New Flexible Opening Times – January 2012
We have been researching the needs of the Parent’s of Farnham and have come to the conclusion that we would be many parent’s first choice of Childcare should we be able to operate a more flexible day. We understand that many of our Parent’s commute to work and therefore would benefit from an earlier drop off and/or a later pick up.
We will therefore be opening from 7:30am – 7:00pm from January 2012. Please speak to Sam at the Nursery for more details.
What is happening at Starfish – November 2011 
Our new Deputy Manager
We are very excited to inform you that Steph Walsh (Jellyfish Room lead) has taken on the position of Starfish Deputy Manager. Steph has been working closely with me since the opening up of Jellyfish in the summer and has proved to be a great support already. I hope you join us in congratulating her in her new role.
Our under 3’s (*subject to parent feedback-16/11/11).
We have recently sent a letter out proposing the coming together of our two younger rooms to become our ‘under 3 Angelfish’ room. We have had such positive feedback so *will be going ahead with the move on Saturday 19th November. We are really looking forward to seeing the positive affects on the children.
2nd In Charge
Our staffing needs alter when joining these two rooms. By working on a 1:3 staff:child ratio, we will require 7 staff for a potential 21 children on any given day. We currently have Gemma, Suzanne, Sarah and Susie. We also have Barbara who we are pleased to have just gained full time. Our 6th member of staff will be Leanne who will be starting her transition from Jellyfish on Monday 21st November. Whilst we await our newcomers in the New Year, we will be interviewing for our 7th member of staff and will inform you as soon as they have been appointed. With such a large staff and child attendance, we feel that the role of Room Lead, by Gemma, does require some support and have therefore interviewed for a 2nd In Charge. We are pleased to inform you that this person is Suzanne. We hope you welcome us in congratulating Suzanne on her new role.
Wall breakdown
We have been looking into a way of creating more space and light within Angelfish by taking down part of the middle wall. We will be visited shortly by builders to look at the possibility of this and we will keep you posted on the developments.
Nappy Room
Over the summer we took out the nappy room situated in the conservatory to leave the designated nappy area for both rooms. We have been aware that there can be occasions when 2 children need a nappy change at the same time. We have therefore decided to look at the possibility of opening up an over-flow nappy room in replacement of the milk kitchen, which has not been used for many months. Charlotte is looking into the logistics of this at the moment and is hoping to have the work done as soon as possible.
Our Secret Garden
We have been reviewing the use of our second secluded garden for some months now; we would like to provide a different outdoor experience for the children. Since the summer, the children have had free-flow access to the large garden area with bikes, digging, planting and space… so what else could we offer them? We have met with a couple of local Landscape designers to look at creating a natural garden area where the children can explore, investigate and climb. We are now awaiting designs and will keep you informed of the plans and timescales.
We know that Starfish has undergone many changes over the last year, but we really hope you can see that this is down to our passion for providing the very best care, education and experience for your children.
Please do not hesitate to speak with myself should you have any questions.
Sam & the Starfish team!
*Watch this space for Yoga Bugs… 
We are looking into bringing Yoga back to Starfish in the New Year. We will keep you posted on our progress.
All Year Round… 
Stay & Play sessions; do you wonder what your child get’s up to at Starfish? We welcome Mum’s, Dad’s, Grandma’s, Grandpa’s, Aunty’s and Uncles to come and play with us! Please see Sam or any member of staff for more details.
Bonjour to French; Carole from Le Club francais comes to deliver French to our Jellyfish children on a Friday morning. Don’t worry if your child does not attend a Friday; you can still pop in! Please see Sam or Steph for more details.
Makaton; Sam plans a Makaton signing session each week to deliver to the children. We sing songs, read stories and talk about our favourite things!
December 2011; Christmas Play!
Starfish is putting on it’s very own rendition of “Ralph the Reindeer”… to be seen on Monday 12th December 2011! The children (and Staff!) are practicing really hard and are looking forward to showing their parent’s their Christmas spirit! There will also be a party tea and a visit from Father Christmas himself! Please see Steph for more information.
November 2011; Merging of our Under 3′s… Dear Parent’s,
We have recently made some really positive changes throughout the Nursery and are now enjoying seeing the rewards to them. We have been reflecting overe these changes and have become aware that the experiences being offered to the Jellyfish children (3-5 years) are not as open to thise under 3. We are therefore propsing that we join Angelfish (3-24months) & Pufferfish (2-3years) together and work in a similar but age appropriate way to Jellyfish…we would like to hear your thoughts on this and show you the positives in moving forward in this way;
- All children will have free flow access to the garden & fresh air
- All children will have a larger space within each area to move & explore
- We would like to create a large creative/role-play space in the conservatory where the children can use their voices and move around the garden area adjoining.
- We would like to create a tranquil, soft, explorative area in the front room, which will include a focused baby area with sensory traesure baskets, books, cushions, soft gym toys.
- We will aim that the sensory room become accessible to the children at all/most times.
- Currently, we arrive together in one room before breakfast and we join together after tea, for a play before going home; this way we ensure that at all times, the children have continuity and space regardless of the time of day. There is no ‘moving time’ throughout the day, which can take a child away from something they were engaged in.
- By becoming a Nursery with 2 rooms, we are reducing the unsettling transition by half, therefore gibing the children and parents more consistency and security.
- The curriculum states that “children learn best when they are healthy, safe and secure, when their individual needs are met and they have positive relationships with the adults caring for them” – page 14… “a Key Person has special requirements for working with a small number of children, giving them the reassurance to feel safe and cared for and building relationships with their parents” – page 15.
The attachment and bonding processes are very improtant for children, and provide security. Without secure attachments, children can become anxious. Coping with this anxiety becomes their primary need and therefore anxious children will not explore, investigate and therefore cannot learn. By giving the child that same key person, they will potentially keep that bond and familiarity with other staff, for 2 years at a time.
We pride ourselves in constantly reflecting our practice anf the care and experiences we provide for the children in our care. The EYFS is very focused on this; “It is vitally important that early years provision is of consistently high standard, and that providers continually look for ways to improve the quality of the learning, development and care they offer” - page 8 ‘Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage’.
We have gathered together some research to show you the benefits of joining these two rooms; please feel free to read through this and discuss your thoughts with either myself or Steph;
Research by Lilian Katz 1988 EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: WHAT RESEARCH TELLS US. “Young children who are cared for at home are unlikely to spend large amounts of time in groups of children of the same age. Natural family untis are typically heterogeneous in age. The family group provides all members with the opportunity to observe, emulate and initiate a wide range of competencies.”… “in a mixed-age group, the greater the opportunities for group members to develop relationships and friendships with others who match, complement, or supplement the participants’ own needs and styles. The greater diversity of maturity and competence present in a mixed-age group, as compared to a same-age group, provides a sufficient number of models to allow most participants to identify models suitable for their learning.”
Mixed-age groups encourage social behaviours that are important in the social development of young children. research shows that children are more likely to show good social behaviour and offer instruction to younger peers than to the same-age children. Older peers act as guides, or instructors to younger peers.
Vygotsky (1978) defines this zone (Zone of Proximal Developement) as “the distance between the actual development level as determined by independant problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers – “Page 86.
Your Feedback; please feel free to note any feedback you have regarding this, in order for us to work together to provide the very best for our children. We would like to move as quickly as we can in order to settle the children before Christmas, therefore we ask that all feedback be returned to us by Wednesday 16th November. We will aim to make the necessary alterations on Saturday 19th November 2011. Thank you!