Cairns Early Childhood Centre

Transcription

1 Guidance Cairns Early Childhood Centre HANDBOOK

2 Contents Director s message Headteacher s message Establishment ethos, vision and values Establishment information Establishment security Establishment calendar Staff information Establishment improvement Pre-birth to 3 (ECC only) Curriculum 3-18 Assessment and reporting Policies and procedures Additional Support for Learning Transition Parental involvement Learning community Wider community links Other information Disclaimer 2

3 Message from Executive Director of Educational and Social Services Thank you for taking the time to read this handbook. In writing the following pages, colleagues are attempting to do two things. The first is to provide you with the information you need so that your child can be given access to all of the services and facilities to which they are entitled. The second purpose is to seek and promote a genuine partnership with you as the main responsible adult in your child s life. Without that partnership it will not be possible for your daughter or son to take maximum advantage of their education and so to fulfil their potential. Quite simply, we want the best for your child in exactly the same way you do. My invitation to you is that should you have any doubts about your child s progress or their entitlement to a service, then you should not hesitate to contact the school or early childhood centre. You are entitled to an explanation of anything that is of concern to you and staff will be very pleased to assist you with an answer to any question you have. All we would ask is that you do this with the courtesy that you yourself would expect. I know your child will enjoy their time with us and they will learn and progress every day. However old your son or daughter, never be afraid to ask what they were doing today and whether they were having any difficulty or problem that we, or you, can help them with. By our working together in this way, I promise that your child will succeed and will have a great preparation for life. Kindest regards Graham Short 3

4 Headteacher s message Dear Parent / Carer, Welcome to Cairns Early Childhood Centre. We hope that your child's time at nursery is a happy one and he/she enjoys coming to nursery each day. We look forward to getting to know you and your family so that we can work together in the best interests of your child. If you have any concerns about nursery or any questions about what to expect in the coming year please do not hesitate to ask. We will be more than happy to help. Similarly if you would like to contribute to nursery life in any way we would be delighted to hear from you. Yours faithfully, Carole Harper Head Teacher 4

5 Establishment ethos, vision and values Here at Cairns Early Childhood Centre we aim: To provide a safe, caring, happy environment where children are given the opportunity to develop to their fullest potential. To work in close partnership with parents, children and the wider community. To provide the time and space to deal with private matters. To provide a stimulating and well balanced curriculum which provides appropriate learning experiences for all through play and encourages children to take the lead in their learning. To be responsive to each child's individual needs and treat each child with dignity and respect. To promote caring for others, positive attitudes and equal opportunities for lifelong learning. To ensure the pace and balance of the day meets the needs of children who attend nursery for more than the statutory three hours ten minutes. Above all we hope that your child's time at nursery is a happy one. Our aims reflect the key principles of the National Care Standards:- Dignity, Privacy, Choice, Safety, Realising Potential, Equality and Diversity. They also reflect the four capacities in the Curriculum for Excellence successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors These aims are met in a nursery environment where there is a balance between free play and more structured activities; where the children have the opportunity to make informed choices; where our curriculum is underpinned by attention paid to health and wellbeing and much time and effort is invested in ensuring children feel safe and secure; where careful planning ensures that children reach their full potential; where children can have time to rest and be quiet as necessary and where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. 5

