General Information

You, as parents are the prime educators of your child in their earliest years therefore we welcome and encourage parent’s involvement in the nursery. We have an ‘open door’ policy in place therefore a member of staff is always available to listen to your comments and suggestions. Effective communication between parents and nursery staff is important to provide the best possible care for your child.

We would appreciate if you could inform nursery staff of any circumstances, either temporary or permanent which may affect your child’s emotional or physical well being to ensure your child receives additional support if necessary. A member of staff will be available to speak to you on a daily basis to discuss your child’s progress and answer any questions you may have.

You will be kept informed of nursery events and activities through our notice board in the entrance hall, newsletters and through our Facebook pages.

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All information regarding your child/family will be kept in the strictest confidence in accordance with General Data Protection Regulations. Please refer to our Privacy Policy.

Your child’s well-being and security is paramount at Jennyswell, and to enforce this we operate a password system. If someone other than main carers come to collect your child we will request the password, and if they are unable to give it correctly, then we will not allow your child to be taken by this person. Likewise if we are receiving an instruction from you by phone or email etc. in relation to your child we may request the password.

Before your child begins full days or sessions at Jennyswell Nursery we would recommend that you and your child visit for some short introductory sessions - this is free of charge.

These sessions introduce your child to the nursery gradually, allowing them to get to know staff, children and their surroundings before their start date.

During these sessions you will have the opportunity to speak to an allocated member of staff who will discuss your child’s individual needs and any concerns you may have.

Children learn very quickly that nursery is a fun, friendly place to be and therefore the settling-in period is rarely as difficult as you might imagine it to be. No charge is made for these introductory sessions.

Depending on our child’s age and stage of development you will need to provide: formula or breast milk, nappies, soft indoor shoes, suitable outdoor clothing and a change of clothes. If your child has a comfort toy, blanket or a dummy you should also bring these to nursery.

Your child will be involved in messy activities at nursery and although the staff will encourage them to wear aprons whenever possible, we would advise that your child does not wear ‘good’ clothes to nursery as accidents can happen. It is helpful if you mark all your child’s belongings with their name as it can be difficult for our nursery staff to locate unnamed items.

We also have nursery uniforms available to purchase – please note that is optional.

We would also recommend that your child does not bring toys from home as they do become upset if items become mislaid or broken. Comfort toys are of course always welcome.

If your child requires additional support for any reason, either on a temporary or permanent basis, we will make every effort to provide this support. The nursery staff are experienced at working closely with parents and other professionals such as Health Visitors, Speech and Language Therapists and Paediatricians to help your child reach their full potential.

We have a 2 way communication diary in place for our 0-2 year olds. In this you will receive a daily report detailing your child’s eating and sleeping patterns, fluid intake, toileting progress and information about the activities your child has participated in that day. The nursery staff will, of course discuss your child’s day with you, however the daily reports are a useful reference to take home.

Each child at Jennyswell Nursery has their own developmental profile which staff complete regularly to record your child’s milestones and achievements. You will receive regular progress reports detailing your child’s progress and development and you are encouraged to view and contribute to your child’s portfolio at any time.

Parent's Evenings are held yearly for all children. Although the nursery staff are available to speak to you on a daily basis, this gives you the opportunity to discuss your child’s progress in a relaxed atmosphere.

Positive behaviour is promoted at Jennyswell Nursery through praise and encouragement from the nursery staff. Children receive little attention for negative behaviour, therefore they quickly realise that the positive behaviour will be rewarded. Our staff will keep you fully informed if your child requires support in this area at any time. If a pattern of behaviour causing more concern develops, we will discuss this with you and agree steps to move forward in the best interests of your child and the nursery.

The nursery is inspected on an annual basis by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and reports can be viewed at www.carecommission.com

As providers of pre school education we are also inspected by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education and their reports can be viewed at www.hmie.gov.uk

Vision

Our vision at Jennyswell is to promote a learning rich environment which will provide quality care and education, our supportive and nurturing staff team will encourage the children to reach their full potential, and will build strong relationships to ensure happy, confident and successful children.

Values

• To aim to be the best in all we undertake
• To listen to everyone, and support where we can
• To work in partnership with our children, staff, families and our community
• To encourage friendships and mutual respect
• To provide a caring, safe, and welcoming ethos where everyone will strive to reach their fullest potential

Aims

Jennyswell aims to :

• To ensure effective teaching and learning for every child within the service.
• We will celebrate the achievements of children and encourage lifelong learning.
• To provide a safe, secure, warm and welcoming environment for our children and families creating a home from home learning environment.
• To provide high quality interactions between our staff, children and families to create a welcoming ethos and nurturing learning environment.

GDPR Policy 2019

Privacy Notice for Families

Privacy Notice Job Applicants

Jennyswell Nursery, as must all childcare settings, must follow The Duty of Candour Procedure (Scotland) Regulations 2018 which sets out the procedure that organisations providing health services, care services and social work services in Scotland are required by law to follow when there has been an unintended or unexpected incident that results in death or harm (or additional treatment is required to prevent injury that would result in death or harm).

The focus of the duty of candour legislation is to ensure that organisations tell those affected that an unintended or unexpected incident has occurred; apologise; involve them in meetings about the incident; review what happened with a view to identifying areas for improvement; and learn (taking account of the views of relevant persons).

This means that whilst we are providing a childcare service for your child, Jennyswell Nursery will be open and honest if something should go wrong. If something does go wrong whilst your child is in our care we have a duty of care to tell you the truth, this is called Duty of Candour.

As well as this you will have the opportunity to be involved in a review of what happened. When the review is finished, we will use the information from the review to make our service better.

Duty of Candour report 2025

Please find our Child Protection and Well being policy here: Jennyswell Nursery Child protection and well being Policy