ABOUT STURTON CYGNETS CIO

A Place to Shine

Cygnets Preschool is a warm caring setting which always puts the children and parents/carers best interests first. We are managed by an experienced passionate voluntary committee who strive to make the preschool the best it can be. All profits are reinvested into the setting to benefit the children due to being a registered charity, therefore a not for profit organisation. Due to being a not for profit organisation we keep our fees low so we can be affordable to all families. The staff are made up of a highly experienced and motivated skilled team who strive to make the environment a rich, stimulating and exciting place for all children to be. All staff hold early years qualifications at level 3/4 and the Manager and Deputy Manager holds a Degree in Childhood Studies. Staff regularly attend training in line with government’s requirements to enhance their knowledge and as part of their continuous professional development. We are committed to retaining a homely caring setting where children can develop, make friends and most of all have fun whilst becoming ready for their next step along their journey.

We are Ofsted registered and provide places funded by the government for 2, 3 and 4 year olds. Children are entitled to receive 15 hours each week (in some cases 30 hours if you meet the criteria) that are funded by the government for 38 weeks of the year. We are open term time Monday to Friday offering sessions either 9-12, 12-3 or 9-3 and we take children from age 2. You are able to take all your funding with us and can be used across all the sessions we offer subject to us having available spaces.

We don’t charge a top up fee for any government funded sessions however the government has said we are able to invoice additional charges for the extra curriculum activities we do such as sampling foods from around the world, sensory activities and for consumables such as snacks. Consumable items are classed as anything used by your child. Our charges for snack and consumables are per 3 hour session which is broken down into 70p for snack and 30p for consumables, therefore £1 per 3 hour session such as 9-12 £1, 12-3 £1 and 9-3 £2. You are invoiced for this at the beginning of each month and are given a period of time when it is required to be paid by. You can pay by bank transfer, cash or by registering with National Savings where you can save money using the government scheme.

This small charge is a voluntary donation however if you preferred not to pay it you are able to still access your child’s funded sessions, however, it is a policy requirement that you must provide us with the items the funding does not cover. Please see the list below of items that are classed as snacks/consumables and the items required to be provided by you if you choose not to pay the small consumable charge. All items would need to be clearly named and dated.This list is not exhaustive, and you may be asked for additional items dependent on the learning/theme at the time:

Snacks – these must be free from allergy related ingredients such as nuts, be healthy, washed, prepared safely to prevent choking, in date and provided daily in a named container
Sensory play – playdough, shaving foam etc. Please provide, flour, crème of tartare, salt, food colouring and shaving foam. You will be notified when and what to provide of additional items
Planting – please provide, a selection of seeds and soil
Sampling of foods from around the world – such as when celebrating Chinese New Year, you will be notified what and when to provide the items
Baking – you will be notified when and what to provide
Emergency Calpol/Antihistamine
Suncream – to firstly be applied at home before arriving and we will top up
Tissues
Celebrations and festival foods
Gifts – Christmas, birthdays, Easter. Bring the gift at the time of the event
Food prepared
Twinkle – a resource that provides learning resources
Ink, paper and administration - used to amend sessions requested by you, receipts, formal letters etc
Home learning resources

If you pay the consumable/snack charge all the items above are included however due to trying to keep the charge as low as possible and affordable to you, you are required to supply your child with nappies, wipes, nappy sacks, spare clothes, barrier creams such as sudocrem and a healthy packed lunch in accordance with the nutritional and choking guidance you are given upon enrolment with us.

We are based in Sturton by Stow Primary School with a large self contained room and an extensive enclosed outdoor area with opportunities to explore the school gardens. We work in partnership with the school and our children are given opportunities to get to know the teachers and other children which helps support them when transitioning into reception class next door. Transitions to school can be difficult for some children however we strive in making this process as smooth as possible and our children are extremely fortunate to get to know the head teacher, the reception/admin staff and even get to meet the lunchtime supervisors and have their lunch in the hall on occasions.

All children are given a keyperson who will work in partnership with you to support their development and who will be responsible for planning stimulating activities that are fun and of interest to your child to help them succeed.

At Sturton Cygnets we have designed our curriculum based on the interests of the children and the environment that is happening around us. We also use the reformed Development Matters (this is a non-statutory curriculum guidance for the early years foundation stage) and the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Please see links below to access these documents.

Policies and Procedures are available on request which will be emailed for your convenience.

We use a online learning system that is used by many Early Years settings and was created to help Early Years providers and families share information. It allows all observations and photographs of children to be securely uploaded to a personal journal as well as links made to the curriculum we follow for developmental purposes.

At Cygnets Preschool our sessions are structured to ensure that the children benefit from well-planned stimulating activities that link into the Early Years Foundation Stage framework (EYFS), but flexible enough to easily accommodate child-initiated play. Staff uses the principles of the EYFS to observe and track each of their key children’s progress and development, planning future activities and experiences tailored to individual children’s interests and needs. We aim to make the learning experience as much fun as possible so that the children enjoy what they are doing and remain engaged. We believe that outdoor play is paramount to a child’s learning and development and every day we offer free flow between indoors and outdoors regardless of the weather. The weather should not be a barrier to learning therefore we ask for your child to be equipped with suitable clothing and footwear such as a warm coat and wellies in winter and a sun hat and sun cream to be applied in the summer. We recommend that you don’t put your child in their best clothes because we like to explore and clothes can become dirty. Jumpers are available to purchase in the setting with the Cygnets logo on. The most memorable days are usually the ones that end with the dirtiest clothes.

Children learn best through physical and mental challenges. We promote ‘Active Learning’ which involves other people, objects, ideas and events that engage and involve children for sustained periods. We use the children's interests as a starting point to their learning as we know children are more likely to learn and engage if it is of interest to them. We also use various themes throughout the year to help your child learn and use the weather and seasons as a learning opportunity embracing it when we can. There is nothing better than wrapping up warm and jumping in puddles to make bubbles, building a snowman, searching for icy cobwebs or simply gathering leaves and seeing how high we can throw them in the air.

We feel very passionate about our ethos at Sturton Cygnets which is for all children to:

'Come as Strangers and Leave as Friends'

Ofsted registration number: 2853745

Registered charity number: 1213253

lincolnshire.fsd

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