Nursery Management Today May/June issue

May/June 2020 Volume 19 Number 3

NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY

w F w Ch ollow w ec us .n k m ou @nm t-m t o tm ur ag w a g a z az eb ine i n s it e e. co .u k

Home visits The benefits

Flexible working It’s about time

Coaching skills Unlocking potential

Creating inclusive environments The industry leaders who paved the way

SCAN ME

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nmtcontents

Inside this issue...

MAy/June 2020 ● VoluMe 19 nuMBeR 3

Editor’s Comment............................................. 3 News................................................................................ 4 Nursery Talk.......................................................... 12 Cost, cost, cost. Claire Harding details the findings of their annual survey and the rising cost of childcare

Focus............................................................................. 14 14

A fond farewell. Briony Richter speaks to Jennie Johnson, MBE about her time in the sector and what she’ll miss about Kids Allowed

La Petite École Monaco........................... 18 Merry Monaco. Briony Richter looks into the unique La Petite Ecole Monaco and how it marries the Montessori method with a sustainable and creative focus

Manager’s Helpline......................................20 38

Keeping costs down. Shaz Nawaz highlights the importance of keeping accounts up-to-date to control costs and streamline business

Training...................................................................... 22 Training is key. Gemma Pawson gives her thoughts on how to unlock the potential of staff for the best results

Soapbox.................................................................... 27

44

Endless exploring. Briony Richter speaks to Lisa Behan and Conor Williams about how Little Forest Folks encourages great explorations and education outdoors

Westminster.........................................................28

Legal Advice......................................................... 42

Strange times indeed. Briony Richter looks at the initial Covid-19 response from the Government and what support there is for the early years sector

Hot Topics................................................................ 33

46

Surviving Covid-19. Amanda Hamilton explains the legal options available for nurseries who are struggling with insurance

Catering..................................................................... 44

Future is flexible. Susan McGhee points to an increasing demand for flexible working and the key trends driving it

Being sustainable. Annie Denny highlights the significant importance of reducing food waste across early years settings

Sector Viewpoint........................................... 34

Financial Advice............................................... 46

Conference success. Take a read of the highlights from the 2nd NMT Nursery Estate, Acquisition & Expansion Forum

Management...................................................... 36 Building for success. Tracey Storey speaks about the best strategy to continue delivering top quality services while continuing to promote an inclusive environment for all

Special Report.................................................... 38 48

Great Outdoors................................................ 40

Mental health awareness. Matthew Martin explains the importance of mental health in the workplace and the need to have measures in place for those who are struggling

A helping hand. Zoë Raven talks about the results of a research project that reveal the positive impact that home visits that can for both parents and children

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Cutting down the numbers. Jonathan Amponsah talks about how you can cut costs without losing out on efficiency

Spotlight................................................................... 48 Collaborate for success. Rosemary Collard points to the importance of maintaining a healthy culture of business to support everyone through Covid-19

Technology............................................................ 50 Embracing technology. John Ingham details the crucial need to harness data for safety and security

Property.....................................................................52

May / June 2020

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nmtcomment EDITOR

Briony Richter EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Dr Richard Hawkins MANAGING DIRECTOR

Vernon Baxter ART EDITOR

Rob Wheele ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Caroline Bowern T: 0203 746 2617 E: caroline.bowern@ investorpublishing.co.uk EDITORIAL ADVISERS

Neil Leitch Chief Executive, Early Years Alliance

Andy Morris Consultant

Sarah Steel Managing Director, The Old Station Nursery

Linda Baston-Pitt Chief Executive Officer, PurpleBee Learning

Susan McGhee Operations Director, One Parent Families Scotland

Rosemary Collard Director, Snapdragons Nurseries

Jennie Johnson Managing Director, Kids Allowed

Purnima Tanuku Chief Executive, National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

Email: subscriptions@investorpublishing.co.uk Tel: 020 7104 2000 Post: Investor Publishing Ltd 1st floor Greener House, 66-68 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4RF ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES Subscription rate, zero-rated for VAT: £65.00 if paying by credit card or invoice £58.50 if paying by Direct Debit (UK only).

