Our Parents

Twynham House aims to protect our children at all times. We recognise that accidents may sometimes occur, and if they occur we follow strict policies and procedures. For minor accidents, first aid is administered on-site by our Paediatric First-Aid trained practitioners. Dependent on the nature of the accident, parents will either be informed immediately or upon picking up their child. Accident reports will be completed by the member of staff on duty at the time, any witnesses and the Nursery Manager; it is our requirement that these are signed by parents/carers on collection.

“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.” - Seneca

At Twynham House, we are committed to providing a welcoming, inclusive and safe environment for all our children, staff and parents. The aim of the ‘Be Kind’ policy is to ensure that our children, as well as staff, learn and work in a supportive and caring environment.

Children are encouraged to create friendships, play together and share resources with their peers, as well as using appropriate positive language and songs to describe feelings and emotions. Our approach aims to teach our children life skills, such as the importance of taking turns and being fair. They will learn that if we give a little to others, we can get some of what we want aswell. Circle times within classrooms, gentle guidance from staff and visuals around the nursery all contribute to the ethos of ‘kindness’ that the Nursery follows.

Kindness is a key ingredient that makes our children and adults feel good about themselves. In order for our children to learn the value of kindness, it is imperative that our staff and parents model this in their behaviours too. Our expectation is for all adults who enter our premises to show these values through positive verbal and body language.

At Twynham House, we endeavour to support our children through the EYFS by providing playful learning opportunities to help them develop positive diverse and communal identities, as well as their well-being, their empathy and emotional literacy, while continuing to take action to eradicate inequalities, bullying, discrimination, exclusion, aggression and violence; all of which fosters and secures, children’s pro-social behaviours and responsible citizenship and real sense of belonging. We support the Fundamental British Values: Democracy - making decisions together, Rule of Law - understanding that rules matter, Individual Liberty - freedom for all, and Mutual Respect and Tolerance - treat others as you wanted to be treated.

At Twynham House, we recognise that there are often times when a child requires medication. When dealing with medication of any kind, the nursery follows a strict policy. Only staff who are first-aid trained will administer medicine from its original packaging, with written consent from those with parental responsibility. All medication should be handed over to your child’s keyworker or our Leadership Team. Under no circumstances should medication be left in your child’s bag or on their person. Procedures on the administration of Antibiotics differ depending on the type, and also the child’s history of receiving them.

At Twynham House we aim to ensure that all children have enough sleep to support their development and natural sleeping rhythms in a safe, calm and quiet environment. Your child’s keyworker will discuss their home sleep routines with you and take into account your wishes. We will do our utmost to support parents’ wishes, but the needs of our children will always be put first and our practitioners will never force a child to fall asleep or wake from sleep.

At Twynham House we recognise that young children will experience many transitions in their early years; some of these planned and some unplanned. We are sensitive to the impact of such changes to children and this policy sets out the ways in which we support children going through these transitions.

Staff are trained to observe their key children and to be sensitive to any changes in their behaviour and personality. We respectfully ask that parents inform us of any changes in the home environment that may impact on their child so staff can be aware of the reasons behind any potential changes in the child’s behaviour.

When a child begins at Twynham House, is ready to move to a different room in the nursery, or is soon to start school we follow the processes that support the individual child’s needs. In addition work with the parents to ensure this is a seamless process in which the child is fully supported at all stages. This may include a handover meeting between the existing key person, new key person and parents.

At Twynham House we are aware that children may have or develop an allergy resulting in an allergic reaction. Our aim is to ensure that allergic reactions are prevented from occurring.

If your child has an allergy as diagnosed by a medical professional, we ask that you inform us in detail as soon as possible on their enrolment form. This will be recorded in appropriate locations and relevant staff will be made aware of their allergy and treatment to any reaction.

We are a nut free nursery and do not allow children, staff or parents to distribute, consume or use nuts and nut products (including nut oils) on our premises. However, many packaged food items are labelled as having ‘traces of nuts’, and these products are used in our nursery kitchen.

We cannot guarantee that our nursery is completely free of any specific allergens, but every effort is made to ensure that a child with a diagnosed allergy is not exposed to the allergen. Furthemore, our staff are trained in understanding the danger of allergic reactions, and what to do should they occur.

Dietary requirements whether for intolerance, religious or cultural purposes are respected and dishes altered accordingly.

At Twynham House we recognise that photographs and video recordings play a large part of nursery life. We use tablets in the rooms to take photos of the children and record these directly on to their electronic learning journeys. We ensure that these devices are used for this purpose only, and also undertake routine checks to ensure that this is the case. We remind staff of our ‘Whistleblowing’ policy if they observe staff not following these safeguarding procedures.

On occasions we may wish to use children’s photos in advertisements, or on social media or our website. This is a parental choice and permission is sought upon enrolment, with the option to change your ind at any time.

At Twynham House we promote the good health of all children attending. To help keep children healthy and minimise infection, we do not expect children to attend nursery if they are unwell. If a child is unwell it is in their best interest to be in a home environment with adults they know well rather than at nursery with their peers.

In the case of vomiting and diarrhoea, families and staff are requested to strictly adhere to the 48 hour exclusion period as outlined by Public Health England. All other exclusion periods as defined by Public Health England’s Guidance on Infection Control in Schools and other Childcare Settings (2016) will be followed by the nursery.

There are currently requirements to self-isolate if displaying Covid-19 symptoms. Given the ever-changing situation with regards to Covid-19, Twynham House will work with local public health agencies to ensure that regulations are followed and both children and staff are kept safe.

