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Little Oaks Margate

Little Oaks Nursery is based on the grounds of the QEQM hospital, with access gained from the college road entrance. We cater for both NHS staff and their children and children from the wider community. The Nursery has an established management team and the setting is Co-Directed by Penny and Julie. The setting is one of six Little Oaks settings across Kent. Each setting offering unique and individual aspects. 


Little oaks Margate offers full day care for children from 3 months up to 5 years, across 4 rooms, as well as free early education spaces for our 2, 3 and 4-year olds. We run all year round from 7am-6pm Monday to Friday except bank holidays. We have close links with the local community and offer visits to a local residential home, seasonal seaside sessions and wood working sessions.


Our Team look forward to meeting you. 

Who to contact

Contact Name
Fran Maple
Contact Position
Nursery Manager
Telephone
01843 291112
Website
www.littleoaks.org.uk/

Where to go

Address
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mothers Hospital
St. Peters Road
Margate
Kent
Postcode
CT9 4AN

When is it on?

When is childcare available
Open All Year
Carescheme Age Range:
0 year(s), 3 month(s) to 5 year(s), 0 month(s)
Opening Times
Opening Times
DayOpening TimeClosing Time
Monday 7:00am 6:00pm
Tuesday 7:00am 6:00pm
Wednesday 7:00am 6:00pm
Thursday 7:00am 6:00pm
Friday 7:00am 6:00pm

Other Details

ECD Type
Day Nursery
Offers pickups
No
Cost details
Optional additional extras:
Breakfast £1 per day
Hot lunch (Main and Pudding) supplied by outside cateres £2.70 per day (specialised dietary meals are charged at £2.90)
Light tea £1.50 per day.

Free early education for children accessing only FEE / FF2 hours
arranged in the following sessions of your choice to total 15 hours per week.
• 8am—1pm or 1pm-6pm
• 9am – 3pm

Free early education for children accessing only 30 hour funding (stretched over 48 weeks)
arranged in the following sessions of your choice to total 24 hours per week.
• 9am -5pm
Free early education for children accessing FEE / FF2 hours plus additional wrap-around hours
• Our Little Oaks fee structure and hourly rate will be used to calculate any wrap-around hours after the 15/30 hours free early education has been deducted
3-4 Year Old Funding?
Yes
2 Year Old Funding?
Yes
Vacancies Details
Please contact the setting for availability
Places Range
Places Range
Start AgeEnd AgePlaces
0 1 15
2 2 28
3 5 52
0 5 52
5 7 52
Immediate vacancies?
Yes
Contact Provider for Vacancy Details?
Yes
Vacancy Information Last updated Date
28/01/2020
Facilities
Messy Play Area, Toys/dolls, Dressing Up, Nursery, Outdoor Activities, Pets, Trike, Play House, Trampoline, Water Play, Quiet Room, Games / Puzzles, Visits and Outings, Garden, Walks, Sandpit, Arts And Crafts, Scooter, Healthy Living, Reading, Woodwork, Internet Connection, Sensory Room, Bike, Kitchen, Songs, Sleeping Area, Slide, Library Visits, Stories
Other facilities information
Preschool also offer: Wood work session Seaside experience sessions PE sessions Visits to a local residential home Visits to the mobile library
Wheelchair Access
Yes

Ofsted Information

Ofsted URN
EY455548
Link to latest ofsted inspection report 
Inspection history
Inspection History
Inspection DateInspection typeInspection Outcome
22/04/2013Inspection (Early Years Register)Good
25/01/2017Inspection (Early Years Register)Good

30 Hours Extended Entitlement

Registered to provide up to 30 hours entitlement
Yes
30 Hours Partner Details (These are details of any other childcare provider(s) that this provider will work with to offer the 30 hours entitlement)

We offer 30 hour entitlement stretched over 48 weeks. We offer 3x 9am-5pm sessions per week for 47 weeks and 12 hours for the 48th week. 

If you are interested in a 30 hour place please contact the setting. 

Service status

Status
Temporarily closed

Local Offer

Description

Please see below for more information

Special Needs Support

How does the setting identify children with additional needs or SEND? 

