Nursery Provision

At Leapfrogs we recognise that each family and child are unique; the decision to send your child to a Nursery maintained by Hertfordshire County Council or our privately run Pre-School/Nursery should be based on your individual needs and what will suit you & your child best.

Here we would like to share with you what we can offer your Nursery aged child:

Leapfrogs was graded Good  by Ofsted in  2015, and Outstanding  in “The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children”.

At Leapfrogs we have a holistic approach to each child’s learning, development & care; placing the same level of focus on each child’s health and well-being as the 7 areas of learning & development. Our EYFS provision is led by Gail Barrow, who has over 10 years experience in childcare.

There are 5 members of staff at Leapfrogs ; all of whom are either Level 3 qualified, working towards their Level 3 qualification or above. We operate at (at least) 1 member of staff per 8 children aged 3-4.

We have a dedicated Nursery Group. We work closely with our Nursery aged children and their parents to deliver appropriate learning opportunities and to prepare them for the transition to ‘big school’. We ensure detailed Nursery Group planning is available for families to see & contribute to. Each week a phonics letter & sounds sheet is sent home for families to share together, to help reinforce what has been learnt at Leapfrogs: moving onto segmenting and blending words, ready for reading.

We have created an enabling environment which challenges, stimulates and meets the needs of children aged between the ages of 2 and 5. We recognise that all children are individuals and develop at their own pace; there is no requirement for children to be fully toilet-trained when attending our setting. Our high levels of staff mean that we are happy to fully support children and their families who are working towards achieving this important developmental milestone.

If toileting is an issue for your child and you are considering sending them to a School Nursery we strongly advise you to investigate their policy on toileting and ask how they will support your child in advance of making your application.

As a privately run Pre-School/Nursery with extended hours, we have the ability to allow you to use your 15 hours of free Nursery Education flexibly. Our extended hours are particularly popular with working parents.

There is no doubt that transitions can be stressful for children and parents alike. By choosing to leave your child at Leapfrogs for their nursery year, you will be reducing the number of transitions they experience during their Early Years. Children get the best from an Early Years setting when they feel secure, happy and relaxed.

Another factor to consider is that just because you get in to the Hertfordshire County Council maintained Nursery School of your choice, there is no guarantee that you will get a place in Reception at that same school. Potentially resulting in another transition later on.

Of course, if you do choose to send your child on to a different Nursery School, we fully respect that decision and have a number of strategies in place to reduce the impact the transition will have your child and yourselves as a family, including visits to Leapfrogs by the Nursery School Teacher, Transition Books which include photographs of all of the local School Nurseries and their Nursery staff teams.

We have developed close working partnerships with a number of Early Years professionals/agencies including the local Children Centres, Inclusion Development Officer, Speech& Language Therapists and Health Visitors. We have lots of in-house experience and knowledge but also have a wide range of external resources and contacts available to us.

If you decide Leapfrogs will be the Nursery place for your child, please contact us as soon as possible so a place can be reserved. Once we have confirmed the place, please return the registration form to us.