Add £20.00 mailing charge for Europe Add £30.00 mailing charge for Worldwide Views and comments expressed by individuals in the magazine do not necessarily represent those of the publishers and no legal responsibility can be accepted for the results of the use of readers of information or advice of whatever kind given in this publication, either in editorial or advertisements.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission of Investor Publishing Ltd.

NMT is published 6 times a year by Investor Publishing Ltd, 1st Floor, Greener House, 66-68 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4RF. www.nmt-magazine.co.uk

© HAV 2018 Ltd ISSN 1476-136X

What strange times we live in

started my role as editor on February 24 and despite the stranglehold of Covid-19 I have been able to speak to many of you. Indeed, I met a lot of fantastic people at our NMT Estate, Acquisition & Expansion Forum and I look forward to working with all of you going forward. I also want to applaud Sue, for all the years she has given to NMT and for her support in handing it over to me.

We’re all adjusting to our new reality.

Covid-19 has paralysed the entire world, pausing society from the present and taking a step back from normality.

Scenes of lines for toilet paper and masked people were never familiar until very recently, and I’m often surprised at how normal it seems now.

Governments around the world have issued nationwide lockdowns, shut schools and nurseries and closed borders to stop the pandemic spreading.

It has put a huge strain on the early years sector and although we welcome the financial support packages from the Government, it is absolutely essential that these get to businesses and the selfemployed immediately to help them weather the crisis.

It does seem that the British public are, on the whole, adhering to Government advice to stay indoors as much as possible.

It is up to all of us to play our part.

Therefore, to ensure that we are complying with the guidance, we will take Nursery Management Today digital for the foreseeable future. This was not an easy decision but it was the right one and all content will be available for you, our subscribers.

Despite this, the virus has proven that even in the worst of times, humanity will band together. During my time as editor, albeit it has not been long, I have seen those across the nursery and early years sector join forces to support each other, lobby the Government and start online support groups to share information and strategies.

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It is massively important to keep communications between each other open and accessible and I will be here to do my part as well.

I have also enjoyed reading some of the heart-warming stories that are emerging around the world; children using their pocket money to buy shopping for their elderly neighbours; entire apartment complexes in Italy ringing with patriotic Italian songs and beautiful accordion tunes, and businesses turning their focus to making hand sanitisers and masks.

The same positivity came through in the people I spoke to across the past couple of months.

In this issue, I speak to Jennie Johnson, MBE about her time in the sector and what she will miss the most.

We hear about the benefits of flexible working from Susan McGhee – a style that we are all having to adapt to and I feel, after Covid-19 has passed, will become far more common. Rosemary Collard discusses how important it is that to show staff how much they are valued during tough times.

These are uncertain and worrying times for our society. But together we will all come out on the other side of this crisis, ready to help bring things back to normal.

Stay indoors, stay safe and take care. ■ Briony Richter Editor, Nursery Management Today E: Briony.Richter@investorpublishing.co.uk

Visit our website at: nmt-magazine.co.uk

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NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY 3

nmtnews ovid-19 has continued to plague industries all over the world. The nursery sector is one of many, many sectors to be impacted with staff shortages and continued lack of funding During these unprecedented times, Ofsted has listened to the calls of the sector and has temporarily suspended routine early years inspections. This however, excludes

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Ofsted suspends routine inspections amid Covid-19 outbreak those planned in response to any safeguarding issues.

Ofsted are in daily contact with the DfE to discuss the Covid-19 outbreak and its impact across education and social care.

Amanda Spielman, Her Majesty’s chief inspector, said: ‘I’m grateful for the Secretary of State’s permission to suspend routine

inspections. It’s clearly the right thing to do when teachers and social workers are under pressure as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. We all need to support them in their work.

‘We will monitor what’s happening across education and social care and we will reserve the right to inspect where we believe the safety of

children could be at risk, or we have other serious concerns. We will also continue to register and regulate social care providers, childminders and nurseries, so that these vital services can continue to support children and their families.’ ■

●

To access it, click on the Links icon at nmt-magazine.co.uk

Business rates draining the sector Pressure is mounting on the Government to exempt childcare providers in England from business rates, following in the footsteps of the measure being implemented in Wales and Scotland.

