Parent and Child Voice

Children's Voice

Our Nursery Children tell us:

  • It’s a good place to play, there are lots of things to do. I like playing with my friends and with the slide and sand. 
  • I would like a big dumper truck and a fire engine!
  • I love playdoh and painting. I also like the books!
  • I like nursery as the teachers are very nice and I have a lot of friends here, I like playing with my friends!
  • I like baking, planting, painting and story times.
  • I like playing and drawing.
  • You’re the best, I always have the best day at nursery!

Parent's Comments on their child's achievements:

  • Thank you for supporting and teaching A good moral values and skills. You have made A’s nursery experience so special. She learned a lot and appreciates everyone, thank you very much.
  • We cannot begin to imagine how to thank you for all the wonderful experiences C has gained through your nursery. As C moves to the next level, we are happy to say that she is a more confident and enthusiastic child now. This is because of you!
  • My child is very happy here, she always goes off with a smile on her face.
  • My child has settled in well and is happy and relaxed.
  • “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire” (Butler Yeats). Thank you for all you have done for our family.
  • It has been a great time for our son to take part in a variety of activities, free play, making friends as well as enjoying the outdoor area.
  • Thank you for teaching N basic social skills and for being there when she needed you
  • My child has become more independent and capable to look after herself.

Parent's Comments about the nursery:

  • Thank you for all of your love and care of our son, making his transition to the UK so seamless
  • Thank you for making my son feel special, loved and safe outside of my home
  • Thank you for all of your support and kindness. F has loved his time with you all, such amazing memories!
  • A always comes home eager to share what she has done. We are so grateful for all of your care and kindness
  • Thank you for creating such a welcoming and relaxed environment at nursery for the children. N has always come out happy with lots of fun activities to enjoy. 

Parent's Comments about the staff

  • You are truly our modern heroes. It takes more than words to let you know how. It means so much to us to have teachers like you. 
  • A team of friendly and approachable nursery teachers that take any concerns seriously.
  • We would like to say a big thank you for your patience, kindness and support towards our child
  • The staff team are all supportive, helpful and look after the children well.
  • Very knowledgeable & friendly staff, can’t thank them enough. My daughter loves nursery.
  • The teachers are excellent.

Parent Testimonies:

  • Parent 1 – After meeting the keyworker and the rest of the team that educate and attend to my son, I can’t imagine there could be anything to improve. They are the best I could have ever wished for. All the staff know my son as an individual and relate to him in his own right. He expresses himself openly and fearlessly which for my son to do is a big challenge. The nursery has been one of the most supportive environments I have encountered. The level of confidence in my son from where he started to where he is now has been worlds apart. He is more confident, happier and independent. The nursery has been really understanding of my family’s needs, making my son’s grandparents feel involved and valued. The communication is outstanding. I feel lucky that my son has been able to attend the nursery. I can’t tell you how much we value his keyworker and the whole team. 
  • Parent 2 – My daughter loves going to ‘school’ and has come on in leaps and bounds. She is talking much better, she has started counting by herself and understands instructions much better. I strongly believe this is due to the hard work of the staff and the happy atmosphere within the nursery. 
  • Parent 3 –

    I feel that my children have really excelled in the Butterflies class at Nursery. [My son] in particular – being non verbal, has been particularly well cared for by the team here. The SENDCo and the staff work alongside the ISEND team and use their support plan to encourage communication. This has been in one example in the form of a PECS board  which through regular feedback I have the opportunity to hear is working very well.

    I also feel the strong Nursery staff retention ensures there is continuity in my son’s progress. I understand that the nursery are looking at the possibility of utilizing the services of a Speech therapist with the funding received for special needs children,  which I would very much hope actually happens. This would really benefit children like [my son].

    [My daughter] has also grown beautifully in terms of speech and doing new activities at nursery. We are always so pleased to receive art-work from her day and hear about close friendships she has made.

    The use of Tapestry is one of the nicest aspects of Nursery- Parent communication and it wonderful to have that window into my children’s day. 

    It’s such a great idea to have the parents input and have a two way communication going. Overall I know my children feel happy, safe and secure at the Nursery and I have been fortunate to have a good relationship with staff so welcome any advice regarding support for [my son].

    Suggestions for improvements: would be to see if it was possible for more off site outdoor activities with the children –  even if the school field was an option for a teddy bears picnic or a trip to the woods to collect pine cones/ search for fairy homes?  Or even a farm excursion,  I’m sure many parents would pay a subsidised fee, I certainly would. Also the Speech therapist idea I would strongly advocate. Thank you again.

St Thomas a Becket Nursery responds – 

Thank you very much for your feedback. Now the warmer weather has arrived we will be resuming our use of the school fields for PE, sports. Teddy bear’s picnics and we have also started taking trips over to our nursery allotment where we collect natural items, dig, bug hunt, learn about tiny seeds growing into plants and produce, tend to our flowers and vegetables, smell and feel our herb box and lots of other exciting activities! We would love parents to become involved and spend time there with their children, in addition to us doing some activity there during the nursery day.

