As of September 2023, we will be able to begin our Tiny Teds journey and welcome your little twos to our wonderful school. We have anticipated this for so long and we are so excited to start our new chapter. Please take a look at our page and find all information you may need. Your child can join our Tiny Teds group as soon as they turn two and they can be moved into our pre-school the term after they turn three. If you still have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice and admissions on 01900 608111 or alternatively, you can email the school office at admin@smhwkt.cumbria.sch.uk. We would always encourage a look around beforehand, so please make an appointment and come and take a look at our new area. We hope to see lots of new faces very soon.

Meet the Tiny Teds' Team:

From left to right, Lucy, Wendy and Cath

Sessions:

Our morning session will be 8.30am until 11.30am and our afternoon sessions will run from 12.15pm until 3.15pm. Please let us know your preference of morning and afternoon and we will try our very best to accommodate this.

Due to ratios, we will only be able to take 8 children per session and will not be offering full days at the moment. If you would like your child to join both sessions, we can allow this, however, you would need to collect your child and take them home for lunch and return for the afternoon session.

We would require a minimum of two set days/sessions per week to secure your booking. These will be agreed upon prior to your little one starting with us. Extra days may be agreed if needed but this will be based on the spaces available.

Fees:

Your 2-year-old can get free childcare if you live in England and get any of the following benefits:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Universal Credit, and your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, not including benefit payments
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit (or both), and your household income is £16,190 a year or less before tax
• the Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

Cumberland Council are still in the process of updating their site since merging, however, you may be able to gain information about applying for funding by emailing them or calling them in the meantime.

If you are not eligible for funding, our sessions will be £15.00 for the three hours which will also include a snack. We require full payment prior to each session beginning.

Facilities:

We have a newly refurbished area in our existing nursery room. This has been built to cover all safety and size requirement for the size of the group that will attend the Tiny Teds.

We are adapting a 'curiosity approach' in Early Years and we encourage children to use every-day objects and truly engage with what is available to them. There is lots of new resources for them to try and as always, we encourage lots of reading to the children and allowing them to use their imagination as much as possible.

Plenty of outdoor play is available. Early Years have their own secure yard with play equipment and other exciting resources to explore such as a mud kitchen and a snug, little play house.

We understand that a lot of the little ones will be about to start their toilet training journey and we will do all we can to help with this. They will have access to the toilets that are within nursery and we will be there to guide and support them. If your child is not yet ready, we have all changing facilities available.

We have an area where the children can cosy up and take a nap if needed.

Uniform:

As a school, it would be lovely for all children to wear the same uniform. If you would like your uniform to have the school logo, this is available to purchase at https://www.border-embroideries.co.uk/schools/st-michael-nursery-infant-school.html. You could also purchase the plain green jumpers and plain polos from other supermarkets.

We recommend elasticated waist trousers for the children as they are much more practical and comfortable. Sensible footwear and appropriate coats are always necessary. There is more information and images of our uniform on our website Parent Information - Uniform

We have waterproof puddle suits and aprons and spare wellies for use in school, but if you would like to bring your own, then that’s great too. We like our children to get involved in all activities, be that active and messy play as well as playing in the water as they gain so many skills and memories by doing so. Please bare this in mind as they may come away looking a little messier than they came, but with lots of stories to tell. Please could all items of clothing be clearly named.

What to bring:

Please ensure that your child comes to Nursery each session with a spare set of clothing, nappies/pull-ups and wipes (if needed), plenty of spare underwear if potty training, comforter and dummy (if needed) and a suitable coat.

The children may also come away with a book for you to read together, so please make sure that this is returned when requested.

Class Dojo:

We use Class DoJo as a communication platform within school. We will send all new parents a link and you can get set up and we will update you on the adventures your little one makes with their Tiny Ted friends. This is also a great way to communicate with the staff in school.

Snack:

We offer all children a healthy snack and drink of milk during each session which is supplied by the school. Our school is a nut-free zone. We always encourage independence and manners which is given great practice whilst eating. We will discuss any special dietary requirements and drinking cups etc at your home visit. Fresh drinking water is available at all times.

Drop Off and Collection:

We ask that children are dropped off for their session starting at the Nursery entrance which has a shelter along the wall. They will be greeted and took to their special room which has its own cloakroom area and then settled into their room for the session. They will then be collected from the same area when their session is finished.

Bespoke settling-in sessions:

We understand how important it is to get your little one settled into a new environment and really empathise with how strange and unsettling this may be for some, but don’t worry. As an exception, we allow our Tiny Teds to bring a comforter and/or dummy with them to use if needed, as we understand that, at such a young age, these home comforts can really help, especially when settling in. If you feel that you would like shorter sessions to begin with or extra visits before they start so that they are used to the room, we are happy to accommodate this as we want everyone to be as happy as possible. With all new starters, we carry out a home visit before they start so we can discuss any concerns and make any adaptions where possible at this visit. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and get to know each other a little better.