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May / June 2020

The nursery sector continues to struggle in the face of rising business costs such as staff wages, property rents and business rates. There are many providers who are not able to offer parents the Government’s 30 free hours of childcare entitlement because they are reimbursed at a much lower hourly fee than it actually costs to pay for high quality care.

A petition created by Debbie Moliterno, owner of Cheeky Monkeys Day nurseries calls on the Government to make nurseries exempt from business rates to help the sector improve and grow efficiently. The petition began in September 2019 and has now relaunched on the Government petitions website.

On the website, Debbie explains that after owning nurseries for 29 years she has never experienced such damaging times for the sector with rising costs not being met by the funding rates available.

Once the petition reaches 10,000 signatures or more, the Government is obligated to respond. Furthermore, if it surpasses 100,000 signatures, the Government must consider a debate in parliament.

Currently, the petition has reached over 7,600 signatures and can be found on the Governments petition website.

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nmtnews Nursery sector calls for more

Stepping up in crisis:

With the outbreak of Covid-19, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak announced a wide range of financial support measures for businesses, including business rate relief for the retail, hospitality and leisure industries.

Government funding for the 15 and 30 hours childcare offers will continue if nursery settings have to close, or where children cannot attend due to Covid-19. But, is this enough?

Purnima Tanuku OBE, CEO of NDNA, said: ‘While we welcome some of these measures, they don’t go far enough and there has been no financial support announced which will specifically keep our vital nurseries running.

‘It’s good news that the government will continue to give nurseries funding for places but this is only part of a nursery business’ income.

‘Nurseries are working round the clock to keep settings open and safe for children. If they are forced to close this will make it more difficult for parents to work and put more demands on informal childcare like grandparents.’

In a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Alliance, said: ‘We know that these are unprecedented circumstances and that the government is currently faced with the significant challenge of meeting the needs of a range of industries at a time when those needs are varied and sizeable. But the Treasury's silence on financial support for the early sector in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak cannot continue.

‘The announcement by the Department for Education on the continuation of 'free entitlement' funding if settings are forced to close due to Covid-19 was a very welcome one, but with many providers reliant on parent fees as a vital source of revenue, this alone is not enough to safeguard the sector.’

ovid-19 has disrupted every part of business across the UK. Many people are turning their attention to supporting their communities as much as possible.

Led by renowned chef and speaker, Leon Aarts, a group of trained chefs and volunteers have joined forces to support families, the vulnerable and key workers.

Compassion London is an independent charity that aims to tackle food poverty across the capital. The chefs and volunteers have been tirelessly working to prepare and deliver thousands of meals every day to vulnerable groups. The kitchens at the heart of the meal prep are part of The Yum Yum Food Company who are specialists in nursery and school catering.

The charity is also working closely with Westminster Council to support its vulnerable groups, including the homeless.

Annabel Karmel, London-based children’s cookery author and supporter of Compassion London, whose children’s recipes are prepared by the Yum Yum Food Company, said she was ‘hugely concerned’ about the undeniable impact of nursery, school and business closures on the most vulnerable families and individuals.

chefs feeding the community

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Leon Aarts

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Abigail Simon and Annabel Karmel

Together with Leon Aarts, she urges the public to help play a prominent role in ensuring that regular nutritious, hot meals are provided during the crisis.

Founder of the Yum Yum Food Company, Abigail Simon, said that its premises have the capability of producing up to 5,000 meals a day, but that the initiative relies on funding and support: ‘We can do this, but we can’t do it alone. Teams of volunteer chefs and delivery workers are working around the clock, but we need more help. Whilst we need more on-theground support to reach as many areas as possible, we are also reliant on donations. Getting a meal to someone in need costs about £2. One donation of just £10 enables us to provide 5 meals. £100 will help us feed at least 50 children a hot delicious meal.’ ■

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NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY 5

nmtnews Diary dates

Keeping kids occupied indoors

yTutor, the UK's leading online tutoring platform, discusses top tips to keep your kids occupied and learning.

Due to Covid-19 many parents in the UK are now faced with an unprecedented challenge: keeping their children occupied from home. As all schools and nurseries have now shut, it is now essential for parents to support their children's learning from home.

