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Helping those who help us...

Public Sector Childcare Discounts

At Hatching Dragons we believe in the importance of giving back to our public sector workers and the charity. Our public sector childcare discounts intend to help those who help keep the country running. Depending on your gross household income, we offer a discount on nursery fees of up to 50% for NHS, government or council staff! Please notice that we will need proof of your employment for the corresponding discount. P.S. This discount can be combined with 15 or 30 h funding. Enquire for more details!

Childcare Discounts

Public Sector Discounts

We offer up to 50% discounts on childcare places for public sector workers. These discounts are calculated based on the Gross Household Income of the applying family and we will need to secure redacted payslips from both members of the household to qualify the discount but it should offer the highest reductions for those who need it most. See our terms here or fill out the enquiry form below for a call back

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Multicultural Childcare

Quick Enquiry Form

To register your interest for a call back, fill out the form below, or book in a time online with one of the team to talk through your needs....

Get in Touch

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Online Tours

We appreciate that our community is busy - sometimes it's impossible to get out of work to come and see the school, at least for that first inspection. But don't worry, we've got you covered. You can book in for a virtual / online tour from the comfort of your own desk, to get that first impression of the school in action before having to bug your boss for the time off to come and meet us in person. Just book in below...

Free Childcare

Workplace Nursery Scheme

And you can use these discounts in conjunction with Workplace Nursery Scheme, which is the biggest cash saving a working family can secure in childcare. Employers pay your childcare fees from your pre-tax salary, reducing your taxable income and increasing your take home pay (and reducing their employer's NICs payments too!). We've saved some families over Β£10k p.a. on this basis alone so definitely worth pressing your payroll to set it up. It's quick, easy with no administrative cost to do!

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Inspiring Early Years Education

Creative Kindergarten Care

We take a distinctly artistic and creative approach to early years education, believing that children should be provided with a canvas upon which they can express, create and make themselves and their world. That canvas is our community - we excite the imagination by immersing them in an arts programme that will take them to the Tate modern, learn about Gwen John as much as Rodin, Frida Khalo as much as Ai weiwei. Our art teachers focus on the artists of each region, each month, and look to our wonderful galleries in the barbican centre and beyond for inspiration

Multicultural Education

Global Citizenship

We've developed a proprietary multinational curriculum that investigates 12 regions of the world, spending time to interrogate the people, the places, the animals, objects and cultural activities ( arts, literature, food, dance, you name it) of a particular country within that region. Ultimately, we want our children to graduate excited by the world, the people and cultures within it and primed with a belief that differences are to be celebrated

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Our Developmental Framework

We draw on the expertise and experience of our practitioners who have been schooled in all disciplines - we have Forest school teachers, Montessori, Reggio and EYFS-trained teachers. All of them agree that the best developmental framework to monitor, measure and maintain your child's development with us, is the Birth to Five Matters Framework.

This framework focuses on reaffirming the child at the centre of practice; the child’s connections within family, communities, cultures and the natural world; the need to consider the whole child: physical, social and emotional well-being, health, and learning; and the children's rights, among others.

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Frequently Answered Questions

You'll find all of our policies and procedures on the knowledge base under our customer portal on the website, which, along with our terms and conditions, form the basis of our care. Parents are advised to read through them in detail to understand what it is we do, but below you'll find a hit list of the top 10 questions we get asked....

Opening & Closing Times

We're open 08:00 until 18:30 Monday to Friday, 51 weeks a year, closing for the days between Christmas and New Years and for 3 inset days on the first Monday of each term (January for Spring; April for the Summer term post Easter holidays; September for the Autumn / winter term post summer holidays). We do not close for holidays over the summer or easter and do not offer refunds for these periods that you might take off as our staff will be working irrespective. Think about a gym membership. It's the same kind of thing - a monthly payment to allow us to exercise young minds!

What ages do you look after?

We can care for your children as young as 6 months. We could go younger but always felt that those first 6 months are so important for parents to bond with their child, we really encourage parents to take the parental leave they can to experience that wonderful time. Because it is so precious, and so important, developmentally, for the child, and emotionally for you as new parents to get that time. So our policy is 6 months onwards, all the way through to Reception at the age of five. Your pattern of care will remain consistent until you a) submit a change of hours form or b) a termination form, which will then see your contracted hours of childcare change one month from the date of that submission.

Do I have to attend full time?

No - one of the reasons why Hatching Dragons came into being was because we wanted to make childcare easier and more flexible for parents. YOu can opt to do term time only, but we will still charge you a monthly (pro rated) equivalent direct debit (albeit for a smaller, pro rated amount) so we can keep things consistent with our payment policies. It will mean, however, that you will have to pay the holiday camp rates for any childcare that you need during half terms or holidays.

What's our Settling In approach πŸ‘Ά

Considering that a relaxed and gradual approach works wonders for children settling into nursery life, we decided to make it a team effort between parents and teachers.

