Little Sunflowers Child Care: Nursery Ages 0 to 4 years

The traditional nursery set up:

• Baby Room - 0 to 1 years old
• Toddler Room - 1 to 2 years old
• Pre-school Room - 2-4 years old

 Little Sunflowers is made up of one big FAMILY unit for children of all ages.

Why break the mould you ask!?

Little Sunflowers took the decision to mix age groups for so many reasons but here are a few:

• No room change! No big upheaval to a different room especially after parents and staff have worked hard to ensure a child is fully comfortable in their surroundings.
• No new members of staff! The staff, like the surroundings are a constant at Little Sunflowers between the ages of 3 months to 4 years. One set of staff for you and your child to get to know and build a bond with, one key worker to work with you to ensure your child reaches their full potential
• Siblings can be together! Siblings can play together no matter what their age, so their is no seperation and they can maintain that strong brother/sister bond
• No more pressure on toileting! Children are ready to make the transition out of nappies at any change. So out Little Sunflowers can make that step when they are ready and not becuase they have to, to be able to move to another room.

The staff plan age appropriate activities so that every child at every age is reaching their full potential. We have an area for the younger children to go with a member of staff, here they can have some quiet time and they can unwind before they go down for a nap in our dedicated sleep room. For the older children we have a seperate pre-school area so we create a class room like environment to get them ready for big school.

Little Sunflowers was able to have all ages to come together to reep all the below benefits:

• Children enjoy playing with their age peers, but they also benefit from contact with older and younger children. Watching, playing, communicating and helping each other is a natural experience in families with more than one child. Of course, sometimes there are squabbles, but that is life.
• Older children find pleasure in communicating with babies and toddlers and making them laugh. Three- and four-year-olds show a sophisticated understanding of how to adjust their communication for babies and toddlers. The younger ones watch, listen, anticipate a favourite game and copy.
• Affectionate relationships can form across the age bands, often consolidated by play. Over-threes are good at playing the repetitive 'do it again' games that are perfect for the learning of very young children. Toddlers often love to share a book with an older child. Four- and five-year-olds are, in their turn, proud to be the 'big' boy or girl who knows the story and so can 'read' it to the little one.
• The babies and toddlers learn from the older children we can teach younger children about saying please and thank you and how to use a knife and fork but seeing older children behave is a priceless learning tool. The older children then get a boost to their confidence with the realisation that they have learned so much in contrast with the babies.
• Older children are pleased to show their physical and thinking skills as they share in the care of younger ones. Of course adults remain responsible, but there are plenty of safe possibilities that support the learning of both older and younger children.

Research in the early years has demonstrated that children of all ages can benefit from a mixed age group environment, providing younger children with the facility to encourage their social and cognitive development and older children with the opportunity to practice prosocial, self-regulatary and leadership skills. Children have access to a larger variety of activities and experiences, providing them with a rich, social enviironment which facilitates a family atmosphere within the nursery.

Technology

At Little Sunflowers we do not use any communication apps. Whilst that is a great tool for other nurseries, we believe our time is better spent being present with the children rather than on apps. 

To communicate with you all it is simply us! We believe in the art of conversation, yes it may be old-fashioned, but we love being able to have a conversation and tell you what your child has been getting up to, how well they have eaten, if they had a nap etc 

A newsletter is sent each month via email to keep you updated on the goings on and for any dates in your diary.

We are one big Sunflower family!

For more information on the Little Sunflowers Nursery please follow the below links:

Little Sunflowers Child Care Curriculum

Little Sunflowers Application Process

Little Sunflowers Food and Nutrition

Little Sunflowers - Nice words!

Sessions and Funding

Opening Hours: 8am to 6pm - Monday to Friday - 52 Weeks of the Year!

Our session times are:

Morning: 8am to 1pm

Afternoon: 1:30pm to 6pm

Full Day: 8am to 6pm

2 Year Old Funding

Some 2 year olds may be eligible for funding. To find out if you qualify please visit www.bromley.gov.uk/iam2

Universal 15 hour Funding

ALL 3 and 4 year old children are entitled to a funded nursery place from the term after they turn 3. In order to access this funding we need a form compelted and a copy of your Little Sunflowers birth certificate or passport.

Extended 15 hours funding

An additional 15 hours of free children is available to those children who meet the governements criteria. You can find our more at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk