Oaks Day Nursery Autumn Newsletter
A warm welcome and hello to all the new children and families who’ve recently joined us. You should have had your nursery induction over the phone with a member of our management team. If you haven’t, please contact a member of our office team who will be happy to arrange this for you. You’ll find their contact details at the end of this newsletter.
Autumn has arrived and, with it, lots of exciting nursery news, including 20th birthday celebrations, preparations for 2025 school admissions, and buggy and sling walks at Winterbourne House and Garden. Grab a chair and a cuppa and read all about what we’ve been up to – plus what’s to come – at The Oaks.
Newsletter contents
Dates for your diary; Staff news; 20 years of The Oaks; A brief history of The Oaks; 2025 school admissions; Celebrating harvest; Explore this autumn; Buggy and Sling Walk; Get your groove on; Funding information; Taking medicine at nursery; Your Shining Stars; Adverse weather; Cold weather policy; Autumn menu launch; Travelling safely this autumn and winter; Parking responsibly; Keeping everyone safe; Safeguarding and child protection; Ban on Bepanthen; Get in touch
Dates for your diary
From harvest to Halloween, Diwali to Rosh Hashanah, there’s plenty to celebrate over the coming months. As well as hosting themed activities to celebrate these occasions at nursery, we also have lots of upcoming events and workshops for you and your little one to look forward to.
Staff news
While we were sad to say farewell to Liz at the end of August, along with our school leavers, we have had a lot to celebrate. We’re excited to announce that we have two new members of the preschool team – Callum and Emily – and that August saw not one, not two, but three members of the team welcome new bundles of joy into the world! Congratulations to Kerry, Sabhiya and Shaz on the safe arrival of your baby boys and girl.
20 years of The Oaks
As many of you know, we turn 20 this year! Celebrations will be taking place between our Ofsted registration date – 17 September – and our official grand opening – 27 October.
With a month of fun planned, we hope there will be something for everyone to enjoy.
We will once again be supporting our charity of the year, Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BCH). As it’s our birthday, we thought there would be no better way to celebrate than by raising money for their Celebration Toy Fund, which allows BCH to gift presents to children staying in hospital during times of celebration. You can find out more on the BCH’s website.
The celebrations will kick-off on 23 September with a sponsored walking challenge: staff and children will be walking for 20 minutes more than usual, every day for 20 days. This will be followed by themed activities and challenges, including a 20 pence coin number line, baking birthday cakes, playing party games, guess who the baby is (staff photos), and more! Each playroom will also be hosting a party on Friday 25 October for the children.
The fun will conclude with a special open event on Saturday 26 October (10am – 12.30pm) for families past and present. This is a chance for children, parents, and carers to share memories of The Oaks, look at photos from our archives, and see how the nursery has transformed over the years. If you know anyone with a connection to The Oaks, please invite them to come along – everyone is welcome!
A brief history of The Oaks
To celebrate 20 years, we thought we’d share how The Oaks Day Nursery came to be.
It all began on the autumn of 2004. After outgrowing the original nursery that now houses our preschoolers, we moved into our current premises and changed our name from ‘Selly Oak Colleges Day Nursery’ to ‘The Oaks Day Nursery’. It was at this time that the nursery also passed into the hands of University of Birmingham.
Our team at the time was made up of 24 permanent members of staff, including one manager, two deputy managers, and an early years advisor. Registered for 80 children – 30 ‘0-30-month-olds’ and 50 ’31-60-month-olds’ – we provided childcare for University staff and students, until we realised that the local community was crying out for baby spaces too.
We increased our under-twos spaces. This expansion saw the nursery go from strength to strength, improving occupancy, strengthening community links, and evolving with the early years sector.
Due to our location and neighbouring Bournville housing estate, there were time restrictions on the use of the back garden and field that is now our Forest School because of potential noise from the children. We had two main gardens back then – the side garden and the back garden – and outdoor play was timetabled to be shared between four playrooms and age groups, in a similar way to schools offering ‘outdoor play’.
Fast forward to today, we are an ‘Outstanding’ 120-place nursery with a team of 55 and counting. Every room has a free-flow garden that allows children to choose when they want to play outdoors, and our original gardens are now additional play spaces that encourage playrooms to mix and use different spaces and equipment. We are also fortunate to have our own Forest School site and specialised staff, which has led to the expansion of our curriculum and child-led opportunities in so many ways.
