Welcome to Lowestoft College

THE SETTING

The Diana, Princess of Wales Children's Memorial Centre

The Setting has been open since 1988 and is situated in the College grounds in a separate purpose built unit (built in 1997) with a secure garden area. The College successfully applied for the Nursery to be named in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Setting can accommodate 38 children aged from 6 weeks to 5 years. Children can attend on a full-time or part-time basis either a few days a week or just mornings or afternoons.

Ladybird Daycare Centre

Ladybird Day Care opened in May 2007 and is registered with Ofsted. The Ladybird Day Care is situated in the Kirkley Children’s Centre on the ground floor in a secure purpose built unit with a large outdoor area. It can be accessed by the main entrance to the Centre and then via a security door to gain admittance to the two play rooms. The Day Care can accommodate 56 children aged from 6 weeks to 5 years. Children attend on a regular full-time or part-time basis.

Ladybird Day Care is managed by Lowestoft College Corporation which has many years experience of operating day care settings both on the College campus and off site.

The Ladybird Day Care is an integral part of Kirkley Children’s Centre which offers a range of health and family support services, childminders’ support services and free weekly play activity sessions for pre-school children e.g. Baby Play (0-18 months) Mucky Ducks, Play and Chat etc. The programme of activities which is open to everyone with a pre-school child is available from the main reception. The Children’s Centre team currently includes midwives, health visitors, family support workers, Fen Park nursery and a range of other specialist health services.

The Centre also has a sensory room which can be accessed by staff for children with special needs. Parental involvement in the design of services is at the heart of Children’s Centre development and a fortnightly Parent’s Group helps with this. The Ladybird Day Care is an important part of the Centre and will benefit from being able to access other services from within the Children’s Centre team.

Our Ethos

We aspire to create an environment in which children develop appropriate social skills, a positive view of themselves, respect for others and an eagerness to learn all about the world around them.

Both Lowestoft College maintained nurseries aim to:

create a friendly, caring environment in which children feel secure
provide play provision and equipment which is suitable for each age group
create a stimulating environment providing children with opportunities to explore through play to develop socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually
promote positive behaviour enabling the child to grow in confidence and self-esteem
create an equal opportunity enviroment in which all children are encouraged to reach their full potential
consult and involve parents/carers in their child's care and education
provide a safe environemnt in which parents feel confident to leave their children

Settling in Procedure

When parents/carers are contacted and offered a place for their child settling in visits will be arranged. A minimum of two visits will be booked, for the first visit it is requested that the parent/carer stay and staff will take this opportunity to explain the setting routine in detail. If the child appears to be happy and confident during this visit then the parent/carer may leave them for the second visit.

Further visits can be arranged if required. These play visits are for a maximum of 11/2 hours and there is no charge for them.

Suffolk Quality Scheme

Part of the Governments Sure Start strategy to develop high quality childcare involves the introduction of a quality assurance system approved by Investor's in Children. The Suffolk Quality Scheme is such a system. The College Nursery completed the Suffolk Quality Scheme in September 2005 and attended the award ceremony in November 2005.

The Nursery has since been assessed and re-accredited. We have successfully gained our 4th year overview this clearly illustrates the commitment of the staff team to providing a high quality service to the children in their care.

Ladybird Day Care successfully achieved this scheme in July 2009.

Practical Clothing

The children will be able to take part in a wide range of activities some of which can get rather messy, i.e. painting, glueing, gardening etc. Although aprons are available they are not always sufficient to keep their clothes clean, therefore we request that you dress your child in slightly older clothes.

Also the children like to run and climbe outside whatever the weather conditions, so please provide then with suitable clothing and footwear.

The Early Years Curriculum

The Setting implements the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The EYFS is a single framework for children from birth to the end of their first year in school. It is based on four theme:-

A Unique Child - the underpinning principle of this is that every child is a competent learner fro birth who cab be resilient, capable, confident and sefl-assured.
Positive Relationships - this is based on the principle that children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person.
Enabling Environments - looks at how the environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children's development and learning.
Learning and Developing - this focuses on the principle that children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and all areas of Learning and Development are equally important and inter-connected.

Each child has a 'Learning Story' compiled for them with photographs and observations depicting their time in The Setting.

Learner Support Fund

The Lowestoft College Learner Support Fund is available to provide financial support to students who meet the necessary criteria.

For further information on different types of funding available and application forms, please contact Vanessa Brown, the Student Advisor on 01502 5255124 .

Students are invoiced for term-time only (36 weeks). Students may use The Setting during non term-time, but sessions must be booked in advance and financial support for these times may not be available.

Non students are invoiced for a minimum of 43 weeks of the year. The Setting remains open throughout the College summer break and places may be pre-booked.

Early Years Education Grant

The Setting is part of the Suffolk Early Years plan and is therefore able to access the Early Years Education Grant for those children that are eligible.

The grant is available for all children fromm the start of the term after their 3rd birthday (i.e. a child who is 3 in September will be eligible for the grant in the following (January). The grant entitles each child to a specific number of sessions of 3 hours duration to be used in that term and must be claimed at the beginning of each term.

Parents who specify that they only wish to use the Early Years Education Grant will not be required to pay any addictional fees.

For further information on claiming the Early Years Education Grant please speak to the Day Care Manager.

Download Ofsted Inspection Report for Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Centre

Download Ofsted Inspection Report for Ladybird Daycare Centre

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