6 Establishment ethos, vision and values Successes and Achievements Over the past year children, parents and staff took part in a range of activities that demonstrated the whole hearted involvement and commitment of all those associated with Cairns Early Childhood Centre. Our play days for parents introduced them to the Curriculum for Excellence and gave our parents a chance to see first-hand what their child experiences in our centre. We also provided a brief synopsis of literacy and numeracy work for parents of preschool children and a breakdown of the health and wellbeing programme for parents of ante preschool children. We stressed the importance of high attendance to ensure each child was successful at Early Level in the Curriculum for Excellence. We have taken part in group moderation sessions with the teaching staff based at Hillhead Primary. The Child Smile team successfully delivered their programme of applying fluoride to children s teeth. Our Summer and Christmas concerts were a huge success. Our Burns celebrations once again proved popular with children and staff although some children expected Robbie to turn up for his birthday! We gave out story sacks to groups of children to support parents in sharing and reading books with their children at home. Our annual Obstacle Course raised over 1,500 helping us to pay for the outdoor structure. This was phenomenal support from our families. We continued to fund group and centre trips to support the interests of the children. We supported Vibrant Communities and the NHS to work in our centre connecting with parents and providing family learning to meet the needs of individual families. We have actively tried to encourage all parents to aim for over 90% attendance for their children. Good attendance can have a significant effect attainment. We gained Green Flag Status in May We continued to build on our ECO Schools work and introduced a folder for the children to work with to help the children record and reflect on their own green fingered achievements. We have with the aid of Big Lottery Funds installed a great new outdoor climbing frame which the children are enjoying. This structure presents our children with challenge and the need to make safe decisions about their movements. It has been rigorously risk assessed by the staff team but minor injuries may still happen as children get used to outdoor play of this nature. We asked our parents /carers to help us to litter pick in the Centre s campus as part of or Eco work. Parents and carers can also access our curriculum fortnightly planning from our blog on GLOW. This piece of work is produced in partnership with all the children. The staff will then follow their interests and ideas in order to make learning engaging and meaningful for every child. Just click on: blogs.glowscotland.org.uk-east Ayrshire.Then once you find this page scroll down to Cairns Early Childhood Centre and you can read our latest planning, newsletter, minutes from our Parents and Friends Group and other articles. 6

7 Establishment ethos, vision and values Promoting Positive Behaviour One of our main aims is to promote the social and emotional development of children, to help the formation of stable relationships, to encourage a sense of confidence, independence and self-control. While children are encouraged to play together and share toys guidelines are given on the standard of behaviour expected. Most children soon learn to follow simple nursery rules and receive lots of praise and encouragement for this. These simple rules are referred to as Our Golden Rules These are our Golden Rules Share our toys Gentle hands Speak nicely to our friends Be kind Walking feet Good listening Look after our toys However we are aware that children can be hard work. If your child is displaying unusually difficult behaviour at nursery or at home it is important we discuss this so that we can work together to provide consistency in our approaches to help him/her. Your help is vital in this area Quality Circle Time We have adopted Circle Time to help further develop positive behaviour strategies as it is aimed at promoting self - confidence and self-esteem in young children. Circle Time takes place when a group of children gather together to form a circle by sitting on chairs or cushions. Within this circle they learn specific rules and skills to enable them to participate fully in Circle Time. Through Circle Time children learn how to mix with their peers, how to build relationships, take turns and be part of a group. The way in which circle time is organised and the ideas used in it help children to develop good social skills. Circle Time is fun and enables children to "learn through their own discovery and exploration". Circle Time can also be used to promote positive behaviour. 7

8 Establishment ethos, vision and values We have also recently introduced 1, 2, 3 Magic to our teaching practice here at Cairns. This is a simple technique that staff members use to help children learn from their mistakes and modify their own behaviour. If you require any more information about 1,2,3 Magic or any other area of promoting positive behaviour please ask any member of staff. 8

9 Establishment information Cairns Early Childhood Centre Altonhill Avenue, Kilmarnock KA3 1PH Tel: Mob: E mail: [email protected] The function of Cairns Early Childhood Centre is to provide early learning and childcare for children aged 3-6 as indicated on our registration certificate. The nursery provides 70 FTE places on a sessional basis and 10 FTE places for wraparound care. Sessional places are available on a term time basis, Monday Friday. Morning session Afternoon session Wraparound care is available on a 52 week basis. The service is currently available between daily. This meets the demands of the children and families who use this service. Wraparound care is funded by East Ayrshire Council. Cairns Early Childhood Centre is an open plan building which was established in The space available allows us to plan for all areas of the curriculum effectively. We ensure the physical play is always available as we firmly believe young children should have opportunities to expend energy in a safe environment. Since the year 2000 we have invested time, energy and money in developing the nursery garden. We now have a safety surface of suitable dimensions to enable 70 children to play. We have a large grassy area available for play and East Ayrshire Ranger Service have assisted us in developing a wooded area. This has enhanced our curriculum delivery in terms of physical play and development, and has improved opportunities for children to investigate a new environment, plant bulbs, seeds and shrubs, observe wild life and be aware of the effect of the seasons. 9

