Choosing the right nursery for your child is an important decision.

We work in partnership with parents to ensure your and your child’s needs are met.

Children have opportunities to explore other cultures and values reflected in our variety of play equipment and books that portray all people as equal. This gives your child the chance to integrate with other children through play and active learning.

Honeypot Nursery offers care for children of students, staff and community users. It is situated at the Highbury Campus. It is a 54-place nursery catering for children from birth to school-age.

The nursery is Ofsted registered and provide high quality childcare for babies and children up to 4 years of age covering all aspects of Every Child Matters; this is reflected in excellent Ofsted inspection reports. In 2015 Honeypot Nursery was declared 'outstanding' by Ofsted. Their report said staff staff provided an 'exceptionally welcoming, attractive and stimulating environment for children.'

Your child will be treated as an equal individual regardless of culture, disability, ethnicity, religion or support needs.


Honeypot is a 54-place nursery catering for children from birth to school-age.

We have three separate, bright and child-friendly rooms catering for the different needs of each age group. It's open Monday to Friday 7.30am-6pm for 51 weeks a year.

Your baby will flourish in our loving home-from-home environment that encourages exploration and investigation through play. We include activities like painting, music sessions, treasure baskets, messy and sensory play; the children also have access to the outside play area.

The daily routine is very flexible, taking into account each child's individual needs and routine. Your child's key worker will work closely with you to ensure these routines and weaning patterns are kept consistent with what you are doing at home.

We provide high quality care to ensure that you feel secure in the knowledge that your toddler is cared for in safe and enjoyable surroundings. The room has been designed to provide areas for free and structured play, water and sand play, painting, arts and crafts, table top activities, construction activities and a quiet reading area. A role play area provides the children with additional opportunities for imaginative play.

The children have access to the outside play are which provides opportunities for them to dig, explore and grow things, throughout the year.

Parents are encouraged to work with staff to provide ideas for planned activities that the children will enjoy.

The pre-school room provides ample opportunities for free and structured play. Independence is actively encouraged at this age and as every child develops at a different rate, staff will offer encouragement whenever needed. At this age children are developing their skill and awareness of numbers, letters, colours and basic reading and writing. We will encourage these skills which will help prepare them for school. At this important transition time your child’s key worker will liaise with you to ensure we help in any way possible.


Fees from 1 August 2023 - 31 July 2024

Under 2

2 year old

3 yrs +

Session - 8-12pm, 9am-1pm or 1-5pm

£27

£26

£24

Extended session - 7.30am-1pm or 12.30pm-6pm

£37

£36

£34

Day - 8am-5pm or 8.30am-5.30pm

£54

£52

£48

Extended day - 7.30am-6pm

£62

£60

£56

Full week (including 10% discount)

£243

£234

£216

Full week - Extended day (including 10% discount)

£279

£270

£252

10% discount is available for staff and community use more than 37 hours/week.

A retainer fee will be charged to secure a place in the following academic year.

Enquires should be directed to the Nursery. Application forms can be obtained from the Nursery, Student Engagement, or the Admissions teams.

All fees are payable one week in advance. Students at the College may be eligible for assistance and should contact the Nurseries Manager or the Student Finance Officer for more information. If you are a parent under the age of 20 who wants to study or train, you can get help with paying for childcare through 'Care to Learn' funding. For more information on Care to Learn please contact either 0800 121 8989 or visit the Care to Learn website.


Funding

We accept the Nursery Education Grant, the Government funding for 3 and 4 year olds which entitles children up to 15 hours free education per week, 38 weeks of the year, or a total of 570 hours ‘stretched’ throughout the year. Children who are 3 years old on or before:

  • 31 August will be eligible for free nursery education from the Autumn Term (September)
  • 31 December will be eligible for free nursery education from the Spring term (January)
  • 31 March will be eligible for free nursery education from the Summer Term (April)

We are registered to accept children whose parents qualify for the 30 hour funding and tax free childcare. Please visit https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk for more information or to apply.

We accept Government Funding for 2 year old children who qualify.  All two year-olds who meet any one of the following criteria will be eligible:

  • If their families receive income based benefits that match the eligibility criteria also used for free school meals.
  • If their families receive Working Tax credits and have annual gross earning of no more than £16,190 per year - a copy of your most recent Tax Credit Award Notice (TC602) is required with your completed application.
  • If they have a current statement of special educational needs (SEN) or an education, health and care plan.
  • If they attract Disability Living Allowance - a copy of the award notice is required which your completed application.
  • If they are looked after by their local authority.
  • If they have left care through special guardianship or through an adoption or residence order.

We are registered for several employee childcare voucher schemes including:

  • Busy Bees Vouchers (Computershare)
  • Accor Vouchers (Edenred)
  • Sodexo (Saycare)
  • Co-op
  • Care-4
  • RG Childcare

If you require additional information regarding these schemes or any other please contact the Nursery Manager.


Additional information

The nursery plans the learning environment and curriculum to support and extend children’s play, learning and development.  We assess children’s achievements and plan their next steps.

Highbury follows the early year’s foundation stage, the statutory framework that sets the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five years.  The aim is to underpin all future learning by supporting children’s development using the four guiding Early Year’s Foundation Stage principals:

  • A unique child
  • Positive relationships
  • Enabling environments
  • Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates.

The EYFS has seven areas of learning and development:

Prime areas

  • Personal Social and Emotional Development
  • Communication, Language
  • Physical Development

Specific areas

  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Understanding the world
  • Expressive arts and design

We understand that the environment plays a key role in children's learning and development and ensure that the nursery is always well equipped with age appropriate educational resources for children to access.

Follow the link to find more information on the Early Years Foundation Stage.

https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/improving-the-quality-and-range-of-education-and-childcare-from-birth-to-5-years/supporting-pages/early-years-foundation-stage

We have on-line learning journals for each child so that you are able to access your child’s profile any time you want, as long as you have an internet connection. The journal gives you up to date information about your child’s development and progress, with observations and photos of your child learning through play.  The on-line system makes it easier for you to contribute too!

We pride ourselves on having a well-established team of qualified and experienced professionals.  Staff qualifications range from NVQ 3 in children and young people’s workforce to Early Years Teacher Status.  In addition to childcare qualifications all staff are also qualified in:

  • Paediatric first aid
  • Safeguarding
  • Food hygiene
  • Manual handling
  • Information sharing

We have a rigorous training and development plan in place which supports staff to regularly attend additional training covering a variety of topics such as:

  • Speech and language development
  • Health and safety
  • EYFS principals
  • Supporting early year’s development

Staff members employed in the nurseries have all completed a DBS disclosure check.


Downloads

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Offer (PDF)

Honeypot Nursery Policies and Procedures (PDF)


Contact us

023 9232 8964
cathy.roberts@copc.ac.uk


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