Upon admission to the setting each child is allocated a keyperson straight away. This person is the point of contact for parents/carers and is responsible for working with families, carrying out the needs of each key child and promoting their individual development. During induction to the setting parents/carers are asked to complete, with the key person, a “Getting to know me” form to enable the keyperson to build a picture of the child as an individual, parents/carers are asked to discuss what strengths their child has and what area they feel needs some support. From this the key person will inform the setting Special Education needs co-ordinator, or SENCO, of any additional support needs to be in place when the child starts. Our setting SENCO is Eve Ross. The parents/carers are also asked to support the keyperson in completing a baseline assessment against the early years foundation stage frame work to give the setting an overall idea of where they feel their child’s development lies. This is further progressed by the key person upon starting at the setting. The keyperson will carry out two baseline assessments of the child over the first two weeks of the child attending the setting. These then form an overall view of where the child is believed to be developing at the time of admission. These observations are then used to explore the child’s interests and plan a next step where appropriate.

As we are full day care, we also carry out statutory assessments for our 2-year olds in the form of a 2-year check. This check is used to highlight any possible areas of need and are incorporated into the child’s health visitor check at 2years old also.

As a team we regularly discuss children’s development during our termly staff meetings. Any children who practitioners feel may benefit from support are discussed in a confidential team meeting to ensure the best outcomes are arranged for the child at an appropriate time, this is when the SENCO is often made aware of a need developing and earliest interventions are planned ready to discuss with parents before commencement.

The SENCO will support practitioners to set developmentally appropriate targets for children, as well as attend meetings and training opportunities with outside professionals, such as the local equality and inclusion advisor, the Local inclusion forum team or members of the specialist teaching and learning service. All of which help to provide the right support based on the individual child’s needs.

How will I be informed / consulted about the ways in which my child is being supported? 

At Little Oaks we are firm believers in the key person approach, each child is allocated a Key person and a buddy key person upon enrolment. The keyperson and parents/carers relationship are one of trust, honesty and open communication building upon a mutual partnership.

The keyperson will provide daily feedback through our care boards or verbal handovers at collection times. The keyperson will also perform weekly observations on the children and will review progress made by completing a termly developmental report known as a summative assessment. We also offer parents evenings on a termly basis to provide parents/carers with the opportunity to speak about development progress with the keyperson on a face to face platform, which we find benefits most parents, as this is after nursery hours.

We will also provide parents with a communication book, if preferred, to ensure parents are aware of their child’s targets and how your child’s keyperson and the SENCO are working to achieve these.

Regular contact is made through our online learning journey system, known as EYLOG. The system allows practitioners to share messages, comments, observations and termly reports instantly with parents/carers which benefits the keyperson and family relationship.

We will also review targeted plans, (keyperson set targets) or personalised plans, (outside agency set targets) with you before we implement a new plan, this is generally 6 weekly depending on progress.

How will the setting adapt the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum for my child's needs? 

The Early Years Foundation Stage is the education framework which is used by your child’s key person to plan provide and review development based on activities they individually plan for your child on a weekly basis. The EYFS frame work is split into 7 areas. 3 Prime and 4 Specific areas.

The 3 prime areas are the foundation blocks to learning and children benefit from being secure in these in areas before enhancing development into the specific areas.

Often if a child needs additional support to become secure in one or all these areas, we will plan only in the three prime areas to give them the opportunity to focus their learning on developing these skills first. Activities often overlap in incorporating aspects of the EYFS and the child’s learning is catered to their individual needs when each child is planned for.

To cater for Communication and language needs we will consider supporting the child with visual aids and Makaton signing as well as key words from the home language if the family uses English as an additional language. We may also use Ecat (Every child a talker) strategies, to ensure communication is clearly given and received. Strategies include, speaking face to face, practitioners getting down to a child’s level and giving an appropriate length of time for a child to respond following a command or question. We may also consider limiting our language level to the child’s name and the activity, such as “Joe, coat” or “Joe, coat on” depending on the child’s individual word level of understanding. Our key persons will work closely with speech and language therapy advice and will also support learning using now and next boards, a visual time line and visual key cards.

