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Wildflower Festival at Cedar Park Day Nursery

Celebrations were well underway at Cedar Park Day Nursery in Twyford as delighted children and colleagues dressed up for their very own Wildflower Festival.

Having recently earnt themselves a prestigious Green Flag with Distinction from Eco-Schools, the highest accolade in the international scheme, children from the setting on Bridge Farm Road were tasked with making festival outfits, where their creativity shone through with an array of colourful designs made from recycled and natural materials.

Each nursery room created one outfit for a child and one for a staff member, before taking to the stage for a special catwalk performance, as well as fun and games throughout the day.

It is for such activities that Cedar Park have scooped yet another Green Flag, which is awarded for exceptional environmental awareness and conservation practices, with initiatives including growing vegetables and creating habitats for wildlife year-round.

Cedar Park Day Nursery Manager, Rachael Main explained;

“Everyone had such a brilliant time making their outfits for the Wildflower Festival and we were so impressed with the effort that all our rooms went to. This was a fantastic way to celebrate our Green Flag victory and we are so proud to have our efforts recognised once again. Our children love the activities, which provide so many rich learning opportunities.”

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Celebrating the ‘Class of 2023’ at Knowle Green Day Nursery

There were bittersweet celebrations at Knowle Green Day Nursery in Staines as children marked the end of their time at the award-winning setting with a special graduation ceremony, surrounded by their friends, families and proud practitioners.

Dressed in their gowns and mortar boards, pre-schoolers from the setting on Knowle Green were delighted to collect their certificates of achievement, before posing for photos in front of themed backgrounds and receiving bespoke graduation frames containing their picture.

As part of the festivities before heading to school, children were captivated by a performance from The Nutty Natty Magic Show, as well as enjoying a celebratory graduation tea, complete with homemade sandwiches, cakes, vegetable platters and more.

Knowle Green Day Nursery Manager, Chanelle Weaver explained;

“We are so incredibly proud of our pre-schoolers and everything they have achieved in their time with us. They will be sorely missed, but we are confident that the experiences and learning opportunities that they have had at Knowle Green will stand them in the best possible stead for mainstream school. We can’t wait to hear about what they do next.”

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Supporting local businesses at Meadow View Day Nursery

There was excitement at Meadow View Day Nursery in Newport Pagnell as children and colleagues walked over to their local bakery to congratulate them on their opening day.

Owned by Alessandra, a parent from the award-winning day nursery on Westbury Lane, The Bakehouse is the newest addition to Wordsworth Avenue, which was visited by pre-schoolers bearing flowers for the delighted staff team to wish them luck in their new venture.

Having admired the array of beautiful cakes on offer, children made their way back to nursery, where they were thrilled to spot a starship robot making a delivery, inspiring a conversation on the technology, as well as role play activities including opening a bakery.

Meadow View Day Nursery Team Leader, Amber Donnelly explained;

“We had a brilliant time visiting The Bakehouse and the team were so touched by the gifts and well wishes from the children. We are so pleased to have this fantastic new business so close by, and wish them every success for the future. It will be hard to keep us away!”

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Green Park Day Nursery team showcase colleague appreciation

There were smiles all round at Green Park Day Nursery in Reading as colleagues made special gestures of kindness to show appreciation for their talented staff teams.

At the Ofsted-rated ‘Outstanding’ Day Nursery on South Oak Way, Chloe Roberts, who serves as the designated Partnership Councillor and representative for her colleagues at the employee-owned setting, showcased her creativity by making bespoke message in a bottle gifts for staff, complete with their best qualities written out in order to brighten their day.

As part of the festivities, which honoured the incredible contributions of the Early Years professionals and devotion to the children in their care, teams also enjoyed a spread of sweet treats, including a chocolate fountain with fresh fruit platters, cookies and brownies.

The occasion follows a string of events which put the talented team in the spotlight, most recently including the annual Childbase Conference and Ball at Coventry’s CBS Arena with host Stephen Mulhern, as well as annual long-service dinner.

Green Park Day Nursery Deputy Manager, Grace Critcher explained;

“We are lucky to have such a thoughtful team who go above and beyond to support each other and our nursery families. We have had a brilliant month celebrating their hard work, service, professional development and contributions to the local community, and are so grateful for everything they do to make the nursery such a brilliant place to be.”

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Celebrating 20 years of service at Maples Day Nursery

There was cause for celebration at Maples Day Nursery in Winchester as the team of Early Years professionals honoured their beloved colleague and Business Administrator, Nikki Millward, as she marked her milestone 20–year anniversary at Childbase Partnership.

