Frequently Asked Questions

Ofsted are our governing body, and our registration number is: 2819176

We take children from 3 months old up until they are 5 years old.

Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm

We are open 51 weeks of the year, Monday to Friday, from 8:00am to 6:00pm, except for bank holidays, inset days, and the week between Christmas and New Year. Please check our nursery calendar for full details.

Yes and no. To provide your child with continuity of care, we ask that children attend at least two days per week. This helps us ensure consistency and routine for your little one.
We will try our best to offer flexibility where possible:
Full Day: 8:00am to 6:00pm (Monday to Friday) Half Day: Morning or Afternoon sessions
Morning: 8:00am to 1:00pm Afternoon: 1:00pm to 6:00pm
Half-day sessions are available for children over 2 years old.
We offer early bird sessions from 7:30am

Yes, you can, although it will depend on availability. If you want to guarantee a space, then we advise you to book an ‘all year round’ space.

Yes you can – as long as we have the space we can book ad hoc days. Sometimes we may not be able to confirm until nearer the time of your request, due to staff availability and child attendance. These ad hoc / extra days can be cancelled up until the Wednesday of the week before the booking. If not, the extra hours will be charged in full. For example, if you book an extra day on Friday 30th September, you will need to cancel by Wednesday 21st September. Regular booked days cannot be cancelled unless it is a permanent cancellation (4 weeks’ notice required).

Lewsiham Term dates. Please refer to our calendar on our website or on display in the nursery.

We set our own term dates based on the weeks that the Local Authority allocates the funded hours.

No, your booked days and times must be the same every week.

Yes, you can change your booked days or times if it is a permanent change, but any changes require 4 weeks’ notice.

No we don’t.

E.Y.F.S. stands for Early Years Foundation Stage. The EYFS is a curriculum set up by the Government that states how we as early years practitioners do things.

The EYFS is split into 7 areas in total. 3 prime areas: Communication, Personal social and emotional, Physical And 4 specific areas: Maths, Understanding the world, Literacy, Expressive art and design Within these areas we must ensure children are making progress in each area.

Yes, we strive to help in all areas of your child’s development we take this at your child’s pace. We follow your routine from home as close as possible and keep you in touch at every step. We use sticker/reward charts to help in this area.

A key person is a member of staff within your child’s room who your child best associates with. This member of staff will be chosen by your child; the key person will write observations and monitor your child’s development. The key person will change throughout the child’s transition through nursery this is to ensure the key person is always within the room to best settle the child within each area.

Yes. Please let us know as soon as you can about your holiday dates. This helps us organise our staff, which in turn lets us keep to our ratios.

Yes, we can book you in for a show-round so that you can see the nursery and ask any questions that you have. You can bring your child/children as well.

Please complete a registration form, available via contact us button. We will then check availability and book you in if we have the space. Your space is not confirmed until we have received a completed registration form and you have received a booking confirmation form.

Funded Spaces:
If you would like to book a funded space, we will need to see your child’s original birth certificate or passport. For funded hours, we will need to see your eligibility confirmation letter or code, along with any supporting documentation if applicable. To use your Working Parent
Entitlement, we will need your eligibility confirmation code (usually starts 500….), plus the National Insurance Number and Date of Birth of the main applicant. We will give you a form to complete with this information. Once you are booked in, you will receive a booking confirmation form. If any deposit is due, then this will need to be paid before your child can start.

We recommend that you bring a bag with some spare clothes, plus weather appropriate outdoor wear (wellies/hat/scarf/sunhat etc.). You can provide a bottle for water, a dummy and / or any comforters if needed. Please ensure that all items are labelled. If your child requires medication, an inhaler or creams, please do not leave them in their bags kindly speak to management beforehand.

We have breakfast up until 8:00 am, which is a mixture of cereals and either toast or fruit to follow. We then have snack at 10:15 am, which is either fruit, breadsticks and raisins or salad sticks. Our lunch is usually around midday which is a hot meal cooked on site. We then have tea at around 4:00pm this is usually a cold meal e.g. sandwiches, crackers, ploughman’s etc. Our menu is on a 4-week rotation and is displayed in our parents notice bord and on our website.

We offer ‘stretched funding’ where you can spread the funding over the year which is 51 weeks, we also offer term times (38 weeks a year) for children over 2 years old.