10 Establishment information We have wheelchair access to the front and back of the building. A disabled toilet is situated at the front of the building. We work with other agencies within the community to put together workshops for parents. These workshops reflect the needs of parents. Other opportunities for parents to become involved in the nursery include:. An active parents and friends group. As a volunteer helper in the playroom. As a story teller in our book corner. Fit Ayrshire Bairns project. Play Days with your child Meals and snack Most children have a 3 hour 10 min. session at an early year s establishment therefore meals are not generally provided. However some children may attend on a full day basis and in those circumstances a meal may be provided. Every child has the opportunity to have a healthy snack during their nursery session. Milk and / or water are provided each day. In order for us to provide this we ask for 1.50 per week, per child. This allows us to purchase fruit, yoghurt, cheese, raisins, savoury biscuits etc. In planning for snack we take into consideration the Nutritional Guidance for Early Years published by the Scottish Government. Wraparound Care Cairns Early Childhood Centre can provide 10 full time equivalent places for children aged 3 to 5 over a 52 week year. This service is offered to families in the designated pathway areas with a view to allowing parents to access training, further education and employment. This service can be available from 8.30am until 3.50pm Monday to Friday. This will be dependent on need and the demand for the service. No service will be available on public holidays or in service days. These dates are available in this handbook. If you wish to access a place for your child please check with the Head Teacher, Depute Manager or Clerical Assistant to find out if you live in a designated pathfinder area. There is usually a charge for wraparound care of 3.08 per hour. You may also be referred to this service by your G.P., health visitor, or social worker. 10

11 Establishment information Enrolment In May/June, after the places have been allocated, parents are given an appointment to come and enrol their child at nursery, and are given further information about nursery. At that time the child and parent are told what group the child will be in when they start nursery, and will meet the member of staff who will have particular responsibility for the child during the following session. Further informal visits to the nursery are recommended to parents. Ante pre -school children who are due to start nursery January March are usually enroled in December. Positive links with Primary schools Our centre has positive and strong links with 13 transitional primary schools. Annanhill Mount Carmel New Farm Crosshouse Fenwick Onthank Gargieston Silverwood Hillhead St. Andrews Kirkstyle Park School Loanhead Your child will be introduced to their P1 teacher in their Pre- School Year and receive regular visits from their teacher.(the ability to release teachers for this varies from school to school and is dependent on staffing.) You and your child will also be invited to visit the primary school that you choose and take part in fun activities to help you and your child feel welcome and confident about starting primary school. Customer Care Our aim is to provide high quality services to the people we serve. However, we recognise that sometimes things can go wrong. If they do, we want you to tell us so that we can put things right. We will listen and learn from your comments, suggestions or complaints so that we can continually improve our service to you. 11

12 Establishment information We will deal with your complaint as follows: If you have experienced a problem with a service or have a complaint to make, the quickest way to get it resolved is to talk to the staff responsible for that particular service. Stage 1: If we cannot resolve your complaint straightaway you can ask the appropriate manager to review your complaint. The manager will aim to provide a response within five working days. Stage 2: If you are not satisfied with the response you can ask for a further review of your complaint by senior management and we will aim to respond within 20 working days. If you have completed the Council s complaints process and you are still unhappy, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to look at your complaint. Further information is provided in the leaflet: A guide to making comments, suggestions and complaints or on the Council website You may also contact the Care Inspectorate direct if you have concerns. Please see part 2 of the handbook for further details. Should you wish to comment on or make a complaint about any aspect of provision made by the establishment, you should contact the establishment in the first instance. Our aim is to resolve as many complaints as possible at the first point of contact. 12