We keep it simple with a step-by-step settling-in process - we offer 3 to 5 free two hour sessions at either 0930-1130, or 1430-1630 for your child to settle into our school and build their relationships with their key worker team and their friends in the room. On the first session, it's typical that we'll run through your registration details so we're clear on dietary, medical and allergy information, your routine and soothing strategies, and by the second, we'll be inviting you to step away so that they can bond with their key worker a little more. By the third session you'll be invited to have a cuppa with the manager and after that, we're normally away...Easy peasy, right?

What do I need to bring?

All of our onboarding instructions will be automatically issued to you when you've signed your contract and paid your deposit, but you can find a copy of your onboarding pack below, to get a sense of what you'll need on the day

What schools can they move on to?

We have plenty of schools in our area that our families move on to but it really depends on whether the family is resident (and so can select some of the amazing publicly funding primary schools near by, such as Prior Weston, City of London Primary Academy Islington or the Aldgate School; or the many private offers there are nearby from St Paul's Cathedral Choir School; the Lyceum; City of London Juniors; Charterhouse and DallingtonEach have their own application policies but our children have gone to all of them at different times...

What Ofsted Inspection did we get? βœ…

Check out our latest Ofsted report right here! Dive into the great feedback we snagged from the inspectors who were seriously wowed by the cosy and nurturing space we've crafted for your little ones. They gave big shoutouts to our incredible team, top-of-the-line facilities, and activities that turn learning into a total blast!

What languages do you teach? ✨

We're language nuts at Hatching Dragons. Our multilingual team can speak Bengali, Arabic, Russian, Chinese, French and Spanish. But each school focuses on a specific language and at the City of London nursery we focus on Mandarin Chinese.

Each age group will have at least one dedicated session a day, even if they also benefit from at least 50% of the team being Chinese in the school. And those sessions are led by the lead Chinese teacher for the school to engage the children in fun, immersive activities that aim to deliver second language acquisition in the context of our thematic / educational focus for the month. It could be music and rhyme. It could be story telling or Drama. But we have dedicated language lists that focus on our theme of the month and our teachers focus on leveraging all media and materials to deliver that language to our children....

What pedagogy do you follow? πŸ’–

We strongly believe that education should be a dynamic blend, shaped both by the child's interests and autonomy, fostering their individuality, and by adult guidance to introduce new materials, building their knowledge, understanding, and skills.

Our inspiration stems from weaving together the finest pedagogical frameworks globally. We dip into Montessori and take a stroll through High Scope; we explore Reggio alongside Steiner, Te Whariki, and those from East Asia. Recognizing that no single culture holds the exclusive key to education, we draw on the best from each to craft a curriculum that brings out the best for everyone.

What qualifications do you teachers have? 🍎

We believe that diverse teams deliver dynamism and progression. It's one of the reasons we felt that education needed to draw on the best of what the world has to offer - just as we believe that with diverse sets of people, organisations can engineer the best ideas and ways of working.

All our teachers have Paediatric First Aid and hold some of the highest qualifications in early years teaching from some of the best educational institutes in the world. We have graduates from the Institute of Education at UCL; we have people from Maria Montessori Institute and more.

What's the food on offer? 🍐

Our catering team have devised our approach to food and infant nutrition in line with the guidance set out by the British Nutritional Foundation with specific reference to the Government's Eatwell Guide on delivering a healthy, balanced diet for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

We take the health and safety of your children very seriously, which is why we use management systems to secure weekly reports on children's attendance and their dietary and allergy needs, direct to our in-house catering teams. All of our chefs are qualified in the culinary arts, have advanced food hygiene training and follow the procedures outlined in the Safer Food Better Business guidance from the Food Standards Agency, so you can rest assured that your children's nutrition is in the best possible hands.

Fees, schedules and funding 🌝

Life's a whirlwind, and we get it – you need flexibility. No stress, we're not all about those rigid full-time commitments. It's all about what works for you!

Whether you're up for a single morning or afternoon sesh, or you're diving into the full 5-day experience (depending on availability), it's totally your call. But here's the inside scoop: for the ultimate language adventure, we suggest aiming for at least 5 half days. That's when you'll see your little language maestro really shine.

And hold onto your hats because we have some limited funded spots up for grabs! Curious? Click below to book a call with our team. They can help tailor things just for you! 

Here are some extra resources for parents 🧐

It's not just about what we do for the little ones; let's not overlook the daily hurdles faced by the most crucial people in their world – parents. Parenting is a challenging journey, and the demands are on the rise, often leading some to decide against having children altogether.

We believe it's not fair, and we're here to be more than just a service. We aim to support our working families in being the best parents they can be while excelling in their careers and personal lives. Our goal is to ease the challenges of parenting, making the journey smoother for our amazing parents.

Do you offer discounts for students?

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