All parents are entitled to 15 hours per week childcare for 3 and 4- year-olds the term after their 3rd birthday. The cut off dates are 31st March for the Summer Term, 31st August for the Autumn Term and 31st December for the Spring Term.
Working parent entitlements, parents who work more than 16 hours a week and earn less than £100,000 are entitled to 15 or 30 hours free childcare a week for children aged 9months-23 months, 2, 3 and 4 year olds.
Please refer to www.childcarechoices.gov.uk for information regarding funding, eligibility and how to apply.

No, you can take anything up to the 30 funded hours.

No. Your funded hours can only be used on your booked days and times. If you don’t attend on any day, then you lose the hours.

The funding moves with the child – funded hours can only be claimed where a child is actually attending.

Yes, the maximum number of funded hours per day is 10 hours. Therefore, if you would like to book 7.30am-6pm on any given day, only 10 hours will funded, and the remaining 30 minutes will be charged for.

All fees include meals and resources.
Children in receipt of 15/30 hours are charged a consumables fee. This covers meals, art & crafts, and other additional activities which the government funding does not cover.
• Half day is charged at £6 per day
• Fully Day is charge at £11 per day
Nappies, wipes, sun cream and formula milk is not provided by the nursery for allygine control reasons. You are required to bring your own nappies wipes/cotton wool. If you wish for nappy cream to be applied, please provide a named pot/tube that can be kept at nursery or in your child’s bag. Payment of fees is due on the 1st of each month and should be paid in advance. Fees are calculated on an annualised basis for 51 weeks, which means they remain the same even during bank holidays, sick days, and the Christmas and New Year breaks.

Children attending a full day can expect to be given 3 meals a day, as well as a morning and afternoon healthy snack of something such as fresh fruit, rice cakes or breadsticks. All dietary needs are met and catered for.
Snacks are provided in the mornings and afternoons for all our children.
• Lunchtime is between 11:30 and 12:15
• Tea is from 4:00-4:15
Children doing half-day funded hours cost £6. This includes breakfast/lunch or lunch/tea.
Children doing full day funded hours cost £11 per day. This includes breakfast, lunch, and tea.

All fees are payable regardless of holidays, absence and sickness.
If you book any extra paid days or hours on top of your regular days and times, you can cancel or amend up to the Wednesday of the week before the booked day.
After this date, the days will be charged in full regardless of attendance. If you wish to cancel your child’s place or change your hours or contract, four weeks’ notice is required.

Little Nest Nursery charge £100 deposit which will be refunded back to the parents/Carers, prior to giving 1 month notice before your leaving date.

Fees are payable by BACS at the beginning of each month. Full fees are payable in full throughout the period the child is registered, including when the child is unable to attend due to sickness or holidays and when the nursey is closed for public holidays and insets days. One-month written notice must be given if parents/carers want to withdraw the child from the nursery. Failure to pay the nursery fees in full on the 1st of the month will cause a late payment fees of £25.00.
Payment should be made by BACS to the following bank account;
Tide Bank Account Name: Little Nest Nursery.
Sort Code: 04-06-05
Account Number: 20003230
We also accept childcare vouchers and we are registered for the government’s ‘Tax-Free Childcare’ scheme. Please go to the Childcare Choices website for more information on Tax-Free Childcare and other schemes to help pay for childcare costs. www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Please go to www.childcarechoices.gov.uk and follow the instructions. Once you have set up an account, you will need to select our nursery as your childcare provider. To do this you will need our OFSTED number 2819176 or our postcode SE8 4EG. Once you have set up an account, we will need your child’s unique reference number so that we can look out for tax-free childcare payments that you make into our bank account. Please note that once you have paid money into your tax-free childcare account, you will still need to log onto your account to make a payment to the nursery.

Yes, we do.
At Little Nest Nursery our aim is to create a sense of belonging through everything we do at nursery. our nursery uniform is based on the belief that it promotes a sense of pride, reflects a sense of community, it supports our commitment to inclusion and support school readiness.
We want to make sure that our parents, have lots of options as to where they can purchase uniform conveniently and value for money.
Boys
Purple School Sweatshirt 2 Pack £5.00
Purple School Polo Shirt 2 Pack
Purple School Cardigan 2 Pack £6
Black Cuffed Joggers £5
Velcro shoes – no laces
Girls
Girls Purple Gingham Sporty School Dress 2 Pack £7
Purple School Sweatshirt 2 Pack £5.00
Purple School Polo Shirt 2 Pack
Purple School Cardigan 2 Pack £6
Black Cuffed Joggers £5
Velcro shoes – no laces

