Stay and Play Group Policy

Policy statement

The Stay and Play group is a group of parents/carers who meet together with their children, within the pre-school environment, normally the garden. The group will provide an opportunity for children aged 0 – 5 years to experience a different environment to that of their home, develop social awareness and independence whilst also allowing their parents/carers to meet other adults who also care for your children.

Procedures

The group is managed and run by the Pre-School Manager, or a senior member of staff. Parents are required to remain responsible for the direct supervision of their child and are encouraged to look after the preschool environment, equipment and each other.

Parents are advised to dress their child in weather appropriate clothing such as welly boots and waterproofs, and essentially clothes that can get muddy!

The parent/carer will be entirely responsible for their child whilst attending the session. There are changing facilities within the pre-school log cabin, and toilet facilities for both adults and children to the right hand side. Parents must fully supervise their child whilst using these facilities.

Occasionally Whitchurch Pre-School will not be able to run a session as normal. In these instances, closure will be announced on the Pre-School Stay & Play Facebook page, and where possible, parents will be contacted.

Stay and Play will run on Wednesday mornings from 10.00 to 11.30am, during term time only. Parents are required to book a place, with a contribution of £5 per family paid in advance by BACs to secure their spot. All parents/carers and children must be signed in on arrival at the group.

Children will be provided with a drink and snack at snack time. If a child has any allergies, it is the parents/carers responsibilities to ensure the child does not eat any of these items.

All hot drinks will be served from the log cabin and should remain with the parent at all times, or safely placed in nominated areas away from children. Hot drinks should never be put down where a child may reach.

All parents/carers remain responsible for personal possessions. Parents/carers will be expected to keep any potentially harmful or breakable items out of children’s reach.

No photographs or videos may be taken without permission from the Manager. We often take photographs in and around the pre-school for the pre-school newsletter, Facebook and website pages. Pleas advise us if you’d rather your child’s photograph was not taken or used for these purposes.

Stay & Play complies with all Whitchurch Pre-School policies and procedures. These are available at all times for any parent/carer to review. This includes the Safeguarding Children policies.

If your child is unwell, please do not bring them to Stay & Play. Please remember that should your child vomit or have diarrhoea, they must not attend group until 48 hours after the last time they were ill. Should your child have any infectious disease, they should not attend until they are fully recovered.

Valuing Diversity and Promoting Equality

Whitchurch Pre-School is fully inclusive in meeting the needs of all children. We recognise that children and their families come from diverse backgrounds and value their contribution. We welcome all children from all backgrounds, and further information can be found in the pre-school policies.

Behaviour

Parents and carers are responsible for their children at all times. Whitchurch Pre-School CIO encourages children and adults to be kind and considerate of each other, in line with pre-school policies for supporting positive behaviour. 

Safeguarding Children

Whilst we make every effort to ensure the safety and safeguarding of the children in attendance, parents/carers remain responsible for the children they bring. We have a dedicated Safeguarding Lead, Becci Garner, should anybody wish to seek advice or support with any concerns about the safety of wellbeing of their own or others children.

Please refer to pre-school policy ‘Safeguarding Children & Young People’ for more information.

Covid-19

During this difficult time, we have endeavoured to keep the Stay & Play group open. A full risk assessment has been completed and we have adopted the following measures to minimise the risk to our families and children;

  • remaining outside at all times with visitors
  • social distancing 
  • effective hand washing 
  • use of anti-bacterial hand wash on entry and exit to garden, and throughout the session 
  • use of face masks

Each of these measures will remain in line with current Government Guidance.

This policy is reviewed annually, or as deemed necessary.

Policy reviewed and updated             7th October 2021

Signed                                                 Helen Roberts