Abbey Wood Grange is a private day nursery and Pre-School located in South Croydon, we offer exceptional quality care for babies and children aged between 3 months and 5 years.
Our nursery is ideally situated as the local area is well served by public transport with Kenley train station just a few minute walk away.
Established in 1990 we operate from a largely extended three storey house situated on a private road within tree lined grounds.
Our nursery benefits from ten bright and spacious rooms located over two levels. The ground floor has seven classrooms, all of which have either direct access to the gardens or their own enclosed decked areas, which lead onto the gardens. Our Pre-School is located on the first floor and consists of three rooms, all equipped to enable us to promote and support the transition to school.
We have established great relationships with the local schools and this allows us to work closely and support these transitions effectively when the time comes.
Our extensive gardens include a mud kitchen, climbing frames, a digging area, a construction zone, craft station, and a playground. The outdoor environments promote varied learning opportunities for all meaning that our gardens really are an extension of the classroom.
Our soft play room is located within the basement and accessible by all, the bright and colourful environment complete with a large ball pool and slide encourages the children to gain confidence in their physical ability.
Our staffing team is committed to nurturing young minds and bringing together passion, knowledge, dedication, and motivation. We promote a culture of guidance respect and encouragement to ensure both practitioners and children thrive whilst at Abbey Wood Grange.
Our onsite catering team made up of our Chef and kitchen assistant are on site daily and in their fully equipped kitchen, prides themselves on delivering high-quality meals and snacks using fresh ingredients.
What can you expect from your experience at Abbey Wood Grange?
We are committed to your child and the whole family from the very beginning, we pride ourselves on establishing bonds from your very first visit and together we thrive to establish a great relationship spanning many years. A relationship where your child can develop and grow in confidence supported by compassionate practitioners, motivated managers, and an enabling and ever-improving environment.
Abbey Wood Grange is a unique nursery built on respect, passion, and commitment. We believe that it is a privilege to welcome a child and their family, nothing is more rewarding than nurturing a young mind.
Ensuring the best environment for your child…
Why choose Abbey Wood Grange
Established for over 30 years we have seen many changes within the childcare sector but one thing that has never changed is the desire for parents to feel a connection with the setting of their choosing.
To find an environment, where their child is provided with the opportunity to explore and develop but above all else, an environment where their child is nurtured happy, and loved.
There have never been so many available options of childcare for parents and we do not take for granted the enormity of the decisions parents are faced with when deciding upon a nursery.
What sets Abbey Wood Grange Apart?
We are not a chain nursery we are a private independent nursery operating out of one setting, the Managers are in the setting daily and the Directors visit weekly.
As an independent nursery, we are in the fortunate position of focusing solely on Abbey Wood Grange, our environment, our children, our parents, and our staff.
At Abbey Wood Grange we prefer the simpler approach of face-to-face and open communication. This is why our Parents are welcomed every morning and evening by one of the Managers.
While technology such as keypad entry may have its place at Abbey Wood Grange we prefer the personal touch.
This personal touch offers security and reassurance to our parents and allows us to develop excellent relations with all our families. Open communication and respect are essential when nurturing a child and this is why our Managers are always on hand to answer questions and be a support.
The nursery managers before becoming office based have all worked within the rooms and it is this insight that promotes a culture of mutual respect where both practitioners and managers communicate freely to ensure an enabling environment for all.
Ideas are encouraged and decisions are made in-house, keeping passion and motivation alive.
Your child Our passion One location One Dedication.
The Best Nursery covering South Croydon, Purley and surrounding areas – Abbey Wood Grange
Ensuring the best environment for your child…
Apply for 30 hours free childcare all you’ll need your details (and your partner’s, if you have one), including your National Insurance number and Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), if you’re self-employed.
You’ll get a childcare account if your application is successful. You can use it to get your code for 30 hours free childcare. If you pay for childcare and want to use Tax-Free Childcare to get help with costs, you can also
apply using this service. It usually takes 20 minutes to apply. You may find out if you’re eligible straight away, but it can take up to 7 days. Apply now.
All 3 to 4-year-olds in England can get free early education or childcare. Some 2-year-olds are also eligible for 15 hours free childcare, for example if you get certain benefits.