This is especially tricky for younger children. One of the tools to achieve this is to ensure that different areas of the house correlate to different subjects. If you have a garden, this is a great place for PE lessons to take place. Other useful life skills can also be taught during this time at home - such as basic cooking skills. ■

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Peddling away

Two of London’s social enterprises call for the Mayor and TfL to keep children active by introducing a bicycle scheme across all London’s nurseries Bikeworks a not-for-profit social enterprise based in London, has now donated a total of 200 bikes to London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), since their partnership began in 2018.

The addition of 16 bikes will be shared across LEFY’s 39 charitable social enterprise nurseries.

This partnership will support the LEFY-led initiative to combat London’s escalating childhood obesity.

June O’Sullivan CEO of LEFY commented: ‘Many children, especially those from deprived neighbourhoods, do not have access to a bike at home or simply an outdoor space to cycle.

‘As obesity rates among children skyrockets, we (as one of London’s largest charitable social enterprises), along with Bikeworks, want action to help address the country’s biggest public health crisis and what better way than learning how to ride a bike?’

Jim Blakemore, CEO of Bikeworks added: ‘Cycling helps tackle a range of key issues for today’s society, from reducing child obesity, contributing to children’s confidence and self-esteem, to reducing CO2 emissions and air pollution.’

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● Children & Young People now Conference 2020 10 Union Street, London Wed 30 September The 4th national conference on Safeguarding Children in the Digital Age will deliver learning for the entire children’s workforce. The conference will include information on understanding how the Online Harms White Paper impacts on the practice of education and safeguarding professionals and learning more about how children are using a full range of digital platforms. www.safeguardingdigital.co.uk/home ● EYMatters 2020

Nottingham Trent University Sat 10 October Wellbeing for All in Early Years 2 will take place in October after a successful inaugural event last year.

Keynote speakers to be announced soon. www.eymatters.co.uk/ey-matters-events ● TES SEN Show 2020

Business Design Centre, London Fri 9 to Sat 10 October 2020 The two-day event will include Seminars and masterclasses.

Further details on speakers to be announced soon. https://www.tessenshow.co.uk/london ● My Family Week 2020

Mon 12 to Sun 18 October My Family Week is the concept of international Early Years trainer, author and consultant, Laura Henry – creator of the BBC’s CBeebies Jo Jo and GranGran. During My Family Week, Laura will share a range of open-ended activities, experiences and provocations that early years settings, schools and parents can use to support children to tell their personalised story. admin@LauraHenryConsultancy.com ● Childcare & Education Expo 2020 Olympia London Fri 20 & Sat 21 November This year the Childcare Expo is changing its name to Childcare & Education Expo. Coverage is expanding to include more Primary education suppliers & speakers as well as the many early years products, seminars & workshops. As well as workshops, visitors can head to feature areas including The Nanny Hub and Mactivity Activity Zone www.childcareeducationexpo.co.uk/why-visit-london-ndna

For details of the above or to book a place, click on the Links button at nmt-magazine.co.uk

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nmtcompetition

2020

ursery Management Today and Freelife (by Ontex Healthcare) have joined together to award those special individuals working in nurseries who have gone above and beyond to make their nursery the best it can possibly be during this time of uncertainty during the Covid-19 pandemic putting the welfare of key workers children above anything else – your Rising Star!

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Do you know or work with someone who is a rising star in your nursery?

The Rising Star Competition will recognise the achievements of a member of staff who has demonstrated how they are a Rising Star within your nursery. There will be an overall winner and then 3 further runner up winners.

Working in a nursery is extremely rewarding and no two days are the same, certainly not right now! Do you have a Rising Star that has brought

something new or innovative to your nursery or has demonstrated incredible enthusiasm for the job and shows exceptional promise during this period? Now is the time to shine a spotlight on their success.

To nominate your Rising Star go to to nmt-magazine.co.uk/risingstar and tell us in 400 words or less why your nominated person deserves the award. All nominations will receive 5 packs of Freelife nappies.

Terms and Conditions • This prize draw is organised by Ontex Healthcare, Weldon House, Corby Gate Business Park, Priors Haw Road, Corby NN17 5JG. It is governed by the laws of England and Wales and it is subject to the following conditions.

