Assessment plays an important part in helping parents, carers and practitioners to recognise children’s progress, understand their needs, and to plan activities and support. Ongoing assessment (also known as formative assessment) is an integral part of the learning and development process. It involves practitioners knowing children’s level of achievement and interests, and then shaping teaching and learning experiences for each child reflecting that knowledge. In their interactions with children, practitioners should respond to their own day-to-day observations about children’s progress and observations that parents and carers share. (EYFS Framework 2021)

All children are assessed throughout their time at Pebbles through formal and informal observations by their key person, but mainly through play and by forming strong bonds with their key children. Children’s progress is updated and recorded within a piece of nursery & educational software & APP called ‘Famly’ ensuring that every child’s individual learning journey can be easily and securely accessed at home. The ‘Famly’ APP allow parents to view their child’s records which are linked to the (Early Years Foundation Stage). This keeps parents and carers informed of the areas of learning that their child is achieving, where they may need additional help and support and feel confident that their child is either on-track or working towards making good progress.  This software also allows parents to share photographs and achievements from home too! This is in addition to regular daily chats that most parents / carers have with the setting in order to remain fully informed of their child’s time spent in Pebbles.

Famly records also act as a great transitional tool for reception teachers and early years practitioners should a child move on to a new setting or primary school.

In addition to the Learning Journeys, babies and toddlers (under 2’s) have daily diaries completed in order to maintain an accurate record of the baby’s routine throughout the day and acts as a two way form of communication between home and the key person.  This includes sleep patterns, milk consumption, nappy changes etc.

As we actively promote art and craft sessions with the children, please dress them in practical, old play clothes – paint can mark them! It would also be helpful if all clothes were named. As outdoor play is always encouraged, please ensure that they can bring a warm coat and hat with their name in as necessary and through the summer months, wear tops that cover their shoulders, sun hats and sun cream. We recommend your child only wears old play coats to Pebbles as we often visit the Forest School area and children love to play in the mud kitchen in the back garden.

Pebbles sweatshirts are available to buy.

Any personal items brought into the centre (drink bottles and lunch boxes etc) must also be named as the staff cannot be held responsible for any losses.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure that we are meeting your expectations and standards of care, we understand and take very seriously any feedback or grievance you may have with any aspect of the setting.  Therefore we adhere to a very concise policy on complaints and again encourage all parents to read it and date the declaration on the registration form to that effect.

Should any parent have a cause for concern about issues concerning Pebbles, it’s policies or operation, they should raise these concerns in the first instance with the manager, initially verbally and then in writing, when every effort will be made to resolve the situation. If the situation cannot be resolved by the manager or subsequently by the management committee, you can ring or write to Ofsted, at:-

Early Years OFSTED
The National Business Unit
Piccadilly Gate
Store Street
Manchester,
M1 2WD

Tel: 0300 123 1231

This page contains downloadable forms for parents to download, complete and hand in at the centre as required.

Booking Form

1.86 MB

Download

Existing injury Form

2.39 MB

Download

Holiday Request Forms

27.50 KB

Download

Medication Form

1.86 MB

Download

30 Hour Early Years Entitlement Funding from 9 months to 4 Years

The Early Years Entitlement funding consists of 30 hours for all children from the term after they turn 9 months old, whose families meet the eligibility criteria.

All children aged 3 or 4 are entitled to 15 hours of universal funding regardless of their income. Therefore, some children aged 3 or 4 will be entitled to 15 hours and others, who meet the criteria, will be entitled to the full 30 hours.

The additional funding is intended to support working parents with the costs of childcare.  It will give both couples and lone parents a chance to work more hours if they choose to do so. You need to apply for the additional 15 hours through the government website.

www.gov.uk/free-childcare-if-working/apply-for-free-childcare-if-youre-working

Tax-Free Childcare

You can get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of your children to help with the costs of childcare. This goes up to £1,000 every 3 months if a child is disabled (up to £4,000 a year).

If you get Tax-Free Childcare, you’ll set up an online childcare account for your child. For every £8 you pay into this account, the government will pay in £2 to use to pay your provider.

You can get Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as 30 hours free childcare if you’re eligible for both.

www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare

Universal Credit

You may be able to get Universal Credit if you’re on a low income or need help with your living costs.

If you pay for childcare while you go to work and are entitled to help, Universal Credit can pay some of your childcare costs. If you live with a partner, you both need to be working, unless your partner cannot look after your children.

You can get up to 85% of childcare costs paid back to you. Check online for the most up to date information regarding the maximum amount you can claim.

www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-childcare-costs

Entitlement for parents of two-year-olds in receipt of additional support (FRAS)

Families earning less than £16,190, (as at Sept 2025) with a two-year-old, could get up to 15 hours of free childcare per week. If your child has Disability Living Allowance or and Education, health, care plan (EHC) plan, you may also be entitled to this funding.

Visit www.cornwall.gov.uk (2 year old funding) for more information and how to apply.

Funding will commence for those eligible, the term after their second birthday.

Further information regarding funding and support for families can be found at: www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

If you are keen for your child to join Pebbles and would like further information regarding additional costs, admin/settling in fees and availability, please contact the setting for advice and information.

Early Years Pupil premium

The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) is a funding initiative aimed at improving the educational outcomes of socio-economically disadvantaged children from 9 months upwards. In April 2025, the Department for Education (DfE) increased the EYPP funding by 45% to £570 per child per year. This funding is intended to support children’s development and help close the learning gap between disadvantaged children and their peers. Early years settings can use this increased funding to support children’s development and ensure they receive the best start for their future.