In supporting Personal, Social and emotional development, the SENCO may attend Workshop Sessions supported by other SEN professionals and agencies, to strengthen knowledge of support the setting may be able to offer. We will ensure we provide opportunities which encourage children to express their feelings and emotions in a safe way, this will occur during circle time emotional coaching sessions and the use of persona dolls, will also be available for the key person to encourage the concept of empathy. Well-being monitoring will be carried out during observations with EYLOG. The setting operates a positive behaviour policy, reinforcing positive behaviour and appropriately managing challenging behaviour through carefully considered pathways, such as calm down sessions in our sensory room. We also provide support for the children, particularly with SEN, when we consider transitions to the next room. It often occurs where a keyperson may transition with the child to provide a stable, familiar presence in the new room, to enable their development to continue with as little disruption as possible due to a transition. However, if this is not possible due to extenuating circumstances, we will endeavour to support the child to get to know a new key person through a longer transition period and more settle session in the new room both with their present and new keyperson.

To promote physical development, we have built strong links with outside agencies such as physio and occupational therapists who attend the setting in order to support the child in both home and learning environments. We offer our physical room as a space to facilitate appointments or sessions to take place during the child’s nursery session.

We also offer an accessible environment with a considered layout to support family’s needs, such as space between available resources, and wheelchair friendly access. We consider the environmental factors having a sensory impact upon children’s wellbeing and have the use of a quiet sensory room which is suitable for calming times as it has soft furnishings and dimmer lights as well as a blind to provide a darker, safe place to retreat to during stressful times.

We also ensure children have regular access to the garden. Although our garden isn’t free flow the benefit of key groups ensures children are able to access the garden as often as they like, with a minimum of twice a day for full day session attendees.

If your child has a specific dietary requirement, we can support this through our outside catering provider who is happy to ensure meals are suitable for all. The setting benefits from some practitioners being trained in administering feeds via PEG or MIC-KEY button as well as Flo-care trained.

What teaching strategies does the setting use for children with additional needs or learning difficulties? 

Specific strategies will be discussed between parents/carers with keyperson and SENCO in order to achieve the best outcomes for your child. Universal strategies we have considered include pale walls with neutral colours within our environment, so a child is less likely to experience sensory overload from colour.

We have ramp access to the front and back of the setting for entering and evacuation purposes and are based all on one level throughout, with no steps in the setting at all. The building is divided into 4 rooms which are all open plan and accessible, with moveable furniture, including adjustable height tables and sandpit. All resources are labelled and easily accessible to all the children. We also have a physical room which includes a trampoline, climbing ramp, soft play shapes and resources to promote movement and a sensory room with soft furnishings too.

Little Oaks aims to provide appropriate resources to support a child’s needs, including support chairs, adjustable tables etc. The Setting SENCO will aim to ensure appropriate specialist equipment is obtained to support a child if necessary. Additional funding may be available through the disability access fund (DAF) if your child is in receipt of disability living allowance, this may enable to setting to procure additional resources or training to enhance your child’s learning. The setting recently purchased a weighted blanket to support a child with a physical sensory need, using DAF funding.

Teaching strategies we may use include the use of ECAT (as mentioned in question 3). The setting also refers to the Best Practise Guidance to support teaching on a universal, targeted or personalised level based on the areas of need from; Communication and interaction, cognition and Learning, Social, Emotional and Mental Health, and physical or sensory difficulties.

What additional support does the setting provide for children with additional needs or SEND? 

The setting offers a graduated approach to supporting children with SEN as highlighted in our SEND policy and procedure (available on request). The approach involves a observe plan provide review format of target setting. Key persons will observe children, sometimes alongside the senco if an area of need is yet to be identified.

Initially together the SENCO the Key person will set targets using a targeted plan. If limited progress is achieved during the course of the plan, usually 6-12 weeks, then outside agencies such as speech and language therapists or the specialist teaching and learning service may become involved to provide personalised targets, under a personalised plan, once consent has been sought from parents/carers for other agencies to be involved with the child. Personalised plans, much like targeted plans are viewed termly and a new plan is set if the child requires continual support. Interventions are reviewed to access the impact on the child’s development and progress made.

Practitioners are regularly encouraged to undertake training opportunities when they arise, recently all practitioners took part in equality and diversity e-learning.

In the past we have had children with very rare conditions and to best understand the needs of the child the SENCO and manager, alongside the keyperson sought to gain as much information about the condition as possible, including research and back ground information from medical professionals surrounding the child.  If appropriate, we will sensitively plan key groups and staffing where possible to cover times of need and target time.

How will the setting monitor my child's progress and how will I be involved in this? 

 

The nursery believes a strongly embedded keyperson approach supports children and families in producing the best outcomes for the child. The key person and parent/carer will carry out baseline assessments upon enrolment, this gives the parents/carers the opportunity to share where they feel their child’s development lies. The keyperson will then carry out two further assessments over the following weeks as the child begins to settle in to the setting before short targeted observations commence.

