Our Ethos
Here at Little Lizards we strive to provide high quality teaching and care, in a warm and inspiring environment. Every child is unique, with their own personalities, interests, abilities, and rates of learning, and they are all capable of making progress in their learning with the help of supportive and nurturing staff.
We firmly believe that when it comes to children’s learning, it is our interactions with the children that have the biggest impact on their learning, and we strive to make these as meaningful as possible.
We recognise the importance of play and how children are able to learn things faster, and in more depth, when they learn them hands-on, through the fun and exploration of play. It is crucial for helping them learn how to interact with others and make sense of the world around them, and gives them the opportunity to find meaning in an experience, connect it to something they already know, and build on that to learn something new, Through play, children develop language skills, imagination and creativity, social and cognitive skills, so we aim to give our children all the opportunities, time and support they need to do this. We use a mostly child-led approach, with adult scaffolding throughout, interjected with some short adult-led activities/inputs to impart new knowledge.
Nursery Session times
Breakfast Club 8:00am – 8:30am
Nursery Morning Session 8:30am– 11:30am
Nursery Lunch Session 11:30am – 12:30pm
Nursery Afternoon Session 12:30pm – 3:15pm
Our Daily Timetable
Breakfast Club
8.00 – 8.30 - During this time children aged 2 to 11 may attend.
Nursery Sessions
8:40 – 8:50 Welcome group time and a story
8:50 – 10:00 Busy Learning Time and Adult Led Adventure - A selection of adult-led and adult-guided play-based activities to promote development, indoors and out.
10:00 – 10:30 Snack - As a group, with a selection of healthy foods, milk or water.
Maths session and a story
10:30 – 11:20 Outdoor Play, whatever the weather!
11:30 – 11:40 Phonological awareness session with a story
11:45 – 12:30 Lunch time - Children have a choice of a cooked meal provided by the school for an additional charge of £2.65, or a packed lunch brought from home (see below for more details)
12:30 – 12:40 Adult Led Activity and a story
12:40 – 12:50 Toothbrushing
12:50 – 3:00 Busy Learning Time - A selection of child-led and adult-guided play-based activities to promote development, indoors and out.
3:05 – 3:15 Story and Singing
3:15pm Home time - Parents/carers are asked to wait outside the wooden gate of Little Lizards when picking up; a member of staff will bring your child out to you. If you need to pick up early, or someone other than their parent will be picking them up, please let a member of staff know when you drop off.
After School Club
Holiday Club
During the school holidays Little Lizards offers a Holiday Club for 2-11 year olds that runs from 8.00am – 5.00pm. A letter is sent out to book your child in for holiday club. Your child will require a packed lunch as the school kitchen is closed during the holidays. If your child is funded you can bank funded hours to use during the holidays if needed.
Little Lizards is open 50 weeks of the year (only closing at Christmas), and also closes on School inset days for training and at 3:00pm on the last day of term.
Key Worker System
A key worker has special responsibility for a group of children. Parents and children know the name of their key worker from the beginning of their involvement with the setting. A key worker will ensure that the needs of each child are recognised within the setting, so that the overall planning is devised to meet these needs. Please ask a member of staff if you don’t know who your child’s key worker is.
The main duties of a key worker are:
- To help the child to settle into the setting
- To provide for the emotional needs of the child, e.g. to comfort and reassure the child at any time
- To care for the child, e.g. to assist with toileting as necessary
- To plan for that child ensuring that the child’s individual needs are taken into account
- Observing, keeping records and monitoring the child’s progress and keeping parents/carer updated using Class Dojo and verbal feedback.
- Liaising with parents/carers and developing a good rapport with parents/carers, informing them of their child’s activities
- To contribute information about individual children’s needs to appropriate agencies, whilst respecting confidentiality as necessary.
When your child first starts, their key person will be June and she will be your first point of contact. After a few weeks, once your child has settled in and your child forms an attachment to a particular member of staff, this person may change and your new key person will introduce themselves to you.
Parents as partners
Class Dojo
Class Dojo is used to keep you updated with photos and information of what we are doing each day. We also use it to notify you of any changes, upcoming events, and to keep you involved in your children’s nursery life.
We also use Class Dojo to share pictures of your child’s learning journey at Little Lizards so that you can see how their skills are developing when they are with us. You will also be able to comment and add your own photos, videos, observations and achievements, for us to see.
