Transcript Schools Forum 2 Dec 2014 Agenda Item 4 The Olive Tree Nursery

The Olive Tree Nursery
Helen Hazell
Owner and Manger
We are a privately owned nursery in the
Eastover area of Bridgwater.
We currently have 151 children enrolled
with us, 12 more due to start in January
2015.
We have a full responsibility to delivery the
EYFS, this includes assessments, monitoring
and recording development on every
child. We plan for the individual child,
extending their learning and planning for
their Next Steps.
We use a range of methods of observation
and additional tools such as ECAT, STC
Home Communication records, and
working with the parents to create a
Baseline Assessment on entry.
All staff are given up to 2.5 hours noncontact time a week to plan and update
children’s files.
We carry out three ‘Parents Evenings’ a
year.
We open 8am-6pm 50 weeks a
year, we only close for Bank
holidays and Christmas week.
We have a mix of Term Time only
place and All Year Round place.
To balance this I have a mix of
Term Time and All Year Round staff.
We are based in an area of
deprivation, with families
experiencing social issues including
drink and drug dependence.
Staffing Structure
External
‘buy in’ for
HR and H&S
Manager
Approximate
Annual Salaries is
£260,460, This will
increase when we
enrol to workplace
pension and other
increases.
Cook
Deputy
Manager
Pre-School
SEYP
2-3 SEYP
3 Full Time EYP
3 Part Time EYP
Modern Apprentice
0-2 SEYP
1 Full Time EYP
1 Part Time EYP
Modern Apprentice
Admin
Cleaner
4 Full Time EYP
1 Part Time EYP
3 Part Time TTO EYP
Modern Apprentice
SENCo &
EYT
1 TTO SEN support
1 AYR SEN support
1 AYR Activity support
The Olive Tree Nursery
We currently have 66 children a day, we increased in September 2013
from 55 due to a massive demand in the area, from pressures such as
development and extension of the 2 year old funding offer.
Birth to 2 Years Old
2 – 3 Year Olds
Pre-School
We have a linked baby room,
where we cater for up to 9 0-2’s a
day, currently 22 children within
this age range.
We currently have very little
availability for the under 2’s and
some families choosing to be
placed on our waiting list until a
place becomes available.
We have an adaptable space
that we use for our 2-3, with up to
24 children a day and 49 children
enrolled in this age range.
This area needs to be adaptable
as the balance between the 2
year olds and the 3 year olds shift
throughout the year.
This room is dedicated to the next
‘Intake’ year, working towards
School readiness. We take up to
32 children a day with 77 children
accessing throughout the week.
For September 2014 we had 14
feeder schools and 4 SEP’s
needed and 2 Sensitive transition
meetings.
SEN and EAL at The Olive Tree

SEN

EAL

We currently have 21 children on our SEN
register, these are supported by SENCO
and SEN support staff.

We currently have 28 children, for whom
English is an additional language.

Parents and children have little or no
English, some have only just entered the
country.

Range of languages including
Hungarian, Polish, Lithuanian, Russian,
Mandarin, Konkani, Latvian, Portuguese,
Romanian, Turkish and Tetun.

We have all our ‘Key’ documents
translated in most of the above
languages.

These children have a range of
additional needs such as Speech and
Language, Communication, Physical,
Medical, Emotional and Behavioural.

Some children require 1-1 support and
interventions such as catheterisation.

We work with a number of professional
to ensure that children’s needs are
meet.
Funding Streams
We have a number of
different funding streams
for the childcare that we
provide.

EYE Funding

2 Year Old Funding

Supported Childcare
via GET SET

College funding via
Bridgwater College

Social Care

SEN support funding via
SCC

Private funded
We have to continually monitor the outstanding
‘bad debt’ as this is an historic problem for Early
Years settings, exacerbated by benefits such as
childcare tax credit being paid to the families
not the setting.
With all external funding we have to apply for,
this can include a large amount of paperwork. It
also often leads to funding being paid in arrears,
sometimes as much as 60-90 days in arrears. It is
a massive task to keep on top of claims,
complete paperwork and keep the books
balancing.
We currently have 34 ‘2 year old funded’
children, 77 accessing ‘EYE’ and 14 from
additional sources.
Safeguarding
We currently have 12 families that have involvement with Social Care, approximately 6 families
that have had cases recently closed that still require monitoring.
This can range from CIN level to removal and Childcare Arrangements with extended families.
We also work closely with local Foster carers, we have taken emergency placements and
supported families with finding their ‘forever homes’.
This brings pressures such as paperwork, recording, monitoring and liaising with other
professionals. Nursery send a representative to every meeting, most of which are every 28 days,
some families require 2 meeting as both parents can not attend the same meeting.
We have had cases in the past that have been very hard hitting and we have had to ‘buy in’
additional support for staff such as a listening service and counselling.
CPD for ALL
We support all levels of CPD, from apprentices to
existing staff completing Degree and EYT.
We close to the families for 4 days a year for
INSET training days. This is a very important part of
nursery life, although a costly part. For example a
full days closure can cost upward of £5,285.00
Including loss of revenue, increasing/overtime for
staff, ‘buying in’ training & lunch.
We also hold monthly staff meeting from 6pm to
7.30. Staff are contracted to attend 80% of all
staff meetings and 100% of all training days. All
staff are paid for all hours worked.
All staff have regular line managements when
training can be requested and suggested.
Peer to Peer Support
Cluster Meeting
A time to talk, share ideas and receive updates
“As a professional sector that spans great
diversity, we all understand the need to
network, share good practice and stay up to
date with changes that affect our sector. We are
actively promoting these events to enhance and
maintain everyone’s settings. We have set aside 5
dates in this academic year for each setting to
send a representative along to these events, these
events are led by you, you will have input to
agendas, speakers and will be an access point
for FREE TRAINING. Please come along to support
this group”
Extract from newsletter.
Manager Meeting
Example of topics
covered at a
Managers Meeting.
I chair and organise
these meetings
within my daily role.
There is no
additional funding
for admin time.
There is a lot of
planning need to
ensure that these
run and are well
supported from
creating agenda
arranging speakers,
creating
newsletters, minutes
and sending emails
etc.