Safe & Sound

We fully appreciate that a parent’s primary focus in choosing any childcare is the welfare of their child. At the Red House we make every effort to ensure our nursery is a safe and positive place for children.

We work within the government guidelines for child to staff ratio and seek advice from Ofsted, the government regulators for childcare and Bolton Council’s Statwell Early Years team when needed. We have our early support from Bolton startwell- Sheron Kantor who works with our manager Sarah regularly to keep the setting working at a high standard set by the local authority.

The Red House provides a spacious environment in each of our rooms to ensure children feel comfortable in their surroundings.

Our outdoor area

Our outdoor play area is surrounded by walls and fencing, however has the added bonus of being surrounded by such wonderful woodland this gives our children the chance to be introduced to environmental sounds from a very early age and discover the beauty of nature in the form of our woodland visitors i.e. birds and frogs.  We encourage exploration and exercise when children play outside.

We also have a wonderful mud kitchen area which gives our children the chance to be busy builders and outdoor gardeners.

The local world 

Our children get to explore the world around them this can be a visit to the local farm smithills farm or a a visit to the local park which has a wonderful sand pit.

The children also have the chance to go to smithills hall and see what adventures take place there this can be story sessions and nature walks we are so lucky.

Our meal preparation and how we celebrate Cultural capital through meal times. 

• Fresh fruit and vegetables are provided for the children in the meals we freshly prepare. We ensure the recommended five a day of fresh fruit and vegetables is catered for in the variety we provide.
• We have a wonderful chef who has designed our menu in line with the government guidelines set on healthy eating in early years settings. Our chef is able to cater for most dietary requirements including vegetarian and any allergies.
• When your child begins their settle in journey with ourselves the team will create a diet plan to ensure your child is in safe hands when enjoying our meal times at the Red House.
• Our cook is open to menu suggestions from parents and is flexible to ensure we can cater for specific dietary needs. All children’s meals are prepared freshly on site every day.

To ensure we gain a good insight into cultural capital our children are supported in their journey to learn and discover through experiences about the amazing world around us through food tasting experiences, discovering how we can learn from others and how everyone’s lives are incredible and our children will grow up to well rounded humans.

Meals are served with friends in a sociable environment where children are encouraged to calmly talk to each other. Our carers encourage children to eat their meals with our carers introducing conversations about our home lives and what we enjoy to eat at home this gives our parent partnerships the chance to blossom as we get to see our children’s wonderful worlds outside our nursery.

Our children are given a choice of milk or water at meal times this gives them the chance to deliver their own choices and by delivering good quality refreshments our children are given the best start in their oral health journey.

Drinking water is on offer throughout the day and the older children have access help themselves to this. When your child joins the setting we ask for them to bring a water bottle of their choice  this gives the child a sense of ownership and a strong sense of importance to themselves.

At meal times, we ensure children learn about the importance of washing their hands our children love to sing Happy birthday to themselves in the bathroom to ensure we wash our hands the correct timeframe.

We encourage table manners and help them to understand the importance of concentrating during meal times. Children are also encouraged to speak with each other during meal times to feel part of a community and social wellbeing.

Hearing “please” and “thank you” are common at the Red House and the carers set the example of being just as polite with the children and between each other. Sharing and respecting each other are common ways to help children develop positive relationships with their friends and carers.

First aid. 

As part of our Ofsted Requirements our carers are trained in first aid and this is renewed every three years to ensure our children’s safety is paramount.

we also have a number of staff members who have emergency first aid at work to keep the team safe when working alongside our lovely children.

Supporting our children through our toilet training journey. 

We help with toilet training and the importance of hand washing after the toilet is encouraged from the beginning.

this will be supported with a meeting with your child’s key worker who will create a plan with the parent to discuss

• the best method of toilet training for home and nursery
• the best way we can get child involved and enjoying their toilet training journey
• continuous praise for our children’s achievements

Parent Relationships 

All of our staff make every effort to form positive relationships with parents. We have introduced a handle with care system at the setting this gives the parents a chance to be given a card which will indicate their child will need some extra support from the team members and a follow up by the manager on their child’s day will be given at any point during the day to reassure the parent we are here to support the family when you need it most.

Each child is assigned a key worker giving parents some confidence that even though we have a team of carers looking after your child, we also have an individual responsible for monitoring the development of your child. In the setting in period the child is supported by all team members to give the child the chance to build a secure bond with everyone including their key worker.

We take pride in ensuring love care and attention go hand in hand. Other parents have told us they can see this through our approach. The Red House makes every effort to assure all parents on the welfare of their child.

Our setting is based on care, love and support for each other which follows the governing thought of the setting

-The safety of the children

-The enjoyment and development of the children

-The trust and satisfaction from our parents.