How we spend the money:

At Pebbles we put the money towards training courses and new resources that are selected to target areas of learning that children who receive EYPP are below age expected in. This means that our EYPP money helps our children narrow the gaps in their learning.

To qualify:

Your child must be in receipt of Funded Early Education in order to apply for EYPP, and, your family must meet the eligibility criteria.

More information about Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) can be found on the Gov Website

Download our Healthy Under 5’s Newsletter

Roche Pebbles is passionate about the health and well-being of our children, families and staff within setting and therefore is part of, and fully committed to, the Cornwall Council’s ‘Healthy Under 5’s’ programme and follows direction within the Early Years Foundations Stage Nutrition Guidance 2025.

This programme is part of Cornwall Council’s Healthy Cornwall Service whereby they aim to encourage and support all early years childcare providers to become health promoting environments and promote healthy lifestyles. Roche Pebbles, like many other early years providers, are in a unique position to highlight the importance of health and wellbeing, not only to our children, but also to their parents/carers and the wider community.

Healthy Under 5s is designed to celebrate topics we may already be championing, explore new areas to be included and help keep our setting informed of topical issues and guidance. The Programmes Best Practice Guidelines encourages us to reflect on our current approach to health improvement and supports staff to further embed health promotion into their practice.

We are proud to announce that on 16^th December 2019 we completed the programme, covering the following topics:-

• Dental health
• Healthy eating
• Physical activity
• Emotional health and wellbeing
• Accident prevention
• Additional topics (including sleep, workplace health and smoking)

Being an ongoing programme the setting will be visited or contacted by various health teams across Cornwall to ensure that we remain compliant and continue to promote all areas of health and well-being.

Please remember to always update information retained within the setting, such as changes in family circumstances, address, telephone number, emergency contacts, medical information or new allergies etc.

General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

You may be aware that from the 25th May 2018, the rules around data protection changed. The ‘General Data Protection Regulation’ (GDPR) changed how we can use your personal data, keep it safe, and strengthened your rights over your own data.

The point of this was to make sure sensitive or private information about yourselves and your children stays safe. Whilst it is similar to the previous Data Protection Act in many ways, there are a few differences, so we made a few changes at the setting in order to ensure we remained compliant.

One of these changes  was that we updated our Privacy Notice. You can find the the updated Privacy Notice on our website under “Privacy” and all appropriate policies and procedures within the setting have been reviewed and amended accordingly.

Any information provided will be used throughout your child’s time at Pebbles.  You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting the setting.

As our ‘Food and Drink Policy’ states, packed lunches must not contain sweets, processed foods, chocolate or fizzy drinks but only nutritious and healthy options, with an ice-pack during the warmer months. All snacks provided by the setting during each session will be in line with our policy, taking into account allergies and specific needs as per Early Years Foundation Stage Nutrition Guidance 2025

Roche Pebbles is committed to the Cornwall Council’s Healthy Under Five’s Programme and Sugar Smart Campaign.

For safety reasons we are unable to administer any medication unless it has been prescribed by a doctor for that specific child. The setting will need to be notified of the correct dosage, with written information provided and consent forms signed.

All staff undertake First Aider at Work and Paediatric First Aid, which is updated according to legislation.

At Pebbles we understand that providing high-quality care and education is vitally important, and children attending an early year’s setting is at a fundamental developmental point in their lives, which impacts on their future educational attainment.

We aim to provide effective and holistic planning, that sets out what we intend our children to learn and experience across all seven areas of learning, taking into account ‘what our children need to have for the best start in life’, ‘the community from which they come from’ and ‘being responsive to our cohort of children.’

Our curriculum is accessible for all children including disadvantaged, EAL (English as an additional language) and SEND (children with an additional need).

We embed ‘Cultural Capital’ into our practice because it influences how children approach learning, interact with peers, and engage with their environment. Children who come from diverse cultural backgrounds have unique strengths and perspectives that contribute to the richness of the classroom setting. When early years settings actively recognise and integrate this cultural capital, they foster an inclusive atmosphere that encourages growth and learning.

British Values is equally at the forefront of our curriculum and planning being essential principles that help shape children’s understanding of respect, fairness, and community, promoting their social and emotional development.

The seven areas of learning and development within the EYFS are as follows:-

• Communication and Language – The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development.
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development – Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to their cognitive development.
• Physical Development – Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives.
• Literacy – It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading.
• Mathematics – Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically.
• Understanding the world – Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community.
• Expressive Arts and Design – The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity.

It is widely recognised by early years experts that play is a vital significance in the intellectual, social and  physical growth of children. Young children’s first discoveries of the world are made through play.

All daily activities take place indoors or outdoors.

“Leaders and staff have a clear curriculum intent, and they have created a curriculum that supports all children. They have taken the time to get to know children well to ensure the curriculum meets needs and interests”

Ofsted Inspection 2023

Roche C P School organises settling in sessions and home visits in order for the children to familiarise themselves with their new class, reception teacher and assistants before the new school term.

The children at the setting are invited to the primary schools’ plays and services and the reception teacher actively visits the centre to meet the children and participate in activities alongside them.

Should any child not be attending Roche C P School the Childcare Supervisor ensures that links are made with the other primary schools and teachers to ensure a smooth transition for everyone.

Many of the activities within the reception class will be similar to those carried out at nursery, especially in the first half term, including – construction, sand, water, ICT, jigsaws etc.

Children reaching school age will need to become more independent. We can all help them by getting them to dress and undress themselves, go to the toilet independently and hygienically, sit at the lunch table nicely, be able to use cutlery properly, be polite whilst helping them to understand to take turns and learn to wait at times.

All the above is actively promoted within the 3 – 4 year room.