Our children are divided into four or five groups, depending on the numbers we have at any one time.

Pre-school

The older children (5-6 year olds) attend pre-school Monday to Saturday. 

Upstairs and Downstairs

We have two classrooms at Bethany and the children are divided into upstairs or downstairs.

The upstairs group are the 3-4 year olds, whose daily routine includes lots of outdoor time and activities in preparation for pre-school.

The downstairs group are the 18month – 2 year olds whose routine includes toilet training, activities and playtime and sleep periods.

Dayroom and Nursery

The babies and toddlers occupy the day room.  If numbers are smaller, the day room is used during the day and the children go to the nursery at night.  If there are a lot of small babies, the nursery operates 24 hours, leaving the day room to the infants who are crawling and beginning to take first steps.

Our volunteers work with all groups of children.  In the day room they provide an extra pair of hands for feeding, changing, playing with and stimulating the babies and infants.  With the older children (3years and up) the volunteers assist by taking small groups (2-3 children) on walks, on the bikes or to the fun room. 

Fun Room

As the name suggests, the fun room is set up like a kindergarten or pre-school with lots of activities that are better suited to small numbers.  Here the volunteers can give one-on-one attention to the children, focusing on developing their motor skills and stimulating them intellectually.

OUR STAFF

We have a dedicated group of approximately 18 staff.  Most work in the role of caregiver and we have a social worker, part-time nurse, a health assistant, general assistants, cooks and laundry staff.  Most staff are members of the National Association of Child Care Workers (NACCW) and study towards child care certificates.  We also engage “casual” staff who can step in at short notice, if employees are absent, on leave or studying.