In 2021, we recognised how special our Forest School was and realised we could support our community further by offering a playgroup for other families to experience outdoor play. Guided by our expert leaders, Muddy Explorers was born – and this branch of Birmingham Day Nurseries has gone from strength to strength. Another site at Winterbourne House and Garden opened in spring 2023, with the launch of Mini Explorers – a stay-and-play group for babies and their grown-ups – and our popular holiday club, Wild Explorers.
Sessions frequently sell-out and we’re in awe of how engaged our families and local community are with outdoor learning. Seeing children come into their own at our Explorers clubs and our playrooms never gets old.
We wouldn’t be where we are now without you all – thank you. Here’s to another 20 years!
2025 school admissions
If your child was born between 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2021, it’s almost time to apply for their primary school place! You can do so via Birmingham City Council’s website between 9am on 1 October 2024 and 11.59pm on 15 January 2025. This is the first step towards an exciting new chapter in your little one’s life, so we’ll be on hand to support you.
Celebrating harvest
In October, we will be celebrating harvesttime by harvesting and cooking with the vegetables planted by our children in our allotment area, picking apples from our orchard, collecting fallen leaves, and using any leftover fruit and veg in painting and craft activities.
Harvest is a time of abundance. That’s why we’ll be asking for donations of long-life and tinned products for B30 and B31 foodbanks from 7 October to 31 October. If you’d like to contribute, please leave your donation in the designated baskets outside nursery during drop-off and collection times. All donations are gratefully received, no matter how small. We’ll share a list of items the food bank needs in our entrance halls and via ParentZone.
Explore this autumn
The fun doesn’t have to end when nursery does. Keep the adventures going with Birmingham Day Nurseries’ Mini, Wild, and Muddy Explorers groups! Open to everyone, Explorers gives every child the opportunity to experience the magic of Forest School through a range of exciting and enriching outdoor activities.
- Mini Explorers is perfect for under twos and their grown-ups to discover the great outdoors together, in acres of garden at Winterbourne House and Garden.
- Muddy Explorers is hosted at The Oaks Day Nursery’s award-winning Forest School and is a stay and play group for children aged six months to five years.
- Wild Explorers is based at Winterbourne and is a holiday club for four- to eight-year-olds with a difference.
Buggy and Sling Walk
Join our Mini Explorers team for a Buggy and Sling Walk – your chance to bond with your baby in nature while meeting fellow parents and carers.
On 14 October and 15 October (10.30am – 11.15am), we’ll be taking a relaxing wander around the beautiful botanic garden at Winterbourne House and Garden, exploring the different sounds and sights of the season. Afterwards, we’ll warm up with a hot drink in Winterbourne’s Terrace Tea Room (included with your ticket). We hope to see you there.
Get your groove on!
Don’t miss ‘Groove onto the Moon’, the latest instalment in The Barber Institute of Fine Arts’ family concert series. Following a sold-out show last year, the Groove Baby Organ Trio are back with a fun, interactive musical adventure set in space! Designed for children aged three to seven and their grown-ups, get ready to blast off on a cosmic adventure like no other.
There will be two performances in the Elgar Concert Hall at The Bramall on Saturday 12 October – one at 11am and the other at 2pm. The show lasts approximately one hour. Afterwards, you can enjoy family arts and crafts in The Bramall’s foyer, courtesy of The Barber’s Learning and Engagement team. Tickets cost just £1 for children and £5 for grown-ups. Book your space online today (no pun intended!).
Funding information
If your child will be eligible for funding for the spring 2025 term (1 January – 31 March 2025), you can now apply for funding through the GOV.UK website.
Although you have until 31 December to apply for your code, please send us your code and National Insurance Number by 25 November. This ensures we have sufficient time to apply funding to your nursery fee calculations.
Once you have your code, remember to reconfirm it every three months to ensure you remain eligible for the funding.
For more information about the financial support available while your child’s at nursery, please visit our nursery fees webpage.
Taking medicine at nursery
If your child needs to take prescription medication at nursery, the medicine must be clearly labelled with your child’s name and dosage, and in its original packaging. Please note we will only administer the dosage advised on the label from the pharmacy.
Our practitioners can only a administer antibiotics and temperature relief medicine as set out by our well child and medicine policy. And they will only administer non-prescribed medication, such as fever and pain relief, for 48 hours if your child has a temperature of 38C or above. If they still have a temperature after this time, we politely request that you book an appointment with your GP. Please keep your child at home for at least 24 hours to ensure they’re well enough to return. Find out more by reading our Sickness Policy.
Our expert practitioners pride themselves on forming strong bonds with your child, which allow them to understand what is normal for them; if they believe your child is unable to continue with the nursery day and that their wellbeing is being affected by being here, we will contact you to collect them within the hour.
