Cylch yn yr Ysgol

Recent Inspection report by CIW

English – Cylch yn yr Ysgol | Care Inspectorate Wales

Cymraeg – Cylch yn yr Ysgol | Arolygiaeth Gofal Cymru

Our Statement of Purpose

Our aim is to ensure that all 3 year old children (commencing at the start of the term following his/her third birthday) and 4 year old children, resident within the Builth Wells area, have access to free, high quality Foundation Learning Education provision, in a friendly caring environment, for up to 3 hours per day (a minimum of 2.0), for a maximum of 10 hours per week. Building on the success of the Cylch Meithrin approach, provision will be through the medium of Welsh with some English to support children entering a bilingual school.

Our Vision Statement: 

‘Plant bach prysur ydym ni

Dysgu trwy chwarae – hwyl a sbri!’

(We envisage that our children are fully engaged in a variety of fun and interesting activities while in Cylch and are learning through their play.)

About us

We are a high quality and friendly early years care and education setting, catering for children aged 3 to 5 years, primarily through the medium of Welsh. We follow the Curriculum for Wales which emphasises learning through play and exploration. A wide range of play activities are planned and well supervised to promote progress in all areas of a child’s development as well as continuous provision offering a rich variety of free choice learning experiences. 

Cylch is a registered charity, run by a voluntary committee of parents, carers and school staff. Anyone is welcome to become a committee member. Should you be interested in getting involved, please contact the Committee for further information: llymcylchcommittee@gmail.com

Our Play Leader in the morning session is Estelle Wilcocks, our Deputy Play Leader is Carys Price and our Play Assistant in the morning sessions is Sonia Tighe. Sonia is also our Play Leader in the afternoon sessions. The Person in Charge under CIW is the Play Leader, or the Deputy Play Leader where the Play Leader is absent. We have two committee members who have been nominated for the role of Responsible Individual, they are; Gareth Cornelius and Hannah Jones.

Our staff members are fully qualified and continuously attend courses relating to Foundation Learning. Each staff member holds up to date certificates in child protection and paediatric first aid.

Contact Details

If you need to contact the Cylch in an emergency during a session please call our mobile number which is 07849 835235. 

Our email address is: cmllym@gmail.com

Our sessions are:

9.00-11:30am Monday – Thursday morning sessions; and

12.30-3.00pm Monday to Thursday afternoon sessions 

The Cylch will be closed for holidays and inset days in line with Builth Wells CP School. These dates will be printed at the beginning of each term in our Newsletter or available from the Powys website. If the Cylch closes for other occasional days, you will be informed in advance. 

Our aims

  • To advance the education of children by providing safe and enriching learning experiences through the Curriculum For Wales and social activities will provide opportunities for children to communicate through the medium of Welsh, with some English, to support children entering a bilingual school.

  • To support and preserve good mental, physical and emotional health of the children.

  • To provide a warm, safe and friendly environment.

  • To provide friendly, enthusiastic and caring staff who are always proactive in engaging with the wider community.

  • To enable children to learn through play using both indoor and outdoor learning environments, with the support of the Play Leader.

  • To give children the opportunity to develop their social skills and interact with other children.

  • To prepare children for a positive transition to Primary School.

Your Child’s Learning Journal

We continually encourage your child to make progress on a continual basis. We welcome the input from parents and carers to allow us to build up a holistic picture of each child individually and tailor support to their needs.You are welcome to discuss your child’s progress or request a copy of their development report at any time.

Quality of Care

In compliance with CIW (Care Inspectorate Wales) requirements, we monitor the quality of care on an annual basis and provide a written report which is also shared with you as parents/carers. We annually hand out questionnaires to help with this and welcome any contributions, positive or negative that you may have. This enables us to monitor, review, improve and continue the quality of care to a high standard here at the setting. Copies of our latest reports by CIW and Estyn will be available to read in the Cylch.

Starting at the Cylch

Arrival and signing in – At the beginning of each session it is required that you bring your child to Cylch via the main entrance and sign them in.

We want your child to feel safe, secure and happy in the setting, so we offer parents/carers to stay with your child at one of our “Taster sessions” and, if necessary, during the initial settling in period.

 

Collection – When collecting your child we would like you to wait outside the main entrance until we bring your child to you. We will bring the book for you to sign your child out. This is for security and child protection reasons and we feel this works very well. If you would like to speak to a member of staff, please feel free to come in after the session. Please inform the staff beforehand if somebody different will be collecting your child, we will require a specific password before the child is released into their care.

Please see a sample routine of a typical session: 

OUTLINE OF SESSION

TIME

ACTIVITY

NOTES

09.00

Greet children & parents. Parents sign in children. Be available for any parent to speak with staff should they wish. Children enter the setting independently and find their own named peg to hang up their coat/bag. Short whole group session with welcome song, weather song, register & counting children. (Birthday song and discussion if relevant.) Children then find their own named apple to self-register.

Duration is led by children

09.00 -10.55

 

9.30 onwards

Child directed play with “invitations to learn” alongside, these may link to previous week’s observations, children’s choice or current celebrations. This may include music, SALLEY, Letters & Sounds sessions, intervention groups. At the end of small group work the children  will find their named “Cerrig ” to place on a picture showing how they feel today.

 Dydd Mawrth – Ymarfer Corff – small groups rotate in hall (or outside weather permitting) for planned physical activities, such as dancing, yoga, balance bikes, Busy Feet

Free flow inside /outside unless inclement weather. Otherwise, rotation of small groups with adult support to dress in appropriate outdoor clothing.

