General Illness 

Certain symptoms in children may suggest the presence of a communicable virus. All parents/guardians are asked to notify the Playschool where exposure has taken place.
Children who have the following symptoms should not attend playschool.
Fever: A temperature over 98.6 degrees, especially if accompanied by :
  • Diarrhoea: 
  • Vomiting:
  • Eye/Nose- thick mucus or pus draining from the eye or nose.
  • Sore throat:
  • Skin problems: rash undiagnosed or contagious.
  • Head lice: must be reported.
  • We would ask that all children have been well for 48 hours before returning to playschool after having any of these symptoms.
It is the policy of Acorn’s playschool not to accept children into the playroom who appear to be ‘under the weather’. We have a responsibility to other parents and children and we cannot allow sick children to circulate with healthy children. It would be unfair to both the unwell child and to the other children.
Should your child become unwell during the morning it is the policy of Acorn’s to immediately call the parents or designated minder to come and collect the child as soon as possible. Please have a backup contact available for circumstances that may arise to prevent you from being contactable.

Medication.

No medication will be administered to children unless written consent has been given by parents/guardians.

Child Collection

Children attending this facility can only be collected by a parent/guardian or a person named on the registration form. The designated person must be over 16 years of age and Staff must be notified in advance if an unregistered person is to collect a child.

Bumps and Bruises.

All possible care is taken to ensure your child’s safety, however, we would ask parents to appreciate that there will be the occasional bump or bruise as there would be at home. We will notify parents of incidences as necessary.

Behaviour Management.

We have developed a behaviour management policy that we feel best suits our playschool. Through observation, we have found that the child may not know or understand the rules of ‘correct behaviour’ while attending our setting. We speak quietly to the child involved and remove them from the situation. we allow them back when they are ready to join in again.

Opening hours.

Acorns Playschool is open between 9-00 am and 12-30pm every morning Monday through to Friday. Please do not be late in collecting your child as they can become extremely upset at being last in the service.

Birthdays.

A party and birthday cake will be organised each year to celebrate your child’s special day.

Holidays.

Acorn’s playschool closes for all holidays in conjunction with the local National Schools. There will be no charge for holidays taken at Christmas or at Easter by the playschool.

Food Policy for Parents.

The parents have been advised that their child’s lunch should be presented in a reasonably sized container with their name attached, so as they can easily fit into our fridge.
The lunches should be as healthy as possible. Some suggestions for this are sandwiches, pitas bread, fruit, milk, yogurts, cheese, crackers, etc.
Please cut grapes on the diagonal. No popcorn. No Nutella.
Please be aware that the little boxes of raisins can cause tooth decay.
The parent knows best what their child likes to eat, and we request no fizzy drinks or sweets.

There is a no-nut policy in Acorn’s Playschool

It is our policy to discuss what is healthy food and what is not with the children on a regular basis.
We have included in our handbook information on how a parent can ensure that their child’s lunch stays as fresh as possible while being transported between the home and the play-school. We suggest a cool bag should be present if there are any perishables in the lunch.
We believe at Acorn’s Playschool that good eating habits start with us, and we encourage the children to try different varieties of fruit and plain biscuits that we hope will continue to be part of their diet in later life.
We also accept that some children can be allergic to certain foods and we would not expect them to watch while the others were eating. The only foods we would bring on to the premises would be ones that everybody could safely consume.

Children attending this facility can only be collected by a parent/guardian or a person named on the registration form.

Staff must be notified in advance and in-person if an unnamed individual is to collect a child.