• The prize draw is not open to employees or contractors of Ontex or any person directly or indirectly involved in the organisation and running of the competition or their direct family members • The prizes are up to the value of £200 of Love to Shop vouchers for the 3 runner-up winners in the November/December 2020, January/February 2021 and March/April 2021 issues of NMT. The overall winner collects £350 of Love to Shop vouchers in the September/October 2020 issue of NMT. • There is no cash alternative.

• No purchase is necessary to take part in the prize draw. The prize draw is open to UK residents only who are aged 18 or over • Closing date for entry is 1st July 2020 – all winners will be notified 21 days after the closing date.

• If the winners do not confirm acceptance of his/her prize within 7 days he/she will automatically forfeit the rights to claim for the prize. In the event of the prize not being claimed, Freelife reserves the right to select an alternative winner via any means that Freelife feel appropriate. By participating in the prize draw, you declare that you accept these terms and conditions.

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The Rising Star overall winner will be announced in the September/ October issue of Nursery Management Today and will win £350 of Love to Shop vouchers. The three runner -up winners will be announced in the November/December, January/ February and March/April issues of NMT. They will each win £200 of Love to Shop vouchers. ■

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nmteco matters

Clean air for children

f you, or any of your colleagues drive to work, or drive for work, then you should be aware that the days of diesel and petrol cars need to come to an end as soon as possible because of the air pollution they both cause. But we know that it isn’t always practical or financially possibly to walk or cycle to work, or to use public transport or share vehicles, nor to rush out and buy an electric car (EV), or even a hydrogen car, immediately. Having said that, for the sake of our children’s health, perhaps you would consider the following.

We can expect the government and local authorities, particularly citybased authorities to crank up tax or congestion charges in the short term and to ban petrol and diesel cars in the longer term, perhaps even stopping the sale of new ones as early as 2030.

Why? Because diesel fumes are killing and injuring our children.

Nitrous oxide (NO) and cyanide are very toxic, causing asthma, brain damage, lung disease, heart disease, strokes and cancer and these fumes are particularly damaging for children. Petrol fumes are killing our planet, carbon dioxide has formed a layer around our atmosphere which is

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Day in, day out, children are breathing dangerously high levels of air pollution. UNICEF state that across 86% of the UK, children are breathing in harmful levels of toxic air. Cheryl Hadland, MD and founder of Tops Day Nurseries and Aspire Training Team Toxic explains what sustainable efforts can be made to combat this causing the world to heat up, melting the ice, causing extreme weather, raising sea and river levels which cause floods; acidifying our water which is killing fish and coral. We have a climate change emergency on now.

Greta Thunberg, Extinction Rebellion; the Guardian; charities such as Greenpeace, Just One Ocean, and GECCO; broadcasters such as Sir David Attenborough, and many others have communicated in the past, and are communicating intensively now to make us react, yet many of us are lethargic, perhaps waiting for government to make us change our ways? Perhaps there is a perception that one person changing makes no difference – but each one of us can make a difference, and our

‘Let the early years sector role model sustainability, for the children we educate and love, please don’t wait.’

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effect cascades as others follow our good example. Let the early years sector role model sustainability, for the children we educate and love, please don’t wait.

You could start at your nursery by creating a sustainable travel policy.

This is not hard to do, you can use https://www.modeshiftstars.org/ just fill in the blanks and the policy will be created, or if you would rather, you are welcome to copy and adapt one of ours, see www.GECCO.org.uk or www.topsdaynurseries.co.uk – for free. The policy will include the public transport routes; your lockers, cycle racks etc. provision for cyclists, advice on car sharing and whether you have EV or electric bike charging at work, or not. ➤

First steps

nmtspecial feature ADVERTORIAL

he award-winning ranges from Pretend to Bee are industry renowned thanks to their high quality and attention to detail. The wide range of dress up lines are designed to be both long-lasting as well as easy to wear using durable, machine washable fabrics across all products – most costumes are designed with Velcro fastenings, elasticated waistlines and large openings so that they grow with children too.

The family run company Pretend to Bee has an unrivalled collection of costumes aimed at expanding a child’s imagination, encouraging them to interact with others and learn through play. Amongst our best sellers there are authentic Occupation role play costumes plus colourful Animal and Insect characters and Multi-Cultural costumes to help children learn about the world around them.

