Season’s Greetings!
And December is upon us! Just like that!
Now seems the right time to update you on 2023 and to let you know about our hopes for 2024!
Awards:
I would like to start by saying we have recently obtained our Gold Healthy Snack Award Plus (GHSA)! We have a dedicated team member who attends a nutritional course every two years to help us ensure the snack we offer for the children fits the healthy guidelines for our children. We also take full advantage of this by getting our menus checked to ensure they too cover all nutritional areas. We are told that not many nurseries hold the PLUS award!
Designed to Smile (teeth care initiative) – Although we still are not eligible for the designed to smile at present we still are in talks with the team to ensure should this change then we are keen to re-introduce it here at Plantos. It looks promising!
We have been nominated for two categories in the Early Years Wales awards for 2024.
Charity: We have done extremely well in fund raising this year for both MacMillan and Children in Need. Thank you to all the parents who supported our fundraising as I’m sure you will agree the money goes to worthy causes. The Toy Box appeal was also supported with your donations. Awareness days for both the children and the team will continue.
Improvements:
Re-decoration –Plantos has recently been redecorated to give it a new fresh clean look. We have also carried out improvement works by having a new gas boiler fitted and all radiators checked to ensure we can keep the temperature of the nursery at a comfortable level throughout the colder months. The nursery has also been fully refitted with LED lighting making our rooms brighter but also more sustainable.
Resources– New wooden toy kitchens have been purchased to replace old and to ensure we have one in all base rooms (excluding Crawlers). This will allow the children to broaden role play skills as well as covering a whole multitude of developmental learning areas. We have a new multi-level tuff tray in the front garden and a set of beautiful sensory light up cubes!
To ensure we maintain a good level of use on the App we have also upgraded a few of our nursery tablets! We hope this will enable us to use the live share function more easily with parents for daily updates. But rest assured, we will be using the older ones to allow our Sprinters to access the use of technology as ITC is a cross-curricular element of the new curriculum for Wales as is very much a part of daily living. It will allow them to learn about basic functions such as how to open them, take pictures and films and will also give them access to age-appropriate educational Apps. Do not worry- screen time will be limited.
We have ordered two portable sinks for our base rooms upstairs (Walkers and Joggers) although children’s hands are washed before and after mealtimes it was suggested from doing our GHSA that children from walking age are able to stand at a sink for hand washing to encourage good hygiene. Runners and Joggers have recently received new nappy changing tables for their bathrooms as these too needed updating – one even has stairs on it for the Runners to help with the process!
Our team are continuing on their learning journeys in completing their qualifications and we cannot tell you how proud we are of each and every single one of them, on top of the long hours they work.
Quality:
Our Self-Assessment of Service Statement (SASS) for Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) will be due in the NY so please look out for a parent questionnaire that we will share with you very soon. Your feedback as always is greatly appreciated and is listened to. It allows you to pinpoint our strengths but also gives you an opportunity to help us in identifying any areas for improvement. We have to accept that no-one or thing is perfect) but it doesn’t stop us from trying! This year, we did re-visit the SASS after 6 months so that we could self-reflect once more.
We would like to thank you for the lovely and kind reviews we have recently received. They do help when it comes to prospective parents looking for nurseries but also gives the staff here a lovely boost when they too receive the positive feedback. It’s never to late to leave a review so should you wish please use the link below Plantos Nursery (Old St Mellons), Wern Fawr House, Eastern Business Park, Wern Fawr Lane, St Mellons, Cardiff CF3 5XA | 89 Reviews (daynurseries.co.uk)
In January will be doing our Quality For All (QfA) accreditation with Early Years Wales. The feedback we receive from you will serve a dual purpose for the QfA and for the SASS.
You can also leave reviews for us on Google Business reviews and Childcare.co.uk Nursery in Cardiff – Plantos Ltd – Childcare.co.uk
We have now improved on our peer observations and room observations. This is now done with the support of all team members in a health and constructive way.. Did you know too that all staff have quarterly professional discussions with the management team and an annual appraisal?
