FAQs

We’ve taken advice from experts, as well as building out a hugely experienced education team in house, who have lead the development of our curriculum. They have been influenced by our founding philosophies as well as emerging evidence on child development. Tina Moore, an early years specialist on the Isle of Man, was one of our key advisors when we founded Victoria House and her guidance on the benefits of learning through play are still at the core of everything we deliver.

A typical day is 8-6pm. The day starts with free play, followed by FitKids sessions and circle time, with morning and afternoon snacks at 10am and 3.30pm respectively, lunch is at midday. Babies nap a few times a day, depending on their home sleep pattern and older children usually nap after lunch until they stop napping during their preschool years. In the mornings and afternoons children will be engaged in a balance of purposeful play and educator inspired experiences and spending lots of time outdoors – we will also have some special group sessions that we run every week, like Yoga, Spanish (Pre-School), Gardening and Music.

All children will spend time outdoors every day, as we really encourage outdoor learning, but will depend on what the children are learning that week and how extreme the weather is (we take children outside no matter the weather but if really rainy/snowy this might be for a shorter period!)

We have a Spanish programme for our Pre-Schoolers which involves weekly Spanish sessions, focusing on building an early appreciation of how different languages work through simple songs and play.

We use the Famly App where we upload observations regularly, along with regular pictures of your child and what they’ve been up to at nursery. We also use the app to share key dates, news and announcements. Every term a child’s progress is assessed against EYFS and updated on the app. We also add ‘next steps’ for each child in line with our curriculum, so you can see what your child’s learning goals are.

We will follow what you do at home and work with you on the potty-training process. We will offer advice on how we can work together to toilet train your child.

We are proud to have some of the most favourable staff to child ratios on the Island. Statutory guidance is for 1:3 for under 2's and 1:8 for over 2's. Our internal targets are 1:2 for under 2's and 1:5 for over 2's. This ensures that each child receives quality care and attention throughout the day. Our management team are also excluded from our ratio calculations.

We keep our key groups as small as possible and always plan them in line with children’s attendance, to ensure that every child has the best experience with their Key Person. Nearer your start date we’ll be able to update you as we’ll have a clearer view on attendance and patterns.

We want to hire only the best and have built very robust recruitment procedures to make sure that our team live by our core values and have the relevant qualifications & experience. All team members go through a rigorous induction process ahead of the nursery’s opening, with first aid and safeguarding as standard. You can see our current team members on 'Our Story' page, but we are always looking for great people!

Team happiness and retention is a huge focus for us at Victoria House, as historically staff turnover in the Early Years sector has unfortunately been high. In order to combat this, we have developed an industry-leading salary and benefits package for our educators.We frequently measure our team’s happiness to see how we’re doing and welcome honest and open feedback as to how we can build the best possible culture. Victoria House is a happy place to work & we support our team’s training & development.

The number of trips we offer depends on various factors such as weather and what the children have been learning, as the trips are designed to support & enhance their learning.

Due to our central location, we are fortunate to have a variety of destinations within walking distance, including Douglas Beach, Summerhill Glen, Noble's Park, Manx Museum, Gaiety Theatre and Local Care Homes.

All children wear hi-vis jackets when on trips and all team members are prepped fully on risk assessments to ensure that our trips run smoothly and safely. Our older children hold hands and are partnered with an adult, while our younger children love the novelty of buggies or reins for their adventures. Whilst the statutory requirement for ratios is 1:8, our internal policy for trips is to have at least one member of staff for every three children.

Prior to your child's first day we will take down all of the details about your child’s nap routine. When they start at nursery we will follow this routine, though we do tend to find that children gradually transition to follow the pattern of their peers (though there isn’t a time pressure for this.)

If your child is to be given prescription medication, we’d give these in line with the prescription. Over the counter temperature relief will be given if they develop a temperature – only with your permission. Antihistamines will also be kept onsite & can be used when needed/approved by parents.

This depends on the severity – if a child has a cold but is happy in themselves, it’s ok for them to stay. However, if it is contagious then they will need to be picked up! If your child has had vomiting or diarrhoea, please do not let them return to nursery until 48hr from their last bout.

Please note that we do have a statutory exclusion policy which must be followed for certain illnesses.

We don’t exclude non-vaccinated children from our nursery but do encourage children to be vaccinated. If you’d like to see our full vaccination policy, we’d be happy to email that over to you.

We would require your permission to administer antihistamines to relieve any allergic symptoms. Following this, we would use colour-coded allergy bowls for your child’s food and all allergy info would be on the walls of nursery rooms so that our team were always aware. If your child has a severe allergy, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can make an action plan with your Key Person, senior management & the nursery kitchen. All staff are specially trained on allergy awareness and the use of Epi Pens.

Victoria House been fitted with state-of-the-art CCTV technology to keep our children and team safe. To keep this secure, we do not allow this to be viewed remotely due to the risks this poses to the potential for the system to be hacked.