The Keyperson is responsible for catering individualised planning to each child through weekly planned activities based on the child’s own capabilities and interests, providing the activity to the child during their session and reviewing the impact of the activity on the child’s development. This is carried out through an observation and is uploaded to the EYLOG where parents can then view the observation and the next steps. Parent/carers then can comment on the observation, providing feedback to the keyperson, giving a two-way line of communication.

When planning activities, the keyperson will plan activities in areas which haven’t yet been observed to ensure a full view of the child’s development is encompassed into planning. If an area becomes apparent where limited progress is being made the keyperson may discuss with the setting SENCO and parents about implementing a targeted plan to support the child’s development in an area, for example, speech and language. Three targets will be set and implemented for a period of six weeks before a review of the impact takes place.

The keyperson will also send out termly summative assessments in terms 2, 4 and 6 via eylog. This is a written report of the progress your child has made over the previous term and what the keyperson plans to focus learning on in the next term. Summative assessments for children under two years of age, focus on the Prime areas of the early years foundation stage (EYFS), these are physical development, personal, social and emotional development and communication. Children over the age of two have a full report focussing on all seven areas of the EYFS, as well as the levels of wellbeing and involvement being monitored also.

We offer parents evenings three times a year to ensure our parents/carers can speak with their keyperson on a one to one basis outside of normal hours, this allows everyone, including our working parents to be involved in their child’s progress reviews at a suitable time for them. This is also where summative reports are first shared and explained before being sent via EYLOG to the parent for feedback.

The setting provides families with a two-year old check which is a statutory assessment of your child at the age of just over two years. The check is carried out by the keyperson and recorded, before parents are encouraged to share the document with the health visiting team at the two-year check appointment. This provides a three-way picture of the child’s development, gathering accurate feedback from the parents/carers, the setting and the health visiting team. This can be where intervention may be recommended if needed.

As a setting we feel our partnership working with parents/carers has strengthened since the introduction of our EYLOG system as it has enabled us to communicate with parents and carers more effectively.

How do you ensure children with additional needs or SEND can be included in the same activities as other children, including trips? 

The setting embeds an inclusive ethos, meaning we consider all children as individuals, regardless of ethnicity, cultural differences and abilities. We offer specific planned activities for each child and carefully consider the size of groups when allocating a keyperson. Our room layouts are generally suited to all children, with free access to the materials and resources on offer within a large space to move around. The practitioners are given time to plan their activities allowing them to consider which achievable and diverse opportunities to offer, from messy play to role play. The practitioners use visual supports within their daily routines, through now and next boards and visual time lines to communicate and assist children to anticipate and manage changes appropriately.

Careful consideration is made to outings when involving children with SEN. All children are invited to take part with appropriate planning and support. We carry out thorough risk assessments, ensuring appropriate ratios, of adults to children and we will often rely on the support of our parents to ensure their child feels comfortable and relaxed in new environments, such as the park or zoo, dependent upon the child’s individual needs.

We will ensure we carry out a pre-visit check and have the availability of our nursery mini bus if needed. We have also used coaches in the past for larger events. Children are also encouraged to walk to areas in the local community such as the town or park.

Supervising practitioners always ensure children wear hi-visibility vests and practitioners carry a mini first aid kit, nursery phone and any additional items required, such as children’s medications if needed.

Recent trips within the setting have included beach learning sessions on the nursery mini bus, and our leavers trip to Wingham Wildlife park. Both trips involved the support of parents. We have begun building links with a local residential home in Cliftonville and use public transport with small groups of children to take part in weekly visits.

How accessible is the building for children with mobility difficulties / wheelchair users? 

The setting is laid out over one floor, with ramp access to the entrance and exit of the building, both of which also act as our emergency exits. The door frames are an ideal width for wheel chair access as they are used daily to enter and exit the building by all.

We have changing facilities in our baby and toddler room and a separate disabled toilet which will support in providing considered privacy and dignity for users.

We also have available adjustable height tables and easy open access to the outdoor space. We have hard flooring throughout which is suitable for wheelchair uses and those who rely on frames.

