Foundation Years Nurseries

                      Parent/carer information pack

Foundation Years Nurseries Debdale provides high quality early learning experiences for young children from two to five years. We opened our doors in January 2014. We are located in the heart of beautiful parkland, yet easily accessed from the main Hyde Road commuter route and minutes away from both Denton, Tameside and Reddish, Stockport, making it an ideal choice for both local residents and commuters alike.

Session Times

We are open 8am-5pm all year round.

We can also offer up to 24 children the choice of three sessions a day;

8:30-11:30am

12 – 2:30pm and;

 2:30 – 5pm.

In addition, we can also offer wrap around sessions as follows;

Breakfast Club: 8-8:30 (includes cereal, toast, yoghurt or fruit)

Lunch Club: 12:00-12:30 (including lunch )

We can offer full-time and part-time places to meet your needs.

Funded 2, 3 and 4 year old Free Entitlement

We also offer the government funded, 15 hour free entitlement to all eligible 2, 3 and 4 year olds for up to 38 weeks per year.

Early years learning and play

We follow the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and offer children the chance to learn through play. We believe that children have a thirst for knowledge and we aim to nurture this by giving children plenty of opportunity to explore and investigate, using many natural materials which will help to foster children’s natural curiosity and enthusiasm.

Your child will be assigned a key person who will work closely with you to meet your child’s individual needs. Your child will have a record of progress and development called a ‘Learning Journey’, which the key person will keep up to date with photographs, observations and notes about their time in nursery.

Foundation Years Debdale is an open plan single storey building in the heart of the park. The building has it’s own extremely spacious and fully enclosed outdoor area, where many of our ‘Forest School’ activities will take place.

Our equipment and resources will be mostly of wood (we don’t care too much for a lot of plastic!) We will be using lots of natural materials to foster creativity, imagination and investigation, such as sand, water play and messy play. Children will have lots of opportunities to paint with a wide range of materials and in some very unusual places! For example buckets of water and large decorator’s brushes to ‘paint’ the building, trees and anything else that stays still long enough! (not you I hope!). Making mud pies, splashing in water and rolling or just lying in grass, the list is endless!. Stories, songs and rhymes and music will be a regular feature during the day to help foster children’s communication and language skills.

Maths will occur naturally through play as children explore shape, size, and colour in nature; counting leaves, looking for ‘big’ trees and ‘small’ trees, watching snails, ants, centipedes and other insects, climb ‘over’ and ‘under’ twigs, leaves etc.  They will be in touch with the changing seasons, see the natural cycle of trees and plants and their knowledge of the world will increase. And of course all that outdoor play will help with their physical development and keep them active, stimulated and happy.

We know the building is not yet how we would like it, we do have great plans for the building and it’s grounds, but it will take time, so dream with us and see the future – use your imagination and visualise what our centre will be like in a month, a year and more. But what it does have right now is probably the best outdoor garden of any nursery anywhere else in the Manchester area. And that’s what we aim to use to make learning fun, active and exciting and different! A very wise lady named Margaret McMillan, who started the first open air nurseries in the 1920 once said ‘'The best classroom and the richest cupboard are roofed only by the sky' and we believe that to be as true today.

 In addition, we are uniquely placed to take full advantage of the many facilities the park has to offer, such as;

The Eco Centre produces a vast range or organic fruit and vegetables as well as training and information courses. We hope to make good link with the centre and hopefully acquire our very own organic patch.

Community orchard and willow tunnel. 

Where the children will be able to watch the fruit grow (and maybe pick a few – shhh!) and see an abundance of wild life. The willow tunnel will provide the children with endless opportunities for imaginative play, story-telling, picnics, games of hide and seek…. We hope to add a willow tunnel in our own grounds soon.

Large open fields

For the children can run, skip, jump, roll, shout, dance and play games.

Woodland

Where we can explore and investigate, climb, make dens and collect all manner of exciting things to take back to base and explore further.

Late pickup without prior agreement will incur an hourly rate and an additional £10ph (or part thereof). Unfortunately we cannot offer any additional hours beyond 5pm. The nursery must close promptly at 5pm and you should arrange to arrive in time to collect your child and be away from nursery by 5.00pm. In the event of an unavoidable delay please telephone the nursery and let them know.

 Payment of fees

Fees are to be paid monthly in advance on the 1st day of each month. The monthly fee will be calculated by multiplying the weekly fee by 52, then dividing it by 12, so that each month’s fees will remain the same.

Where a child is eligible to the government 15 hours a week x 38 weeks a year of free childcare, we follow a school calendar and will reduce the monthly fee by the appropriate eligible days in that month. For example children have 6 weeks summer holidays and are not eligible for free hours for the whole of August and 2 weeks in July. Therefore you will pay the FULL monthly fee for August, and July’s fees will be reduced by 30 hours. You can learn more about the Free Entitlement by visiting Manchester City Council’s website; http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/200016/children_and_childcare/1748/help_with_childcare_costs.

Children accessing the 15 hours a week Free Entitlement only, will not be charged for their education, but a snack charge will be made. Additionally, the hours will be offered on a sessional basis between the hours of; 8:30-11:30, 12:00-2:30 and 2:30-5pm. Additional hours can arranged but will be charged for in line with our published hourly/daily/weekly fees.

Deposit

To reserve a place a deposit of £100 is payable in advance, which is refundable against your child’s last month with us. If you wish to reserve a place with us which is more than one month in advance then a deposit equivalent to one week’s fees for every month in advance, up to a maximum of one month’s fees is required. This will be refundable (less £100 deposit as stated above) against your first month’s fees.

Early years free entitlement

All three and four year olds are entitled to 15 hours free education a week for 38 weeks of the year only. 

Help with your fees

Did you know you may be eligible to help with childcare costs if you are claiming certain tax benefits. Also, your employer may have a childcare voucher or salary sacrifice scheme. Some students will be eligible to grants from their college/university.

For further information, to book a visit or to book a place; please contact us on;

e.mail: debdale@foundationyearsnurseries.com

Tel: 0161 222 6050

Website: foundationyearsnurseries.co.uk

Address: Debdale Park, 1075 Hyde Road,  Gorton, Manchester. M18 7LJ.