Our baby Room cares for babies from 8 weeks old to 16 months of age, at which point they transfer to our first Toddler Room.

Practitioners in the room are baby specialists and operate a 1:3 ratio. 

Practitioners support babies' in-built language abilities by talking and listening to them and tuning in to their needs.

The resources in the baby room are chosen carefully to motivate babies to talk. In the baby room every interaction is important, no matter how small. Responding to and making sense of the sounds babies make encourages them to talk back.

The room is led by Nicole Whittaker who is currently a part-time undergraduate at the University of Huddersfield and leads a team of specialist practitioners.

The room is large with a separate sleep room. This allows us to follow babies sleep patterns without impinging on the care of other children. Changing facilities are also close to but separate to the main play room. This allows  our practitioners to focus on each child’s emotional well-being.

You will be provided with a hesian bag that is to be used to bring into nursery everything that will be needed for your childs care; change of clothes, coat, hat, gloves, etc. We provide all nappies, creams, meals and snacks.

We provide plenty of books with quiet places where conversations and book sharing can take place. Babies listen to music, songs and rhymes (repetition is helpful) and make music, all of which are beneficial activities for developing speech, language and communication skills. Music is powerful because babies learn to listen out for different parts of the song. We offer a selection of instruments for older babies to shake or bang. Games (eg. peek-a-boo) help a baby to learn about turn-taking in conversation. Mirrors are a useful resource and are used in games that focus on the baby's face or features.

Lots of pictures, photographs and labelling around the room encourage children to point and vocalise. These could include names, colours, numbers or photos of animals or families. You could also provide family albums to encourage the children to point and try to vocalise recognition of familiar people — mum and dad, for example.