It is clear that there is demand for Summer Club this year and, assuming the battle against COVID-19 continues to go our way, we will open on Monday 20th July (official Kent hols start on 23rd July). The Government/DfE have promised to give the final OK on July 4th and we’re now taking bookings on…
Read More Summer Club 20th July to 28th AugustHere’s the latest guidance on whether children should or should not attend Nursery: The following principles will apply to the wider opening of settings: children should not attend if they have symptoms or are self-isolating due to symptoms in their household all children who normally access childcare are strongly encouraged to attend so that they…
Read More Govt. guidance on children returning to nurseriesI asked Rachel for some notes, so I could provide you all with the inside track on what it’s been like this past week, but I think she’s sleeping this weekend! Hahaha! We opened up again for everyone on Monday. There was lots of frantic activity during the week before, with Rachel, the staff, Trustees…
Read More Our first week backThe Trustees have just approved a policy which provides guidelines for everyone attending or visiting the Nursery, as lockdown measures are relaxed and the Nursery re-opens fully. There is a downloadable pdf copy on the website’s ‘useful Information’ page. Sevenoaks Day Nursery Return to Normal Operations Policy following the Spring 2020 lockdown As part of…
Read More New Policy PublishedA big ‘Thank You’ to all those who completed the survey – 40% of you – the information has been very useful in working out how best we can help over the coming months. It would still be useful to have the thoughts of those who didn’t return the survey – even lots of ‘Don’t…
Read More Returning to Nursery: places, dates and daysAs we publish information about returning to Nursery there will, understandably, be lots of questions. So, I’ll publish the questions here along with our answer. Full details about returning to Nursery are included in the post headed ‘Returning to Nursery: places, dates and days’ You may be interested to read a special risk assessment we…
Read More Back to Nursery – Frequently asked questionsI subscribe to the COVID Symptom Study, along with over three and half million others. We just answer a couple of questions every day and these are analysed in collaboration with King’s College London researchers. It’s done through an app which is available at the App Store and Google Play. Anyway, today their email reminder…
Read More How to keep your kids safe as they return to schoolThe Government has just updated their guidance on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. Here’s the full guidance And here’s the easy-read version. The latter is pretty good and highly recommended.
Read More Staying at home and avoiding madness – Part IISevenoaks Day Nursery keeping in touch Rachel set up a Facebook Group last month (when you’re in Facebook just search for “Sevenoaks Day Nursery keeping in touch”) so parents can swap ideas and stories, moan about their partner, let each other know what’s going on, ask advice and generally socialise whilst keeping a minimum of…
Read More Join our Facebook GroupI popped into the Nursery this morning; Scottish Power wanted a meter reading, so I thought I’d oblige and take the chance to say ‘hello’ to everyone. As I ambled onto the tennis court I could see Rachel lugging some large bits of wood towards the high garden gates and then Laura came round the…
Read More Today in the NurseryThe past couple of weeks has been a busy time and an often very confusing one . . . . . to say the least. The Government has published many dozens of Guides for all areas of industry and commerce and many apply to us. The most recent specialist Guide is this one: coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures It…
Read More Responding to Events – Keyworkers – Fees – Childcare Arrangements – Club – The FutureCarol and I have only been cooped up together for a day and a half so far (I had to go in yesterday to prepare the month’s payroll) and she’s driving me nuts. To be fair, I’m probably driving her nuts too. And I suspect it’s as much to do with each of us thinking…
Read More Staying at home and avoiding madnessFriday 13th March seems a lifetime away now, doesn’t it? But before we were all engulfed in crisis, Jean stood down as Manager and the staff and children put on a special afternoon for her. On reflection, that was an auspicious time to hold it. Just a week later and it would have been a…
Read More Jean’s PartyAll nurseries have been asked to close indefinitely from Friday. However, places need to be available for children of key workers and vulnerable children. We won’t be told who the key workers are until tomorrow. So at this stage we don’t know what it means for Sevenoaks Day Nursery or for the future of your…
Read More Today’s newsDear Parents and Carers, Coronavirus/Covid-19 Update I am writing to let you know the latest information and actions the Nursery is taking amid a rapidly changing situation. The Nursery is following the Government’s latest guidance for educational settings which can be found athttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19 As you will be aware, regular updates from the authorities are being…
Read More Coronavirus update from Sue DrekslerOf course we are following daily advice from the DoE and PHE and, if you’re interested, the latest guidance for educational settings is here:- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19but I thought the following NHS you tube video aimed at children might come in handy.
Read More Helping children wash their hands properlyAs Jean takes a back seat at the Nursery and hands over the reins to Rachel, I thought you might like a brief summary of why the Trustees asked her to take over as Acting Nursery Manager. Rachel has been with us since July 2012 when she arrived as a young, wet-behind-the-ears, newly, fully-qualified childcare…
Read More Who is Rachel?Thank you everyone for your generosity. We have so far raised over:- £400 Having spent some £450,000 on the new nursery, we couldn’t stretch to the garden which, after the winter darkness, ceaseless rain and the close attention of sundry construction workers and their machinery, is looking rather forlorn. Our plans for the garden in…
Read More Garden Fund – thank youIt’s an early Easter this year and a very strange holiday; Thursday 2nd April to Wednesday 15th April with Bank Holidays (when we’re not open) on Friday 10th and Monday 13th. I was hoping that we’d be able to open Club from the Monday before until the Friday after, but that’s not possible while Hollybush…
Read More Bookings for Easter Club now being takenThe news of Jean stepping down has led to a great many parents asking if they can contribute to a gift to show their appreciation for her tireless efforts to improve the lot of children everywhere over the years. Needless to say we, the staff, were unprepared for this . . . although I can’t…
Read More A gift for Jean