of the team:

“The managers and staff are committed to providing the best possible care and education for all children. They plan a broad and exciting curriculum that helps children effectively to make good progress from their starting points and develop the skills they need for future learning”

Overall, and best of all, she saw how:

“Children enjoy their time in this bright and welcoming nursery”

Which is just how we like it! Have a read of the entire report yourself by tapping the button below.

Registrations open for Cribbs Causeway

We’ve got some good news for those of you waiting for information on our forthcoming Cribbs Causeway nursery - registrations are now open.

The two-month lockdown meant work has been delayed on the construction, although we’re still hoping to open by the end of the year or January 2021 at the latest. We’ll be able to be more specific once we have our recruitment drive underway and we’re closer to that timeframe.

Meanwhile, if you’d like to make sure you get one of the first available spaces, then you can now register your child with us. We won’t be taking registration fees for now, so you only need to complete the form with your details and we’ll contact you nearer the time with more information.

Register your child

Fees

On another note, we have also published our fees, so you can see what our daily and sessional costs will be for the different age groups. We will also be accepting the early years entitlement funding, so you can read more about that on this page.

View the Cribbs Causeway fees

We’re getting very excited as we get closer to opening and hope you’re feeling the same way. The nursery is looking fantastic so far, as the roof is now complete and we have started on the interiors. Before long, it’ll be highly polished and ready for children to start playing!

Introduction of COVID-19 testing for under fives

Below we’ve added some information regarding the new testing procedures for children under the age of five.

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Why could Under 5s not be tested up until now?

• It was necessary to review and validate the existing supply of testing swabs to ensure that they could be clinically approved for the testing of Under-5s. This has now been completed and the extension of eligibility is now appropriate.

Aren’t the testing swabs used for adults unsafe for Under 5s?

• We have followed updated clinical guidance throughout on the suitability of testing swabs for use on children under the age of five. This is being supplemented by updated instructions for parents and guardians of those under five.

Why are Scotland and Wales not able to test Under 5s:

• Testing eligibility is the responsibility of each individual Devolved Administration.

Will it hurt/cause them harm?

• It is possible that children may experience some mild discomfort, but it should not hurt. 

Who carries out the test?

• Children under 5 must have the test performed by a parent or guardian.

How do I book a test for my under 5 child?

• You can ask for a test online at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-for-coronavirus/ask-for-a-test-to-check-if-you-have-coronavirus/

  We'll ask you:

• how you want to get the test – you may be able to choose between driving to a regional testing site or getting a home test kit

• for details such as your name, mobile phone number and address

• The Coronavirus Testing Call Centre is available to assist eligible individuals through the process of booking and taking a test for Coronavirus. The Call Centre handles all enquiries about the testing process, from how someone books an appointment, to what they do upon receipt of their result. 

• The Coronavirus Testing Call Centre can be contacted on 119 (in England and Wales) and 0300 303 2713 (in Scotland and Northern Ireland) between the hours of 7am – 11pm.

• The service can be accessed by people with hearing or speech difficulties by calling 18001 119 (in England and Wales) or 18001 0300 303 2713 (in Scotland and Northern Ireland).

How will their results be shared?

• When a child takes a test, their parent/guardian will be told how results will be passed to them. This may be by email or by text or both.  We are aiming to return results within 48 hours of tests taken at regional test sites and 72 hours for home tests.

June 1st re-opening

Hello everyone,

We are pleased to announce that the Government expects us to be able to welcome children back to nursery from 1st June. This is subject to Government confirmation by 28th May. We are so very excited to welcome back both our team and the nursery families.

The Department for Education has published detailed guidance which enables nurseries to care for children safely and minimise the risk of transmission of the coronavirus. Unlike many schools, nursery layouts are generally designed to facilitate small groups of children which will help us to create distance between groups of children.

We have been open at several sites throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and so already have some ideas of what safety measures we can implement but, as we will be welcoming more children back, we will need to develop these further.

