Step by Step
Kids' Nursery in Umm Suqeim

For the safety of our children, our extensive CCTV coverage runs throughout the premises. This includes classrooms, the outdoor area, the reception area and all entrances and exits. All CCTV footage is displayed in the Nursery Managers office at all times.

Definitely! At Step By Step Nursery, one of our guiding principles is care. As Early Years Educators we believe in caring exchanges that stem from a love of children. Care and love for one another and the environment forms the foundation for all that we do and supports young children to grow into compassionate, respectful, empathetic individuals.

Our Nurses and clinics are regulated by the Dubai Health Authority and the municipality to ensure that all requirements are met. If a child becomes unwell during the course of the day, the child will be kept comfortable in the clinic until a parent or carer is able to collect. Please note, our Umm Suqeim and Jumeirah branches do not have clinics and are supported by visiting Nurses.

At the start of the academic year, we have parent orientations and induction days for all new and existing children. These events are run termly for all newly joining families. Induction days are shorter days that enable your child to become familiar with the daily routines. They also provide an opportunity for information to be shared between parents and staff. 

For children who take a little longer to settle, we work hand in hand with parents and carers to ensure that the settling in period is comfortable and supported to establish a sense of trust and security.

For those parents who are unable to attend the nursery during the settling-in programme, we suggest you come and meet our Nursery Manager to find a comfortable solution for you and your child.

Parent orientation sessions are held prior to the start of each new term and are accompanied by a meet and greet with your child’s new teacher. 

This is a great opportunity for parents to become familiar with the policies and procedures of the nursery and to ask any questions they may have. Meet and Greet sessions also provide a great way to share information between parents and teachers such as a child’s interests, things to be aware of in relation to care routines and general information. Attending the setting prior to a child’s start also ensures that they are familiar with the layout and the room team before the first day. 

These sessions also give parents an opportunity to ask any additional questions and meet our Nursery Director and Nurse.

Parents of children who start at other times during the year are welcome to set up an appointment to meet with their child’s teacher individually.

Parents should provide a healthy snack and either a hot or cold lunch for their child. These should be clearly labelled with your child’s name and classroom. We are a nut free and pork free setting and encourage our parents to follow our healthy eating policy. Foods such as sweets/candy, high sugar drinks, cakes, biscuits, potato chips, etc should be avoided. Additionally, you should also provide:

• 2 spare sets of clothing
• Nappies, wet wipes and any barrier creams as required
• Sunscreen and a hat
• An old t-shirt for art and messy activities
• Water bottle

All of these items should be clearly labelled with your child’s name and class.

Your child will spend their day experiencing a range of age-appropriate activities planned by our Educators to support your child’s learning and development. Each class follows a daily routine, incorporating indoor and outdoor time, Arabic language sessions, Music and Movement, snack/lunch time and other activities.

Research shows that a high-quality nursery curriculum strengthens a child’s personal, social, emotional, language, cognitive, and physical skills. Keeping this in mind, at Step By Step Nursery, we use the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) for England as a framework and a Reggio Emilia inspired approach which embraces inquiry-based learning. We also have a set of guiding principles that lay the foundation for all teaching and learning and include Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking and Care. We believe that children learn best when they are actively doing, using real life scenarios where possible. This enables them to use all their sense when learning to develop the behaviours, attitudes, skills and knowledge they need to be confident and competent people. 

For children below the age of 2 years, we do not use devices in our setting. For nursery and Foundation children, devices such as IPAD’s are permitted for the purpose of research as part of our project work. For example, children may watch documentary style videos online to understand different homes around the world. Occasionally, educational programmes are accessed on devices to support specific areas of learning such as Maths games and visual discrimination activities. At Step by Step Nursery, we believe firmly in using technology only to enhance the provision and to add value to the learning opportunities. 

We take a positive approach to managing children’s behaviour and this begins with the formulation of ground rules by the children, for all users of the setting. These ground rules act as a clear set of expectations and boundaries that all members of the community are expected to follow. 

When challenging behaviour presents, we encourage our children to reflect on this and think about more appropriate behaviours. Our aim is for the child to learn to discriminate between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. When Thinking Time is necessary, the child is told in a calm but firm voice that the particular behaviour is unacceptable and is then removed from the situation to provide the space and distance to reflect. The child is given direction as to the acceptable behaviour, for example, ‘we take turns’ or ‘we share’ and after a suitable period of calm, can then rejoin the group. Thinking Time is based on the level of development and understanding of the child and any conflict is always resolved by focusing on solutions and positive behaviours. 

At Step by Step Nursery we refer to ‘potty training’ as supporting toilet independence. We understand that all children develop toilet independence at different stages and we identify the signs and indicators that suggest a child is ready to become toilet independent. Communication with parents and carers is key in working together to support a child, and common effective strategies and approaches should be discussed and agreed upon. We generally find that when parents and carers work closely together, toilet independence can be achieved quickly and effectively but this does require effort from all key adults. 

At Step by Step Nursery we know how important sleep is for your little one. It’s important that all children have enough sleep to support their development, in a safe and secure environment.

For children aged less than 2 years, an afternoon nap is encouraged after lunchtime. For children aged 2 years and above, a rest period is strongly recommended after lunch. 

We recognise parents’ knowledge of their child with regards to sleep routines and we will where possible, work together to ensure each child’s individual sleep routines and adhered to. However, staff will not force a child to sleep or keep them awake against his or her will.

Staff will discuss any changes in sleep routines at the end of the day and share observations and information about children’s behaviour when they do not receive enough sleep.