Conkers
Day Nursery
Conkers Day Nursery opened in the Spring of 2005.
Based in safe, secure, high quality buildings Conkers is only two minutes from Diss on a working farm in the middle of the countryside.
Conkers is open all year from 8am to 6pm for babies and children aged up to 5 years.
Conkers is a small friendly nursery registered by OFSTED to care for no more than thirty children in total at any one time.
Conkers is a wonderful place for children to play and learn. Emphasis is placed on learning through play and exploration both inside and outside in the fresh air. Weather permitting we are outside everyday either in the all weather courtyard, garden of using the network of private walks around the farms fields.
Conkers has an excellent kitchen on site. Breakfast, lunch, tea and snacks are freshly prepared every day. We cater for allergies and diets whenever possible and pride ourselves in being a "Nut-Free" nursery.
Children at Conkers are based in one of three main play rooms according to their age and stage of development.
Babies and toddlers up to 2 years old have dedicated and highly qualified staff to care for them with a ratio of 1 adult to 3 children. Staff work with parents to ensure that Conkers fits in with individual sleep patterns and routines.
Staff ensure that children enjoy their time at Conkers and learn while they play following the Early Years Foundation Stage as recommended by OFSTED.
In the Spring room children learn and explore through lots of creative play. The children in this room make the most of the outdoor spaces taking every opportunity to play outside.
| 08:00 | Breakfast & settling in |
| 09:00 | Indoor adult and child-led activities |
| 10:00 | Snack time |
| 10:30 | Outdoor and indoor adult and child-led activities |
| 11:30 | Tidy up time, songs and stories |
| 12:00 | Lunch time |
| 13:00 | Sleep & quiet indoor adult and child-led activities |
| 14:00 | Snack time |
| 14:30 | Outdoor and indoor adult and child-led activities |
| 16:00 | Tea time in the Autumn room with everyone |
| 16:30 | Free play together in the Summer room |
Children aged 2-3 years are based in The Summer Room. The ratios in this room are 1 adult to 4 children. In this room there is still a great deal of emphasis on learning through play.
Our dedicated and qualified staff ensure that children are encouraged to develop to their full potential through carefully planned adult-led and adult-initiated activities. Within this room as with all the rooms at Conkers child-led activities will always take priority over planned activities. A child-led curriculum offers lots of spontaneous opportunities for the children to take part in activities led by their own interests.
The staff work closely with the parents, sharing observations on Tapestry, our on-line Learning Journal. They encourage our parents to add their favourite child’s moments from their home life with the staff. A close relationship between nursery and a child’s home life is very important.
| 08:00 | Breakfast, free play and self-registration |
| 09:00 | Adult and child-led activities |
| 10:00 | Snack time |
| 10:15 | Outdoor and indoor Adult and child-led activities |
| 10:45 | Tidy up time, registration and story |
| 12:00 | Lunch time |
| 12:30 | Rest time, adult and child-led activities |
| 14:00 | Snack and Outdoor and indoor free choice play |
| 16:00 | Tea time in the Autumn room with everyone |
| 16:30 | Free play in the Summer room |
Children aged 3-4 years and above are based in The Autumn Room. The ratios in this room are 1 adult to 8 children. The day is a little more structured here but there is still a huge emphasis on learning through play. Our dedicated and qualified team ensure that children are encouraged to develop to their full potential through carefully planned activities and play.
Staff, observing and working alongside parents and children, will develop a curriculum to ensure that every individual's needs are met.
Within this room there are lots of opportunities to follow a child-led curriculum and in the moment plans led by the children’s interests. Within this room as with all the rooms at Conkers child-led activities will always take priority over planned activities.
| 08:00 | Breakfast & settling in |
| 09:00 | Self-registration, phonics and number recognition Adult and child-led activities |
| 10:00 | Snack time |
| 10:30 | Adult and child-led activities |
| 12:00 | Lunch time |
| 13:00 | Adult and child-led activities |
| 14:00 | Snack & resume play |
| 16:00 | Tea time in this room with everyone |
| 16:30 | Free play together in the Summer room |
Emphasis is placed on learning through play and exploration both inside and outside in the fresh air. Our doors in The Autumn room to the outside courtyard are open everyday, all day to allow indoor outdoor play at all times.
Weather
permitting we use the grassy garden as well. However, our most exciting feature is being able to access the fields around for private walks around the farms fields on which Conkers is situated.