What can you do help us improve?
- Share ideas with us.
- Tell us where we are falling short.
- Share ideas on inclusivity and your different cultures so that they are celebrated.
- Do you have a skill/story you can use or share with us?
- Do you have a business we could promote?
- Can you share the good word about Plantos? Tell others about our Open Day.
- Share, follow and like us on our social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram and X
- Share this newsletter!
- Add to your child’s learning journey on the App.
Business Park:
Lights on path– We have been liaising with the business park to ensure they give some attention to the lighting leading up to Plantos. These are now all working.
Facilities- Did you know that there is a gym and a Milk & Sugar restaurant on the park? There are electric car charging points for employees of the Park too.
Sessions:
Extra sessions: We do not normally swap sessions but you can request extra sessions. We will do our best to help you but we are already looking very full for 2024.
Fees: Information about our fee increase for 2024 has been sent via the App. Please e-mail us if you require any clarification or calculations on your invoices for the coming year. We continue to deliver the Childcare Offer and also accept Tax-Free Childcare.
You can book emergency childcare sessions with us through your employer if they are subscribed to it, and if we have space on: Emergency Childcare | Key Workers Backup Childcare | Emergency Nannies, Nurseries & Childminders
Christmas 2023:
Christmas opening times: We are in the process of sending out Christmas slips to parents for us to know your requirements over the festive period. When we have had the majority of these back we will communicate with you what exactly our opening times will be. We will reopen on the 2nd of January 2024.
Dates for December 2023:
4th – Short Christmas movie and yule log 5th – Festive wear
6th – National Elf day (dress as an elf) 7th – National Christmas jumper day
8th – Festive wear 11th – Christmas socks and hot chocolate
12th – Festive wear 13th – Christmas dinner day
14th – Make a Christmas hat 15th – Festive wear
18th – Christmas songs and Pajamas 19th – Festive wear
20th – Festive baking 21st – Christmas party day with a visit from a special guest
22nd – Festive wear
We do not expect you to go to any extra expense for dressing up days!
News for 2024:
Flying Start: Plantos has been approached by the FS team who are keen to use us as a setting in 2024. This will essentially mean savings for you if you live in one of the designated postcodes and your child is 2. We will update you in this once we know more. Welcome to Cardiff Flying Start – Flying Start Cardiff
Room change: As part of our team members’ continuing professional development we will be having a staff move around in the NY and some children will also be moving base rooms. This will mean that some children will potentially have new keyworkers also. Your child’s keyworkers name can be found on the App and should this also change the new keyworker will make themselves known to you When we have finalised all the details we will provide you with an update.
Reminders for you: Could we please remind you to ensure all your children’s possessions are labelled and named. As the colder weather approaches, we do kindly request you to send your child/ren in with a warm coat (an all-in-one if possible) wellies, hat, scarf and gloves (should you wish) to ensure we are still able to promote outdoor play with the children and for us all to get much beneficial fresh air.
We would like to remind our parents of younger children who are on formula milk that we can provide this for you as part of your fees (so long as it is not a special type or prescribed specifically for your child).. We can provide you with a list of formula milk should you wish to check.
Thank you to all the parents who have come in so far or have booked in appointments to attend our open evenings. You are always welcome to discuss your child’s progress with us at any time – just let us know.
Open day: Saturday, January 20th 2024, 10am-12pm / Mini First Aid session too.
Lastly, the words THANK YOU or DIOLCH never seem big enough when it comes to us expressing our gratitude to you all for trusting us with your most precious little ones. We have had a fab year of making memories at Plantos and we look forward to 2024. We would like to take this time to wish you all a very Merry Christmas with your families and a safe, bright and healthy New Year!
Os hoffech gyfieithiad o’r cylchlythyr hwn, rhowch wybod. DIOLCH.