The Jays Day Care Nursery, Pre-School and Outdoor Learning

Welcome to the Summer Term and let us hope for some lovely weather over the coming months! 

We start by saying a very sad farewell to all our school leavers and others going off to pastures new; Penelope, Reuben, Oscar, Sophia, Niamh, Charlie, Clark, Evan, Penny, Katie, James, Joshua, Ayrton, Freddie, Tyler, George and Rowan. We wish them all lots of luck and happiness in their next stage in life and we are sure they will all love and relish their new big adventure. We will miss each and every one of them greatly. 



As well as saying goodbye we are also lucky to welcome some lovely new children and families to The Jays; Amber, Barnaby, Connie, Esmae, Ezra, George, Haydn, Jessica, Penny, Sophia, Tiago and Tyler. We hope everyone has settled/settles well and enjoys nursery life. 

We are very busy here at the nursery and are trying to recruit new staff. Despite advertising we have not had any success as yet. If you know of anyone who might interested, please do ask them to get in touch. We can organise NVQ/apprenticeship training where required.

After much consideration we have taken the decision to hold the leavers party in a reduced format. We will have a party here from 4 p.m. for the school leavers, they will have an opportunity to join in with a small presentation and some party games. At 5.30 they will have their presentation and ‘Good Luck Leavers’ cake to cut and share. If the weather is on our side, 2 adults per child may come and watch outside. We are very aware that we have done all we can to remain open in the face of Covid. Please could you collect your child at 5.30 

We are updating and reviewing things everyday and taking onboard guidance that we receive. For the time being we will be continuing with our enhanced cleaning regime and following our drop off/collection procedure. We have also had to make the decision to ask parents not to bring in food from home i.e. birthday cake. We can accept shop bought cakes in their packaging. 

Sickness and Illness

Many thanks for everyone’s understanding with our requests regarding illnesses. We appreciate you not bringing in children with coughs, colds etc. particularly during this difficult time. It is not just about Covid but is also about trying to keep our staff well so that we can stay open to look after your children. 



NB If children are suffering from sickness or diarrhoea our policy is that they are not to return until 48 hours after their last bout. Many thanks again for your cooperation in this matter. 

Water Bottles

All Pre-school children are required to bring a water bottle with them. A sports bottle is best as the children find them easier to drink out of. This is so that they are able to access a drink whenever they want one. We prefer for these to be filled with water as we encourage a healthy diet and find this a healthier option to juice and also, other children are very quick to realise if anyone has juice and will try to drink it!

The bottle should be labelled with your child’s name. Please ensure this is taken home and washed at the end of the day. 

Many thanks to all of you who have helped raise money for our outdoor learning space. We have raised £610 so far! 

If you are not already signed up to help, please do take a look – through easyfundraising you can help us raise funds simply by doing your everyday online shopping with over 3,300 big name retailers like Amazon, Argos, John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, ASDA, Waitrose, Booking.com, eBay, Boden, and M&S. 

Every time you shop, we receive a small donation to say ‘thank you’ and it’s completely free too! We want to raise as much as possible so please sign up and help us at https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/jaysdaycare/

We are continually trying to add to our outdoor resources so help like this, that is free too, is invaluable. 

Forest School sessions are going really well. It has been fantastic to introduce the toddler children to our amazing grounds since September and they have learnt so much. The Children’s confidence, imaginations and physical skills have developed alongside their interest in and love of nature. 

Please ensure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather as we do go out come rain or shine. Ensure your child has: 



• Full Change of clothes

• Jumper/Fleece

• Long sleeved tops/t-shirts to layer up

• Coat, Wellies and woolly hat

If you are interested in your child being put on the waiting list for either Toddler (age 2-3) or Pre-School (age 3-5) Forest school sessions then please let a member of staff know. 

We do our best to check emails throughout the day, however, there are occasions when we are with the children and it has not been possible to get into the office. If anything is urgent and you haven’t had a reply, please do telephone. 

Just a little note to remind you that you are able to collect your child any time during their session. We do go for walks so if you are likely to arrive mid-afternoon and it is not your normal pick up time, it is worth letting us know so that we can make sure your child isn’t too far away. 

Also, during this difficult time, Pre-School children can be collected from the Pre-School Room playground door particularly if the lobby area is busy? 

Hazel’s new format of integrating music, art and the outdoors is working well. You can see the results of their lovely work in the lobby area as well as on Facebook and Blossom.

EYFS/OFSTED September 2021 

AS of September, OFSTED will be inspecting us against a new Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. The staff are gearing themselves up and accessing training either on-line or in-house. There will be a few changes to how we operate. In The Moment Planning will be foremost, high priority, in our everyday face to face contact with the children. OFSTED will be judging us on our knowledge of our key children and not so much on the paperwork side. There will be less expectations on written observations, which has been recognised takes us away from the children and more focus on the quality time spent with the children so you may not see so many observation/photographs posted on Blossom. Oral health has been identified as an area OFSTED will be judging us on. Healthy meals and reduced sugary content are expected. We will be more pro-active in what the Pre-School have in their water bottles, and we will only be offering milk or water for children to drink. This will be reflected in our policy (Healthy Eating). This is a really exciting, new introduction to the Early Years. 

I would like to give you notice of our intention to close the nursery from Friday 24th December @ 4p.m. and re-open on Tuesday 4th January 2022 @ 8 a.m. I know this may be difficult for some, but in the last couple of years we have remained open for a few children which is not financially viable. It has been a difficult decision to make but I think if Covid has taught us anything, it is that we must value our family time. The staff have worked tirelessly to keep the nursery open in difficult times so I hope you can understand the decision to close for these extra 3 days. Many thanks. 

We hope that you are all joined up to our online learning journal – Blossom. If you are not or are having problems with this, please do let us know. We particularly enjoy seeing what activities and information you share from home so please do post photo’s etc. from home. This helps us to work on our ‘In the moment planning’ process where we build on children’s learning through their interests. Should you wish to know more about this way of planning, please ask your child’s keyworker or other member of staff. 

We try to add photograph’s and observations onto Tapestry on a very regular basis and when we are able to capture moments that are relevant and particularly notable. Every half term, your child will also be a ‘focus child’ for a week. This enables your child’s keyworker to ensure that all areas of learning and development are covered and they will carry out more in-depth observations and assessments. 



We are aware that currently, you are unable to comment or like our observations/photo’s sent to you. Blossom have just developed a 2 way messenger type element of the system which we have rolled out and hope you are finding helpful despite the few teething problems Blossom have had with the app. 

Friday 16th July 2021 

Leavers Party 

Tuesday 20th July 2021 

Last day of Summer Term for Term Time children 

Monday 30th August 2021 

Bank Holiday – CLOSED 

Monday 6th September 2021 

First Day of Autumn Term 

Monday 25th – Friday 29th October 2021 

Half Term for Term Time children. 

Friday 17th December 2021 

Last day Autumn Term for Term Time children 

Friday 24th December 2021 

Friday 24th December 2021 – Close at 4 p.m. 

Re-Opens Tuesday 4th January 2022

8 a.m.