Early Years FAQs

Ghyll Royd Pre-School and Nursery offers both 15 hours and 30 hours free childcare options. An outline of fees and sessions costs can be found on our Pre-School Registration and Fees page and details on the government funded hours can be viewed on our 30 hours page.

There is a daily charge of £20 outside of the funded hours. This is exclusive of the Early Years funding and provides snacks, wipes, lunchtime cover, and costs towards some additional activities.

Children can arrive at school from 7.30am onwards. Children need to arrive at school in time to organise themselves and be in their classrooms by 8.40am for an 8.45am registration.

Early Years should be collected from their classrooms between 3.40 and 3.50pm. Reception and Form 1 children should be collected at 3.40pm from the main school entrance. Forms 2 to 6 should be collected from the School playground at 3.40pm.

Most parents pay by electronic transfer 4 weeks before your child is due to start. Thereafter the fees are due on the first day of each term, a term being 12 weeks. Monthly options are available by speaking to our school bursar.

Please note that all sessions booked must be paid for, regardless of whether the child attends. Unfortunately refunds cannot be given for sessions missed due to sickness or holidays. Full details and prices are available here.

We operate a comprehensive SEN and Inclusion policy. We have a nursery SENCO that has a great deal of experience. We will work collaboratively with parents and other professionals and individual play plans will be put in place to ensure their needs are met.

Yes, all our healthy meals are freshly cooked on the premises by our qualified nursery cook, Chef David using fresh fruit and vegetables wherever possible, and keeping processed foods to a minimum. Full details are available on our parent information section on the website.

Many children, particularly under the age of 3 years, will require a sleep during the day. The nursery has ample sleeping facilities and children are offered a rest period during the day, usually after lunch if they attend for the whole day.

We are happy to offer your child a sleep time but we cannot make children sleep. Children who do not sleep will be provided with other restful activities to occupy them. Sometimes when a child hasn’t had their sleep they start to become tired towards the end of the nursery day, staff are not able to keep children awake if they are tired and will allow them to sleep if they need to.

Parents are always best placed to decide if a child is not well enough to attend nursery. Common colds and coughs are not a problem, apart from if the child has a high temperature with it, in which case they should stay at home until the temperature goes down without medication. There is a full list of potential illnesses and the amount of time children should be kept away from nursery, but the most common are as follows.

• Loose nappies or diarrhea – 48 hours or until toileting returns to normal.
• Temperature above 38 degrees – 24 hours or until temperature returns to normal without the need for medication.
• Conjunctivitis – 24 hours after drops have been administered.

As children develop physically, particularly in their early walking stages, accidents can occasionally happen. In this event the nursery has several staff trained in Paediatric First Aid on site at all times.

If your child has had an accident at nursery you will be informed upon collection of your child and asked to sign an accident form. Your child will be monitored and in most cases will be able to continue with their day at nursery. In the event of a bump to the head causing concern you will be asked to collect your child and a visit to your GP will be recommended. You will be given a copy of the accident form and a head injury advice form.

Should your child have an accident whilst at nursery which requires further medical support you will be contacted immediately and the necessary action will be taken. In extreme cases this could involve calling for the support of a paramedic. If your child has had an accident at home which has resulted in a physical injury, no matter how small, we request that you inform the staff so this can be documented and is not mistaken for an accident at the nursery.

In the event that you do not collect your child from the nursery at the agreed time, and no contact has been made with the nursery to inform them of the alternative arrangements for collection, every attempt will be made to contact you. If we are unsuccessful we will contact your nominated emergency contact and request that they collect your child. The nursery will remain open to allow time for the contact person to arrive.

Late collection after 6.00pm will incur a £1.00 per minute charge.

Our Enquiry Based Learning approach means we follow an emergent curriculum based on allowing children’s interests and theories to dictate a direction for co-constructed learning. This means our basis for working with children is highly reflective and values the joy of learning together. Often the interests and theories explored end up as long term project work which can span days, weeks or even months. We incorporate the Early Years Foundation Stage (2-5’s curriculum) into our work with children ensuring their learning covers all areas of development from personal and social skills to mathematics and literacy.

We are outside each and everyday exploring our wonderful grounds. We also regularly venture to other places of interest such as garden centres, museums and theatres, linked to children’s learning. We frequently visit the river and local nature spots including Bluebell Woods, Ilkley Tarn and Yeadon Tarn to investigate the changing seasons.

Uniquely, we are an inside–out nursery with free-flow gardens leading from open doors. Your child will not be allocated garden time, but will be able to choose to play inside and outside as often as they like, all day long. All areas are fully staffed at all times.

As we are fully inclusive and provide all meals, snacks, drinks, nappies, wipes, we just ask that you bring the following in a clearly labelled bag:

• A warm coat and hat in winter
• Wellies (if applicable)
• A sun hat and suncream (applied before school and bring the bottle to school) during warmer months

Every child is different, but all children are treated with the same personal care and attention to help them settle quickly. Some children settle in straight away, others take a few days and very few can take longer. It’s reassuring that all children we care for have settled happily with us and continue to greet staff with smiles and hugs as they come in the door. Settling at nursery is often more worrying for parents than children, so we aim to make your experience just as stress-free by giving you lots of opportunity to play with your child in nursery and ask lots of questions before you leave them with us.

We aim to ensure that your child settles in to nursery as quickly and happily as possible. You will have received a phone call from your child’s key worker and a home visit from the manager and key worker will be arranged to give us lots of information about your child so we can be prepared with their favourite toys and activities on their first settler session. Home visits and settling in sessions are a great time to get to know staff and ask as many questions as you wish.

We are open Monday – Friday from 7.30am – 6.00pm excluding bank holidays.