Maples Day Nursery Spring Newsletter
Spring has well and truly sprung, and here at The Maples we have lots to look forward to, including the unveiling of our new Birmingham Day Nurseries calf, graduations, and picnics.
Until then, we wish you and your family a very happy Easter if you’re celebrating. We hope you enjoy some quality time together in the spring sunshine and enjoy watching everything burst into bloom. Please keep an eye on your inboxes for an update about 2025 fees, which will be coming soon.
Newsletter contents
Dates for your diary; Staff news; Promoting health and wellbeing; We’re hopping mad for Birmingham Hospice; Bulls in the City; 125 hours of Forest School; You said, we did; School Offer Day; Wonders of Winterbourne Trail; Join our Explorers family; Sun safety; Funding information; Keeping everyone safe; Using mobile phones; Parking responsibly; Safeguarding a child protection; Get in touch
Dates for your diary
From Easter to Father’s Day, Eid al-Adha to Portugal’s Freedom Day, there’s plenty to celebrate over the coming months. As well as hosting themed activities to celebrate these occasions at nursery, we have lots of events and workshops for you and your little one to look forward to.
Staff news
As many of you know, our nursery manager, Heather, went on maternity leave in March. We’d like to extend a very warm Maples welcome to Sarah, who will manage the nursery in Heather’s absence. Please ensure you copy her and Jen into any correspondence moving forward; you’ll find her details at the bottom of this newsletter.
We’d also like to welcome Fia and Oriana to the team – two University of Birmingham students – who will support us with ratios at the beginning and end of the nursery day. Their pictures have been added to our staff board so you can identify them. Do make sure to say hello!
We also welcome Hannah, who has joined us as a nursery support operative to gain more experience working with children under five and support us with our ratios.
Congratulations to Melody for completing her Level 3 qualification: she’ll now be working as a full-time practitioner. Melody has shown strength and determination while studying, plus a passion to understand our child-led approach and why this works well for our children. We’re so glad to have her on board full time.
And, last but not least, we’re pleased to share that Saphire will return to nursery in June as a lunchtime assistant, working 11am to 2pm each day.
Promoting health and wellbeing
We’re excited to share that Jen has completed her Physical Activity and Nutrition Coordinator (PANCo) training. She will now be the go-to person for promoting our children’s, families’, and practitioners’ health and wellbeing, planning activities and sharing best practices.
She’ll be using a holistic, whole-setting approach to raise awareness of the importance of physical activity and nutrition, both at nursery and in the home. If you’d like to make some healthy changes or learn more about nutrition, she’ll be on hand to support you.
Jen has been instrumental in helping us obtain Start Life Well Gold status, which recognises our commitment to introducing a whole setting approach to health and wellbeing. Jen is taking an active role in appointing a PANCo wellbeing champion to lead and support further change and improvement at The Maples. We will then have the in-house expertise to integrate a positive nutrition, physical activity and wellbeing culture, and have an in-depth understanding of national wellbeing guidelines.
We’re hopping mad for Birmingham Hospice
We can’t wait to celebrate Easter with our annual Bunny Hop! Taking place next door at Winterbourne House and Garden on 17 April, this much-loved event will raise funds for children with terminal illnesses as part of Birmingham Hospice’s Bulls in the City’ campaign (more on this below!).
Activities will begin on the lawn in front of the terrace from 2.30pm, and all children will be given a pair of bunny ears to wear and take home after the event, plus a packed lunch. If you’re taking part, we kindly ask that you collect your child from nursery before making your way to the party.
Ticket sales for the event are now closed, but you can donate to Birmingham Hospice through our JustGiving page. Any donation, no matter how small, will be gratefully received.
Bulls in the City
As you’ll know, we’re raising money for Birmingham Hospice by taking part in its ‘Bulls in the City’ initiative. Along with our friends at The Elms and The Oaks, we have adopted a calf sculpture who will stay with each nursery while the rest of his herd takes to Birmingham’s streets this summer.
Parent volunteers and staff to decorate him before his big debut, using imagery and designs submitted by children from all three Birmingham Day Nurseries. A big thank you to everyone who shared artwork and donated to the cause. We’ve been inspired by your creativity and can’t wait to share his finished look with you after Easter!
A trail map showing all the Bulls in the City around Birmingham will be produced in July for any families who want to hunt the rest of his herd over the summer.
125 hours of Forest School
To celebrate University of Birmingham’s 125th anniversary this year, all our children will enjoy 125 hours at Forest School in June. There will be a range of activities for them to enjoy throughout the month, including a jam-packed schedule of exciting things to do outdoors.
If you would like to join in the celebrations and lend a helping hand during any of these sessions, please get in touch.
You said, we did
Thank you to everyone who completed last year’s annual parent and carer survey.
You scored us a very high 9.33 out of 10 – and now we’ve had an opportunity to use your feedback to improve what we do.
