Crescent Park, Heaton Norris

EYFS

We follow the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and plan activities and a curriculum based around the interests of the children. The framework sets the standards for the learning, development and care of children, from birth to 5 years old.

We provide quality resources and activities which are changed, extended and enhanced in order to provide an environment that has a significant impact on children’s level of engagement.

The children are given opportunities through ICT, problem solving, maths skills, imaginative and creative play, reading, mark making and physical activities on a daily basis and the planning for the environment encompasses both indoors and outdoors.

In addition, the children have extracurricular activities run by external providers and these include Spanish, Ballet and Movement and Football skills. We also arrange visits into the local community including, the park, the library, the pet shop, the cinema and theatre as well as Christmas and Summer outings.

We use workshops to support the children’s interests and learning such as visits from the dentist, police, fire brigade, the really wild show (a hands on experience with small animals and mini beasts), and a science interactive show. Each year in the Spring we care for eggs supplied by a local farm and look after the chicks when they hatch.

We have superb outside play areas and these are used constantly throughout the day to extend the children’s learning opportunities for example, more mark making opportunities, growing plants, large scale construction, large scale water play, large scale sand areas, mud kitchens, den making, small world habitats and more space for challenging physical activities.

Parents and Online Learning Journey

We are keen to work with you as parents/carers and keep you fully informed of where your child is up to. We use Tapestry as an online learning journey system which records your child’s development through photographs, observations and videos in relation to the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Each child has their own personal online learning journey which is password protected and you can access from a number of devices (IOS, Android and PC)

Tapestry will allow you to see what your child has been doing at nursery and also where they are at in relation to their learning and development on a regular basis.

You will receive updates when a practitioner adds a new entry to your child’s learning journey and you can then access and add your own comments. Parents have found Tapestry especially beneficial when their child is settling into the nursery or a new room and it provides a great tool for sharing observations at home and at nursery.

“I just want say thank for incorporating Tapestry, my favourite app. Nothing beats seeing first hand what the kids get up to, it is absolutely priceless. Memories we will have forever, thank you so much.” Maureen, Keira’s Mummy-Crescent Park.

We also hold regular parent stay and play sessions, annual parents/open evenings, Christmas productions, sports days and a graduation ceremony. In addition for pre school parents we hold parents information evenings including, ‘Getting Ready to Write’, ‘Maths is Everywhere’ and a ‘Reading and Phonics’ evening. These are very hands on and interactive sessions and help you in knowing how to support and extend your children’s progress.

We work with Millie’s Trust regularly and are proud to also provide support for our parents/carers with evening paediatric first aid workshops across our nursery settings.

Ofsted

We are extremely proud of all of our Ofsted reports. Click here to review our latest reports.

01/01/26

Fees are inclusive of:

• Freshly prepared healthy home cooked food including:
  • Breakfast
  • Mid morning snack
  • Two course Lunch
  • Afternoon Tea

• Extra curricular classes from our visiting ballet teacher, Spanish or French teacher (depending on setting) Multi sports coach and Rugby Coach.
• Elm Cottage personal nursery rucksack in a choice of four colours.
• Wet wipes are provided however parents are required to provide nappies and cream.
• Recommended daily portions of milk for all children however formula is provided by parents.

Current Nursery Fees without Government Funding:

*Ad hoc days must be paid for in advance of the care.

Government Funded Places

We are registered to accept government funding which is currently available for up to 30 hours per week for 38 weeks per year (1140 hours/year)  for all eligible children from 9 months of age upwards. 

Eligibility can be checked by visiting the Gov.Uk Website

Government Funding does not cover: 

*Attended hours above those for which the child is receiving funding, these are the additional hours

*Enhanced Services and essentials such as drinks, meals and snacks, consumables such as nappy wipes and creams, enrichment activities such as ballet, multi sports, rugby, languages, outings, forest school activities, parents evenings, one to one developmental meetings, parents apps for recording and sharing child development, festivals and celebrations. These essentials are charged extra. 

Fees For Those Eligible for 15 Hours Funding

Reduced rates for those eligible for 15 funded hours/week for 38 weeks (570 hours/year, 47.5 hours per month)

Please note Government funding only covers 38 weeks of the year, the nursery is open for 51 weeks.

Nursery Fees £7.77 per hour or £7.33 per additional hour for full time places (5 Days)

Discount for 5 days = £51.70 a month.