Having previously worked at West Downs Day Nursery in Winchester, Nikki has been at Maples Day Nursery in the city for the past seven years, acting as an integral support to families and colleagues at the award-winning setting on Hatherley Road, overseeing the everyday running of the business and driving forward initiatives to help worthy causes as designated Charity Representative, this year fundraising for The Trussell Trust charity.

Over the past two decades, Nikki has contributed to the three million plus total raised by Childbase for charity during the last 30 years, organising and taking part in ventures including the Childbase 5k and annual Maples Pumpkin Festival, as well as having the opportunity to visit Budapest, Madrid and Edinburgh in her different roles with the company.

As well as being presented with flowers and gifts to mark the milestone occasion, colleagues threw a surprise ‘Nikkifest’ complete with balloons and cake, where they reminisced over the highlights of Nikki’s career, as well as being taken out to lunch by managers to celebrate.

Maples Day Nursery Manager, Sian Murphy explained;

“Nikki is such an important part of nursery life and the friendly face our families and colleagues first see in the morning. We are so incredibly grateful for her and everything she does to support us all and were thrilled to celebrate her with her very own festival. We couldn’t be prouder of all her achievements and feel very lucky to have her in the team.”

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Cedar Park Day Nursery scoop top eco-accreditation

There was cause for celebration at Cedar Park Day Nursery in Twyford as proud children and colleagues learnt that they had received another sought-after eco-accreditation.

Following a sustained environmental project and curriculum of ‘green’ topics involving children of all ages, pre-schoolers from the award-winning setting on Bridge Farm Road were delighted to scoop the prestigious Green Flag with Distinction, the top award in the international scheme which is awarded for exceptional environmental awareness practices.

The activities, which include growing herbs and vegetables, creating habitats for wildlife, crafting with natural and recycled materials and community litter picking sessions, are designed to promote the development of personal, social and emotional life skills, all whilst introducing children to basic maths, science and environmental messages ready for school.

Cedar Park also has its own dedicated Eco-Committee, which is led by devoted Eco-Representative, Amber Webb, and made up of a number of Pre-School children who take a lead role in ensuring the rest of nursery is environmentally considerate by ensuring resources like paper aren’t wasted, taps are not left running and that knowledge is shared.

Cedar Park Day Nursery Manager, Rachael Main explained;

“We are committed to giving children the best possible future here at Cedar Park and caring for the environment plays a huge part in that. The respect and care they have for the world around them is inspiring to see and bodes incredibly well for their adult lives. They absolutely love the activities on offer and are so proud to have their achievements recognised.”

Childbase Partnership has recently been named ‘Early Years Provider of the Year’ by Keep Britain Tidy for earning the Eco-Schools ‘Green Flag’ award in every single nursery setting, a record-breaking sector first, which recognises exceptional environmental awareness efforts.

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Language learning at Lime Grove Day Nursery

There was excitement at Lime Grove Day Nursery in Hemel Hempstead as the grandparents of one of the children made a special visit, having travelled over from their home in Spain.

Inspired by the experience, pre-schoolers were delighted to delve into co-research on the country using books and interactive resources, exploring famous tourist attractions including La Sagrada Familia, creating their very own Spanish flags and practicing basic words, as well as learning ‘Buenos Días’, which is the ‘Hello Song’ in Spanish to practice greetings.

To support the visit, colleagues from the Ofsted-rated ‘Outstanding’ Day Nursery on Park Road pulled out all the stops for the family, who speak limited English, creating bespoke resources in Spanish to give them a detailed overview of their grandchild’s day and learning journey, as well as using specialist ‘talking tins’ to record and translate detailed dialogue.

During the session, Nursery Practitioner, Sandra Reddyhoff showcased her Spanish speaking skills by helping the family and colleagues at the setting to communicate, acting as a translator and support for the group as they toured the exciting nursery environments.

Lime Grove Day Nursery Team Leader, Robyn Shuck explained;

“We are absolutely committed to supporting our families with English as an additional language and we use a variety of strategies to achieve this, including using voice recordings, key words, survival words, books and mantra lingua technology. It was an absolute pleasure to welcome our special visitors and this presented lots of lovely learning opportunities. We would also like to thank Sandra for being such an integral support during the visit.”

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West Downs Day Nursery celebrate 75 years of the NHS

Pre-schoolers from West Downs Day Nursery in Winchester were delighted to make a special visit to their local hospital as they celebrated the 75^th birthday of the NHS.