10.00 onwards

Rolling “Amser Snac” – Children are encouraged to independently wash hands & collect fruit from their bags. Children are offered a drink and are encouraged to be independent in pouring their own. They clear their place when finished and put waste food in the recycle bin, cups and plates in the washing up bowl etc. Each week, children will be offered different food to taste & to record their likes/dislikes. Children find their named apple to return to the  cloakroom board, once they  finish snack.

10.55

Amser Tacluso – tidy up time. All children are encouraged to help tidy up.

11.00

Amser Cylch/ Canu – children may split into two groups if numbers are high. Groups will rotate and may do singing/ story/ yoga/ dancing Amser Cylch activity.

One group may use an outdoor area or cloakroom.

11.25 -11.30

Children independently prepare for home time ie put on bags etc whilst staff give out items to take home. All sing Hwyl Fawr & sit on a bench until their name is called.

11.30

Amser Mynd Adref – home time and opportunity for parents to speak with staff etc

 

This reflects a typical outline of a session, but this is adapted in response to the children, weather, special events, etc

Snack time

We ask if you could send in a piece of pre-cut fruit with your child each session.We also offer milk and water for the children to independently pour. This encourages healthy eating, good social and independence skills and helps the children to have a good approach to trying new foods.

Clothing 

We have t-shirts, jumpers and cardigans with our logo for sale at https://www.pbuniform-online.co.uk/cylch . These are not compulsory to buy or wear, but please dress your child appropriately as we do like to play messy! We also go outside in all weathers so please ensure you send in coats (and sunhats and suncream in warmer months) with your child each session. We can keep a set here at the setting if you find that easier.

Sickness

  • If your child is ill during a session, a member of staff will contact you. In the meantime, he / she will be comforted and monitored by a member of staff and given the opportunity to rest in a quiet area.

  • If your child vomits or has diarrhoea you will be required to keep him / her from the Cylch for at least 48 hours after the symptoms have cleared.

  • If your child is not able to make a session due to illness, please contact Cylch and inform as soon as you’re able.

  • If your child requires medication during the session, this may be administered as per our policy.

Cylch Policies

The Cylch has a number of policies which affect the Cylch’s activities. The main ones are summarised below and are available to be viewed in full at the setting and these will be sent out prior to your child starting via email. It is recommended that you read these when your child starts at the Cylch and by signing our contract, you are saying that you are in agreement with the policies.

Health and Safety

It is the Cylch’s policy to conform to statutory Health and Safety legislation and take every reasonable and practical step to ensure the Health and Safety of everyone in the Cylch.

Admissions

All parents will be required to submit an application via Powys County Council and then complete the necessary paperwork, as required by the setting, before a start date can be agreed.. 

We aim to offer care and education primarily through the medium of Welsh to children from 3 years to school age and welcome any child within that age range to attend. We conform to the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) regarding the number of children admitted and their ages. We are registered to have up to 24 children in each session. 

Premises and Facilities

The setting is based at Builth Wells C.P. School and facilities include:

  • exclusive use of a spacious, well-resourced setting base.

  • access to a secure, enclosed outdoor courtyard accessible directly from the main playroom complete with adventure play apparatus, large sand pit and a range of resources for continuous and enhanced provision.

  • access to enclosed school fields and outdoor adventure trails.

  • child-sized toilets and sinks.

  • kitchen area to prepare drinks and snacks.

  • separate staff facilities, including access to the school’s main staff room and staff toilets.

Equipment will be constantly reviewed and the needs of the children in our care will be taken into consideration in order to purchase the necessary resources and equipment. 

Additional Needs

We aim to give every child the opportunity to benefit from pre-school education whatever his / her needs and are committed to giving due attention to each child with additional needs.

We promote early identification and appropriate intervention for children with additional needs and promote equality of opportunity by providing a fully inclusive service.

We acknowledge that the child’s needs change and develop and are committed to monitoring to ensure that our provision meets his / her needs on a continual basis. 

Child Protection

We believe the happiness, safety and welfare of every child is important. Our management committee and staff will follow Child Protection procedures in suspected cases of abuse and any concerns or suspicions that a child is being harmed or at risk will be referred to the appropriate agency.

Equal Opportunities

  • We aim to ensure that facilities are accessible to every parent / carer whatever their linguistic background and they have the opportunity to contribute to the Cylch activities. 

  • We aim to ensure that every aspect of our activities promotes equal opportunities for every individual whatever his / her nationality, colour, race, sexuality, disability, religion, age, marital status or social class.

Behaviour Management

  • We aim to provide an environment based on clear, fair and consistent guidelines which promote a child’s understanding of acceptable behaviour.

  • We promote positive behaviour and ensure that there is consistency in the methods used.

  • Good behaviour will always be acknowledged and recognised. 

Complaints and Compliments Procedures

We welcome your comments on our setting so that we can continue to develop. If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our work and wish to express this, please adopt the following procedure, in line with our compliments and complaints policy:

  • Contact the Cylch Playleader(s) or the Responsible Individual either verbally or in writing to note the complaint. (The complainant will be informed that he / she can refer directly to Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW)).

  • If the matter cannot be satisfactorily resolved the complaint will be formally referred in writing to the Responsible Individual and the Cylch Committee.

  • Should the matter remain unresolved, the CIW should be contacted at the following address: 

CIW National Office,

Government Buildings,

Picton Terrace,

Carmarthen,

SA31 3BT

Telephone: 0300 7900 126,  

Email: ciw@gov.wales

All complaints will be handled sensitively and confidentially. The Cylch will monitor complaints and attempt to resolve them in a sensitive way as soon as possible.

Our Statement of Purpose will be reviewed annually, along with all of our Policies and Procedures and will inform CIW, as required, of any changes.