At Twynham House we observe and assess children’s development and learning on an ongoing basis. This is done in a variety of ways, and helps our practitioners plan for and meet the different needs of our children. Everyone is encouraged to contribute to the process, and our Famly App allows parents real-time access to the observation and assessment of their child.

At Twynham House we believe that children flourish best when they know how they and others are expected to behave. Children gain respect through interaction with caring adults who act as good role models, show them respect and value their individual personalities. The nursery actively encourages and praises positive, caring, polite and kind behaviour at all times and provides an environment where children learn to respect themselves, other people and their surroundings.

There are times when children may behave inappropriately, and on these occasions our aim is always to support the child by helping them recognise their actions, and identify better choices next time.

At Twynham House we are vigilant in our recruitment procedures aiming to ensure all people working with children are suitable to do so. This is done by following a set procedure every time we recruit a member of our team.

At Twynham House we work with children, parents, external agencies and the community to ensure the welfare and safety of children and to give them the very best start in life. Children have the right to be treated with respect, be helped to thrive and to be safe from any abuse in whatever form.

We support the children within our care, protect them from maltreatment (in whatever form) and have robust procedures in place to prevent the impairment of children’s health and development.

Our Leadership Team all hold Level 3 Safeguarding, as well as other senior members of staff. New staff undertake Level 2 training upon joining the nursery, and all staff receive ongoing support and training to ensure that safeguarding is given the highest priority.

At Twynham House we are committed to the inclusion of all children. All children have the right to be cared for and educated to develop to their full potential alongside each other through positive experiences, to enable them to share opportunities and experiences and develop and learn from each other. We provide a positive and welcoming environment where children are supported according to their individual needs and we work hard to ensure no children are discriminated against or put at a disadvantage as a consequence of their needs.

We believe that all children have a right to experience and develop alongside their peers no matter what their individual needs are. Each child’s needs are unique, therefore any attempt to categorise children is inappropriate.

We are committed to working alongside parents in the provision for their child’s individual needs to enable us to help the child to develop to their full potential. We are committed to working with any child who has a specific need and/or disability and making reasonable adjustments to enable every child to make full use of the nursery’s facilities. All children have a right to a broad and well-balanced early learning environment.

Where we believe a child may have additional needs that have previously been unacknowledged, we will work closely with the child’s parents and any relevant professionals to establish if any additional action is required.

At Twynham House Nursery School we have robust systems in place to help ensure that all staff, including students and volunteers are suitable to work with or be in regular contact with children. This includes enhanced DBS checks, references, staff suitability declarations, rigorous interviews, inductions, and regular monitoring and supervision.

At Twynham House we aim to protect the children in our care at all times. This includes making sure any visitors to the nursery are properly identified and supervised. All visitors must sign the visitors’ book on arrival and departure. Where applicable, visitors’ identity should be checked. Visitors are informed of any relevant policies including the fire evacuation procedure and the use of mobile phones or other recording devices.

All visitors are given and should wear a visitor’s badge to identify themselves to staff and parents within the nursery. A member of staff will accompany visitors in the nursery at all times, and at no time will a visitor be left alone with a child unless under specific circumstances arranged previously with the Manager (for example, colleagues attending in a professional capacity such as speech and language therapists.)

At Twynham House we aim to protect and support the welfare of the children in our care at all times. The Nursery Manager is responsible for all staff, and their ability to supervise children competently. This is achieved through robust policies and procedures, risk assessments, ongoing training, and monitoring of staff deployment across the setting at all times.

At Twynham House we follow the Covid-19 Government guidance for nurseries. This includes social distancing between adults (where appropriate), the wearing of face masks for parents and visitors, and adhering to exclusion periods.

We are also conscious that sound health and hygiene practices can help prevent the spread of infection. Staff and children regularly wash and dry their hands using sensored appliances, and hand sanitiser stations are arranged around the building.

Rest assured that, while this is a very strange time for many of us, we are working to ensure that our children are none the wiser and able to enjoy a very normal nursery experience.

At Twynham House we make sure the nursery is a safe environment for children, parents, staff and visitors through our fire safety policy and procedures. The Leadership Team makes sure the nursery premises are compliant with fire safety regulations, including conducting regular fire drills, checking fire detection and control equipment, and ensuring fire exits are safe and accessible.

At Twynham House we provide and maintain safe and healthy working conditions, equipment and systems of work for all our employees and a safe early learning environment in which children learn and are cared for. To develop and promote a strong health and safety culture within the nursery for the benefit of all staff, children and parents, we provide information, training and supervision.

At Twynham House we expect our children to be vaccinated in accordance with the government’s health policy and their age. We ask that parents inform us if their children are not vaccinated so that we can manage any risks to their own child or other children/staff/parents in the best way possible.

We make all parents aware that some children in the nursery may not be vaccinated, due to their age, medical reasons or parental choice. Our nursery does not discriminate against children who have not received their immunisations and will not disclose individual details to other parents.

At Twynham House we take great care to treat each individual as a person in their own right, whether they are an adult or a child. Discrimination on the grounds of gender, age, race, religion or belief, marriage or civil partnership, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, ethnic or national origin, or political belief has no place within our nursery.

These ideals of inclusion and equality are part of our daily interactions with each other and the children. We all model tolerance and respect with the aim of ensuring that our children grow into the happy people who treat each other with empathy and kindness.