We fully appreciate that a parents primary focus in choosing any childcare is the welfare of their child. At Murrow Pre-school we make every effort to ensure our setting is a safe and positive place for children.

We work within the government guidelines for child to staff ratio and seek advice from Ofsted, the government regulators for childcare and Cambridgeshire Councils Early Years team when needed.

Murrow Pre-school provides a spacious inside environment and a large outdoor area to ensure children feel comfortable in their surroundings.

Our outdoor play area is surrounded by fencing and all our doors are operated with a coded card system/safety release button or key pad.

Fruit and vegetables are provided for the children in free flow snack area. We ensure the recommended five a day of fresh fruit and vegetables is catered for in the variety we provide. We provide the option of a hot lunch each day which is prepared in our 5 star hygiene rated kitchen. Our menu is displayed every day. We are very open to menu suggestions from parents and we are flexible to ensure we can cater for specific dietary needs.

We display a list of the food and ingredients that we serve to inform you of any potential allergy risks. It is extremely important that you inform us of any known allergies on your child's admission form and keep us fully up to date of any changes.

Due to having severe Airborne allergies in the setting of egg, dairy and nut, we are unable for parents to bring food in to the setting due to the risks of anaphylactic to some children. For lunch we will offer a cold and hot buffet, dessert and a drink option of £1 a day and the setting will subsidise the rest of the cost of providing a full lunch.

This is for a short time only from August 2024 children will be able to bring in a packed lunch or continue with the option of a buffet lunch.

Please let us know if you are unable to pay the £1 lunch cost so we can look at further options.

Children will be able to access their full funding entitlement without additional costs.

Meals are served with friends in a sociable environment where children are encouraged to talk to each other.

Milk is served at mealtimes and children are taught why how it helps with strong bones and teeth.

Drinking water is on offer throughout the day and children have access to help themselves to this.

At meal times, we ensure children learn about the importance of washing their hands. We encourage table manners and help them to understand the importance of concentrating during meal times. Children are also encouraged to speak with each other during meal times to feel part of a community and social well being.

Hearing, please and thank you are common at Murrow preschool and the staff set the example of being just as polite with the children and between each other. Sharing and respecting each other are common ways to help children develop positive relationships with their friends and carers.

We help with toilet training and the importance of hand washing after the toilet is encouraged from the beginning.

Dental health is also important to us and we strive to give the children the best start in helping to combat dental decay. We provide dental goodie bags to take home on a regular basis, have lots of information inside and outside the setting and children take part with parents permission in tooth brushing activities. We work in conjunction with the NHS my smile project.

It is essential we help children at our setting to understand boundaries, risks and safety and we do this by pointing out dangers and outcomes in specific circumstances. Children are also encouraged to carry out their own risk assessments.

It is essential we help children at our setting to understand boundaries, risks and safety and we do this by pointing out dangers and outcomes in specific circumstances. Children are also encouraged to carry out their own risk assessments.

All staff are first aid trained and qualified.

All of our staff make every effort to form positive relationships with parents. We do want to know if you have any problems or worries about your child, or if you need our help, equally we want to know if you have something exciting to tell us about your child, or if they do something new or interesting.

Each child is assigned a key person giving parents some confidence that even though we have a team of staff looking after your child, we also have an individual responsible for monitoring the development of your child.

We take pride in ensuring love care and attention go hand in hand.

Safeguarding children is very important to us and every staff member has a DBS check in place. We also have two safeguarding officers, Wendy Hopkin and Lisa Cross, who are fully trained for this role and are available everyday should you wish to talk to them.

The Prevent Duty

We have regard to the statutory guidance provided through the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 that requires us to help prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.

British values

We do this by building children?s resilience to radicalisation by promoting fundamental British values through our following of the Early Years Foundation Stage. These values will help everyone live in safe and welcoming communities where they feel they belong.

These British Values are defined as;

· democracy

· the rule of law

· individual liberty

· mutual respect

 To fulfil the Prevent Duty, we must ensure:

* We focus on children's personal, social and emotional development, ensuring children learn right from wrong, mix and share with other children, value others views, know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and challenge negative attitudes and stereotypes

* We are alert to harmful behaviours by influential adults in the childs life. This may include discriminatory and/or extremist discussions between parents, family and/or staff members

* We will take action when we observe behaviour of concern

* We are able to identify children who may be vulnerable to radicalisation, and know what to do when they are identified

* We assess the risk of children being drawn into terrorism, and work in partnership with local partners such as the police, Prevent Co-ordinators, Channel Police Practitioners and our local LSCB, to take account of local risks and respond appropriately

* We will make referrals to local Channel Panels, Channel Police Practitioners or the LSCB, if there are concerns that an individual may be vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism or extremism

* We assess their training needs in the light of our assessment of the risk