The free early education and childcare: Must be with an approved childcare provider (Abbeywood Grange have been approved since 2005).
When your child starts in reception class (or reaches compulsory school age, if
later), this is when the childcare support stops.
All children in England get 570 free hours per year. It’s usually taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year, but you can choose to take fewer hours over more weeks, for example.
You can get it from the term after
your child’s 3rd birthday. Contact us find out more.
You may be able to get up to 30 hours free childcare (1,140 hours per year, which you can choose how you take). If you’re eligible for the extra hours, you sign up online to get a code to give to your childcare provider to
reserve your place. You’ll get the extra hours once the next term starts. If you’ve already registered, you can sign in to your childcare account.
You can usually get 30 hours free childcare if you (and your partner, if you have one) are in work – or getting parental leave, sick leave or annual leave, or each earning at least the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage
for 16 hours a week (this is £120 if you’re over 25).
Please note: This earnings limit doesn’t apply if you’re self-employed and started your business less than 12 months ago. You’re not eligible if your child doesn’t usually live with you, the child is your foster child,
or either you / your partner has a taxable income over £100,000 per annum.
You can get 30 hours free childcare at the same time as claiming Universal Credit, tax credits or childcare vouchers.
If you can’t work you may still be eligible if your partner is working, and you get Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Carer’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance.
Read the original source article here.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is also referred to as cot death.
SIDS is very rare and research is ongoing to provide more information.
A baby should be placed on it’s back to sleep, this reduces the risk of SIDS. Babies should be placed with their feet to the foot of the cot this prevents them being able to wriggle down to the end and under the covers.
Once a baby can roll do not worry if they move to their side or front to sleep.
Bed sharing comes with increased risks, the safest place for a baby to sleep is in a cot.
If a baby falls asleep in your arms always put them in their cot before you go to sleep.
The room temperature should be about 18 degrees
Temperature can be controlled by adding and removing layers, if the room is warm then the baby may need just a sheet to cover them.
Even if a baby is unwell it is unlikely they will require extra clothes.
A baby’s head should not be covered when sleeping, as excess heat is lost through the head. If the baby has been outside, then a hat should be removed immediately on entering the indoors, for example a car shop or bus.
Covering a baby’s head increases the risk of SIDS
Do not use cot bumpers, duvets, pillows and quilts
A baby needs plenty of fluids, if they sleep a lot they should be woken regularly for fluids. Do not let a baby sleep in a car seat unless they are travelling and continually monitored.
Do not let a baby sleep in a sling, soft mattress or cushion, these can cause suffocation.
Swaddling is wrapping a baby firmly in a sheet or thin blanket, there are advantages and disadvantages to this, there is no recommendation it is purely down to choice. Further information on the advantages and disadvantages of this can be found at www.lullabytrust.org.uk
It is possible that dummies may reduce the risk of SIDS, if given from the beginning however professionals do not agree on the promotion of dummies.
A child with a dummy in its mouth could still choke when asleep, the dummy should be removed as soon as the child is asleep.
Dummies should not be used until breastfeeding is established.
Cigarettes are harmful to babies before and after they are born and smoking increases the risk of SIDS.
Further information can be found at www.lullabytrust.org.uk or www.nhs.uk
The World is changing and becoming more technologically advanced with this comes exciting opportunities. But also pressure resulting in less time for pre-school nursery children to be children. To play explore and be free. The Curiosity Approach aims to put the fun back into learning.
Children are forever kept busy attending play dates, clubs, and after school activities. As parents we want them to have access to as many opportunities as possible.
Whilst this intention is good, children need time to learn and discover without hurrying from one place to another. Being overstimulated has a negative effect as children can feel overwhelmed and suffocated. And as a result of this, negative behaviour can become a factor.
Preschool Nursery Children’s young minds are perfectly happy with the simple things in life. It’s time to take a step back and let children be young. Instead of relying on apps or iPads for entertainment, they need to get back outdoors and explore nature.
The curiosity approach is to ignite a child’s natural curiosity to explore the world around them. Instead of directing them and telling them what to do, children make their own choices. Enabling them to figure things out for themselves which lead to enhanced confidence, critical thinking and problem solving.
