Parent information

Unfortunately, you are not able to leave your car in our nursery car parks. The nursery parking spaces need to be kept clear for use during drop off and collection only.  

Our nursery fees are annualised, being calculated for 51 weeks of the year. Fees are payable all year round, we are unable to reduce fees for non-attendance due to holiday or any other absence.

For information about fees and payment methods, please refer to our fees page.  

We believe that it is important to keep our nursery places as affordable as possible for all parents, we therefore do not offer any separate discounts such as a sibling discount.  

We can share a copy of our nursery menus with parents upon request.

We work closely with our families to understand children’s individual allergies and dietary requirements and liaise with our Nursery Caterer to ensure we can provide suitable meals for your child, so they still receive the nutrients they need, whilst catering for their dietary need.

If a child has an allergy, we will require a care plan to be put in place, which will provide information about the allergen and the emergency procedures that need to be followed in the event of a reaction. Allergen training and the use of EpiPens is covered in our Paediatric First Aid Training, and we will ensure that all staff are confident in this when admitting a child with a severe allergy into the setting. The nursery team will ask for the involvement of the medical professionals who look after your child’s care when writing a child’s care plan, and therefore we will require allergies to be officially diagnosed.

We have stringent policies and procedures in place to ensure that children’s allergens and dietary requirements are managed correctly, which your child’s key worker will discuss further with your during the settling process.

At Birmingham Day Nurseries, we understand the importance of supporting children through transitions. Whilst children will experience many transitions during their time at nursery, starting nursery is a big step and every child will handle it differently. We therefore ensure that the settling in process is tailored to each child’s individual needs.

Some children will need longer for this process than others, which may be impacted by aspects such as, age and stage of development, previous experience of being separated from parents/carers, or of attending an Early Years setting.

Your child’s key worker will discuss and plan your child’s settling sessions with you. They will make suggestions as to days and times that may be better for settling sessions to take place and advise you on how your child is getting on. We recommend parents/carers speak to us as soon as possible if they feel their child will struggle with starting nursery. This will allow us to leave sufficient time for settling to take place, ahead of the planned start date.

Each day at nursery can be slightly different for each child. We strongly believe that our routines need to be flexible to meet all our nursery children’s needs. However, there are key times in the day, which your child will become familiar with during their first few weeks at nursery, such as meal and nap times.

During the settling process, your child’s key worker will talk you through the general routing for your child’s room and explain the different activities they will have an opportunity to take part in. There will be lots of opportunities for your child to explore and become curious about the world around them through regular access to the outdoor environment. Activities and experiences will be planned around your child’s individual developmental needs and interests, whilst also allowing your child to test out newly learnt skills. Our nurseries ensure that the children have plenty of chance to engage in self-chosen play, and our highly skilled practitioners will use these times to extend their learning further.

Our three day nurseries use an app called ParentZone to keep you updated on all things to do with your child’s day. Find out more about ParentZone and download user guides by visiting: ParentZone Resources - Connect Childcare. 

During the settling period, your child’s key worker will support you with the drop off and pick up process. On your child’s first day, you will be issued with an access fob, which will enable you to enter and exit the nursery during the key drop off times. Parents/carers drop and collect their child from the nursery room, where there is an opportunity to share any information with a member of staff.  

It is natural that through the course of their day, children will engage in activities and play that may cause them to get wet and messy. It is therefore essential that all children come to nursery with spare clothes in their nursery bag. The amount of spare clothes will vary dependent upon the age and stage of their children, so it is important that you speak to your child’s key worker about what is best for your child.

When children are toilet training, the amount of spare clothes required will increase. At different times of the year, we will also recommend packing different items such as; hats, gloves, scarves and suncream. 

We ask that parents/carers notify us at the earliest opportunity if your child will not be attending nursery, whether this be for a planned or unplanned absence. If a child has not arrived at nursery by 10am on one of their usual days of attendance, we will attempt to contact parents/carers to determine the reason for this and check on their wellbeing.

Any parent who wishes to change their child’s booking pattern will be asked to complete a ‘Change of Usage’ form. This form can be obtained from the nursery office. We always recommend having a conversation with a member of the management team before completing the form as they will be able to advise you on the availability of alternative sessions. One months’ notice is required to reduce or terminate your child’s nursery place. 

As young children and baby’s immune systems develop, it is natural for them to pick up different childhood illnesses. Children’s wellbeing is of the utmost importance and therefore our Well Child Policy outlines the way in which we manage the different illnesses that children may experience.

We follow the Health Protection Agency guidance in relation to exclusion periods from nursery and will always contact parents/carers should we feel that their child is not well enough to be at nursery. On completion of the appropriate documentation, we are happy to administer prescribed medication to children who are unwell. In certain circumstances, we are able to administer non-prescription medications, such as liquid paracetamol, but recommend that you liaise with your child’s key person to learn more about what we can administer safely and in what circumstances.

The safety and wellbeing of children in our care, is of the utmost importance to us. We therefore have several policies and procedures in place to minimise the likelihood of accidents or injuries. However, we fully understand that as young children grow, develop, learn and test new skills there will be times when accidents and injuries are unavoidable.

We aim to ensure that all staff are trained in Paediatric First Aid as soon as possible after joining our team, at the very least, we always ensure that there are a sufficient number of First Aid qualified staff at any one time.

Accidents and injuries are always recorded and shared with parents/carers, however, in the event of an accident or injury, our first priority will always be the wellbeing of the child. If your child has an accident or suffers an injury at nursery, you will receive a notification via ParentZone, which will provide the details of what happened as well as any injury sustained. On occasions, we may deem it appropriate to give you a call to explain the incident, particularly if it has involved a bump on the head. We review all incidents and use the information from these to inform our future risk assessments.

During the registration and induction process, our teams will gather as much information from you as possible. If your child has a medical condition or Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND), we will work with you to find out how best to care for your child.

We will always reach out to any medical professionals or specialists who may be involved in your child’s care and work closely with them to plan for your child’s start date. We will endeavour to arrange any training that our teams may need to help support your child and hold regular reviews with you and other professionals to ensure that any strategies or interventions that we have implanted are working and to review Care Plans or SEND plans.