As a leading childcare provider in Bishop’s Stortford, Doodle Do Day Nursery know that choosing a Nursery for your child is a huge decision.
Good nutrition is essential during childhood, as it is a time of rapid growth, development and activity. This is also a vital time for healthy tooth development and prevention of decay. General eating habits and patterns are formed in the first few years of life. A nutritious diet, together with good hydration, provides your child with good eating habits for life, healthy skin, a healthy weight, secure emotional well-being, and improved behaviour. The nursery staff have a key role in introducing young children to a wide variety of foods and establishing a pattern of regular meals and healthy snacks. Eating is about more than food, it is a social event too, and nursery staff join your child’s mealtimes. Staff encourage interaction between the children, good table manners and the development of social skills. Staff are also on hand to support and assist, if needed.
Meal and snack times are an important part of our daily routine across all age groups. Children take an active role in the preparation of snacks, and, with adult support, serve themselves at lunch time. In our older age rooms, children take it in turns to set tables and then work together to clear away at the end of a meal. This enhances the development of social skills by helping to increase children’s confidence, self- esteem, independence and decision making skills, and is the next step for school readiness.
We believe in serving food that is fresh, local and honest. Our dedication to providing tasty meals prepared with farm assured meat, sustainable fish and local vegetables has been accredited by the Soil Association through a Food for Life Served Here Silver award. We achieved our Bronze award in 2019 and have achieved our Silver award in August 2020. The award also recognises that we champion freshly prepared meals by trained chefs who are passionate about the ingredients they work with.
Is Millie - Qualified Level 3 practitioner
All 3- and 4-year-olds are entitled to 570 hours of Universal Entitlement funded childcare per year (15 hours per week, term time only).
We do offer a small number of fully funded free at the point of access places, please contact the Nursery Manager for more information. Please note the fully funded places offered are on Mondays and Fridays.
Effective from 1st April 2024, any working family with a child over the age over two years old on 31 March 2024 (subject to certain Government legislated criteria) can access 15 hours a week, term time only, Working Family funding. Children of working families will then become eligible from the beginning of each term following their second birthday. Some children, whose parents meet certain criteria, may still be eligible for 15 funded hours, term time only, from the term after their child’s second birthday even if they are not a working family. This new funding runs alongside the current three- and four-year-old funding, 15 hours of which is available to all and a further 15 hours are available to working families only, again all are term time only.
The 15 hours Working Family funding will be expanded to all children over the age of nine months on 31 August 2024, eventually increasing to 30 hours term time only from September 2025.
15 hours term time only equates to 570 hours per year, 30 hours term time only equates to 1,140 hours per year which we stretch over weeks.
Please refer to https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ for more information.
| Child’s birthday | When you can claim |
1st January to 31st March | The beginning of term on or after 1st April |
1st April to 31st August | The beginning of term on or after 1st September |
1st September to 31st December | The beginning of term on or after 1st January |
Universal Entitlement Funding
All 3 to 4-year-olds in England receive 570 hours of free early education or childcare per year. We stretch the termly entitlement over 51 weeks of the year.
Eligibility
Free early education and childcare must be with an approved childcare provider. Eligibility stops at the end of the term before your child is due to start reception class.