Dressed in their superhero costumes for the occasion, children and colleagues from the award-winning day nursery on Romsey Road walked across to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, bearing gifts they had specially created in arts and crafts sessions, including handmade cards and pictures to thank the dedicated staff for everything they do.

To express their gratitude further, West Downs families and colleagues held a gift collection for their local NHS hospital teams, with contributions including sweet treats and pamper items for them to enjoy in their downtime, which were also delivered during the visit.

As part of the experience, pre-schoolers were thrilled to receive a tour of the children’s ward at the hospital by devoted nurses, where they gained a better insight into the important work the NHS staff do each day, following an interest in occupations and people who help us.

West Downs Day Nursery Deputy Manager, Ren Norman–Greer explained;

“We had a brilliant time visiting the hospital and the children were so proud to hand over their homemade cards and gifts to the amazing NHS staff. We are very lucky to be just across the road, with many of our nursery parents making up the hardworking team, and we are so thankful for everything they do. This was a brilliant opportunity for the children and a great extension of our learning, we would like to wish the NHS a very happy 75^th birthday.”

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Woodberry Day Nursery mark Windrush 75

There were important learning opportunities at every turn for children at Woodberry Day Nursery in Winchmore Hill as they marked the 75^th anniversary of the Windrush.

At the Ofsted-rated ‘Outstanding’ Day Nursery on Church Hill, pre-schoolers started by delving into a suitcase of items for inspiration, before discussing and drawing the treasured possessions they would take with them if they needed to go on a faraway journey.

As part of the activities, which were led by Nursery Practitioner, Molly Forkan, children explored the ‘We Sang Across the Sea: The Empire Windrush and Me’ story book, which they used for reference as they created a special water tray to represent the journey across the ocean, using materials including sand, seashells, shaving foam and grassy land.

As part of the experience, children developed their mathematics skills as they used a piece of ribbon to measure the distance of the journey from Trinidad to England, as well as listening to stories inspired by the accounts of people from the Windrush generation.

Woodberry Day Nursery Quality Manager, Nikol Moravova explained;

“The pre-schoolers were captivated as they learnt about Windrush and the significance of the anniversary for so many people. Molly was able to deliver a hugely rich learning experience in a child-friendly way, which has given the group a much greater understanding of the world around them and better insight into the diversity within our community.”

22^nd June 2023 marked 75 years since the arrival of the Empire Windrush to Tilbury Docks. In 2018 this date was declared as a national day of observation, known as Windrush Day.

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Celebrating 30 years of Sandfield Day Nursery

142 years of service in one picture: (L-R) Kim MacGowan (20 years) Sheryll Fathers (20 years) Mary Ellis (19 years) Becci Worth (15 years) Rosie Lincoln (20 years) Sarah Parsons (20 years) and Kim Hambridge (28 years)

Sharing a birthday with the NHS, the pioneering Sandfield Day Nursery in Oxford pulled out all the stops with balloons and cake to celebrate 30 years since they opened their doors to generations of pre-school children.

Repeatedly rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, Sandfield Day Nursery in Headington, was the first nursery created in partnership with a hospital trust and the forerunner to other Childbase Partnership day nurseries supporting NHS workers on hospital sites.

The award-winning staff team put a large banner outside their nursery in Sandfield Road congratulating John Radcliffe Hospital workers on the 75^th birthday of the NHS.

Manager Kim Hambridge, who has 28 years at the nursery, said:

“I am so incredibly proud of everything we’ve achieved over the years. We are thrilled to be celebrating this anniversary, just a couple of weeks after winning Nursery of the Year at our annual company awards.

The team go above and beyond for our families every single day and are entirely devoted to providing outstanding childcare. It’s an honour to work with such passionate people, and watch our children continue to flourish as a result.”

“We would also like to wish the NHS a very happy 75^th birthday and congratulate the incredibly hardworking staff, many of whom are our nursery parents, for all the work they do. They are true heroes, and we never take it for granted”, she added.

Month: July 2023

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Wildflower Festival at Cedar Park Day Nursery

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Celebrating the ‘Class of 2023’ at Knowle Green Day Nursery

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Supporting local businesses at Meadow View Day Nursery

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Green Park Day Nursery team showcase colleague appreciation

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Celebrating 20 years of service at Maples Day Nursery

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Cedar Park Day Nursery scoop top eco-accreditation

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Language learning at Lime Grove Day Nursery

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West Downs Day Nursery celebrate 75 years of the NHS

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Woodberry Day Nursery mark Windrush 75

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Celebrating 30 years of Sandfield Day Nursery

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Cedars Day Nursery - Leighton Buzzard