Yes.
To ensure your child has everything they need at nursery, we ask parents/carers to supply a bag for nursery. All items of clothing and personal belongings of your child must be clearly labelled with your child’s name. Little Nest Nursery does not accept responsibility for damage or loss of personal items.
At least 2 tops and 3 pairs of underwear, socks, and bottoms if your child is toilet training – Crocs/Jelly shoes can be a good alternative to shoes or wellies whilst toilet training to allow them to be cleaned and dry quickly. It is useful for all children to bring a spare set of clothes in case of getting wet/muddy etc. and needing to change.

We understand this can happen as some things are out of our control such as traffic or appointments running over. We ask for you to let us know if this is going to happen as soon as you are aware. It is not a problem once or twice but if this becomes regular you will be charged for any extra hours at our normal hourly rate.

Staff at Little Nest Nursery will look after uncollected children, whilst every effort is made to contact the parents/carers. A late collection fee is chargeable at £10 if a child is not collected at the agreed finishing time, and £1 every minute thereafter. Anyone still at nursery after 6.15pm will be charged at the higher rate of £15 and £2 per minute thereafter.

Yes.
As an independent nursery our income is derived from the fees paid by parents/carer, or others on behalf of the child. Outstanding nursery fees could lead to the withdrawal of a place from the nursery roll.
If fees are in arrears, interest may be added at a set rate of £15 added to the child’s account.

This is not a problem although please inform us as soon as possible. A password system will be set up if we have not met the person before.

Of course you want to know what your child is getting up to each day. That’s why every parent has access to EYLog which we use to send you photo and update on your little one’s progress.
Sharing your children’s progress and achievements are vitally important to us. There are a range of ways that we communicate your child’s progress with you; Newsletters, WhatsApp, email and phone calls.
We also have a key worker scheme- You are encouraged to communicate regularly with your key worker at drop off and pick up times.
Parents meeting and mid term report.

Throughout the year we will have lots of opportunities for you to come and join us at nursery. A full list of opportunities can be found on our annual calendar. Our team are there to chat through any ideas you might have.

No. Unfortunately at nursery we have a strict policy on exclusion periods. For sickness and diarrhoea children must be away from nursery for 48 hours after their last symptom.

If your child is ill, we will give you a call to notify you if this is required (for things such as colds or sniffles this may not be needed) we can administer calpol, piriton, nappy creams and teething gel we will just call for verbal confirmation or a medicine form can be filled in upon drop off to give us permission. We will keep you up to date with any changes during the day of your child’s condition and may suggest an early collection with a possible doctors appointment. If your child is sick or has 3 loose nappies, they will need collecting.

Children stick to their home routines. We have different sleep areas within each area of nursery depending on the children’s needs. We always assist in helping your child to take sleep and rest as and when needed. Each child is provided with their own sheet and blanket which is washed on a weekly basis. Parrots tend not to have a sleep but if required they can join the Dolphins after lunch.

We can administer any medication that is prescribed by a Doctor. We also can administer Calpol or Piriton without prescription but will require permission from parents or carers and the child must be picked up with the hour. We use health care plans for re-occurring medicines such as inhalers. All staff are first aid trained and also drug administration trained. Only level 3 qualified staff are able to administer medication.

Accidents do happen at nursery but of course we try our best to prevent them. If your child has an accident we will let you know upon collection or beforehand depending on the severity of the accident. We will fill in an accident form to outline the incident (causes, treatments, outcomes etc). We will provide any first aid needed (all staff members are first aid trained). For any bigger incidents that we cannot deal with we will consult professional advice through 999 or 101. We will keep you up to date throughout this process by call, text or face to face. We fill out paperwork to log all accidents this in turn helps us avoid accidents in the future.

We ensure that an adult with whom your child has a good relationship with who knows their routine is with the child throughout the transition. We ensure staff working in the new room know your child and their routine. We keep parents and carers up to date with potential changes timescales etc.

We play outside at least once every day throughout all ages of the nursery. The only time we will not is if the weather is terrible all day and we feel the children are not going to gain anything positive from the experience. Children over 2 will be out more often than the little ones. We use the outside area for many different activities including bikes, scooters, team games, role play, sand pit, physical challenges, free play, water play. Outside is an extension to our provision and still offers lots of learning experiences.

