Health, safety and sickness

Children should not attend nursery if they are suffering from sickness or diarrhoea, an infectious illness or have any unspecific rashes (until diagnosed by a doctor).

Children who fall ill during the day at Strawberry Hill will remain under our care. We assume parents would want to be contacted immediately in order to collect the child. In the event of a parent not being contactable, if necessary the child's own GP would be called. In the event of an emergency, the child would be taken to the nearest hospital or local doctor with which the nursery has an arrangement. The child would be accompanied by a senior member of staff from Strawberry Hill who will act "in loco parentis" until such time as the parents arrive.

Medication is not given without parental permission. Before administering Calpol, (the only medication kept on site with the exception of first aid items) parents will always be telephoned. Only in the event of a parent or emergency contact not being reached and a child's temperature reaching dangerous levels would Calpol be given without permission being formally granted. All other methods of relieving temperature will be attempted first, i.e. tepid sponging etc. It is the responsibility of the parents to keep us informed of any changes in contact numbers.

If a child is receiving regular medication, which needs to be administered during their care periods at Strawberry Hill, full written notification must be given and the medicine clearly marked with the child's name and dosage information. Medication will not be kept on site and must be taken home at the end of each day. All information about your child's health and any medication that has to be administered, must be processed through the nursery manager or her delegate.

Strawberry Hill operates the highest standards of hygiene in the nursery in both facility cleansing and specifically when changing nappies, administering first aid and when dealing with any body fluids. This is to protect both our staff and the children within our care from the possibility of transmission of any diseases.

Strawberry Hill nursery is registered under the Children's Act 1989 and as such follows the guidelines set by the local authority. Our first priority is towards the children in our care. In any instances of suspected child abuse, the matter would be dealt with firstly by the nursery and then by Social Services Department if necessary. We are legally obliged to operate under the Authority's guidelines.

Collection of children

For the children leaving at the end of a normal session, they should be collected promptly. Any parent wishing to pick up their child later by even 10-15 minutes, should ring to let us know in order for us to staff the nursery accordingly. Children not booked in who are picked up later, will be subject to a pro-rata charge of £20 per hour. For the same reason, if a child is to be dropped off before 8.00am in the morning, the place must be booked the evening before, otherwise children will not be admitted as staff numbers could be too low.

For security reasons, the child may only be picked up by those persons booked on the registration form. Any changes will only be accepted in writing and the person concerned must be introduced to the child's key carer. Under NO circumstances will a child be allowed to leave the premises unaccompanied or with an unauthorised person or with a person who appears to be unfit to look after the child's safety or who is under severe influence of alcohol or drugs.

Loss of place

Strawberry Hill nursery reserves the right to terminate a child's place at the nursery with immediate effect in the event that any fees remain unpaid or where any of the terms and conditions are breached or termination of a place is considered to be in the best interests of the nursery.