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OUR AIMS... " We aim to provide a rich educational play environment to enhance your child's intellectual, social, emotional and physical development. " OUR STAFF... All our staff are experienced, qualified nursery nurses (Diploma in Pre-school Practice, N.N.E.B.) or teachers. We do not use parents on a rota basis as do many pre-school groups. We have found that this can be disruptive to the children whose mums are on duty and also, as mums are such busy people, we could not always guarantee they could be there! Children refer to the staff as 'Aunties' Our staff have all been with us for some years now. We currently have Aunty Carole, Aunty Shirley, Aunty Jayne, Aunty Bridget and Aunty Alison. Your child will be allocated a key worker who monitors your child's progress and is responsible for keeping assessments and record for your child up to date. "You are the first educators of your child and we will value and support the work already being done by you." ACTIVITIES AND FUNDRAISING... We organise events for both all the family and just mums and dads - a rare chance to get out without the children and relax! We hold our Easter Family Fun Day every year and in the past have held sponsored events, Christmas Fair, flower arranging demonstrations etc. In November we will be hosting our fourth wine tasting evening - so popular have they proved! Next year we hope to repeat our music/supper/disco night which was also a great success. See the 'News' page for further details of our fundraising events In the past we have also held a 'Promise Auction' where parents, friends of Hummingbirds, local businesses, family visitor attractions and celebrities have donated either goods, tickets or services. These were then sold at auction and we raised nearly £5,000 towards a permanent base for the nursery. In 1994, a group of parents, teachers and parishioners of SS Mary & Michael had the great idea of setting up a pre-school educational nursery. After much hard work and dedication, the nursery opened in 1997, in a purpose built, but temporary unit. Provided by the parish of SS Mary & Michael it is open to all. In October 2006 Hummingbirds relocated to a permanent base in the newly refurbished Castle Lane Community Centre. The unit is designed specifically as a nursery environment. It has a secure decking area opening off the main nursery room. We have a fantastic Playdale climbing/slide system funded by lottery money. For those rainy days we have access to a large room in the centre, where bikes, scooters, climbing frames and slides etc may be used safely. The nursery is open to all and has proved extremely successful and very popular over the years. Children who attend Hummingbirds have gone on to start at many different primary schools in the area, including SS Mary and Michael's, Garstang Community Primary School, Forton, Nateby, Bleasdale and St. Thomas'. MORE DETAILS ABOUT SESSIONS PRE-SCHOOL SESSIONS Monday and Wednesday mornings 9:15 - 12 noon We follow curriculum guidance given by the government for the Foundation Stage. This stage includes both the nursery years and your child's first year at school (3 to 5 years). We carefully plan our activities to promote the six areas of learning set out in these guidelines. These are: *Personal, Social and Emotional Development *Communication, Language and Literacy *Mathematical Development *Knowledge and Understanding of the World *Physical Development *Creative Development All our activities are based around play which we plan to be intellectually, physically, emotionally and socially stimulating. This enables your child to explore ideas, concepts and experiences in new and imaginative ways, all while having a great time. MIXED MORNING SESSIONS Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9:15am - 12 noon Our activities are designed to cater for the needs of children from 2 ½ to pre-school year. We follow the relevant guidance, described under our pre-school sections, according to your child's age. The younger children benefit from interacting with the older children and the older children often enjoy helping and caring for the younger children. LUNCHTIME SESSIONS Monday to Friday 12 - 1pm These sessions are very popular with parents, carers and children alike! We usually start with a group story. Then the children wash their hands, collect their lunch boxes, sit at a small table with a member of staff and unpack their lunches onto a plate. The children really enjoy chatting and socialising in these small groups. Once lunch is eaten and packed away we usually have time for a couple of songs before it is time to go home. TWEENIES SESSION If there is sufficient interest we will be running afternoon sessions for children aged from 2 (see below for more details.) NB NEWS: Hummingbirds has re-registered as DAY CARE in the new setting. This does not mean we are changing to a day nursery. It means that while children could previously only attend up to 5 sessions per week they can now attend as many as we offer. It also means that, when we start to run afternoon sessions sometime in the future, your child can stay all day. Previously they would have had to go home for an hour and come back after lunch! WATCH THIS SPACE FOR DETAILS ABOUT AFTERNOON SESSIONS. If you are interested in afternoon sessions, please do let us know as the more demand we have the more likely we are to open for longer hours. (01995 643224 or 01995 602012) OFSTED 2007......... Relationships between staff and children are "extremely good", the children are "very settled, happy and content in the care of the supportive staff team." The "partnership with parents and carers in relationship to nursery education is outstanding." The quality of teaching and learning was judged to be good: "Children enjoy having a structured yet flexible session." Ofsted report - summary written by committee Official report on Ofsted's website
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