We’re absolutely thrilled to share our new website with you, giving you a really good insight into how we operate within the Three Little Birds nursery group. It’s the first of many exciting changes...
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Three Little Birds
Crystal Palace Day Nursery
Welcome to Crystal Palace Day Nursery, a beautiful nursery established for over 27 years. We take 26 children a day and have a wonderful team of Early Years practitioners providing education and care for all the children. Our staff are all passionate about childcare and are dedicated to the nursery, having worked here for several years. Our home-from-home environment, complements our small size groups.
We are open from 07:30 – 18:30 five days a week Monday – Friday, 50 weeks of the year. We are closed for one week in August, on all Bank Holidays and over the Christmas period.
Location
We are an easy walk from Crystal Palace Park - a beautiful park with some lovely attractions and lots of history. Norwood Lakes are at the end of our road which we use regularly for walks in the forest on a bear hunt! The children love the freedom to explore and exercise in the park and do lovely nature trails in all weathers, especially enjoying jumping in muddy puddles! We are within walking distance from Crystal Palace train station and a 410 bus stops directly opposite our nursery coming from Crystal Palace and Croydon.
Our ethos
We strive to provide excellence in education and childcare, which is age-appropriate for all children and meets their individual needs. Our belief is that children blossom and grow from safe and loving relationships. Our key person approach means we can respond delicately to children’s feelings and behaviours and meet their overall emotional needs.
Our qualified practitioners form a partnership with families to enhance the joy and contentment of every child, enhancing their well being. The roots of our curriculum stem from our children, staff and families. We nurture children so they can learn for themselves, explore, experiment and make decisions. Our holistic learning approach gives children the space for investigation and discovery. This allows our team to structure education around children’s strengths and interests, scaffolding development through the seven areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It is our aim to support and encourage their path as lifelong learners.
Our nursery manager
Hello, my name is Donna Shepherd-Gill the manager of Crystal Palace Day Nursery.
I’ve worked for the company for 27 years, starting my journey straight from college where I got my BTEC National Diploma Level 3 in Childcare. I started working in our Sydenham nursery as a practitioner with pre- school age children, then moved to our nursery in Anerley, when it first opened, to head up the Baby Room. I worked my way up further, becoming a Nursery Manager in 2012 and have been the Manager here at Crystal Palace for the last four years.
My passion has always been childcare and I strive to provide a strong, caring, loving, fun and exciting nursery for all our children to learn, develop and shine from the first day they step into our nursery and start their journey with us. I want to make a positive change to the future generation, building all children’s confidence and self esteem throughout their time at our nursery and to prepare them for their transition to school.
Our partnership with parents is very strong and we strive to make sure, from the first visit to us, that all parents feel happy and secure with the care we provide. We work to support all parents with the transition into nursery life. We have a strong, close team who share the same passion and drive in childcare and want to provide the best care for all our children and their families.
I’m a mum to two girls who are both completely different and, like parents say to me all the time, there are lots of challenges with girls and there definitely have been!
My second daughter came to the nursery when she was two years old until she went to school and it was lovely seeing her make friends and shine in her development. Nursery was the best decision I made as she has become very confident and is hoping to go to university in a year to train to be a teacher.
The nursery is housed on one floor of a semi-detached Victorian building and consists of two rooms: a Baby Room and Toddler/Preschool Room. We have a lovely secure nursery garden, which allows the children to free- flow at all times, and a separate baby garden for the babies to use and explore.
Baby Room
Our Baby Room has a warm home-from-home feel. We take five babies from 3 months to 2 years and provide a range of strong exciting fun and messy activities for the children to explore and enjoy, whilst extending their developmental needs. We have a range of different equipment for the children to cater for all abilities and babies can explore in the garden and go on regular walks to the park to for exercise.
Our Baby Room staff have many years of experience with babies and, as grandparents themselves, understand the importance of both babies and parents feeling safe and secure whilst in our care. Staff have a great partnership with parents which is a strong point in our nursery and is very important to us. Staff are always available to speak with parents and regularly provide support and guidance when it is needed.
At the end of each child's day the staff give parents a detailed handover and provide a report on what the babies have been doing throughout the day. We try to adapt to work in partnership with you and your baby’s routines as best as we can to make the transition to nursery smooth.
Pre-school Room
Our Pre-school takes 21 children a day: eight children from 2-3 years and 13 children aged 3-4 years. We have two rooms, one being a conservatory that is bright and inviting for the children, with under floor heating and air con.
We do environment planning to meet all the children’s individual needs and give them space to explore the different areas in the room and access all toys and equipment at their level.
Children take part in exciting and stimulating activities throughout the day, focusing on their individual needs. The age groups are divided for more tailored age appropriate teaching and learning and this also enables the keyworker to spend valuable quality time with their key children.
Pre-school children have many opportunities to engage in outdoor play and often explore the outdoors either through trips to the local parks and libraries.
Settle sessions
We value the importance of children feeling safe, loved, and welcome in their new environment. Our sessions start the process of settling your child into a nursery setting and allow them to bond with their key-person to build a secure foundation for their continued learning. They also provide an opportunity for your key-person to get to know your child’s interests and individual needs.
We are flexible in our approach and offer tailor-made settle sessions to allow you and your child to transition into nursery gradually.
Please view our Settling in Policy to see our settle session procedure throughout the current lockdown period.
Payment options
We also accept nursery fees via direct debit, the government Tax Free Childcare scheme and childcare vouchers. You can talk to your Nursery Manager to find out more or visit www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare to see if you can benefit from the scheme.
We are pleased to be able offer the 15 hour Funded Early Education Entitlement for all children from the term after they turn 3 years old. In addition, we offer the 2 year old and 30 hour Funded Early Education Entitlement for families that qualify. Please speak with your Nursery Manager to find out if you are eligible and for more information.
Fees
Monthly Fees Under 2’s
5 days: £1430.00
4 days: £1200.00
3 days: £900.00
2 days: £600.00
1 day: £70.00
Monthly Fees Over 2’s
5 days: £1250.00
4 days: £1080.00
3 days: £810.00
2 days: £540.00
1 day: £63.00
3-5 year old Universal Funding (15hrs)
5 days: £1012.50
4 days: £842.50
3 days: £572.50
2 days: £302.50
Daily rate for extra sessions only
3-5-year old Extended Funding (30hrs)
5 days: £775.00
4 days: £605.00
3 days: £605.00
2 days: £223.33
Daily rate for extra sessions only
Nutrition
We offer healthy balanced meals for all ages in our nursery and use seasonal, fresh ingredients including a rainbow of fruit and vegetables teamed with a nutritious mix of carbohydrates, protein and dairy/non-dairy. Sugars and salts are reduced in our dishes and children can enjoying trying a diverse variety of cultural foods.
We have the knowledge and experience to cater for any food allergies or preferences your child may have and are happy to talk about specific needs with you.
Staff are trained in food hygiene and we are regularly inspected to meet the required standard.
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Crystal Palace Day Nursery