The business has also recently acquired the brand Active Learning – specialists in Soft Play equipment, ideal for Nurseries. Ranges include Soft Play Corners with colourful characters, versatile Cushions, Building Blocks and

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Pretend to Bee and Active Learning

Ball Pools. Best sellers include Sleep Mats, Changing Mats and Evacuation Trolleys all in fun colours and manufactured to professional standards in the UK. ■

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NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY 9

nmteco matters ➤ Warning: You may end up with an action plan once you have reviewed your provision.

At Tops we issue the policy at job appointment to help potential staff find a cost, carbon and air quality efficient way to get to work and home again. Also, as part of induction and reviews we check on how people are finding getting to work, and to training. There might be a colleague near them to share and you can ask if they would give you permission to give them their details.

You might be able to help them with a cycle/electric bike to work scheme loan which will help them buy a bike and safety equipment and clothes, (also for their children) and is tax efficient for both employer and employee. This may well help you with staff retention too.

If you don’t fancy the paperwork at this point there are some simple actions you can take straight away:

Stop colleagues and parents from idling their engines outside the nursery. Not only does this produce 150 balloons a minute worth of toxic fumes, but it is also illegal according to the current Road Traffic Act. Put some signs up to remind people – these won’t aggravate the parents you want in your nurseries, quite the opposite as they will know you are looking out for their children’s health and brains. (Photo of turn engine off sign)

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Don’t speed, even though you might get away with it and time is precious, because speeding produces even more toxic fumes, so is even more damaging to our children.

(This stopped me in my tracks)

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Stop ordering stuff for next day delivery, go for once a week or once a month to stop those diesel trucks outside your nursery. This will help the suppliers keep the prices down too. Ask suppliers if they can use electric delivery vehicles please, at least locally, like the milkman does.

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Have fewer waste collections, maybe once a fortnight, even with a bigger bin this will be cheaper for you as well as better for the children.

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Change your electricity supplier if you haven’t already, to a company that contributes renewable energy (wind, solar, hydro, tidal) into the grid instead of burning fossil fuels.

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Consider buying an electric car – perhaps not a Tesla, due to cost, but maybe a second hand Nissan Leaf, or an extended range vehicle like the Hyundai Kona if you need to hundreds of miles every day. The government subsidises the purchase of a new EV, and installing a charger at home. You pay no road tax, no pollution or congestion charges, the per mile cost is a quarter of a petrol or diesel car, and servicing is a mere £80 per year, about one eights of the cost of a petrol or diesel, as there are so few moving parts and the motor does a lot of the braking. You can charge your employer, or company 45p per mile when it costs you barely 5p a mile, which eats into any loans or lease or salary sacrifice contract you may have taken out to buy the EV. Yes, there are some downsides.

Make sure your manufacturer does not get the lithium in their batteries from Congo child labour – only 1% of all lithium, but definitely not

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something we want to endorse; and check the charging points in your area and your routes (app. called Zapmap) as long trips take some planning to avoid ‘range-anxiety’ because you can’t carry a spare battery in the boot, nor can you be towed. You need a flat bed trailer or a petrol compressor if you run out of juice (not good). But I promise you, you will feel so good, not polluting the air. And by the way, electric cars are really zippy, incredibly fast off the lights, super quiet and dead easy to drive. I think it will be a couple of years yet before hydrogen cars are a practical option for us.

Consider investing in solar panels – they will return your investment in the long term and you can then charge your electric car(s) and bikes on sunshine.

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Plant indoor plants, and trees outside to help clean the air.

So, let’s do something positive for and with our children, and share what you do with your local community, be proud to be cutting your carbon footprint, to be reducing air pollution. Let’s take care of our planet for our children.

If we all do this, half a million colleagues, in over 20,000 settings, and in our homes, our impact will be colossal. Thank you. ■

● Cheryl Hadland, MD and founder, Tops Day Nurseries and Aspire Training Team.

May / June 2020

Chair of Trustees and Founder, GECCO (registered charity supporting sustainability in the early years sector) UNICEF Clean air Champion

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On the Agenda this year...

