Our Ethos
At our nursery we pride ourselves on creating a home-from-home atmosphere. We aim to build strong relationships with our families, and we understand the importance of building strong bonds with the children in our care for their emotional well-being.
We want our nursery to be a safe space where children feel loved and valued. We aim to provide an environment that will spark children’s curiosity and wonder of the world around them.
Our Beliefs
Warm and nurturing
Our Nursery’s ethos and approach is deeply rooted in creating a warm and nurturing environment that feels like home. We pride ourselves on building strong family relationships, not just with the children but also with their parents and guardians.
Our nursery family
Shenfield Day Nursery believes that this familial atmosphere is one of our greatest assets, as it fosters a sense of belonging and security for all involved. It’s a place where children can grow, learn and thrive surrounded by loving practitioners who genuinely care about their well-being. We are excited to continue cultivating this special bond with each new child who joins our nursery family.
Happy, safe engaged children
Keeping children safe is our crucial and most important responsibility but we are also passionate to provide children with a rich and stimulating learning environment where they are offered a range of real experiences and a rich extra-curricular programme.
What do we want the children to learn? – Our Curriculum Intent
At Shenfield Day Nursery we want our children to feel secure and confident, to be curious, to be risk takers, to be explorers and to be inquisitive. We give them the opportunities to be creative, and to be able to express themselves.
We encourage them to learn to problem solve and to be independent and we want them to grow up to be healthy, both physically and emotionally. We want them to be effective communicators and to learn to be good listeners.
We aim to ensure that they develop a love of books. We will teach them to be able to identify their feelings and to be kind and empathetic towards each other, enabling them to have a strong identity, to be confident and to make friends.
We will provide children with the opportunities to develop cultural capital – the essential skills that children need to prepare for future success. We will ensure that all children have the opportunities to reach their full potential by putting each individual child at the heart of what we do.
Our Nursery Extra Curricular Activities
The Great Outdoors
We are passionate about providing children with a rich and stimulating learning environment where they are offered a range of real experiences and outdoor play and exploration is a large and important part of our curriculum.
We know the importance of being outside in nature and how this impacts children’s wellbeing, research shows that outdoor play reduces stress and anxiety as it reduces levels of cortisol in the brain, when children have high levels of wellbeing this will impact on brain development!
There are so many learning opportunities outside too, children learn about the weather, the seasons, and the natural world as well as being able to practise physical skills such as running and climbing, they will be able to learn to take calculated risks which is great to build self-esteem and confidence.
We enjoy our visits out to the community; we take the children to the butterfly garden where they can enjoy the nature, observing plants, and bugs and insects. We also take them to the park to practise their physical skills or we visit the local shops so that children can see where we buy the ingredients for cooking activities or smell the flowers from our local florist!
We have built strong relationships with the local care home, these intergenerational relationships are so valuable to both the children and the elderly people.
Physical Activities
Our pre-school children always look forward to our weekly sporting sessions in the nursery garden where they develop their physical skills including: hand eye coordination, agility, balance and much more.
Children progress each week; learning how to work in teams with their peers which builds social skills, resilience and above all confidence.
Music
Our nursery is an affiliate member of the Sing and Sign which is a nationally recognised communications programme for babies and those with emerging speech.
These weekly sessions have been hugely successful for both our staff team and our baby parents who are able to build on and use the signs at home. Babies and children are empowered to express themselves and in ways they may not yet be able to through speech alone.
Great Nutrition Makes Great Childcare
Shenfield Day Nursery are firm advocators of laying good foundations in the early years for children’s future health and relationship with food.
A really important part of our ethos therefore is offering children optimum nutrition. We do this through a collaboration with a nursery nutritionist to guarantee that our daily menus provide the recommended balance of all five key food groups.
Our menus are homecooked, daily on site by our nursery cook and we scrutinise food labels; offering wholemeal and whole wheat varieties; we use full fat milk for drinking and cooking as well as real butter throughout and do not offer ready made desserts, cakes or biscuits. This is because we vastly reduce or replace the sugar content in cake and biscuit recipes as well as investing in home made sauces, pies and pizzas.
Locally Sourced
Our meat throughout all menus does not come from a supermarket; instead we choose to invest in the high quality guaranteed by our local butchers who provide local, UK fully traceable produce.
Our Rooms
Piglets: 3 months – 2 years
Our Piglets room is a calm and homely environment where we care for 12 babies.
The room has 3 main areas:
- A quieter carpeted area with a den for cosy time with books and play that is changed into a rest/sleep room with cots and snooze beds.