Class Dojo can also be used as a way to communicate with us as it has a messaging service which we check periodically throughout the day.
Parent Mail
Parent Mail is used to email you important information about changes, events, etc.
Open Door Policy
We have an open door policy at Little Lizards, which means you are always welcome to pop in to chat with your key person or the manager if you have any concerns, queries, or just want to find out about how your child is getting on at nursery.
How you can support your child at home
As your child’s parent, you are their first and most important teacher, influencing their thoughts, feelings and experiences in the world. Research has shown that if parents support and encourage their child’s learning at home and at nursery, it can have a major impact on school readiness and attainment levels from birth right up to sixteen years old.
There are many simple ways you can support your child’s development at home, such as reading to your child every day, singing nursery rhymes, and narrating what you are doing as you are playing together (talk, talk, talk!) to help your child’s speech and communication skills. Encouraging your child to do things such as feeding themselves, washing hands, and dressing independently, teaches them vital life skills as well as offering them independence and building their self-confidence and self-esteem. Giving your child plenty of opportunities to be active each day will help your child’s physical development.
We use Class Dojo to share information about child development and play ideas to support you with their home learning. We are also currently offering activity packs for those that would like them. These are simple activities or games that can be taken home for you to do together, that will help your child’s learning development. These can be swapped for a new one each week, or as and when needed.
If you are unsure of what you can do to help your child’s learning and development at home, please speak to your key person and we can share some ideas with you, or discuss your child’s next steps and fun ways you can work on them together at home.
What to bring on your first day
Please bring your child in clothes you are prepared to get messy. Children learn by getting hands on, and it is our responsibility to facilitate this learning in as many exciting ways as possible, however this can create some mess! Please also bring:
- A bag with a set (or two) of spare clothes
- Water bottle
- Coat
- Wellies, gloves, sunhat, suncream, etc. depending on the weather
- Nappies, wipes and cream if needed (or extra sets of clothes if potty training)
- Lunchbox (If having a lunch from home)
Please remember to label everything!
We ask that children do not bring in toys from home as these can be lost or damaged or impede on children’s learning.
Two Year Old Progress Check
In 2012 the government introduced a Two Year Check within all child care settings, which will link into the Two Year Old Health Review, which is completed by a member of the Health Visitors team. This will provide information to go into your child’s “Red Book” (Personal Child Health Record) and will act as a link between health and education settings. Your child’s Key Worker will complete the progress check when your child is between 2 and 3 years old, and you will be invited to meet up with them in order to discuss and add your views to the assessment. This assessment will be used to identify any areas of development which may need extra support from other agencies.
2, 3 and 4 year old Funding
There are several types of funding you can access to help with childcare costs
As of April 2024, all eligible working parents of two-year-olds are able to access funding for 15 hours per week of education and care for 38 weeks of the year (increasing to 30 hours from September 2025).
Currently, all three- and four-year-olds can access 15 hours per week of funded care and education for 38 weeks of the year, regardless of the income or working status of their parent or carer.
In addition, eligible working families of three- and four-year-olds can currently access 30 hours a week of funded care and education for 38 weeks of the year.
You can also apply for tax-free childcare for children under 12 years old.
If you’re eligible for the extra hours, you will sign up online and receive a code. You will need to bring this code with your declaration form and a form of ID for your child to receive your funding to Little Lizards. Declaration forms are available from Little Lizards.
If you do not use your full entitlement of funded hours during term time, you may be able to bank your remaining hours to be used during the holidays. For more information, ask June or email littlelizards@landewednack.tpacademytrust.org
To apply for your 30 hours free funding please visit: https://www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare
More information about childcare cost and different funding can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/free-childcare-and-education-for-2-to-4-year-olds.
School Meals
A lunchtime meal is cooked on the premises and costs £2.65 at present. Children may have a hot lunch or bring a packed lunch. A menu is sent home and also displayed on the school website. Dinner money should be paid at the beginning of the week or the morning of the day the meal is required. Payment for dinners should be made via ParentPay, our secure payment system. You can find a copy of our menu on our website.
How to contact us.
If you should need to contact us for whatever reason, you can do so by:
- Phoning (01326 290337 - option 3)
- Email (littlelizards@landewednack.tpacademytrust.org – Emails are checked at the end of each day
- Class Dojo messaging
All of our policies can be found on our website - www.landewednack.cornwall.sch.uk/website