Our Safe Operating Procedures and full risk assessments will be available to you before reopening and these will be regularly reviewed and updated. We are unable to share our Safe Operating Procedures yet, as we continue to receive updates and guidance from Local Authorities and/or the DfE daily, so these are still working documents. We are also looking at every single parent suggestion if it has not been considered already. Thank you for taking the time to share these with us, we greatly appreciate it.

We are grateful to you for completing the return to nursery survey recently. This has helped us to get a clearer idea of how many of you would like to bring back your children in June. With under three weeks to go, we would now invite you to complete a booking form, formally advising us of your intentions. We would ask you to complete this by midnight on Tuesday 19th May. This will allow us enough time to plan out our staffing needs and ensure that they are all up to date with our new policies.

Please bear in mind that this form is for sessions in June only. You will able to reduce your normal booking pattern by around 25%, if you wish, in order to ease children back in. In July, your booking patterns will revert to normal. If you wish to permanently change this, please email your nursery with the normal one month’s notice. The booking pattern that you indicate on this form will stand for the whole of June.

On the booking form, there will also be an option to not attend, but instead pay a 30% retainer for the month of June. This will be based on your previous booking pattern. If a booking form is not completed, then it will be assumed your child is not returning and in this instance we will waive the notice period. From 1st June, normal notice periods of one month will apply. All families who do not return a form will be contacted during June to confirm that they did receive the form.

We understand that several parents have said it is too early to decide, which is why we have introduced the option of a retainer. We absolutely understand and we want to support you in feeling flexible to make a decision.

If you do not complete the booking form to attend in June but then change your mind after Wednesday 20th May and would like your children to attend, we will accommodate this where possible, but it will then be subject to availability and staffing. As we intend to make our staffing decisions very quickly, this availability may be very limited.

We understand that there are many questions. We have added a list of FAQs that may help with some of these to our website and will let you know when our Safe Operating Procedures are released later in the month.

Thank you for your support during this time. We look forward to welcoming you all back and providing a safe, creative and nurturing environment to all your children.

Update 18/05/2020: Our Safe Operating Procedures are now available to read here.

Return to nursery survey

Good evening,

We hope that this message finds you all well and healthy. We are contacting you in response to the latest government news on the gradual lifting of the lockdown and in particular, how it affects the childcare sector and Snapdragons.

The Government have indicated that early years settings will be able to open from 1st June for more children. We will have to adhere to safety guidelines and we will do everything possible to minimise risk for both staff and children. A full risk assessment will be completed and shared with you, prior to 1st June.

We know that many of you will be returning to work, if you have not done so already, and have questions regarding availability of childcare spaces. In order for us to try and plan ahead, initially over the next few months but also in the longer term, we are asking you to complete an online survey to help us build a picture of what measures we could potentially take.

One thing is clear, we may not be running at our normal capacity for a long while to come. We also do not yet know whether there will be restrictions on the number or ages of children who can attend. We do however, remain committed to providing a safe environment for both children and staff, whilst preserving as many staff jobs as possible.

We have been safely operating five nurseries for keyworker children and will be able to build on that success in the coming months. We will explore all options, including a holding retainer if you would like to keep your child’s space open but are not ready to return your child to nursery yet.

We cannot commit to an amount until we have evaluated demand but hope to include more on this next time we are in touch. For nurseries that operate wrap-around care i.e. breakfast, after school and holiday club, we will need to seek further guidance in respect of introducing different groups of children into a setting.

We know that many of you have questions and as soon as we have collated results from our workforce survey and our parent survey, we will be back in touch to try and answer some of these for you. This is our absolute priority and we hope to be back in touch very soon with some answers.

When completing the survey, please ensure that only one parent from each household fills it in to avoid duplicate responses. The closing date for this survey is this Thursday, so please complete them before then to help us plan ahead.

For further information, you can refer to the dedicated page on the Gov.uk website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/reopening-schools-and-other-educational-settings-from-1-june

Thank you,

Rose, Paul, James and Jennifer