The approach draws ideas from other philosophies of early education including Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Pikler, and Steiner. It aims to create children who are ‘thinkers and doers’ instead of passive learners who simply follow the direction of an adult.
By creating active learners, pre-school nursery children are more engaged in their environment and have a lot more fun. They are in charge of their own development and choose activities which play to their own interests.
The bright colours and paintings you would usually see at a nursery, are replaced with neutral tones. This creates a peaceful, tranquil environment which does not distract away from a child’s learning but instead places full focus on the various loose items which children can play with.
These comfy spaces allow children to relax and feel comfortable throughout the day. Making the nursery feel like home, creates a safe space which helps with separation anxiety and allows the children to be more relaxed and meet their full potential.
Resources are designed to spark imagination and curiosity. Exploring natural objects gives the child the freedom to develop their own games instead of plastic toys with obvious identities.
They are challenged to use all of their senses to discover how something feels, sounds, and how they can interact with it. Exploring objects and using their imagination without guidance increases their confidence and encourages them to think independently.
Commercial toys are becoming increasingly more intelligent and are doing more thinking than our children. They flash, beep, make noises, and ultimately entertain children instead of educating them. This means our children are becoming passive learners rather than active learners as the thinking is already done for them.
Reconnecting with the outdoors plays a huge part, linking both indoor and outdoor environments where learning flows seamlessly between them.
Nature is also brought inside, whether this is using natural resources at the playdough or water station, or plants throughout the classroom setting. It’s important for a child’s mental health that they are exposed to natural surroundings.
In an ever changing technological world, they wanted to create a practice that allowed children’s creativity to flow. To embrace a child’s natural awe and wonder and allow their creativity to flow. Changing the focus ensuring the environment suits the child rather than the other way around.
The curiosity approach not only encourages the children to be more free and to have more control over their learning but it also allows the Practitioners to be more present in the moment. To have purposeful interactions as the need for assessment and observation is minimal.
It’s time to take a step back and put pre-school nursery children in the driving seat. This enables them to develop independent thinking, stronger communication skills, and become lifelong learners.
All pre-school nursery parents experience challenging and negative behaviour to some degree from their children at some time. It is perfectly natural and normal.
Some parents are very lucky and only experience mild tantrums and screaming. While other parents have to deal with full-blown tantrums, screaming, kicking, pulling hair, nipping, scratching, kicking, hitting and biting! As adults we can’t help ourselves, we find biting to be animalistic and therefore something we don’t want our children to do or be a victim of. Plus we know it really hurts.
Preschool nursery children are highly complex little beings who do not always have the ability to communicate their feelings or their needs effectively. This can lead to loud outbursts in behaviour and demonstrations of physically aggressive behaviour, all of which is perfectly normal in young children.
The frontal lobe is the part of the brain that enables us as adults to have clearly defined thoughts and intentions, as well as destructive ones. From the first year, young babies’ and small children’s brains are still developing. This means that negative behaviour and tantrums are not them being deliberately disobedient or manipulative. They are just being a normal, healthy and inquisitive.
Children are very clever, they soon realise what action gets the best adult response, and attention and biting works every time.
Here are some of the possible reasons a child might bite:
Biting is very common in young children, particularly in toddlers who are teething. Many parents feel embarrassed and angry or upset but, as said, this is a very common behaviour in very young toddlers. It may just be their way of communicating. When children can’t use words to describe how they feel, they use actions. Biting may be their way of showing that they are upset, angry scared or just curious. Putting things in their mouth is a natural way for a child to investigate strange objects as they haven’t yet learnt that not everything is for biting. Usually children grow out of biting by the age of four.
Most toddlers bite for a reason, whether it is due to lack of communication skills, oral sensory issues, frustration or fatigue. But it is up to us as adults to find the cause and put in place an action plan to help the child get past it. This includes having consistent boundaries, consequences and responses.
Preschool nursery children need to know and learn in a way that they can understand that biting anyone young or old is not acceptable.
Don’t bite the child back. This will confuse them and make them think biting is acceptable. Remember you are their role models and whatever you do, they will copy.
