Where is The Barn?
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Many years ago, one of our parents visiting for the first time described The Barn as "an urban myth". The mother had heard lots about The Barn from friends and neighbours, but did not know where it was, despite living only a few miles away! Happily, we now have Google Maps and what3words:
Find us using what 3 words:
///factories.knee.hungry
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Starting at The Barn
Children come to The Barn from the age of approximately 2 years 6 months to five years of age.
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All children and families are different and the decision as to when your child starts nursery school is very much a personal one. We always suggest that parents visit a number of different settings before making any commitment and we would be delighted to show you what outstanding childcare and education looks like for young children.
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Sessions and Options​
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At The Barn, children can do morning sessions, afternoon sessions and whole days. A session is 3 hours long, a whole day is 6 hours.
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In our Explorers' room, home of our rising three-year-olds, we run sessions every morning and afternoon. ​Please be aware that spaces in the Thursday afternoon session are reserved for children attending for 30 hours per week and are strictly limited.
All children joining our Explorers' room do a minimum of two sessions a week/6 hours, on different days, to allow us time to get to know them and build up a relationship.
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All sessions that are allocated to your child are automatically carried forward to the following term. However, before the new term you will have an opportunity to confirm your child’s days/sessions and to request additional/alternative sessions.
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We do try to accommodate all session requests, but this may not always be possible due to the popularity of certain days/sessions. There is usually greater flexibility at the beginning of the autumn term when the numbers of children in the Explorers are lower, and less choice of days/sessions in the summer term when we have completed our intake for the year. All sessions are offered subject to availability.
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When children move through to the Discoverers’ room, home of our rising four-year-olds, parents are asked to confirm/request days/sessions for their child. ​In our Discoverers' room, We run sessions every morning and afternoon, Monday to Friday.​ All Discoverers children do a minimum of two full days a week (12 hours). All sessions are offered subject to availability.
Important: Notes:
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Parents requiring specific sessions/days to fit in with work commitments/plans are asked to contact us at the earliest opportunity. This also applies to parents who are considering increasing attendance beyond the 15 hours universal entitlement. Whilst we make every effort to accommodate requests, all sessions are offered subject to availability.
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Sessions/days for children receiveing 30 hours funding in the Explorers' room are automatically reserved in the Discoverers' room. This is done to ensure that working parents are able to continue to meet work their commitments.
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Start and Finish Times
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The session times are:
9.00 am - 12 noon
9.00 am - 1.00 pm ( + lunch club)
9.00 am - 3.00 pm
12 noon - 3.00 pm
All places are offered, subjected to availability.
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Early Bird and Late Stay
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Early bird club starts at 8.30 am. This facility allows parents to quickly drop their children off before the start of the session​.
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Late stay club is currently suspended.
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Lunch
Children who are staying all day or arriving for an afternoon session will bring a lunch box to The Barn. ​The toys are tidied away at the end of the morning session and all the teachers and children all sit down together to have lunch.
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Lunch club​
We offer children attending a morning session the opportunity to stay and have lunch and a play for an extra hour. Lunch club might be of interest to parents who do not feel that their child is ready for a whole day, but would like to gradually build up time. Alternatively, it might just be convenient to have the extra hour before pick up.
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The lunch club facility can be used on a casual ad-hoc basis or can be a regular feature. And if you would like to join your child for lunch and share the experience, you would be most welcome.
Little Explorers Induction Programme
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At The Barn, we believe that your child’s first experience of nursery school should be a very special time. Our Little Explorers sessions are part of a carefully designed programme for all our new children. For six weeks, a parent and/or carer accompanies your child, and together, you and the rest of the group get to know your key person, meet our staff and become familiar with our routines. These sessions are very informal and friendly and are an excellent way to meet some of the other children and parents. At the end of the programme, your child will take the next steps on their learning journey when they join the children in the Explorers' room.
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Through the school year, we have phased intakes for new starters, based on the child’s date of birth, as set out below:
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A child born on or between 1st September – 31st December will do Little Explorers in the autumn or spring terms
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A child born on or between 1st January – 31st March will do Little Explorers in the autumn or springs terms
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A child born on or between 1st April and 31st August will do Little Explorers in the spring or summer terms.
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Parents are offered a choice of options with different start dates and times for our Our Little Explorers sessions. Starting nursery school is a big step for every child, and we want your family's experience of The Barn to be positive. There is no 'one size fits all', and if the arrangements that we have described above do not work for you, please let us know and we can discuss an alternative plan.
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Our Routines
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For young children, routine is reassuring. At The Barn, our routine is always the same, but the children, staff, activities and themes all change.