Our rooms are laid out with children in mind with regards to accessibility and labelling of resources. We ask children which areas they most enjoy though mini questionnaires at circle times. Children who require the support of a chair to take part in circle time would be joined by peers at the same height as all children could sit on chairs rather than the floor where appropriate

We will endeavour to make reasonable adjustments where possible.

How will you support my child's transition to a new setting or school? 

Transitions are greatly supported at the setting in many ways. If a child is moving to a new setting, the parents/carers will be asked for contact details of the new setting to allow present keypersons to handover information, such as the two-year check, or summative reports, to the new setting.

When transitioning to school we support children by speaking about going to school positively. Children are encouraged to take part in school themed role play with uniforms and resources from the local schools and stories and displays reflect the excitement of moving onto ‘big school’ We ensure our preschool supervisor attends the annual transition meeting with the local schools to give brief information on each child to their new schools, once places have been confirmed by the Local Authority.

The children also share “about my school” leaflets with their peers and key person if they are sent to the setting.

We also encourage children to become prepared for their transition to school through independence boosting activities such as self-care toileting routines, putting on their own coats and shoes for garden time as well as introducing early writing skills such as phonics and write dance into the daily routine at the setting.

We introduce PE sessions to our pre-schoolers, during term 6, focussing on the actual dressing and undressing tasks over the physical play. This helps prepare the children as they were encouraged to find their PE kits, and change into shorts, t-shirts and plimsols with encouragement from practitioners, before taking part in a fun physical activity. These sessions are very successful we will continue this on an annual basis.

How does the setting assess the overall effectiveness of its SEN provision and how can parents / carers take part in this evaluation? 

The effectiveness of our SEN provision is a priority aspect within the setting. We hold regular practitioners’ meetings and SEN is discussed at every meeting. This gives the whole team chance to discuss opportunities to observe, acknowledge changes, discuss new children, and decide upon appropriate actions to take with the SENCO for individual key children. It also gives our SENCO the opportunity to cascade any training she feels will benefit the children and the practitioners.

Plans are reviewed at termly intervals and parents are always made aware of new targets, as they are set. Parents/carers are also made aware of progress made and any additional intervention which may be sought, as well as provide their comments or any concerns they may have.

We have recently distributed a questionnaire to our SEN families to gain feedback on what families feel we are doing well and what we can improve upon. We are yet to evaluate the findings but aim to do so once we have collated all the information.

We have had SENIF involvement with our children in the past which involved termly visits from a SENIF advisor to ensure we were meeting the needs of the child with the funding which was available for some individuals.

We audit our provision against the best practise guidance and the SEN code of practice on an annual basis, when the SEN policy is reviewed.

Who should I contact if I am considering registering for a place at the setting? 

If you are considering registering for a place at Little Oaks Nursery, we recommend you contact our management team, Fran Maple, Nursery Manager and Zoe Ansell, Deputy Manager, who will be happy to show you and your child around the setting. This will involve a visit of the setting and collection of admission paperwork. Visits can be arranged for any day to suit you at a time which is convenient for you, however we try to avoid booking sessions during the lunch hour as this is often our busiest period and we want to be able to devote our attention to our children during this time.

Upon receipt of your child’s enrolment forms we will discuss the need for childcare and any additional requirements your child may have before starting. This will include a profile session with the family at the setting and a settle session with the child at the setting. If your child has considerable needs or rare conditions this may involve an addition settle visit with the family and the SENCO to discuss delaying immediate start dates until appropriate adaptations and support are in place, from additional resources to SENIF or DAF funding. Parents will be kept informed of the measures being put in place and the timescale at which these can take.

What arrangements does the setting have for feedback from parents / carers, including compliments and complaints? 

As a setting we value any form of constructive feedback, from verbal comments informally to completed anonymous questionnaires. Parents are invited to share compliments or concerns with the setting. We have a very approachable management team who are happy to alleviate any concerns and value compliments and positive feedback regarding the staff and the settings practice.

If parents/families have a comment, they are welcome to leave a note in our comments box based in the foyer, or positive feedback on our nursery Facebook page.

If concerns and complaints arise, we encourage parents to discuss these with the manager in line with our compliments and complaints policy. We also have Ofsted’s contact details displayed in the foyer and pinned to the top of our Facebook page should parents wish to speak with them.

We regularly receive messages and tokens of thanks from families who value the partnership we share. Parents/carers opinions form the basis of a positive working partnership and we appreciate the participation in this evolving collaboration.

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