Les Nounours (The Teddy Bears) is the baby room at The Gower School where babies are welcomed from three months old, but most start from about six months old.
A homely, family-like environment is provided for your baby, where he or she will receive a lot of attention and individual care Our staff team is conscientious and well trained and they all love working with children. Laura, who is the head of Les Nounours, has worked here since The Gower School opened in 2000 and has been running the baby room since 2004.
For babies aged between six months old and one year old, the staffing ratio is one adult to two babies. For babies aged over one year old, the staffing ratio is one adult to three babies.
We adopt a Key Person approach to caring for your baby. This means the same person looks after your baby all day, every day (unless they are away from work, in which case there is a co-key person, who knows your baby well and can take over). We know that babies respond well to having a consistent, familiar and special person to care for them in the same way they their mother or father would at home. Your baby's Key Person will form a special bond with him or her. We will learn about your baby's individual preferences and plan a gentle routine, following his or her established routine for meal times and sleeping to ensure a smooth transition between home and nursery.
Your baby will enjoy happy, stimulating days in Les Nounours, with plenty of time for discovery, play, fresh air and sleep – and plenty of attention and affection! At meal times the babies eat together in a little group around a round table with wooden highchairs and a baby Bjorn bouncer for younger babies. With such a homely atmosphere parents often comment on how secure and settled their babies are at The Gower School.
There are two play rooms in Les Nounours, a main room and a quiet room where babies can feed, sleep and receive one-to-one attention. Babies enjoy our story area with lots of baby books and a regular story time. There is, of course, lots of discovery play, including treasure baskets, water play and messy activities such as painting and baking, and heuristic play, where babies explore real objects to develop their senses and satisfy their natural curiosity. The room is well equipped with toys, including many beautiful items made from fabrics and wood. We also have a mini staircase where babies can practice crawling and walking.
Everyday, babies in Les Nounours enjoy the outdoors, including daily walks in our wagons, daily trips to the park, and there is a dedicated, decked area in the garden where they go to play, and can see the other children, but are safely away from them.
Professional musicians join Les Nounours each week to run music sessions with our babies, including guitar, singing and percussion with Louise and piano, puppets and rhymes with Sarah.
All of our staff are training in Tiny Talk (baby sign language) and incorporate this into story time, music and everyday life. The Gower School is the only nursery in North London to be accredited by Tiny Talk UK, and we provide an annual workshop for parents on baby sign language.
Protecting our environment for the future is at the heart of the ethos of The Gower School, and we reduce our waste by using washable, real cotton nappies for all of our babies. These are kind to the skin and help children to toilet train sooner. When a baby is changed, they are changed into a school washable nappy. Children return home in whichever nappy their parent has provided. If you are interested in sustainable nappies, please visit http://shop.nappyeverafter.co.uk/