13 Establishment security Cairns Early Childhood Centre is open plan and while this is great for the children and gives them easy access to free play choices and helps build their independence and confidence, it makes security of our centre a paramount concern for all that use our centre. For that reason we have a few protocols that we ask everyone to adhere to.these are; The doors of the nursery will be usually be attended to by a member of staff or a student for 15 minutes at the beginning and the end of each session to allow children and parents access to the building. At all other times the door will be locked and entry will be by ringing the bell and being allowed access. The door bell has a video link to both offices. These measures have been taken to provide a safe secure environment for your child. All visitors to the school and tradesmen sign in to the school, receive and wear a visitor's badge if they don t have their own, sign out on leaving and return their badge. It is expected that a responsible adult will bring your child to and from nursery. In the interests of your child's safety, it is essential that you make a point of telling the Head Teacher or Depute Manager if he or she is to be collected by someone not known to the Senior Staff or staff members. Young people collecting a child must be over 16 years old. If your child is not able to attend nursery, in the interests of safety could you please notify the nursery as soon as possible on or

14 Staff information Cairns Early Childhood Centre Calendar Academic Year Term Break Dates of Attendance First Teachers (In service) Mon 17 Aug 2015 Pupils return Tues 18 Aug 2015 Local Holiday Fri 18 Sep 2015 Local Holiday Mon 21 Sep 2015 Close Fri 9 Oct 2015 Mid term Teachers (In service) Mon 19 Oct 2015 Pupils return Tues 20 Oct 2015 Close Wed 23 Dec 2015 Second Re-open Thurs 7 Jan 2016 Mid term Close Fri 12 Feb 2016 Local Holiday Mon 15 Feb 2016 Local Holiday Tues 16 Feb 2016 Local Holiday Wed 17 Feb 2016 Teachers (In service) Thurs 18 Feb 2016 Teachers (In service) Fri 19 Feb 2016 Pupils return Mon 22 Feb 2016 Local holiday Fri 25 March 2016 Local holiday Mon 28 March 2016 Close Fri 1 Apr 2016 Third Re open Mon 18 Apr 2016 May Day Mon 2 May 2016 Teachers (In service) Fri 27 May 2016 Local holiday Mon 30 May 2016 Close Thurs 30 Jun 2016 NB Good Friday 25 March 2016 Session 2015/2016 Teachers (In service) Tues 16 Aug 2016 Pupils return* Wed 17 Aug

15 Staff information Our Staff Head of Establishment Carole Harper Head Teacher term time Depute Manager Carol McGregor 52 weeks Early Years Workers Donna Shirkie Senior EYW term time Kirsty McNab Senior EYW 52 week 0.5 Vacant post Senior EYW 52 week 0.5 Tracy Calderwood EYW 52 week 0.5 Fiona Whiting EYW 52 week 0.5 Heather McCance EYW 52 week Nancy Yates Allison Dunlop Elinor Ramsay Maria Edgar Joanna Fullarton EYW term time EYW term time EYW term time EYW term time EYW term time Julie Tonner EYW term time 0.9 Support Assistant Kirsty Sim term time Community Practitioner Joyce McMillan 52 week Ancillary Staff Fiona Butcher Clerical Assistant Tom Newlands Karon Brown Anne Marie Muirhead Janitor Cleaner Catering Total Number of Staff 19 staff members 15

