Outstanding Child Care in Sanderstead, South Croydon | About Us
Little Apples Day Nursery is a well-established, OFSTED registered nursery, with an ‘Outstanding’ grading. Based in Sanderstead, we are one of the top day nurseries and pre schools in the local area, offering the highest quality of child care in a safe and nurturing environment. Open Monday to Friday from 7:30am until 6:00pm, we are an excellent choice for families looking for trusted nursery schools in South Croydon and the surrounding areas.
Our journey began in 2012 when two mums, Elena and Aimee, decided to follow their dream to open a nursery. Their aim was to provide a service to working parents that made leaving their little ones, to return to work, slightly easier. Coming from large family backgrounds and as mums themselves, they understood first-hand what families needed from day nurseries and pre schools.
Elena is a qualified nursery practitioner and a mother of two, whilst Aimee is from a business background and a mother of three. At Little Apples, we have a large team of around 28 employees and are committed to delivering child care of an outstanding standard, at our nursery schools in Sanderstead, South Croydon.
Leadership & Management
Our workforce has over 16 years of experience and every member of staff is DBS checked. We ensure our employees are qualified to a certain level, with Apprentices studying NVQ Level 2 or 3 and our Qualified staff already at NVQ Level 2 or 3 and First Aid trained. We also have members of our team undertaking Foundation Degrees and we arrange yearly training sessions in Safeguarding, Health & Safety and other important child care areas.
Setting high levels of training ensures children and families in Sanderstead and the surrounding South Croydon areas receive the best possible service from us. Organising regular training sessions also means we can input new ideas into the nursery and continue to grow our reputation as one of the leading nursery schools in the area.
- Monthly meetings with staff to ensure they have the best support
- Daily incentives and a yearly awards night, to reward hard work
- Continuous evaluations and monitoring to keep standards high
- Qualified staff and an apprentice in every room
Teaching, Learning & Assessment
To build a reputation as one of Sanderstead and South Croydon’s ‘Outstanding’ graded day nurseries and pre schools, we have combined the perfect balance of learning and play to help your child grow. Our ‘workshop play’ curriculum includes rooms that are set up every day with different stations, from small world and role play to sand and water activities. This enables children to be individual learners and have access to a range of activities, whilst receiving different learning angles from leading frameworks.
Little Apples Day Nursery provides each child with a Key Worker who is responsible for their development records until they go to school, building a strong foundation for their future. Planning schedules run on a 6-week rotation and incorporates the interests of the individual child, creating tailored steps that relate to them.
- Practitioners will observe your child on a regular basis to assess the progress they are making, which helps us meet their individual learning and development needs
- Families can enjoy our online child care tool, used for our staff and parents to upload observations, keeping communications between each other open, which is key
- Every quarter you will be invited in for parents evening so you can see how your little apple is thriving
- We run parent workshops, a valuable element we believe all nursery schools should offer, on topics such as EYFS frameworks and development plans
Personal Development
As one of the most reputable nursery schools in the Sanderstead and South Croydon areas, we have an excellent team of specifically trained practitioners, to give the best possible personal development support to children. At Little Apples, we understand all children learn at different paces and cater for each child’s abilities, with personalised targets set for them every 6 weeks. These targets are called ‘Next Steps’ and are achievable steps set to ensure your child moves through the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework.
Our aim is for children to be happy and to enjoy learning is a positive, playful way. To achieve this, we believe routine is very important and have carefully created routines that include plenty of learning opportunities and enjoyable activities throughout the day. From using successful praise strategies to handling challenging behaviour appropriately, our routines are designed to ensure every child learns at a pace appropriate to them.
Safety
We understand how hard the decision can be to choose day nurseries and pre schools, whether you are a parent already or an expectant one. Nursery schools must be a good fit for the whole family and we feel proud that many families in and around South Croydon, pick Little Apples in Sanderstead as their first choice. Not only are we dedicated to providing the highest standards of learning and care, but safety at our nursery is paramount.
Our team consists of 2 SENCO co-ordinators, 2 Safeguarding Officers and 1 Behaviour co-ordinator, who ensure your little apple is in a safe and secure environment. We also run DBS checks on every employee and follow strict processes and procedures at all times. Our manager and one of our directors have even completed the highest safeguarding courses you can receive, so ongoing training for our staff can be carried out.
In recent OFSTED inspections, graders consistently report on our high levels of safety, grading us on ‘Outstanding’ early years provider.
Outcomes for Children
At Little Apples, our key aim is to ensure your child heads off to big school feeling confident, happy and eager to learn. Through positive encouragement, support and learning, we see many children leave our nursery with skills and tools to transition into school smoothly.
When the time comes for your little apple to move on, we will provide you with a CD of your child’s development records (known as a Learning Journey), which you will be able to keep. Through our in-depth tracking system, you will be able to see where they started within the framework to where they are now.
We hold a graduation party every year for our school leavers, to celebrate all their hard work and development they have made. All children will have gowns and hats so we can celebrate in style!