All members of our team hold a valid paediatric first aid certificate. Five members of our team hold first aid at work so can deal with adults. Only level 3 qualified members of staff administer first aid however other staff may assist or provide initial first aid until a level 3 can take over.

We have a mixture of staff qualifications. We are proud to employ a team of Level 5 qualified Early Years Educators, along with apprentices and practitioners working towards qualifications. Our nursery also supports staff to progress to Level 4/5 and beyond through ongoing CPD opportunities.

Yes, all members of staff full time, part time, volunteers and students hold a current DBS check that is carried out prior to the member of staff starting with us. Staff members also sign up to the update service which keeps this check up to date at all times and this allows us to check each member of staff’s DBS check to ensure no new information is received (cautions or arrests). Any people visiting nursery to deliver extra curricular activities also have to have a DBS check.

If you are leaving due to unhappiness within the setting we urge you to talk to us about any issues as we strive to solve these. However, we understand that changes sometimes must be made when wishing to leave. We ask for one months notice which helps us organise staff.

Nursery should be informed of any allergies so contingency plans can be made to keep these allergens away from the child. We strive to ensure that every child is safe while at nursery so we will prepare separate snacks and meals keeping in with the child’s diet. All meals are cooked on site. We are adaptable to most situations so just let us know and we can adapt to your child’s needs.

Please come and talk to us. The management team are very approachable, just request a time and we will set aside some time to talk through any issues you may have. We like to sort out problems before they grow into bigger ones so will be happy to talk about any issues big or small. You and your child’s happiness is our overall goal so we strive to achieve this as best we can.

Comforters can be brought to nursery as this will help a child through any difficult transitions, however as you can imagine a busy childcare setting things can go missing. We will try our hardest to keep this comforter safe and will take time to put this safe when the child is not using it but things of great expense or of a sentimental value should be kept at home just in case.

Occasionally we may take the children for a walk, have a run in the local field, visit the police station, look at the traffic lights etc, if this happens the children and staff wear yellow high vis jackets, take a first aid kit and a bag of supplies. We do not tend to leave the premises very often and parents and carers can opt out of this happening if preferred.

At Little Nest Nursery the children are encouraged to follow our 6 rules, these are:
• We have kind hands and feet
• We share and take turns
• We use indoor feet (walking feet)
• We use indoor voices
• We have listening ears
• We use kind words We use these rules to help the children understand boundaries at nursery these enforce life lessons which will hopefully improve the child’s transitions through school life.

There are a few rules that we ask parents and carers to abide to these are in the interest of safeguarding and keeping the children safe. One thing we ask is that you do not let anybody onto the premises this may happen when you are exiting the nursery we ask that you apologies and ask people waiting to ring the bell or alternatively get a member of staff to come and see the person at the front door. Another thing we ask is that you do not use your mobile phone whilst on the premises there are areas within the nursery that you may go to if you need to answer a call such as the office or the kitchen (areas where no children are).

We advertise for staff using websites such as indeed but usually get most interest through social media and word of mouth. Fortunately, our staff turn over is very low so we do not need to advertise regularly. For apprentices we use our training provider to place job opportunities on their website. Once we have applicants our recruitment process has five stages. First stage is to ask for application forms and CVs we shortlist these and invite successful applicants to a formal interview with two members of the management team. Successful applicants then move onto stage three where a panel interview takes place consisting of four members of the management team this interview is a little more formal due to ensuring we know the applicants motivations. The third and fourth stages can be carried out either way dependent on the candidate confidence. The third stage is a parent interview where we put the applicant in front of two or three of our current parents who ask a few of our questions and a few of their own. This stage helps the parents get a feel for applicants and ask many different questions that we ask. The fourth stage is a trial where applicants come into the setting and work along side staff with the children across all areas of the nursery. Our staff that have been through this process speak about how the different interviews and trial helped in their integration into the nursery. Once a decision is made staff take part in a full day induction and carry out a full DBS check before they start.

Yes, we have a few students working with us at different stages through their careers all students carry out a full induction in which we outline what they are allowed and not allowed to do. Students are never left alone with the children and also are not allowed to carry out other tasks such as medication or toileting. We see the education of new practitioners as vitally important so enjoy having students and giving them positive role models to learn from.