16 Establishment improvement Improvement The Centre s success in engaging with the local community Establish Early Childhood Network Our ECN has been established jointly with Hillbank ECC. We have had a number of meetings and recently consulted parent councils and parent groups as to the services they wished to see developed in their areas. We will take this forward through Vibrant Communities, our family care worker team and establishments in the network. We now have one family care worker in post since 1/04/14 at Cairns. Her case load is building. She has started to run a Mums, bumps and babies session for parents and babies in the family room at Hillhead as a follow on from the baby massage sessions. We need to extend this type of service to two year old children. A senior member of staff has been successfully running baby massage sessions the third session has now started although numbers are quite small. Teaching for Effective Learning Maths / Numeracy The growing areas in the garden vegetable patch, greenhouse, walled garden and shrubbery have been used to great effect for sorting, counting and measuring. Children have also wanted to plant trees and are interested in their height, what is bigger than, smaller than etc. There has been a lot of measuring involved in laying out the vegetable patch. The discovery drawers are re filled regularly and provide resources to support the literacy and numeracy programmes. Easily accessible boxes containing natural materials have been introduced into the outdoor area providing materials for classification, counting, measuring, comparing etc. Assessment for Learning Use of assessment information to identify and plan for future learning moderation The H.T. attended initial moderation training provided by EAC. All staff attended a twilight session. The learning community decided on the experiences and outcomes to be moderated. Staff members were made fully aware of these early in the session and set to gather evidence using a common theme. We were very well supported by the PT at Hillhead PS and the primary one staff who had knowledge of the moderation process from last year. The staff team has coped really well with the process and were reassured at learning community sessions across Early Level that their assessments were correct. We will continue this practice next year. 16

17 Establishment improvement Partnership with Children and Parents Eco School achieve Green Flag status Our eco committee was re-established at the beginning of the session and priorities for the year decided upon. We have developed a new system to ensure that each keyworker group builds up knowledge and skills on the subject a seven week rolling programme of eco work is now established with the seven keyworker groups. Litter picking groups went out weekly from Feb April involving children, parents and Hillhead pupils. This happened again in May. The documents needed for the eco folder were translated into user friendly, visual documents for 3-4 year olds and generated great responses from the children. Eco news is made available to all through our monthly newsletter. We achieved Green Flag Status in May Leadership of Improvement and Change Improved literacy levels by the time children enter primary one H.T. has continued to attend EYC meetings at a National Level and away team meetings in EAC. Over the course of the academic session we engaged 17 families in our book bag exchange to promote reading at home and thereby helping to develop / improve literacy skills. The PDSA model of improvement was used to promote the uptake of the book bag programme with some success. Our failures led us to look at things from a different angle and resulted in us looking more closely at attendance as it became clear this got in the way of children accessing our programme. We produced weekly data to show our findings and to help us plan for the next round. Literacy screening in Jan 2014 indicated that 16.1% of children were at educationally at risk as opposed to 23.4% in the previous year. It is too soon to say if this new approach is making a difference as we need to gather data over a longer period of time but the results are encouraging. We are now working on an ELLAT project with April Masson at a corporate level. What we plan to do next Develop Early Childhood Network. (Year 2) Implementation of EAC STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) approaches. Development of a sustainable HWB (health and well-being) approach across the curriculum Use of assessment information to identify and plan for future learning moderation (Year 2) Improved literacy levels by the time children enter primary one. 17

18 Pre-birth to 3 (ECC only) Cairns Early Years Network Our Early Years Network includes the following establishments: Cairns Early Childhood Centre St. Andrew s Early Childhood Centre Altonhill Avenue Grassyards Road Kilmarnock Kilmarnock KA3 1PH KA3 7SL Tel: New Farm Early Childhood Centre Dean Park Nursery Sutherland Drive 56 Beansburn Kilmarnock Kilmarnock KA3 7DF KA3 1RN Tel: PEACE at St. Andrew s 16 Brewery Road Belford Mill KA1 3GZ Tel:

19 Curriculum 3-18 Curriculum for Excellence is the education system in Scotland. It includes early childhood centres, schools, colleges and community learning from 3 to 18 and beyond. From autumn 2010, learners from pre-school to S1 have been working to Curriculum for Excellence guidance and standards. The table below matches the five curriculum levels to the stages of learning generally applicable, with flexibility (for example, for young people who are particularly able and / or have additional support needs.) Level Early First Second Third and Fourth Stage The preschool years and P1, or later for some. To the end of P4, but earlier or later for some. To the end of P7, but earlier or later for some. S1 to S3, but earlier for some. The fourth level broadly equates to Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework level 4. The fourth level experiences and outcomes are intended to provide possibilities for choice and young people s programmes will not include all of the fourth level outcomes. Senior Phase S4 to S6, and college or other means of study. From preschool to the end of S3 (3 15) young people will experience a broad general education which is designed to enable each child or young person to be a successful learner, a confident individual, a responsible individual and an effective contributor. The broad general education will include all of the Experiences and Outcomes across all curriculum areas up to and including the third level. Throughout all learning, prime importance is given to literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing. This includes outside learning. (learners) (parents and carers) (information on qualifications) (standards, inspections) (teaching practice and support) 19