- The main play room where babies have access to a range of toys to explore, create and problem solve.
- Our conservatory where the children have their meal times together around a table, which mirrors the home environment. This area is also used as a creative station, with a selection of messy play; including water, sand and paint experiences providing our babies with a host of sensory play opportunities.
Poohbears and Roos: 2 years – 3 years
Our bright and airy toddler rooms allow our staff to provide an action-packed day to engage your child. Each room has its own bathroom area attached, which is perfect for toddlers mastering potty training.
Poohbears and Roos give children more opportunity to self-select equipment from their creative station and exploration baskets, to promote independence and making choices.
Both toddler rooms convert to a sleep room after lunch enabling the busy toddlers to rest.
Tiggers: 3 years – 5 years
Our pre-school room is the largest of our nursery rooms- this helps children prepare for the larger groups they will encounter at school. Our curriculum is carefully planned to equip the children with the skills they will need for the future. Tiggers room has been designed to encourage independence. For example, the toilets are situated off the playroom allowing the children to start to learn self sufficiency. We encourage children to help us prepare snack, and to self-serve at mealtimes.
Our Tiggers room has direct access to the nursery garden and we encourage children with free flow play where the garden is set up for outdoor learning each day. Our staff are experts in extending the children’s learning through play; developing activities further where they can see the children’s imagination working.
Tiggers has areas for sit-down activities and table top activities, for example, painting, mark making, play dough and construction. As well as areas for role play and a cosy book corner where children can enjoy quiet time with favourite books and lots of story times with our staff team.
Children have access to a sand tray and opportunities for water play. Staff also plan activities throughout the day, specifically designed with the children’s next steps in mind to help every child thrive. We follow our nursery curriculum and the children’s interests throughout our nursery planning.
Rising 5’s and Nursery Garden
We have introduced an outside classroom to our facilities where older children can spend some more structured time in the “Rising 5’s group”. Here, staff plan activities and games to prepare the children for their transition to school. A deeper understanding of mathematics and phonics are just two of our focus points included to develop school readiness.
We aim to spark the children’s own creativity and imagination within this group, supporting them to become confident problem solvers, giving them the life skills they will need for their future!
We encourage ‘free flow’ access to our nursery garden wherever possible, which has large shrubs and trees around its perimeter providing both shade as well as a natural den area. Children love exploring our climbing wall, our wooden tepee and going on lots of bug hunts with our nursery team!
F.A.Q.
Are all meals, nappies, wipes, suncream included in the nursery fees?
Yes, the nursery provides all of the above for your child whilst they are with us. We use Factor 50 suncream for both normal and sensitive skin. We always ensure the brand does not contain any trace of nut ingredient.
Are staff qualified?
We have always ensured that 98% of our staff team hold professional early years qualifications with training to Levels 2,3, 5 and above. We do not train more than 2 Level 2 apprentices at any one time as we do not feel that this is good practice for our children, our parents or our qualified staff team to feel supported in their roles. Therefore, our children benefit from having trained early years practitioners support them in their learning every day. We are very proud also to state that at least 98% of our team are first aid trained, ready to handle any situation that may arise.
What are the nursery opening and closing times?
Children can arrive any time from 7.30 am and we close at 6 pm. As staff like to give feedback to parents, we always ask parents to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to closing to ensure enough time can be given for feedback on collection.
What training do they receive and what checks are made on new staff?
We follow a rigorous recruitment procedure only taking on 1st class, qualified, caring and passionate individuals who share our ethos of cherishing children. We search for professionals who are enthusiastic practitioners who want to help us bring the best learning experiences and care to our little ones every day. New staff are required to meet our nursery standards of good references; pass our interviewing procedures as well as our practical stay and play sessions at the nursery. We undertake a DBS check on all new staff who join us, and it is a requirement that staff sign up to the DBS update service which ensures they remain compliant and safe to work with children.
On their first day, staff undertake a training day which is part of our induction process with all new staff. This includes introducing all of our team and the layout of the nursery and how things work; we explain where all the important paperwork and records are kept as well as our first aid kits. New staff are also sent all of our policies and procedures prior to starting which they are required to read and confirm their understanding of. We go through our staff handbook and discuss any questions that our new staff member may have. All new staff are required to have First Aid Training; Level 2 Food & Hygiene Training: FGM Training; Allergy Training; Prevent Duty and Safeguarding Training. All of these courses are renewed regularly by existing staff members also so that the whole team are always up to date with all of the above training requirements. As a company we are very supportive of any new training or further early years qualifications that staff members may wish to study. Staff are regularly asked and encouraged in continued professional development. We are members of a training body which supports a variety of short courses, and our training providers all offer further professional qualifications for any interested staff member. We sponsor these courses and work with individuals to ensure they have the flexibility within their shift pattern to accommodate any training interests.