We also thank you for your suggestion for paid excursions but as this may exclude some of our families from a finance point of view, we aim to offer similar experiences using the very near by off site facilities that are available to us.

  • Parent 4 – I am very happy that I have chosen St Thomas Becket Nursery, I can’t choose better nursery for my boy. In the past 2 years, he has enjoyed going to the nursery, By seeing the pictures and video [shared through Tapestry, an online learning journal] [my son] always looks happy. He has learned new words. On the day [my son] [took unexpectedly ill with a breathing difficulty] had to be taken to hospital,  the team in the nursery did a fantastic job.  I was very pleased. [My son] has been looked after very well in the nursery by each and every individual. 
  • Parent 5 –

    We love that [our son] often leaves nursery a bit messy and with lots of creations he has made! He gets to do all the messy things that he wouldn’t necessarily do all the time at home, which is great.

    I think there is a great variety of activities provided, lots of painting and crafts and cooking and the science experiments looked like great fun. The ducklings were amazing and a great hit!

    [Our son] always comes out looking very content and is never reluctant to go in, which is great as he’s obviously very comfortable and happy there.

    I find it hard to get much out of [our son], about his morning, but when I ask him who his friends are and who he played with, he always tells me lots of names, including the staff!

    We are really happy with the nursery, all the staff are great and familiar, even those that don’t work with [our son]. I find it a really relaxed environment. Overall, we couldn’t fault the care and support [our son] is given and would like to say a big thank you to you all for making it a lovely place to be! 

    Suggestions for improvements:

    I only really have a couple of points: 

    It would be good to hear a little more on collection about what they have done that day and how they have been. Sometimes Tapestry updates don’t go on until the end of the week, so I’m not always sure what he has been doing. I’m sure the staff would tell me if [our son] didn’t seem himself or got upset so I assume if nothing is said, he must have been fine. I appreciate for the staff to tell each parent at collection might be a bit challenging particularly at 12 as I’m sure it’s a busy time with the other children having lunch.

    I wonder how much physical activity they get with just a small outdoor space? I know sometimes you take the children across to the school field but I’m not sure how often this happens, so I was keen to understand on this point?

    Could you perhaps put a simple notice board up noting out the key activities the children have done for the parents to read themselves? For me, this might help encourage more of a conversation with [our son] about nursery, if I know what he has done? 

St Thomas a Becket Nursery Responds –

 Thank you very much for your feedback and ideas about how we can improve our communication with parents and the physical experiences for the children. We have taken your suggestion on board and now have a notice board that gives parent’s an indication of the story of the week, which activities are based on. We hope this gives you a better idea of what we are doing so that this provides you with some prompts for talking to children about their nursery day ahead of any Tapestry updates coming your way! Please be aware that with ‘in the moment (reactive) planning’, many of our activities  ‘just come about’ but we hope the board provides you with an overview of our nursery week’s story theme. 

Please be reassured that we would always discuss any concerns we have about your child with you and if we felt they were not quite themselves we would try and find out with you why this may be. If a child has an accident at nursery we will always discuss this with you and record it through completion of an accident / incident form, depending on the nature of the upset.

We do use the school field for recreational activity, more-so in the summer months or when the field is not water-logged if we have had long periods of rain. We are now also using our nursery allotment, to which the children walk to. Traditionally, transition to school activities see us also using their reception playground apparatus.

Parent 6 – 

Choosing a nursery is extremely tough because you want your child to attend a setting that is perfect for your little one. Most importantly, you want to know your child is safe. St Thomas a Becket Nursery was my second choice following a bad experience at another setting.

From the moment that I enquired about the setting, I knew it was the type of Early Years experience I wanted [my son] to go to. All the staff are absolutely amazing and welcoming, not just to the children, but also to the parents. 

I like the way the setting is laid out. It makes it open for the children and the staff,  this means the children are never out of the staffs eyesight.

[My son] has blossomed beautifully since he has attended and loves to go to ‘Gwen, Claire or Julie’s house!’ (Nursery!). 

It is safe to say I love everything about the setting and I am so so pleased [my son] is part of it. The day he leaves will be a very sad one, however, I know that he would have had the best possible early years experiences

Thank you all so much.

Parent 7 –

The nursery is amazing,  always clean and the staff are just lovely. All the people working there are always so smiling and friendly, they are also very helpful and my son is always happy to go! They do a lot of activity and learning things.

I couldn’t have found a better place!

Parent 8 –

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. For all you have done for M these last few years. Without all of your help M would not be talking, feeding, drinking, using the toilet…… the list goes on. 

Without you guys M would not have got the EHCP. Over the years M has been challenging and hard to handle but you have done everything you could to help settle M and work out what M’s wants and needs are. M has become a bright little child, ready for M’s next chapter in life and M would not have become who M is without you all. 

As a family, we can not thank you all enough. Together with all of you, we have learnt and managed to cope with M’s autism as a team. M will miss you all loads and so will we.

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