Town and Country Kiddies to open nursery number six
Monday, November 28, 2011
Lincolnshire-based nursery group Town and Country Kiddies has invested 400,000 in transforming a former children's home into a state-of-the-art nursery which will open in the spring.
Based in Market Rasen, the new nursery will bring the group’s number of sites to six and provide between 18 and 24 new jobs for the town. It addresses the anticipated shortage of childcare capacity in the area, offering 66 additional places.
Town and Country Kiddies has been operating for 11 years with sites in Market Rasen, Louth and North Somercotes. Its nurseries in Louth and Market Rasen are currently graded outstanding.
General manager Louise Davies says, ‘The building became redundant when Lincolnshire County Council decided to close the children’s home in February. The property, which is a detached and extended house is very large at around 3,000 square feet and ideally suited for use as a nursery.’
Ms Davies says the company tried to obtain grant funding as an SME for the start-up but as this was not available under the current cuts, it raised the money itself.
‘However we have been very fortunate as a business and have seen ongoing growth and development at all our sites,’ she says. ‘Market Rasen in particular has enjoyed the benefits of sustainability with healthy waiting lists for places in the last two years.
‘When the former home came on to the market we were already in close liaison with Lincolnshire County Council about our plans to expand further into the town and this was too good an opportunity to pass up for us, especially as our existing site is opposite.’
She reports the new nursery plans to open all year round and offer childcare facilities from 7am to 7pm in line with the Government’s intentions for increased flexibility.
As well as opening up jobs for Level 3 trained practitioners, there will also be opportunities for young apprenticeships and work experience placements with local schools.
‘The new nursery site will share its management team with the existing nursery in the town which will help to drive down costs, keeping our services affordable for local parents,’ says Ms Davies.
Town and Country Kiddies has developed a forest schools curriculum and will be running a series of information workshops for parents in 2012.
‘Our whole staff team has been trained on the philosophy of forest schools so we hope to not only establish this into our play curriculums for all ages but to firmly embed this into our practice at all sites going forward. The new premises enables us to run forest school sessions on the site so even the youngest children can participate.’
Town and Country Kiddies has been operating for 11 years with sites in Market Rasen, Louth and North Somercotes. Its nurseries in Louth and Market Rasen are currently graded outstanding.
General manager Louise Davies says, ‘The building became redundant when Lincolnshire County Council decided to close the children’s home in February. The property, which is a detached and extended house is very large at around 3,000 square feet and ideally suited for use as a nursery.’
Ms Davies says the company tried to obtain grant funding as an SME for the start-up but as this was not available under the current cuts, it raised the money itself.
‘However we have been very fortunate as a business and have seen ongoing growth and development at all our sites,’ she says. ‘Market Rasen in particular has enjoyed the benefits of sustainability with healthy waiting lists for places in the last two years.
‘When the former home came on to the market we were already in close liaison with Lincolnshire County Council about our plans to expand further into the town and this was too good an opportunity to pass up for us, especially as our existing site is opposite.’
She reports the new nursery plans to open all year round and offer childcare facilities from 7am to 7pm in line with the Government’s intentions for increased flexibility.
As well as opening up jobs for Level 3 trained practitioners, there will also be opportunities for young apprenticeships and work experience placements with local schools.
‘The new nursery site will share its management team with the existing nursery in the town which will help to drive down costs, keeping our services affordable for local parents,’ says Ms Davies.
Town and Country Kiddies has developed a forest schools curriculum and will be running a series of information workshops for parents in 2012.
‘Our whole staff team has been trained on the philosophy of forest schools so we hope to not only establish this into our play curriculums for all ages but to firmly embed this into our practice at all sites going forward. The new premises enables us to run forest school sessions on the site so even the youngest children can participate.’
