Welcome to Pandas, here is some information that will help you better understand how we work in this class, and how we can support you!
Entering in the morning
Before 8:30
On the left of the building is a black gate, to access the Pandas classroom, enter the gate (with your buggies if you want!), leave your buggies on the lower part of the garden and then walk up the wooden ramp with your child/ren and go to the back door of the Panda’s classroom. Please knock on the door and wait. One of the team will come to welcome you. Please do not open the door yourself. You will say goodbye at the classroom door, and the team will take your child in to play! Please remove your buggies from the garden when you leave. The code to the gate is 2021 #. Please ensure that the gate is firmly closed when coming in or out.
Between 8:30 and 9:00
At 8:30 the garden is locked, and you are no longer able to access the classroom door directly. This is because from 8:30 the children start to play in the garden. After 8:30 the children enter through the main door. Until 9:00 there is a dedicated team member on the door of the building, who will welcome your child and take them to their classroom. You will say goodbye at the gate. The team member on door duty is from a different class each day, so will not necessarily be from Pandas. If it is important that one of the Panda’s team welcome you, please arrive before 8:30am.
After 9am
The main entrance is staffed until 9am. After this time, you need to call the Panda’s classroom phone and ask a team member to come out to the street, via the main door to get your child. The team member may be busy, for example changing the children, running activities or taking the children to the garden or another part of the building, so arriving after 9am may mean that you have to wait a bit until someone is available to come and get your child. It will usually be someone from the Pandas class that comes out to get your child, although sometimes they may ask for help from another team member if they will be engaged and unavailable for an extended period.
Leaving your buggy with us
If you wish to leave them with us, fold them and store them in the buggy parking area at the front of the building. You need to stack your folded buggies neatly from the back first. A reminder, we take no responsibility for the safety or security of your buggy. If you choose to leave your buggy at the gan, this is completely at your own risk. Please read the full information about buggies by clicking here. Any buggies that are not folded will be removed from the buggy parking. We are aware that some buggies do not fold, and sadly we cannot accommodate a parking space for these. You will need to tie this up in the street nearby to the gan (or example in Mazeh square there is a bicycle parking that can be used), or take it back home with you.
What to bring
On the first day of attendance in the Panda’s class you need to bring a new drinking cup, clearly labelled with your child’s name (in English). You should also bring any dummies (pacifiers in American English!) and sleep toys that you wish your child to use at gan. Please note, NONE of these items will leave the gan again! These items stay with us for the year (or until they need replacing). If you wish to give your child a dummy for example when you pick them up, you need to have one with you. The items such as bottles, dummies and sleep toys that you provide us with, stay with us and do not travel between home and gan.
On a Sunday, we ask you to bring a Kit Bag for the week; this should include 15 nappies, 1 packet of baby wipes, and a changing table cover (ideally not disposable, it could be a ‘tetra’ for example). All these items should be labelled with your child’s name in English.
If your child still uses formula milk, you will need to provide this too. Clearly labelled with your child’s name and provide instructions to the staff on feeding routines. All of the children in Pandas eat solid foods, and as the year progresses children will withdraw entirely from drinking milk.
In addition, you are required to bring a Wet Bag, and 2 – 3 sets of spare clothes, that we can change your child into if they get dirty or wet. For some children, we will need to change them multiple times a day, and there are other children who manage to stay clean for the entire day! All clothes should be labelled with your child’s name in English.
Please do not send anything else that is not listed here. Please do not send a bag with the children with other things in it, such as spare water bottles, or toys or other items from home. We do not have the space to store additional bags or belongings, beyond what is listed above.
Communication with the team
At drop off
If you meet one of the team at drop off, you will have the opportunity to chat briefly, and let them know any key information. If you do not meet a team member (for example if you arrive after 8:30) you can send a whatsapp message to the classroom phone with any key information you need to pass on.
At pick up
A different team member is on duty each day to give feedback to parents. This person will meet with you outside the classroom door and give you brief feedback about the day, and share with you information about food and sleep time. There is also a daily broadcast message you receive each day with key information about what the children did, the staff on duty, and the lunch on offer. You must have the classroom phone number saved in the contacts in your phone in order to receive these messages.
During the day
If something happens during the day that the team want to inform you about, they will call you or send you a message or voice note from the classroom phone. If you wish to speak to a team member (either your child’s key worker or team leader); then please send a message to the classroom phone, stating who you want to talk to, and what you would like to talk about… and someone will call you back as soon as possible
Weekly feedback
Each week you will receive a voice message (between 1 and 3 minutes) of extended feedback regarding your child. This will be sent to you by the key worker, team leader or another classroom based practitioner. If you child is new, during the settling period you will receive more detailed feedback daily, either face to face, recorded or by telephone.
