A Day In The Life Of… A Tawny Owls Nursery Nurse

A day in life of…..

A nursery nurse in Tawny Owls our baby nursery for children under 2.

This is Beth and her day…

7:15: Setting the scene:

I always like to get into work 15 minutes early to set the room up for the day. This includes a full health and safety check I like to put the music on and turn on the atomizer so families are welcomed by a nice smell. I make sure the nursery is well lit and everything looks welcoming and set up the breakfast table.
The last thing I do before families start to arrive is check tapestry for any uploads from home. We love it when families upload photos and observations! We will respond through the app and also try to incorporate the home learning into our day at nursery. This is great for building on and extending children’s skills.

7:30 – 9:00 Welcomes:

During this time, our little people are all arriving for their day at nursery. We welcome our families in and talk to parents about their baby. Parents will let us know if there are changes to the normal routine for example medicine and we ensure all of the relevant forms are in place and a note is made to share with the rest of the team.
We calculate our lunch requirements and make special notes for the chef based on children’s dietary requirements, stages of weaning and their preferences. By 9:00am all of the team members have arrived. I communicate any changes or special requirements and requests with the team. This could be anything from a child who needs regular antibiotics today to a child whose parents have asked if we can make a birthday card for a family member. No two days are ever the same when you work with children!

9:00 – 11:45 Our Morning Session:

80% of our activities and experiences are child initiated the other 20% will be planned by nursery nurses but always based around our over-arching theme which is informed by our children interests and developmental stages.

Our team of nursery nurses will distribute themselves around the room so that all children can be observed and engaged with. We model language, and play at the children’s level which with our age group is generally on the floor. We give the children choices and different opportunities, we smile and laugh together as well as hold and comfort the children when needed. Our aim is to build up the best possible attachments so that children feel secure. We use our knowledge of children’s developmental milestones alongside their interests to extend their play and enhance their learning. In addition, we provide a healthy snack around 10am we adapt this to suit each individuals weaning stage ensuring our snack is inclusive for all.

During this time, individual routines are implemented and personal care is also happening consistently. We emulate children’s individual routines as established by their parents at home. This includes nap times, scheduled milk feeds, the application of creams and medication as necessary. All of our children wear nappies so the frequent changing of nappies also happens throughout the morning session too.

11:45 Time Together:

Before lunch we enjoy some yoga, singing, tiny talk, story sacks or dancing as a group. During this time we also clear tables and set up for lunch. Our chef brings over home made meals and helps to serve up, children who bring their own meals have these prepared for them.

12:00 – 1:00pm Lunch Time:

We all clean our hands put on bibs and then sit together at the table. Our children need quite a bit of support during meal times. All of the team sit at the children’s level and help them with feeding or learning to use cutlery themselves. Lunch time is really sociable and another great opportunity to talk,
model language and use our senses to describe and learn about the different foods we are enjoying.
Meal times can be a bit messy with our babies, so a big clean up and a nappy change for all is required once we have all finished eating.
We then pack the bags and fill in daily diaries for those who are going home at 1:00pm.

1:00pm Welcomes and Goodbyes:

Some of our children attend a half day session only. From 1pm we handover then extend the same warm welcome our morning children receive to those who attend for the afternoon only.

1:15-3:45 Our Afternoon Session:

80% of our activities and experiences are child initiated the other 20% will be planned by nursery nurses but always based around our over-arching theme which is informed by our children interests and developmental stages.

As with the Morning session, our team of nursery nurses will distribute themselves around the room so that all children can be engaged with and observed. We model language, and play at the children’s level which with our age group is generally on the floor. We give the children choices and different opportunities, we smile and laugh together as well as hold and comfort the children when needed. Our aim is to build up the best possible attachments so that children feel secure. We use our knowledge of children’s developmental milestones alongside their interests to extend their play and enhance their learning. In addition we provide a healthy snack around 2pm we adapt this to suit each individuals weaning stage ensuring our snack is inclusive for all. During this time individual routines are implemented and personal care is also happening consistently. We emulate children’s individual routines as established by their parents at home. This includes nap times, scheduled milk feeds, the application of creams and medication as necessary. All of our children wear nappies so the frequent changing of nappies also happens throughout the afternoon session too.

3:45 Time Together:

Before tea we enjoy some yoga, singing, tiny talk, story sacks or dancing as a group. During this time, we also clear tables and set up for tea.
4:00 Tea Time:

We all sit at the table and wash our hands before enjoying a sociable tea time. After tea we all have a big clean up and another nappy change.
4:30 – 5.00 Paper work & preparation:

This time gives us the opportunity to upload photos and observations onto tapestry. We know parents like to look at these as soon as they leave work! We also ensure children’s daily diaries are complete to give parents a comprehensive overview of their child’s day, we ensure all paperwork and registers for the next day are ready too.
5:00-6:00pm Goodbyes & Handovers:

We enjoy welcoming parents back into the nursery and share with them all of the exciting things their child has been doing that day, as well as who they have played with and the things and people they have played with before saying goodbye.