Facilities
Toy Box Day Nursery recognises the fact that all children develop at a different rate, therefore the focus is on stage rather than age. We provide facilities and activities to meet all stages of development ensuring that the children are encouraged and allowed to develop at their own rate.
Therefore, we provide care in three clearly defined areas, the ‘Baby Unit’ for those under 18 months, the ‘Early Years Unit’ for children aged between 18 months and three and half years and finally a ‘Preschool Unit’ for children three and half years and over. Each of the units has it’s own staff team led by a Senior Nursery Nurse who is highly qualified with years of experience of caring for children of this stage.
Before any child starts at the Nursery we strongly encourage a series of introductory visits and settle sessions to increase confidence and to help the child settle in.
The Baby Unit
The Baby Unit is situated on the first floor and is completely self contained having it’s own clearly defined Policies and Procedures. The staff group providing care in the Baby Unit maintain very close contact with parents/carers to ensure a flexible daily routine is built up around the babies feeding and sleeping patterns. Each day, staff complete individual reports for every baby which records nappy changes, feeds and sleep patterns. The reports are always verbally explained and given to the person who is collecting the baby from the Nursery.
The Baby unit consists of:
Pooh Bears Room
A large attractively decorated room with a separate carpet and hard floor area that primarily facilitates care for mobile and non-mobile babies. A wide range of toys, equipment, activities and experiences that are designed to encourage the development of a young child’s emerging skills, i.e. visual, perceptual, social, language, motor, manipulative, hand-eye co-ordination and discovery are available. There is a free standing nappy change within the room so that children do not have to leave the comfortable surroundings of their base room.
Rabbit Room
The Rabbit room which is situated on the first floor. This room caters for children aged 1 to 2 years. This is a large room with separate carpet and hard floor area facilitating appropriate safety and comfort. The emphasis is very much on learning through play, with a large range of varied activities on offer including sand, water play, home corner, jigsaws, games, construction toys, painting, printing and collage plus many others. There is a free standing nappy change within the room so that children do not have to leave the comfortable surroundings of their base room.
Milk Preparation Room
This is equipped with it’s own fridge and microwave and has storage areas for milk feeds and the food required by the babies. The Nursery will provide foods suitable for weaning which will be discussed with parents and carers to ensure we meet the individual child’s needs.
Sleep Areas
The sleep room is situated at the end of Pooh Bears room and is equipped with six cots for the younger babies to sleep in, whilst special mattresses are available for older children to sleep on.
The Early Year Units
The Early Years Unit consists of:
Piglet Room
The Piglet room caters for children aged between 2 and 3 years. The room is divided in to appropriate learning areas which include a messy area for painting, craft activities and cooking and eating areas. Tables and carpeted areas are provided for activities such as construction, mark making and small world play. All the equipment is stored at the child’s level so that they are encouraged to help choose, get out and put away toys and equipment encouraging independence and decision making.
The Pre-School Unit
The pre-school unit is situated on the ground floor and caters for children aged 3 years up to school age. The main play space is the Tigger room but they also have access in to the conservatory which is shared with children accessing the Piglet room. It is our aim to prepare children within this room for a school environment and so the activities and routines are designed with this thought in mind.
Tigger Room
The Tigger room is designed to cater for children from 3 years up to school age. Activities within this space are designed specifically to extend the child’s learning and prepare them for school. The children learn all the areas of the curriculum such as phonics, numbers, shapes and knowledge and understanding of the world all through play and fun circle time activities making them unaware of the learning that is actually taking place.
As with Piglet room all the toys and equipment are at child level so that the children can have input deciding what they would like to do. We have lots of table top games such as jigsaws and dominoes to aid with learning as well as lots of small world equipment like garages and train sets to encourge their imagination. Creative activities take place on a daily basis and change regularly from baking, sticking and painting to play trays and gloop which encourages the children to investigate different textures.
Conservatory
The conservatory is a bright airy space which both the Piglets and Tiggers have access to on a daily basis. This space is used to enhance the rooms allowing both groups of children to freeflow in to this space mixing, playing and learning from each other.
Within this playspace we have more tables for table top equipment but also a large role play area where the children can take on different personalities and job roles encouraging their imagination. We also have a computer and other ICT equipment for the children to use with appropriate software designed to aid and promote their learning.
Kitchen
The Nursery Kitchen is fully equipped and meets all the latest food hygiene standards. A cook is employed to prepare all the food and she is able to accomadate most dietary requirments as identifed by parents and carers. All food is prepared fresh each day using only fresh produce. Every effort is made to ensure that children are offered their five portions of fruit and vegetables each day.
A copy of the menu is displayed in the entrance hall for parents and carers to see and we welcome any new ideas and recipes to try.