Policies and Procedures
The Nursery operates within the bounds of the Abacus Ark Nursery School Policies and Procedures.
The Parent/Carer understands that:
An abridged version of Policies and Procedures are available on the company website;
The Nursery has an “open access to information” policy and therefore Parents/Carers have access during normal opening hours to view the full details of all the Policies and Procedures under which it operates;
The Nursery will care for their Child in accordance with these policies and procedures and the Parent/Carer consents to Abacus Ark Nursery School caring for their Child within this framework.
The Parent/Carer agrees to aid the Nursery in upholding all Policies, including the following:
Food and Drink Policy
No food and drink can be brought into the Nursery. Only food provided by Abacus Ark may be permitted on the premises.
Children with Long-term medical conditions
Parents/Carers will contribute to a risk assessment. They should be shown around the Nursery, understand the routines and activities and point out anything which they think may be a risk factor for their child.
Achieving Positive Behaviour
Our Nursery believes that children flourish best when their personal, social and emotional needs are met and where there are clear and developmentally appropriate expectations for their behaviour.
Children need to learn to consider the views and feelings, needs and rights, of others and the impact that their behaviour has on people, places and objects. This is a developmental task that requires support, encouragement, teaching and setting the correct example. The principles that underpin how we achieve positive and considerate behaviour exist within our programme for promoting personal, social and emotional development.
Maintaining children’s safety and security on premises
We maintain the highest possible security of our premises to ensure that each child is safely cared for during their time with us.
Confidentiality
In our Nursery, staff and managers can be said to have a ‘confidential relationship’ with families. It is our intention to respect the privacy of children and their parents and carers, while ensuring that they access high quality early years care and education in our Nursery. We aim to ensure that all parents and carers can share their information in the confidence that it will only be used to enhance the welfare of their children. There are record keeping systems in place that meet legal requirements; the means we use to store and share that information takes place within the framework of the Data Protection Act (2018) and the Human Rights Act (1998).
Equality, Inclusion and Valuing Diversity Policy
Abacus Ark Nursery School will ensure that our service is fully inclusive in meeting the needs of all children, particularly those that arise from their ethnic heritage, social and economic background, gender, ability or disability. Abacus Ark Nursery School is committed to anti-discriminatory practices to promote equality of opportunity and valuing diversity for all children, families and staff.
Parent/Carer Involvement
We believe that children benefit most from early years education and care when parents and Nurseries work together in partnership.
Our aim is to support parents as their children's first and most important educators by involving them in their children's education and in the full life of the Nursery. We also aim to support parents in their own continuing education and personal development.
Some parents are less well represented in early years settings; these include fathers, parents who live apart from their children, but who still play a part in their lives, as well as working parents. In carrying out the following procedures, we will ensure that all parents are included.
When we refer to ‘parents’ we mean both mothers and fathers; these include both natural or birth parents, as well as step-parents and parents who do not live with their children, but have contact with them and play a part in their lives. ‘Parents’ also includes same sex parents, as well as foster parents.