20 Curriculum (share ideas and questions about education) (real-life examples) The staff team has had exposure to the principles underlying early education and child development in Reggio Emilia, a world renowned centre for educational excellence in Italy. We continue to take our learning forward by allowing children the time and space to be creative, to use their imaginations, to experiment, to explore the properties of materials, to make connections in their learning and to promote high quality interactions between adults and children in contexts that have meaning for our young people. We plan every fortnight after consulting with the children to find out what they want to play with and learn. Our experienced staff team then take this information and use it to create learning experiences and link those experiences with the Curriculum for Excellence learning outcomes. This hopefully will make learning fun and meaningful for each child. You can find our fortnightly plan on the following site, blogs.glowscotland.org.uk- East Ayrshire. Just scroll down to Cairns Early Childhood Centre and find out what is happening in our centre. Our children develop skills for learning and life through play both indoors and outside. Literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing are core subjects taught across all other curriculum areas. Your child s keyworker will have lots of information for you on how your own child learns in the nursery environment. Our peripatetic teacher supports staff with the planning and delivery of the Curriculum for Excellence in line with our improvement plan. To find out more about the teacher access programme please consult part 2 of this handbook. 20

21 Assessment and reporting When your child starts nursery he/she will be introduced to their keyworker and the rest of their group. As well as welcoming and settling your child into their new environment his/her keyworker will set up your child s individual portfolio. This portfolio will over time celebrate your child s successes, achievements and next steps for learning. Both you and your child have access this to folio at any time and your child has a say in what goes inside. This folio is used to help track how your child is progressing in their education. Please feel free to ask staff about your child s portfolio. The portfolio contains tracking material in the curriculum areas of health and well-being, literacy and numeracy. These can be shared with you at any time but are looked at when you have your progress meeting with your child s keyworker. Your child s keyworker will also write a synopsis of your child s progress twice a year and this too is included in the portfolio. The final report in your child s pre-school year is used as a transition document that is passed on to primary school. You have an opportunity to speak to your child s keyworker on a one to one basis twice a year at our progress meetings. These meetings are held in November and May and you will be notified nearer the time. We also plan for group time activities with our keyworker groups usually ten children. These more structured play activities help staff members assess the skills your child has and what next steps are required to further develop their individual learning. Children and staff members often undertake projects based on children s interests The Curriculum for Excellence is used by staff in relation to all layers of teaching, planning and evaluation. The staff will observe, discuss and teach new skills to help all our children progress in their early year s education. If you have any concerns or ideas about your child s progress please ask any staff member at any time for advice. We are here to support you and your child. 21

22 Policies and procedures The establishment has a range of policies and procedures which are available for parents to read: Absence cover procedure Access to personal records Additional support needs Admissions/enrolment Assessment recording and reporting Attendance Care and Welfare Child Protection Citizenship Communication Communication and Language Complaints Confidentiality Control of hazardous substances Social Sciences Science Smoking Solvent and drug abuse Staff recruitment and selection Staff training and appraisal Standard Circulars Sun Protection Technology Transitional arrangements Use of volunteers and students Whistle blowing Woodwork Religious and Moral Education Differed entry to primary school ` Risk assessment Developing partnership with other agencies Display Dispute resolution policy Equal opportunities race equality and cultural diversity, disability discrimination Establishment funds Expressive Arts First Aid procedure Gifts procedure 22

