Devonshire mark International Men’s Day

Colleagues from Devonshire Day Nursery in Chiswick pulled out all the stops for their male team members as they celebrated International Men’s Day with a series of initiatives.

At the Ofsted-rated ‘Outstanding’ Day Nursery on Bennett Street, practitioners Alex Girvan and Josh Elliott were presented with a series of gifts to mark the occasion including beloved Harry Potter collectors figurines and sweet treats, as well as handmade cards from their Manager and messages of appreciation from adoring colleagues, thanking them for their valued contributions to nursery life and recognising them as part of the 3% of males working within the Early Years sector in England and Wales.

Named as “wonderful role models” by their Manager, Emmy Avery, both Alex and Josh are qualified with degrees and hold a wealth of experience, with Josh acting as Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator at the setting, with a passion for supporting children with additional needs. He is also described as “a firm favourite” of the boys and girls in the Ladybirds room, where he is Team Leader, and a “go to” for those who are struggling.

Alex has recently trained as a specialist in Early Interventions and leads an ‘Attention and Listening Group’ within the setting’s two-year old room. He also leads exciting science experiments once a week as his alter-ego ‘Science Sid’ in efforts to engage the children in ‘Science’, ‘Technology’, ‘Engineering’ and ‘Maths’ from a young age and foster a love for the STEM subjects, as well as having storytelling skills described as “second to none”.

Devonshire Day Nursery Manager, Emmy Avery explained;

“Alex and Josh are both the epitome of kindness and go out of their way to help their colleagues any way they can – they can be relied upon for advice, camaraderie and will gladly pick up any job thrown at them – in any room. They are not afraid of dressing up for events such as World Book Day and go all out for events for charity – with Josh being our Charity Representative. As their manager, they make me smile every day. They are truly special to the nursery.”

International Men’s Day was celebrated on Sunday 19^th November 2023.