Abbey Wood Grange Nursery
South Croydon’s Premier Pre-School Nursery

30 Hour Funding Ended 15th September.  Contact Us For Advice

Abbey Wood Grange Private Day Nursery and Pre–School

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…

  • Family friendly atmosphere
  • Quiet residential surroundings
  • Large indoor Soft Play area
  • Large enclosed fully equipped outdoor play areas
  • Extra-curricular activities
  • All staff Paediatric First Aid Trained
  • All staff Trained in Safeguarding
  • Fully inclusive
  • Nutritious snacks/menus provided by our in-house chef
  • Early Years Government-funded spaces available

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.

Pre-school nursery playground

The Best Nursery covering South Croydon, Purley and surrounding areas – Abbey Wood Grange

Pre-school nursery Abbey Wood Grange

Ensuring the best environment for your child…

  • Family friendly atmosphere
  • Quiet residential surroundings
  • Large indoor Soft Play area
  • Large enclosed fully equipped outdoor play areas
  • Extra-curricular activities
  • All staff Paediatric First Aid Trained
  • Fully inclusive
  • Nutritious snacks/menus provided by our in house chef
  • Early Years Government funded spaces available

Pre-school nursery soft play area

 



Early Years Funding Childcare Support from the UK Government

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.

15 and 30 hours free childcare for 3 and 4-year-olds

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.

15 Hours Free Childcare Per Week

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.

30 Hours Free Childcare Per Week

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.

Check Your Early Years Funding Childcare Eligibility

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.

Latest posts from our Blog...



May 24 2022

Preschool Nursery Safe Sleeping

Preschool Nursery Safe Sleeping

Pre-school Nursery Safe sleeping can reduce the risk of sudden infant death, along with other risks, such as choking.

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.

A baby should not share a bed with an adult particularly if:

  • Alcohol has been consumed
  • The adults are smokers
  • The adults have taken drugs/medication or feel very tired as this can mean they will sleep very heavily.
  • The baby had a low birth weight ( less than 2.5kg or 5.5lbs )
  • Was premature at birth

If a baby falls asleep in your arms always put them in their cot before you go to sleep.

It is important that a baby does not get too hot, babies can overheat because of:

  • The room being too hot
  • Too much clothing
  • Too much bedding

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.

Remove bedding if:

  • A baby is sweating
  • Their tummy feels hot to touch

Even if a baby is unwell it is unlikely they will require extra clothes.

Do not let a baby sleep:

  • Next to a radiator
  • Next to a fire of any kind
  • With a hot water bottle
  • With an electric blanket

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

A mattress should be:

  • Firm
  • Clean
  • Flat
  • Well fitting
  • Covered with a single sheet
  • Waterproof on the outside

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.

Medical advice should be sought immediately if you feel your baby in unwell.

Further information can be found at www.lullabytrust.org.uk or www.nhs.uk

Mar 15 2022

Preschool Nursery Childcare And The Curiosity Approach

Preschool Nursery Childcare and The Curiosity Approach

What is the Curiosity Approach?

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.

A classroom implementing the curiosity approach will look very different from a traditional setting.

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.

Settings that adopt the curiosity approach allow the child to be in control of play, rather than an object limiting their play.

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.

The Curiosity Approach was founded by Stephanie Barrett and Lyndsey Heller who have 50 years experience in childcare between them.

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.

Dec 16 2021

Preschool Nursery Children, Why Do Some Of Them Bite?

Preschool Nursery Children, Why Do Some Of Them Bite?

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.

Why do children bite?

Here are some of the possible reasons a child might bite:

  • Teething
  • Oral motor development
  • Sensory exploration
  • Learning cause and effect
  • Spatial awareness
  • Emerging autonomy
  • Expressive language development
  • Excitement
  • Frustration
  • Tiredness and hunger
  • Learnt or imitated behaviour
  • Needing attention and getting an adult reaction

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.

How can I help to stop my child biting?

Preschool nursery children need to know and learn in a way that they can understand that biting anyone young or old is not acceptable.