23 Policies and procedures Grievance/disciplinary Health & Safety Health promoting school policy Health & Well Being policy Holiday procedure Improvement planning Incident/accident and near miss reporting Induction/liaison Internet and E mail Language and Literacy Learning and teaching Managing clinical waste Management of medication Manual handling policy Mathematics and Numeracy Outdoor play Parental involvement Planning Play Prevention of infection Promoting positive behaviour 23

24 Additional support for learning Educational (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act The Education Additional Support for Learning Act 2004 has replaced the law relating to special educational needs. This has now been updated by the 2009 Act which came into force on 17 th November The majority of children and young people are able to access their curriculum programme at school/nursery without the need of additional help other than that which any teacher/early years worker will provide in any classroom/playroom. However, there will be a percentage of children/young people, who may, at some point in their education, have difficulties that will act as a barrier to their effective learning. In such circumstances the child or young person may require additional support beyond the norm in order to help them overcome these barriers. Such children/young people will be considered to have additional support needs. All early years establishments have a variety of procedures to assist in the early identification of children and young people with additional support needs. Identification and support planning will take place at the earliest possible stage. Children and young people who have been identified as having additional support needs will be supported through an Action/Support Plan, or in some cases a Coordinated Support Plan. In line with legislation, parents/carers/children and young people will be fully consulted at all stages. This Act places additional responsibilities on local authorities for children who are looked after by the local authority. It will also give more rights to parents in respect of requesting assessments in relation to their child/young person. Further information can be obtained from various leaflets, that can be accessed through council website or individual copies are available in school. Mediation and advocacy services are also available and information about these can be obtained from the contact details below. Enquire the Scottish advice service for additional support for learning. Operated by Children in Scotland, Enquire offer independent, confidential advice and information on additional support for learning through: A telephone helpline An enquiry service [email protected] An online enquiry service Two websites (for parents / carers and practitioners and (for children and young people) Enquire also provide a range of clear, easy to read guides and fact sheets explaining everything from additional support in the early years to what planning should take place for moving on from school. 24

25 Transition The children from Cairns Early Childhood Centre go to one of several different schools in Kilmarnock and the surrounding area. There are induction programmes in all the primary schools to help the children become accustomed to their new surroundings. Normally the infant staff from primary schools visit the nursery to meet the children. These visits can take place any time after January. Hillhead Primary School's induction programme involves staff from the school visiting on a regular basis throughout the year. The children who will attend Hillhead in August go on regular visits to their primary one teacher for familiarisation with the school. These visits start after the spring break each year. We pass your child's Transition Document and their portfolio to the appropriate primary school. This material enables the primary one teacher to have prior knowledge of your child's learning and development. Your child s portfolio will be returned to you by their primary school. As far as possible we endeavour to follow East Ayrshire Council's Early Intervention Transition guidelines. Telephone numbers of associated primary schools are listed below: Annanhill Mount Carmel New Farm Crosshouse Fenwick Onthank Gargieston Silverwood Hillhead St. Andrews Kirkstyle Park School Loanhead

26 Parental involvement We hope in the course of your child's time at nursery that you will become involved in nursery life. This should start from your very first visit to Cairns Early Childhood Centre when you will be made very welcome. Our aim is to respect every child within a close partnership with parents. We hope that you will feel comfortable sharing information about your child with the nursery staff so that we are aware of your child's development and needs. We are committed to working with parents throughout their child's time at nursery. Parent's knowledge of their children is an invaluable aid to us and we are very appreciative of all the help you give us in this area. We hope you will be able to spend time in nursery and value contributions and ideas which you may have for us. We link with parents in various ways: Daily contact - keyworkers are available each session to greet children and parents. Progress meetings - these are organised twice a year with your child's keyworker to discuss your child's progress, introduce you to your child's portfolio and assessment information. Parental concerns - should you have any concerns about your child or the nursery environment please do not hesitate to speak to us. We are happy to help. Parent workshops - we offer workshops on different aspects of the curriculum. Parents and Friends Group - we have an active group which all parents are welcome to join. Volunteer helpers if you would like to volunteer to work with us in nursery we would love to hear from you. If you do this on a regular basis we will have to organise a police check or PVG to ensure you are a fit person to work with young children. As a parent we are sure you will understand this process. If you have an hour to spare we would love to see you. NB : If your child is absent from nursery please contact us on or this is to ensure that we know that everything is fine. If you forget or cannot call us we will try to contact you so please make sure all phone numbers are current and working! Thank you. 26