2020 NMT Nursery Agenda

SOUTH WEST

FR EE !

fo rN ur se ry Pr ov ide rs

1st July 2020 DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Cadbury House

NMT Nursery Agenda

SCOTLAND 4 TH S e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 0 Hilton Glasgow, Glasgow

NMT Nursery Agenda

NORTH WEST 1 7 TH S e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 0 Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club

NMT Nursery Agenda

MIDLANDS 1st December 2020 Jurys Inn Hinckley Island Hotel This popular event uses a well-proven and much appreciated formula to offer nursery owners, managing directors and operations directors, as well as organisations providing products and services to the nursery sector, the opportunity to meet and decide whether they wish to do business together.

The event also offers those attending the chance to update themselves on the key issues in the nursery sector and meet some of the leading personalities.

This will be at no cost to nurseries!

Interested...?

If you are a nursery owner / managing director / operations director and would like to attend, OR, if you are a supplier and would like to book space or a sponsorship package, please contact Caroline Bowern – email caroline.bowern@investorpublishing.co.uk

Visit nmt-magazine.co.uk for more information and regular updates ALL DATES CORRECT AT TIME OF PRINT

nmtnursery talk

The rising cost of childcare It’s a subject that has gripped the early years sector… costs, costs, costs. Claire Harding, acting head of Coram Family and Childcare details the findings of their annual survey and what the Government should do to support the sector oram Family and Childcare’s annual survey into the cost of childcare has revealed that prices have soared once again in the UK. The Childcare Survey 2020, published in February, finds that the average price of 25 hours of nursery childcare for a child under two has risen by 5 per cent to £6,800 per year. This year’s report also illustrates great variation across the country in the price and availability of childcare. This ‘postcode lottery’ means that families in London are set to pay £165.47 per week for a part-time nursery place, whilst parents based in Yorkshire and Humberside will pay around £113.76 for the same number of hours.

We know that time spent in highquality early years education can have an extremely positive impact on a child’s development all the way up to GCSE level. Childcare settings enable young children to interact with each other and make friends, preparing them well for a smooth transition into the school environment. As part of our research at Coram Family and Childcare, we regularly speak to parents about their experience of using childcare and many tell us about the positive changes they have seen. One mother based in London told us that she had been worried about her son making friends because he was too shy to play with other children before he started nursery. However, after

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regularly attending a new setting, he started to display more confidence around other children and enjoyed their company. Time spent in nursery also contributes to early learning by developing key skills in numeracy and literacy.

Parents and their children must not be shut out by the cost of childcare. The benefits of early education are simply too important.

There is support available to help families with these costs, but we know that a significant number of eligible parents do not apply. In fact, there are seven different types of childcare support depending on families’ individual circumstances, and many parents find it difficult just to find out what’s available to them. For example, there are misconceptions around the 30-hour entitlement for three and four-yearold children and some parents who would like to use less hours believe that they have to take-up all 30 hours in order to be eligible.

Parents have told us that early years staff have played a vital role in providing information about childcare support. One mother told us that when she visited a nursery

Claire Harding, acting head of Corum Family and Childcare

for a tour, she didn’t know if her family could afford a place even though she was very keen for her child to be around other children in a friendly and stimulating environment. The nursery manager in the setting told her she would be eligible for the 15 hours entitlement for two-year-old children and encouraged her to visit the Childcare Choices website. Without this key advice from nursery staff, her child could have missed out on the opportunity of early years education. Information about support is vital for encouraging take-up and childcare staff can make a significant contribution to this project.

We want to see Government regularly review the funding rate for free early years entitlements to make sure that they meet the cost of delivering high quality childcare.

This includes recognising the value of childcare professionals through pay, professional development and representation. The care of the youngest people in society is an invaluable job and we want to see a robust system of early years funding. ■

● Claire is the acting Head of Coram Family and Childcare. She has worked with Corum Family and Childcare since 2016, previously as the Head of Research. Before joining Coram Family and Childcare, she worked in research and community engagement for a mental health provider and a specialist public sector consultancy.

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nmtspecial feature ADVERTORIAL

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42% said the most important thing they want from a nappy is that it doesn’t leave red marks or cause skin irritations.