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As part of our routine, the children enjoy a gathering at the beginning and end of a session in their respective groups. Teachers lead age-appropriate activities that might involve listening to or taking part in a story, singing a rhyme or song, playing a group game or making music with the instruments. Children will often be invited to share experiences and reflect on their day. Snack time happens between 10 am and 11 am and lunch starts at midday. After lunch, all the children have a short quiet time before going to play outside.
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At different times during the week, the children take part in our special Barn Activities. These include Rainbow time, small circle activities, Activate, relaxation, music, and movement, Write Dance, gross motor skills, gardening, science investigations, cooking, and foreign language experiences.
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The Key Person and Your Child
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Each child at nursery school has a ‘key person’ – a named member of staff with whom the child and the parents have regular contact.
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Each key person has special responsibility for working with a small number of children, giving them the reassurance to help them feel secure and cared for, and building relationships with you, the parents. The key person will also talk to you to make sure that the particular needs of your child are being met appropriately, and that records of development and progress are shared.
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Children's Learning and Development
Our provision for children's learning and development at The Barn is guided by the Early Years Foundation Stage framework (EYFS). The EYFS, produced by the Department for Education, is the statutory framework for the early education and care of children from birth until 31 August following their fifth birthday.
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There are four themes set out in the EYFS and these inform and shape all areas of our practice at The Barn:
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every child is unique, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured
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children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships
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children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers; and
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children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates.
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The EYFS identifies 7 areas of learning, Prime and Specific, and our curriculum is carefully designed to support the children in making best progress in all areas.
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The Prime areas begin to develop quickly in response to relationships and experiences, and run through and support learning in all other areas. The prime areas continue to be fundamental throughout the EYFS:
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communication and language
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physical development
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personal, social, and emotional development
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The Specific areas include essential skills and knowledge. They grow out of the prime areas, and provide important contexts for learning:
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literacy
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mathematics
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understanding the world
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expressive arts and design
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The Barn uses the EYFS practice guidance to plan and provide a play-based curriculum that promotes exciting and fun learning experiences and opportunities that help children to discover themselves and experience the awe and wonder of the world in which they live. The play activities are designed to help children to make progress in each of the areas of learning and development, and we have a balance between child led and adult lguided activities. We know that children learn best through exploration, experimentation, and discovery, building on their experiences. Our Barn approach draws on a wide range of evidence bases and approaches, including Montessori, Reggio and Forest School, and we are always looking for inspiration and new ideas as we think about different ways to make the curriculum interesting and engaging for all the children. ​​​​​​​​​
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Children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
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All children develop and make progress at different rates and at some time during their time at nursery school, many young children will need some extra support so that they can move forward in a particular area, such as separating from their parents; sharing; turn-taking; toileting; eating; play skills and tantrums. This is to be expected and we are well practised in supporting the children and working closely with their parents to provide consistency and ensure that every child can thrive in our setting.
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Our teachers also have considerable experience and knowledge of working with children who have special needs that require regular support, targeted planning and specialist input. The list is wide-ranging and include:
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Medical needs
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Physical needs
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Behaviour management
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Speech and language delays and disorders
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English as an Additional Language
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Learning and developmental delays
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Click below to go to the Hampshire Services for Young Children website for more information about our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities local offer.
Funded Early Years Childcare
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At The Barn, we accept children with Early Years Education funding (EYE funding), from the age of 2 years 6 months. The funding can be used over 38 weeks of the year (during term time),
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We currently accept early years education funding as follows:
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15 hours funding for disadvantaged children aged from 2 years 6 months.
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15 hours funding for eligible working parents of children from 2 years 6 months.
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15 hours universal funding - available to all children from the term following the child's third birthday;
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30 hours childcare - for eligible three-year-olds from the term following the child's third birthday.
From September 2024, 15 hours childcare support will be extended to eligible working parents of children from the age of 9 months to 3-year-olds.
From September 2025, eligible working parents of children under the age of 5 will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare a week
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Click below to go to the Government's Childcare Choices website for more information about your funding options.
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Fees
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Fees are payable in respect of:
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Registration fee
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Little Explorer sessions
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Sessions that are not eligible for EYE funding;
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Weekly Barn Charge for all children in receipt of EYE funding;
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Early bird club
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Late collections
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Overdue accounts
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Payment may be made by bank transfer or cash. We accept childcare vouchers and payments made through the Government tax-free childcare scheme, and weekly, monthly and termly payment options are available.