  • Always attend to the victim first. The biter should not receive immediate attention as this could be part of the intention around the biting. The biter may benefit from observing kindness and empathy being shown to the injured child.
  • Deal with the incident immediately. Any action taken needs to be done straight away. If not, the child will not make the connection between your action and the bite.
  • Distract the child. When a situation occurs where a child may bite, distracting them with a toy or moving them away can be enough to discourage them.
  • Give them time to calm down. This helps the child to learn that biting is unacceptable by removing them from the activity.
  • Praise the good behaviour in the child when they do something kind or find more acceptable ways to solve disputes. This encourages the child to develop valuable social skills and acceptable problem solving strategies.
  • If you have a biter, try using this sentence every time: “No biting, biting hurts, no biting.”
  • Work with the nursery staff. A consistent approach is essential. Speak to the nursery staff to ensure that all parties are dealing with this behaviour in the same effective way, to enable a positive outcome.
  • Try describing your children’s feelings for them, give them the words that they can’t express. You can start with the four basics: happy, sad, angry and scared. This will help them to express themselves better as they become older.
  • Put into words what you guess your child might be thinking: “Tanya, do you want to have a turn on the tricycle? You can ask Henry, Can I have a turn now?”
  • Help your child express his or her feelings in appropriate ways. If your child is really angry, you can say: “Max, you are so mad! You are really, really angry.” Then suggest a way to deal with these feelings: Making angry lion faces and growling, ripping up newspapers,banging a drum, jumping up and down—whatever is acceptable to you.
  • Reinforce your child when he or she uses words to share his feelings: “You asked me for a turn blowing bubbles instead of grabbing them. Great job. Here you go.”
  • Give your child age-appropriate choices, for example, about what to wear or who to play with. Having choices gives children a sense of control and can reduce biting.
  • Try to identify the triggers and intercede before the biting happens. Sit down next to them and talk calmly and gently, some children prefer this to being held. Is it happening at the same time of day i.e. before mealtime or nap time (are they hungry or tired?)
  • Try not to take the biting as personal.
  • Don’t label a child “a biter” and don’t blame them.
  • Stop all forms of “play biting” at home. Sometimes nibbling at fingers and toes can give the wrong message to children and they may try this with other children but instead bite them.
  • Visit the dentist, sometimes biting can be associated with dental pain rather than behaviour.

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.

  • Don’t take comforts away too early. Sometimes taking comforts away too soon before the child is emotionally ready can have a negative effect. It is better to reduce the time the child has with a comfort than to go suddenly cold turkey.
  • Don’t use long, complicated sentences. Keep responses simple and always the same. For younger children, a firm “No biting!” may be enough while older children can be given an explanation, e.g. “Don’t bite people, it hurts them.”

 

Activities to try at home to promote positive behaviour, communication and the thinking side of the brain.

 

  • Have a box of reclaimed and natural materials, e.g. pine cones, cardboard tubes, pebbles, fabrics, wrapping paper, feathers etc. – these items are great for sorting into textures, colours and size,developing hand-eye coordination, introducing language, stimulating imagination and encouraging sensory development. They also encourage babies and children to use the right side of their brain, which is for thinking. There is no specific end result when playing with these resources, plus it doesn’t matter if they are broken as they can be replaced.
  • Sand boxes or small sand trays, add whatever objects you like but be sure that you are sitting with your children and talking to them, explaining, describing and narrating what they are doing. This activity allows children to be independently creative and to express themselves without there being an end product.
  • A bucket of water and some large paint brushes/rollers, let them paint outside the walls, the fence, the path, the shed. Again, these are great for hand-eye coordination and gross motor skills, plus the children will burn off excess energy whilst focusing on a fun activity.
  • Use small mirrors to look into together, pull funny faces, sad faces, happy faces, cross faces, describe the expressions to your children, you are giving them the words to name how they may be feeling at times.
  • Blowing bubbles, it’s a great distraction and good fun.

Please contact us if you wish to discuss this further.