Chelmes Corbett Nursery Manager Abbey Nursery, Barking

Chelmes Corbett
Nursery Manager

My role here is to continue the amazing work with children and families that the previous management team and our current staff, have provided and to empower parents to become active participants in their child/children’s care and education. I have worked in childcare and education in neighbouring boroughs for just over 20 years, and I am passionate about providing children with experiences that nurture the love of life-long learning. At Abbey we aim to provide an environment where children are considered to be important individuals, regardless of their age, gender, religion, ability, race, culture or background. I look forward to working alongside you and your child/children and can’t wait to show you around.

Emma Townley Deputy Nursery Manager and Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) Abbey Nursery, Barking

Emma Townley
Deputy Nursery Manager and Special, Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO)

I have been working at Abbey Nursery since 2009 and with the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham from 2004. I have had over 25 years’ experience working in childcare. I took on my new role as Deputy Manager and SENCO in February this year and am looking forward to working alongside the parents/carers, my colleagues and other professionals to give the best possible outcomes for the children and parents who attend the nursery, providing an environment that the children can thrive in.

Lucy Elliott Third in Charge and Second SENCO, Senior Early Years Practitioner Abbey Nursery, Barking

Lucy Elliott
Third in Charge, Second SENCO, Senior Early Years Practitioner

I support the Manager and Deputy and I am also our settings 2nd SENDCo, working with Emma and the team to support children with Special Educational needs and disabilities. I am currently based in our Termtime Pre-school. I have been at Abbey Nursery for almost 2 years and have experienced working with all age groups at our Nursery. I love how rewarding our work is on a daily basis and look forward to meeting you and your child on one of our parent tours.

All our managers, nursery officers and nursery assistants have qualifications in early years and childcare and Ofsted has rated us a good nursery. The nursery promotes equalities and diversity in line with London Borough of Barking and Dagenham policies.

Ofsted stated in its report about the Quality of teaching, learning and assessment:

“The leadership and management team is strong and it demonstrates a good understanding of its roles and responsibilities. It evaluates effectively and continually improves aspects of the provision to provide a high-quality service. For example, it analyses parents’ questionnaires, gives feedback and publishes the results.”

“Staff are well qualified and have high expectations of children based on their accurate assessment. They observe children’s achievements and take notes about what they have seen.”

“They use this information successfully to plan rich and varied experiences that are appropriate to each child’s interests and help support their next steps of development. Staff understand that children learn through play. Staff enthusiastically engage and sing nursery rhymes, using the actions to help extend children’s learning.”

“Staff incorporate the targets of specialist services into their educational plans for the children. This helps to support all children, including those with additional needs.”

Our Commitment

We will provide a wide range of activities and experiences following the child’s interest in line with the guidance of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum 2012. The play-based curriculum of the EYFS will help develop your child socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually.

Our Learning Commitment:

  • all children have a right to positive learning experiences and high-quality care
  • what children can do, not what they cannot do, is the starting point in children’s learning
  • learning should be fun. Children learn through play, using all their senses
  • children need to be able to talk to adults and other children, and share their experiences
  • your child’s needs, interests, home language, family, community and culture are an essential part of the curriculum

Play experiences will:

  • be suitable for each individual child’s age or stage of development. Staff will follow children’s interests, when planning activities
  • be accessible to children of all cultures, races, languages and disabilities
  • be motivating and fun
  • build on children’s curiosity, interest and fascination with the world around them
  • develop children’s confidence and ability to care for their own needs, and allow them to choose their own activities and resources
  • build on and value what the child has learned at home, and use your knowledge and experience of your child’s developmental progress
  • include support for children with special needs, as set out in the ‘Special Educational Needs Code of Practice’
  • provide opportunities for children of three years and above to make good progress towards the ‘Early Learning Goals’, which are achieved at the end of the reception year

Partnership with Parents and Carers

Children benefit most when parents and nursery staff work together. Partnership is about making sure that parents and carers have enough information to be able to take part in planning their child’s development and any decision-making.

The nursery will respect your views and ideas. You will be kept fully informed about the everyday activities in the nursery, and we will encourage you to contribute your own particular skills to improve the programme:

  • you are welcome to visit the nursery at any time
  • you will have easy access to the nursery’s policies at any time
  • you will be involved in sharing information about your child, both formally and informally. We hold two parents’ evenings per year
  • you will be able to look at your child’s records at all times
  • you will be able to discuss your child’s progress with your child’s key person
  • staff from the nursery and the nursery will also be available to offer advice and support
  • we regularly provide information about nursery activities, events and any changes in routines
  • we welcome your comments and suggestions at all times

We will keep records of each child’s progress and share these with parents and carers regularly. All children follow the Early years Foundation Stage. This is a framework for the learning and development of all children from birth to age five. Please ask the manager if you can look at copies of these documents.