27 Parental involvement Parents and Friends Group We have a very active Parents and Friends Group which has worked hard to raise funds to benefit your children in a number of ways. The Group meets approximately every six weeks. If you would like to be part of this group please do not hesitate to ask for further information. The group is always delighted to welcome new members. Links with home The nursery staff is in the fortunate position of having contact on a daily basis with parents who are bringing and collecting their child, and this provides more opportunities for informal contact to discuss the children. The centre handbook is online and sign posted to parents at the beginning of the session. We issue regular news letters on a monthly basis to keep parents informed of what goes on in the nursery, and also produce monthly 'Parent Prompts' which give ideas on activities parents can do at home with their child. Our story sack project lends useful resources to children on a rolling programme throughout the year. We hope this project encourages your child to listen to stories at home. Children's work is displayed on the walls of the nursery, and paintings and models are some of the examples of the children's work which may go home. The displays on the walls change regularly and indicate the work which has been recently undertaken. Community Practitioners and staff from the Vibrant Communities Service and Social Work Services are available to support establishment links with the wider community and individual families. 27

28 Learning Community Early Childhood Network Cairns Early Childhood Centre is the lead establishment of one of East Ayrshire Council s Early Childhood Networks. Our network includes St. Andrews ECC, New Farm ECC, Dean Park Nursery and PEACE at St. Andrew s. We need to develop services within the network to support children and families. The aims of Early Childhood Networks can be found in part two of this handbook. Learning Community Cairns Early Childhood Centre is a member of the Kilmarnock Academy Learning Community which brings together a wide range of services to benefit children and young people. The principle purpose of the learning community is to ensure that services are better co-ordinated in order to meet the needs of young people and raise attainment. Learning Communities support the government s approach to GIRFEC (Getting it Right for Every Child). The means that if a child / young person needs support then, where possible, there will be one co-ordinated assessment and one plan for that child / young person. 28

29 Wider community links Cairns Early Childhood Centre was opened in October 1975, and has since made a place for itself in the local community. Strong links have been created with Hillhead Primary School, Hillbank Early Childhood Centre, Avenue Childcare Services and local facilities. We have established relations with East Ayrshire Ranger Service, Road Safety, The Child Smile Team, Community Police and the Fire Service. We work closely with health visitors, social workers, speech and language therapists, occupational and physiotherapists and psychological services to best support children and families. As previously mentioned we are in the process of establishing Early Years Networks and taking this work forward. 29

30 Other information Contact Details Executive Director of Educational and Social Services Graham Short, Executive Director of Educational and Social Services East Ayrshire Council, Council Headquarters, London Road, Kilmarnock KA3 7BU Acting Head of Schools Alan Ward, East Ayrshire Council, Educational and Social Services Department Council Headquarters, London Road, Kilmarnock KA3 7BU Head of Community Support Kay Gilmour, East Ayrshire Council, Educational and Social Services Department Council Headquarters, London Road, Kilmarnock KA3 7BU Spokespersons for Lifelong Learning Councillor Eoghann MacColl and Councillor Stephanie Primrose East Ayrshire Council, Council Headquarters, London Road, Kilmarnock KA3 7BU Local elected members for ward East Ayrshire Council, Council Headquarters, London Road, Kilmarnock KA3 7BU Kilmarnock North Councillor Maureen McKay Tel: Councillor Elaine Cowan Tel: Councillor Helen Coffey Tel:

31 Disclaimer Although this information is correct at time of publication, there could be changes affecting any of the matters dealt with in the document: before the commencement or during the course of the school year in question in relation to subsequent establishment years 31