Calling or messaging the gan
Click here for the phone numbers of your class, the administrator, late club, Friday club and the manager!
You can send a Whatsapp message or call the gan phone for your classroom during day. The team cannot always reply to messages, or answer the phone immediately because they may be involved in care or learning activities with the children. Staff are asked to try and respond to all parent messages within two hours. If your call is urgent, or you need to talk to someone immediately, you may call the admin office on +972 54-6271708 or the manager on +972 54-6982969. The administrator or manager can go directly to the classroom to alert the staff to your need for an immediate conversation.
The Team
Your team leader is Johanna; and working with her is Thiago and Janice. Lauren and Liat job share; with Lauren working two days a week and Liat working 3 days a week. Janice will be away for the month of October as she must return to Australia for a short time. There will be a replacement for her during this period. We are also recruiting one further team member, who we hope to have in place by October, when all the children will be with us!
The Daily structure
The day structure in Pandas is flexible and fluid and can be changed or adapted based on children’s needs; especially at the beginning of the year. The programme is play based, where freely chosen play from a wide range of play and learning centres form the foundation of the plan. The Pandas classroom has a door which opens out onto the garden. From 8:30, this is open for most of the day (apart from sleep time), with staff based both inside and outside; the children can move and flow freely to access the garden and enjoy both the inside and outside offering seamlessly. There are daily adult let activities which the children can join in with if they wish; this includes a music and dance activity, sensory or messy play, a daily painting activity, sorting and categorising, fine motor and physical development. In addition, the children have two daily snack times, and a planned lunch time. They also have a structured circle time each day, and a story time.
Please click the link here to download the daily timetable so that you can see the times and organisation of the day.
Sleep time & Rest time
In pandas some of the children still take a morning nap around 8:45. This would usually be for up to 45 minutes. A section of the room is divided, and the sleeping children are supported by one team member. After lunch, this is the main nap, where the entire backside of the classroom is transformed into a sleep room, and the children rest for between 2 and 2 and half hours, depending on their personal sleeping habits. See the day plans to check the timings of the day. (Link above).
Pick up
Pick-up before 3:45pm
If you wish to pick up your child before 3:45 it is always a good idea to message the classroom phone in advance, with your expected pick up time. This is so that the team can help make sure your child will be broadly ready and available at that time. So for example they are not in the middle of water play, or a cooking activity in the Mitbachon! When you arrive at the gan, you should come to the main gate, call the staff in the room (not message) and ask them to bring out your child. If you left your buggy with us, please collect it and have it fully erect before your child comes out. There are no pick ups at all in the gan between 3:45 and 4:00 – this is so that the team can focus on getting the children ready and organised for the planned 4pm pick up time, without going in and out.
Pick up after 4pm
The main pick-up time for this class is 4pm – 4:25pm. Please enter the garden (leaving your buggies on the lower deck) and knock on the classroom door when you arrive. Usually someone from the classroom will already be standing outside to welcome you, and provide you with some basic feedback, and answer any questions you have. The children will come out one by one, as you arrive to pick them up. We ask that you pick up by 4:25, as the Leopards class come down and use the same exit, and they are released from the same door at 4:30.Please leave the garden as quickly as possible after to have your child, and avoid gathering outside the gan, as we want to keep it as clear as possible… we have 150 children to get out safely! Please do not bring bicycles or animals into the gan gardens.
Late pick up charges
We ask you to arrive on time to pick up your child, and if you wish for your child to stay late, then you make advanced arrangements for them to stay for the late club. Click here to see how to make a late club booking. Parents arriving after 4:30 or, if they have pre-booked late club after 5:30 are charged a penalty of 10 ILS per minute, per child (as per terms and conditions).
Friday Club
For children who are not new, and attending Friday club, you can attend as normal. For new children starting with us this year, you won’t start Friday club immediately, as it will be too stressful for your child. We use different rooms and have a different team working on a Friday, so it is important that your child is totally settled and comfortable with the routine and gan before they start attending Fridays. We recommend that this is at the end of the 2nd or 3rd week; but please liaise with your child’s team leader and key worker to agree when they are ready.
Calendar for this year
Please click this link to download the calendar for this year. It has our closure days and other important dates.
Some pictures of the Pandas Classroom!
Click here to access the gallery (updated daily)
