Our baby nursery is specifically designed to meet the needs of children from 3 months to 2.5 years. 'Snowies' are a self-contained mini-nursery with all the same excellent facilities as the Tawny Owls 2-5's. Snowies is excellently Managed on site by Maureen Dudman and Deputy Manager, Alison Fabian. Read more about them, and the rest of the team on the Meet the Team page.
The Snowy Owls is also a free-flow nursery where gardens flow on from the main play room to give the children and babies the choice about whether they want to play inside or out and do both every day. Being a small nursery means there are no 'twenty minute slots' for babies to enjoy outdoor play at our nursery, it's a continuation of playing and learning inside and out all day long. We have full all-in-one weather suits for all children, so a bit of drizzle doesn't put us off!
We adopt an Inside- Out policy which means all the stimulating resources, music and planned play experiences that we provide inside, also take place outside in 3 main outdoor play areas: the free-flow garden, the securely-gated play park and the woodland areas all contained within in the nursery grounds. The under 2's often venture out for music and crafts in the woods, walks and trips to feed the ducks, meet the horses at the end of the road and visit their older friends and siblings at the 'big barn', our Tawny Owls 2-5's. All outings are carefully risk assessed by the Managers with staffing ratios increased and high visabilty vests worn by all children and babies when out and about. Naturally, your permission is requested first.
Every baby has a key working staff member who will get to know you and your child well and will be responsible for planning exciting, engaging and relevant play experiences for your child, as well as providing cuddles, comfort and whole family support. They will also be the person to observe, record and share key milestone developments with you in nursery, as well as the person you will share developments and progress about your child that you have experienced at home. Babies can't speak for themselves which is what makes choosing a nursery often a very daunting and scary experience, particularly for new mums. We understand the level of trust you are putting in us in caring for your baby, which is why our manager carries out home visits (or telephone consultation if you prefer), before your child starts nursery, to make sure we are completely prepared to give your baby the best chance to settle in as quickly as possible with us, and learn their home routine.
We know that young children and babies are attracted to natural resources, which is why they love playing with wooden spoons and pots and pans from the kitchen cupboard, just as much or more than the bright shiny new toy Granny bought them for Christmas! We have a stimulating Heuristic area in the nursery where children can explore Treasure baskets and materials found around us in our environment. They will also love our light sensory den, black and white area, creative area and toddler gyms.
Playing messy is one of the best things about nursery. Let's be honest, mums don't always have the time to strip babies down and let them crawl around in gloop and paint. But we do! We believe the best way to help them learn is to let them fully experience that which they are drawn to, enjoy it with them, take note of what skills they have shown and how they play, then plan a continuing play experience just for them which keeps them engaged. And don't worry, we'll clean them down and hand them back fresh from a day's play. Read more about how we plan to learn on the Nursery Education page.
To keep everybody clean and safe, all toys and resources are cleaned everyday with safe antibacterial cleaner as part of our thorough hygiene practises.
Children's home sleep routines are followed at Little Barn Owls with quiet sleep areas, cots, mats and cosy beds in each. Every child has their own sleep bag with a new blanket and sheet provided when they arrive, which is washed weekly by us.
Snowy Owls 0-2's has an evacuation cot for fire safety and several mobile cots that can be used at any time throughout the day to follow home routines. Learning to sleep at nursery is a worry every parent shares. Please don't worry, our careful planning of quiet times means we are yet to meet a child (even very young babies) who won't sleep at our nursery, and all children are supervised at all times and recorded checks are carried out every ten minutes throughout their sleeping.
Our Parent-Nursery Association Chairwoman is Ciara Keane. Ciara is mum to Brody who attends Little Barn Owls full time. Brody has recently progressed from six months at Snowies 0-2's on to Tawny Owls 2-5's in September. She helps to run our PNA (Parent Nursery Association) events and parent social meet ups and provides us with continual feedback as a fee paying parent. Ciara's contact details are emailed to all new parents for you to discuss anything about nursery or to ask her for parent to parent first hand experience. She isn't an employee of the nursery, just a very supportive parent with good experiences to share.
The philosophy of our Forest Schools is to develop confidence and curiosity within children in their early years through positive outdoor experiences.