Fees For Those Eligible for 30 Hours Funding

Reduced rates for those eligible for 30 funded hours/week for 38 weeks (1140 hours/yr, 95.0 per month)

Please note Government funding only covers 38 weeks of the year, the nursery is open for 51 weeks

Nursery Fees £7.77 per hour or £7.33 per additional hour for full time places (5 Days)

Discount for 5 days = £72.60 a month.

Fee Structure

• Fees are calculated annually over 51 weeks (as the nursery is closed for 1 week during the Christmas period) and are then divided into 12 equal monthly payments for your convenience.
• Government funding only covers 38 weeks of the year, the nursery is open for 51 weeks.
• As fees are averaged across the year, monthly payments stay the same regardless of remaining bank holidays, nursery closures or absences due to sickness or holidays.
• Fees are reviewed annually in line with inflation and may also be adjusted if there are changes to government legislation or operational costs.
• Invoices and account balances are available to view on our parent app.

Nursery Fees & Payment Information

We request that fees are paid in advance, by the 20th of the month prior to the month of attendance (e.g. payment for March is due by the 20th of February).

Payment Methods

In app Payments

We use an app called Famly, which supports secure in-app payments. This gives you a simple and convenient way to pay your child’s fees directly through the app using debit cards, credit cards, direct debits, or Tax-Free Childcare (TFC). Find out more here

Bank Transfer 

Bank transfer reference: Please use the nursery reference either CP (Crescent Park) or BF (Brookfields) and your child’s full name.

Account Number: 16602307

Sort Code:            01-01-38

Tax-Free Childcare (TFC)

We accept payments via Tax-Free Childcare (TFC)
For a helpful overview of how Tax-Free Childcare works, please see this guide:
👉 Tax-Free Childcare – GOV.UK

If you are using Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) payments, you can link your TFC account directly with the Famly app to make payments easier and more convenient.

Please note that TFC payments can take longer to process than direct bank payments. To avoid delays, we recommend arranging your payment in good time to meet the 20th deadline. We also suggest checking your government childcare account before the 20th of each month to ensure the payment has been sent.

For more information, including what to do if a payment is delayed, please see this helpful Q&A from HMRC:
📞 0300 123 4097
👉 HMRC Q&A – Nursery World

Work Place Vouchers

We do accept work place vouchers but please note the Childcare Voucher Scheme closed to new entrants on October 4, 2018. Existing users can continue to use their vouchers, but if you are looking to join the scheme for the first time, you will need to use the Tax-Free Childcare scheme instead.

For more information visit:

👉Childcare vouchers and other employer schemes – GOV.UK

Deposit Policy

• Once a place has been allocated, we require a deposit of £50 for each day of sessions booked per week (for example, a child attending 3 days per week would require a £150 deposit).
• The deposit must be paid within 7 days of the place being offered in order to secure the child’s place.
• The deposit will be deducted from the child’s final month’s fees when they leave the nursery.
• Please note, for any days booked but not taken, your daily deposit is non-refundable.

Ofsted require 50 percent of staff to be trained to NVQ level 2. At Elm Cottage 98% of our staff are qualified to level 3 or above-2 % are presently training on the childcare apprenticeship scheme and a huge 25 % have degrees in Early Childhood Studies. This includes a qualified teacher with a  BEd (hons) and an  Early Years Teacher as part of the team. All staff are supported and guided by the area manager and experienced Nursery Teacher, Tina Kapp who has worked at Elm Cottage for 22 years.

“Highly skilled staff have excellent knowledge of how children learn and couple this with a very secure knowledge of each child’s individual needs. This enables very successful promotion of children’s care and learning.” Ofsted, January 2013

“Robust recruitment and vetting procedures help to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children. All staff undergo an induction programme and their progress is monitored by room leaders and more formally with an annual review. The manager sets very high standards and staff are fully committed to achieving standards of excellence in all areas. This is demonstrated by the support given to all staff to continue further with their professional development, which has led to the setting team being very highly qualified and skilled.” Ofsted, January 2013

ALL our staff are trained and are kept up to date in Paediatric First Aid.

For the 34 years that Elm Cottage has been caring for children we have always believed that every member of our team should be trained in and kept up to date in paediatric first aid, this is something we have felt very strongly about and has been implemented since first opening in 1989.

We now work with Millie’s Trust regularly and are proud to also provide support for our parents/carers with evening paediatric first aid workshops across our nursery settings.

We are now delighted to announce that our Orrishmere Nursery is one out of ten childcare providers across England that have become the first to achieve Millie’s Mark, the new quality mark for excellence in paediatric first aid for early years settings.

Click here to see Millie’s Trust and Elm Cottage on Granada Reports

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