We seek advice about illnesses and infections from the Health Protection Agency and the NHS to best promote health of the children in our care and staff team, including signs and symptoms, exclusion periods and notifiable illnesses and risk assessments.
Your Shining Stars
Congratulations to the Caterpillar Room team and Caroline, our Shining Stars for August and September respectively. All have been commended for their unwavering support and strong bonds they have formed with children and their families.
If you would like to recognise someone who has gone above and beyond, or who deserves an extra special thank you, please email us at [email protected]. Each month’s Shining Star will be displayed on the parent and carer’s information board in the entrance hall and receive a special mention in our communications.
Adverse weather
If you need to collect your child early or the nursery has to close due to adverse weather conditions, we will let you know via text, ParentZone and, where possible, through University platforms. Therefore, please ensure we have your correct and current contact details so we can reach you in an emergency.
Cold weather policy
The nursery exercises an all-weather policy, and children spend time outdoors throughout the year, no matter the weather. This is an important part of our daily curriculum and key to keeping children healthy. It’s therefore not possible for you to request that your child remains indoors. Please ensure your child has the right clothing for exploring outdoors this autumn – an extra jumper or hoodie; a hat, scarf, and gloves; wellington boots; and an all-in-one suit, or waterproof trousers – and that all items are clearly labelled with their name or initials.
Autumn menu launch
We are eagerly awaiting our autumn food menus, which will commence in October, from our catering provider, Robinson’s. We will display these in reception as soon as we have them. Our menus rotate on a three-weekly cycle, so your child always has something new and delicious to eat. We’ve also worked with families to ensure our menus reflect what children want to eat, while making them as nutritionally balanced as possible.
Travelling safely this autumn and winter
For the safety of your child, we advise that you remove any thick autumn or winter clothing before placing your child in a car seat and travelling home. Winter coats make it tricky to tighten harnesses close to your child’s upper body, which means they may not have as much protection as in the warmer months. Find out more, plus some top tips on how to keep your child warm while travelling by car, at besafe.com.
Parking responsibly
Your child’s safety is very important to us, so please drive at a safe speed when entering, manoeuvring around, and exiting the nursery car park. You may need to wait for other vehicles to manoeuvre in and out of spaces; please remain patient during this time. If you accidently hit another vehicle, please report the incident to the nursery office. However, please note that we do not accept any liability if a car is damaged in the car park.
The nursery car park is for the drop-off and collection of children only. We kindly request that you turn your engine off when waiting for your child to help reduce air pollution and keep our children healthy.
If you’re a University permit holder, please use a designated University car park as you cannot park in the nursery car park for the duration of the day. Thank you for your cooperation.
Keeping everyone safe
When entering and exiting the nursery, please do not allow anyone to follow you into the building, even if you know them. If another parent or carer holds the door open for you, please politely decline; every person must either fob in or press the office buzzer to be welcomed in by a member of the team. This ensures every person in the building is known to the nursery and that visitors are accompanied and shown around.
For our children’s safety, the use of mobile phones, tablets, watches, and laptops with camera technology is strictly prohibited within the nursery. Any parents/carers seen using mobile phones in the nursery’s communal areas or playrooms will be asked to put them away. If you need to take a call or check a message, please do so in the nursery office or wait until you’ve left the premises to ensure you’re complying with our safeguarding policy.
Safeguarding and child protection
In the interests of safeguarding, there may be times when we have to consult with other agencies about a child without a parent/carer’s prior knowledge. The nursery’s first concern is the welfare of our children, and it’s our responsibility to act and protect in line with our Child Protection Policy.
A consultation like this may result in a formal referral, which can prompt visits from police or your local authority’s safeguarding team. We understand that this would be a distressing set of circumstances, but we have a legal duty to follow the procedures set out by the Birmingham Children’s Trust.
Ban on Bepanthen
The health and safety of our children, families, and staff members is our priority. To keep everyone with allergies – severe or otherwise – safe, we have banned Bepanthen Nappy Care Ointment at nursery, as it contains almond oil derivative. We kindly request that you do not apply this to your child before they attend nursery or bring this cream with you when you drop your child off. Thank you for your understanding.
Get in touch
Rebecca Slater, Nursery Manager – [email protected]
Emily Grainger, Nursery Assistant Manager – [email protected]
Faye Evans, Acting Deputy Manager – [email protected]
Laura Allchin, Deputy Manager – [email protected]
Diane Lawler, Nursery Administrator – [email protected]
If you have a general enquiry, please email [email protected]