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Our Fees page sets out full details of our charges and terms and conditions for the school year 2024/25.​​​​​​​​​​
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Policies and Procedures
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The Barn operates in accordance with our written policies and procedures, covering all aspects of working practice. The Barn’s policies help us to make sure that the service we provide is a high-quality one and that being a member of The Barn is an enjoyable and beneficial experience for each child and his/her parents.
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All policies are reviewed on an annual basis.​​​​
Privacy Notices and GDPR
We, The Barn Nursery School, are a data controller. This notice describes how we collect and use information about children attending our setting, in accordance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
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Privacy Notice – General Data Protection Regulation 2018
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The categories of children information that we process include
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personal identifiers, contacts and characteristics (such as name, contact details and address)
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EYFS assessments and progress data
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attendance (such as sessions attended, number of absences and absence reasons)
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medical and administration (such as doctors information, child health, allergies, medication and dietary requirements)
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Special Educational Needs and Disabilities information (such as EHCPs)
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safeguarding information (such as court orders and professional involvement)
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characteristics (such as nationality, language EYPP funding eligibility)
Why we collect and use children information
The personal data collected is essential for The Barn Nursery school to fulfil our obligations and meet legal requirements. We collect and use children information, for the following purposes:
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to support your child’s learning
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to monitor and report on your child’s progress
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to provide appropriate care
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to assess the quality of our services
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to keep children safe (food allergies, or emergency contact details)
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to meet the legal/statutory duties placed upon us
Under the General Data Protection Regulation, the lawful bases we rely on for processing children information are:
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for the purposes of (1), (2), (3) & (4) in accordance with the legal basis of Public task: collecting the data is necessary to perform tasks that early years education providers are required to perform as part of their statutory function
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for the purposes of (5) in accordance with the legal basis of Vital interests: to keep children safe (food allergies, or medical conditions)
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for the purposes of (6) in accordance with the legal basis of Legal obligation
Collecting children information
We collect information on your child from the date of receipt of the Registration Form. Before your child joins The Barn Nursery School, we send out a set of forms for parents to complete and sign: Collection Details; Consents; Contact Details; Medical Details and Snack
Details
The information that you provide on our child registration forms enables us to meet our legal obligations and fulfil our duty of care to your child. To comply with GDPR we will inform you at the point of collection, whether the requirement to provide any additional child information to us is optional.
Storing children's data
We will only retain children data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements, in accordance with our Access and Storage Information Policy.
Who we share children's information with
We routinely share children's information where required by law or other legitimate interest, including:
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The schools that the children attend after leaving us as part of the transition process
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Hampshire County Council Services for Young Children, including funding and monitoring purposes. Please click to open link to Services for Young Children (SfYC) - Early Years Education (EYE) and Funding (Parents) – Privacy Notice | About the Council | Hampshire County Council (hants.gov.uk)
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other professionals and outside agencies involved with my child, including Speech and Language Therapist; Paediatrician; Portage; Occupational Therapy and Childminders.
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We will always discuss with parents in the first instance, any information that needs to be shared with the professionals listed under paragraph 3 and seek any written permissions that are required.
Requesting access to your personal data
Under GDPR, parents and children have the right to request access to information about them that we hold. To make a request for your personal information or be given access to your child’s educational record, contact our Data Protection Officer (See Contact details).
You also have the right to:
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object to processing of personal data that is likely to cause, or is causing, damage or distress
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prevent processing for the purpose of direct marketing
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object to decisions being taken by automated means
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in certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed; and
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a right to seek redress, either through the ICO, or through the courts
Withdrawing consent
Individuals may withdraw consent, where relevant, and if the consent is withdrawn, we will cease processing data. This will not affect the legality of data processed up until that point.
If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with our Data Protection Officer (see Contact details) in the first instance or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
Contact details
If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact:
Abigail Compton-Burnett, Data Protection Officer
Phone 01256 782580 or email office@thebarnnurseryschool.co.uk
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Arrange a visit to come and look around The Barn
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We hope that these pages have given you some useful information about The Barn.
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All parents want the very best start for their children and choosing your child's first 'school' is an important decision. We warmly invite you to contact us to arrange a visit to The Barn to see for yourself what an outstanding nursery school can offer your child and your family.
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How to Register Your Child
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​Parents wanting to send their children to The Barn Nursery School are asked to complete an online Registration Form, using the button below. There is a registration fee of £50 for the first child and £25 for sibling(s) and payment details are set out at the top of the form. The fee is non-refundable if the child's registration is later withdrawn.
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On receipt of the Registration Form and fee, we will email our confirmation of registration and a place for your child will be reserved.