We are very proud of our staff attainments which include the following qualifications: Montessori Nursery Teaching Diploma; NNEB; NVQ in Early Years Level 2 and Level 3. We also have a number of staff with Level 5 in Early Years which is equivalent to a Foundation Degree as well as Degree qualified staff.
Do you cater for allergies and intolerances?
Our nursery cook prepares fresh meals on site everyday for all our little ones and we cater for all children with dietary needs including vegetarians, children with allergies, intolerances or religious preferences. We follow safe practices when serving food and children have their own individual colour coded placements to support extra care at meal times. Our nursery cook is in constant dialogue with all room staff to ensure there is a coordinated and organised approach to all children with dietary requirements.
Can you tell me about the nursery menu generally?
Nutrition is a key part of our ethos and we work really hard to ensure our nursery menus are nutritionally balanced, using fresh, high quality ingredients. Having our own nursery cook was always a priority for our nursery as it is important that we prepare our food fresh and onsite each day with full autonomy over all ingredients and products used. We also do not purchase all our food from a supermarket, for example we use our local butchers for our meat and our fresh fruit and vegetables come from a local farm; this supports both a higher quality product and our local community businesses.
We offer a rotating set of menus for winter and summer. Wholegrain or wholemeal products are used as well as real butter for all cooking and spreading. We bake our own puddings to ensure that the sugar content is much reduced and we do not serve sugary puddings like ice-cream, pre-made biscuits or cakes. Our breakfast cereals have all been recommended by our nursery nutritionist based on their nutritional value and their low sugar content. Our nursery menus have been endorsed by our nursery nutritionist to ensure they meet the recommended guidelines for under 5’s. Please ask our Nursery Manager for a sample menu when you come to visit us.
What is the settling in procedure?
We arrange for three settling in sessions for your little one before they join us to help them to feel emotionally secure with us before their nursery sessions begin. Their first settle always includes a parent staying and playing with them in their nursery room. This settling session also includes a meeting with your child’s key person; the member of staff who will form a special close attachment with your little one. We discuss settling in and talk to you about your child; their likes, dislikes, favourite toys, how and when they like to sleep so that we can provide tailored individual care for each of our babies.
We gradually encourage a longer time for you to leave your little one with us at each of the settles, until both they and you feel completely reassured that they are happy. We are always very happy to take calls if you want to check in at any point during their early weeks with us. We will also always call you if we feel they are distressed and need their mummy or daddy.
What would my nursery fees be?
Our nursery fees are revised annually and our fee information is given to parents when they visit our nursery. There are no hidden costs or extras within our fees, for example all nappies, wipes, formula, extra curricular and food are included within our full wrap around day care. Our nursery day is a full day which begins at 7.30 am and finishes at 6.00 pm – we do not charge extra for this extension (i.e. between 7.30 and 8.00 am.)
From September 2024, working parents may be eligible to receive government funding for their child from the age of 9 months. We accept tax free childcare vouchers and parents are able to access all or some of their Government Childcare Entitlement Funding through our nursery. Our fees are worked out once we are aware of your childcare requirements. As the Government funding only covers 38 weeks of the year (referred to as term time only), we stretch this funding such that parents can access their entitlement hours across the year (51 weeks – as our nursery is closed for one week between Christmas and New Year). Parents who wish to access full daycare all year round then pay “wrap around” costs which top up the Government basic entitlement to cover their childcare needs.
Prior to the start of each term parents complete a Local authority declaration form and a nursery flexible funding agreement. Once we receive these and hours are agreed we send parents a summarised termly forecast which shows your funded entitlement hours as well as any additional services (wrap around care). Parents can then see what services they are being charged for over and above their entitlement funding and the amount that will be due each month. Invoices are sent out between the 20th and 24th of each month and payment is due on the 1st of each month for the month ahead.
What is the ratio of staff in my child’s room?
Our nursery always operates within recommended guidelines for all nursery rooms. We never compromise our ratios and we do not ratio in apprentices (should we have any in our setting); instead we wait until they are at a required standard and competent to be counted in ratio. The safety and security of your child is always our paramount concern and our number one priority.
Where can I park to drop and collect my child by car?
There are a range of parking spaces close to our nursery. Parents are able to park in the parking bays opposite as well as within Shenfield High Road to drop off or collect children.
What Our Families are Saying
