CARE FOR BABIES - Tour Page 1
THE SQUIRRELS BABY GROUP - Staffing and Management
"A baby would begin their
nursery life in a Squirrels baby group, either at our new facilities at the main
nursery or at the Kindergarten Babies group based in Monton (this tour
takes place at the Kindergarten Baby Group). Babies can
start in a baby group from any age between around 3 months up to about to 12 months.
They would then normally 
move up to the
next grouping between about 12 to 14
months. We are fully registered with OFSTED early years to care for babies
and
the staffing levels for this age group are 1:3, that is one member of staff for
every three babies. Overall the nursery is divided into age groupings and each
group has a qualified and experienced group leader and she is responsible for
overseeing the daily running of the group. And for planning the activities on a
weekly basis to meet the requirements of our nursery curriculum; this is
overseen by myself or my nursery manager. The activities for the younger nursery
children are all introduced to the children in a very informal manner and the
emphasis is very much on experiencing taking part and learning through play;
this gradually incorporates more educational activities, as the children progress
through the different age groups. Within the baby group we do not have structure to
the their day, but our day needs to be structured to make sure we are providing a
wide range of exciting, stimulating activities to encourage the all round
development of the babies".
"The Group Leader also has a qualified and
experienced deputy, so there is always somebody senior and responsible to
take charge of the group if the Group Leader is not there for any reason. The
oth
er staff in the Nursery are a combination of qualified nursery nurses and
staff that we have employed to put through their Advanced Modern Apprenticeship.
The staff who are training, are employed by us on a permanent full-time basis
and we put them through college, liaising with the Manchester TEC. Any new
member of staff who comes to the nursery is given an induction period and until
all the clearance and police checks have come through and until myself and the
senior staff are happy that they are fully aware of all the nursery
procedures, they are never left on a one-to-one basis with any of the children. The Baby Unit has two playrooms. The larger room is for the younger babies but
once the babies get to the stage where they are very actively crawling, pulling
themselves up, walking round the furniture, then they move across to the
activity room. This allows us to have a 3 month old baby free to enjoy a kick and a
wriggle on the mat without having an unsteady toddler going to toddle onto them. With
regards to our younger babies it is very important to stress that we are dealing
with their individual needs". . . . (CLICK ON NEXT BELOW TO CONTINUE - CLICK ON
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