Conkers is open from 8am to 6pm, 52 weeks of the year but closed on bank holidays and at weekends.
We try to be flexible to accommodate the times that you would like your children to be with us. We ask you to book regular sessions for your child (ie: every Monday from 9 to 1) although additional hours will be accommodated where possible.
In order to keep administration simple, all fees are paid by standing order in equal monthly amounts, in advance.
We charge by the hour, and have a three tier pricing band: 0-2 years, 2-3 years and 3 plus. The younger children pay a slightly higher fee while the under twos pay higher fees due to the higher staff ratios.
The term after your child turns three, your child is then entitled to the free government hours, and we will then start billing termly. The funding is claimed by Conkers once every school term.
We can also claim the two year funding if you are entitled to claim it and this works on the same system as the three year funding.
A variety of childcare vouchers are accepted by Conkers and may be used in payment of fees.
Conkers has an excellent kitchen on site. Breakfast, lunch, tea and snacks are freshly prepared every day.
We pride ourselves on providing a varied and well balanced diet for your children, made only with fresh, quality ingredients.
Special diets are accommodated whenever possible.
We make every effort to ensure that this menu is followed but occasionally we are unable to source the ingredients we need so small changes may be made.
| Week Commencing | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allergy Information | Egg Free | Lactose Free | Egg Free | Lactose Free | Egg Free | x | Egg Free | Nut Free | Egg Free | x | |
| Tuna Puff, new potatoes and vegetables | Cowboy Pie | Broccoli Pasta and garlic bread | Chicken and Ham Crumble, potatoes and vegetables | Noodle Casserole, vegetables and bread | |||||||
| Roast chicken, roast potatoes and vegetables | Chilli, rice and bread | Sausage and mashed potato with vegetables | Spaghetti Bolognaise and garlic bread | Pizza, potato wedges and vegetables | |||||||
| Cottage Pie and vegetables | Vegetable stuffed jacket potatoes | Macaroni Cheese, vegetables and bread | Tuna Fishcakes, new potatoes and vegetables | Chicken Fried Rice and vegetables | |||||||
| Fish Fingers, new potatoes and peas | Vegetable Burgers, baked beans and potato wedges | Sausage Casserole, mashed potato, and vegetables | Chicken Curry with rice and poppadum | Ranch Pie and vegetables | |||||||
| Chicken Nuggets, potato wedges and vegetables | Hotdogs, beans and sweetcorn | Pea and Bacon Pasta Bread | Meatballs and rice | Tuna Plait, new potatoes and vegetables | |||||||
As the seasons change our wonderful cook will create delicious desserts with seasonal produce. These may include desserts such as Apple and Blackberry Crumble to Strawberry Crunch and Raspberry Muffins.
Chestnut Tree Farm
The Heywood,
Diss,
Norfolk
IP22 5SZ
If you would like to have a look around, please contact us by phone to arrange a time to suit you.
Conkers prides itself on employing highly qualified and motivated members of staff, who work together as a strong team, which enables us to provide the highest quality care for your child. All staff attend ongoing training, have first aid and child protection.
Each member of staff is based in their specialist room working with a certain age group. They will have key children with whom they work in partnership with the parent/carer so they get to know each child and build a strong bond with their key children and family, providing a child centred curriculum / play plan.
As Conkers is a small open plan nursery, the children can see into each room and know all the staff who work in the nursery.
Here at Conkers we record your child’s learning journey using our on-line journal, Tapestry. The staff work closely with the parents, sharing observations and encouraging parents to add their favourite child’s moments from their home life with the staff. A close relationship between nursery and a child’s home life is very important. This journal can be observed every day by you as parents/carers.
Each learning journey follows the personal learning path based on each individual child's likes, interests, experiences and offers individual challenges.
Parents are a child's first educator, so your input is needed to inform Conkers of your child's likes, dislikes and individual interests.
With a Key person to work along side parents this will have a positive impact on the child's learning and development. While also providing reassurance and stability. Whilst in Conkers care.
Through observation, assessment and planning we understand and consider each child's current interests, development and needs. So we can plan activities which are challenging but achievable.
Conkers provides and supports children's learning in a secure and safe, but challenging indoor and out door environment.
The key person has the responsibility to provide an individual learning plan, including the seven areas of learning:-