Following your comments, we have:
- Recruited a SEND Co-ordinator called Kelly, who will develop onsite expertise alongside our skilled practitioners and ensure parents are closely involved to inform any decisions we make. Kelly is a great person to talk to if you’re concerned about the development of your child.
- Made it easier to know who’s who by investing in coloured tabards to differentiate between support staff and practitioners: black for agency staff, orange for staff recruited through the University’s casual recruitment agency Worklink, and white for University of Birmingham students. You’ll find our practitioners’ photos on the staff photo board in each nursery’s entrance hall.
- Worked with our catering supplier, Robinson’s, to reduce the number of ultra-processed foods on the menu. Robinson’s works closely with nutritionists at Startwell Birmingham to ensure we follow the ‘Eat Better Start Better’ guidelines and that menus support the children’s health and wellbeing. Our menus operate on three-weekly, seasonal schedules to help introduce children to different tastes, textures, and healthy eating habits. Robinson’s is currently working on our spring/summer menus which we will share as soon as they’re ready to launch.
School Offer Day
On 16 April, many parents and carers will have found out which primary school their child will be going to. We’d love to know where your little one is heading next; if you’d like to, you can share which school they’ll be attending via the grid on the Bluebell Room door.
To help children prepare for the exciting journey ahead, we will create a photo board of the schools our children are due to attend and add school uniforms to our dressing-up area (any old school uniform donations are most welcome). We will, of course, be talking to the children about their transition too.
Wonders of Winterbourne Trail
To celebrate the University’s anniversary, our friends at Winterbourne have identified 125 treasures – or Wonders of Winterbourne – in the house and garden.
This summer they’re launching a Wonders of Winterbourne trail to encourage visitors to explore further. It’ll be a brilliant way to get little ones out into the beauty of the garden.
If you have older children – aged 8-13 – there’s also Green Kingdom Trail around Winterbourne this Easter, celebrating the launch of Cornelia Funke’s new adventure book. Solve the botanical riddles and see where they lead … (little ones can help!)
Join our Explorers family
Subscribe to our newsletter today to receive the latest Explorers news, offers, and events straight to your inbox. New to Explorers? Explorers allows every child to experience the magical world of outdoor adventure at our award-winning Forest Schools. Sessions include:
- Muddy Explorers – stay-and-play group for confident walkers up to the age of five – based at our Forest School site
- Mini Explorers – wonder-filled adventures for babies and toddlers – at Winterbourne House and Garden
- Wild Explorers – a fun-packed holiday club for children aged four to eight
Sun safety
To ensure your child is protected as we welcome the warmer months, staff will apply a four-star rated, 30+ SPF sun cream to them during the nursery day. If you’d prefer us to use a specific sun cream* for your child, please supply your own (ideally four-star with an SPF of 30 or above), clearly labelled for staff to use.
We kindly ask that parents and carers thoroughly apply a layer of sun cream before your child arrives at nursery to ensure maximum coverage.
Birmingham Day Nurseries apply suncream by following the UV Index. For more information please see the Sun Safety letter we shared during the week of 24 March.
We also recommend that your child has an appropriate sunhat for nursery, which protects their head and shades their face, neck and ears (e.g., a broad-brimmed or Legionnaire-style hat).
*Sun creams containing nut-derived oils are banned to keep everyone with allergies at nursery safe. Please do not apply this to your child before they attend nursery.
Funding information
If your child is eligible for funding for the summer term (1 April – 31 August 2025), you should have now sent us your code and National Insurance Number. Please remember to reconfirm your code every three months to ensure you remain eligible.
For more information about the financial support available while your child’s at nursery, please visit our nursery fees webpage.
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/carer holds the door open for you, please politely decline; each person must either fob in or press the office buzzer to be welcomed in by a member of the team. This will ensure every person in the building is known to the nursery or dealt with by the office team.
Using mobile phones
For our children’s safety and security, the use of mobile phones, tablets, watches, and laptops with camera technology is strictly prohibited within the nursery. Any parents or 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.
Parking responsibly
Your child’s safety is very important to us, so please drive at a safe speed when entering and exiting the nursery car park. If you accidentally 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.
Remember to park responsibly too; disabled bays should only be used by parents/carers with a Blue Badge and the emergency bay kept clear. Please note that we may use the emergency bay for nursery deliveries to save taking a space away from our families.
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, you must use a designated University car park during the nursery day. We thank you for your cooperation.
Safeguarding and child protection
In the interests of safeguarding, there may be times when we must 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.
Get in touch
Sarah Perrott, Nursery Manager
Jen Owen, Deputy Manager
Caroline Bannister, Nursery Administrator
Please copy Sarah and Jen into notifications about your child’s absence from nursery or late arrival, as they may not always be in the office.
If you have a general nursery enquiry, please email [email protected].