It seems these savvy shoppers aren’t skimping on price either with a staggering 82% saying they don’t choose nappies based purely on price. Surprisingly, the research also revealed that 51% prefer to buy nappies in a store and only 25% online.

Furthermore, parents are open to trying to new brands with only 28% remaining loyal to a particular brand.

The good news for these knowledgeable parents is that Ontex Global is here to let little ones run free with the launch of new FreeLIFE by Bébécash, a new range of nappies and pants from new born baby to potty-trained toddler. ■ ● Prices start from £3.93 per pack, available at www.id-direct.com and distributor wholesalers from April 2020.

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NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY 13

nmtfocus Jennie Johnson MBE, founder and CEO of Kids Allowed, has a wealth of experience across the nursery sector. As she steps back from the helm, Jennie speaks to Briony Richter about her time in the industry and saying goodbye to Kids Allowed he nursery industry is a dynamic and challenging one that requires inspiring and innovative role models to steer it forward. Jennie spent her time and energy ensuring that while building her business she got the best people who had the passion and experience to deliver an exceptional experience for both children and parents.

Across her career, Jennie’s commitment to the sector has been celebrated at the highest levels. In 2017 she won CEO of the Year award and in 2019 she was named Business Woman of the Year. Of course, her services to Apprenticeships was recognised with an MBE in 2016, a system of training that Jennie believes fits perfectly into the nursery sector.

Jennie’s journey began over 15 years ago when she started Kids Allowed and her story resonates with many nursery owners who have started up their own business.

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An interview with Jennie: Looking back on her Kids Allowed journey BR: What brought you to form your own nursery business?

JJ: It was a typical story I think among many nursery owners that I

‘Learning through play is what most of the sector have been doing for decades but it’s really important to keep informing the Government and regulators that this is the right and best way for the age group we look after.’

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couldn’t find childcare I was happy with for my own children.

I always caveat that now because that was 17 years ago and the sector has moved on in a positive way and whilst the sector remains a mixed bag, if I had been looking now, I’m sure I would have found many fabulous providers too.

BR: Once you knew this is what you wanted to do, what became the vision for Kids Allowed?

JJ: When I look back at the very original business plan, the vision

nmtfocus was very much to deliver a stepchange in what was available.

There were a lot of things in the sector at that time that I wasn’t happy with but one of the things I really wasn’t happy with were the facilities that were being used for nursery sites. I was very conscious that many facilities were just not fit to purpose.

Again, 17 years ago there were issues around staff communication

and motivation. For me it was about creating everything I was asking for as a parent. After getting building permission and the funding to start, the biggest thing for me was recruiting amazing talent and then totally transforming how people viewed working in the sector and creating a professional and creative team. That was the biggest challenge at the beginning of my journey.

BR: And although the sector has come on leaps and bounds, recruiting and retention are still significantly impacting nurseries.

JJ: Absolutely, recruitment and retention remains a massive issue in the sector and this is due to a number of reasons. Over the years the government has announced ill thought through policies such as the requirement to have a GCSE in Maths and English which it then had to reverse, and whilst of course on paper it seems a sensible idea, in my opinion that is not necessarily a requirement for a child care practitioner. As much as it is good to have a GCSE in Maths, having a passion to teach three to five-year old’s a love of Maths is a very different thing.

BR: You were awarded your MBE for services to Apprenticeships. Do you think that learning on the job is the way forward?

JJ: I personally believe that the Apprenticeship approach works effectively for the sector. It is 20% learning in a classroom or “off the job” and 80% “on the job” and Kids Allowed Academy which delivers Apprenticeships was all about instilling that deep working knowledge in people that were already passionate about the sector.

An ever-changing industry BR: It’s a constantly evolving sector. In your opinion what have been the most challenging aspects of running a nursery business?

Jennie Johnson CEO of the Year 2017

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JJ: There are so many challenges in our sector, it’s such a complex sector to work in. Many of the challenges we are completely fine with and appreciate that they come with the nature of the job. There are always going to be challenges with recruitment, training, funding and parents.

However, I think the biggest thing that causes unnecessary and relentless stress is unfortunately our regulator. For me that was the tipping point where I made the decision to leave. It was the right ➤

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nmtfocus ➤ time for me to move on from the

sector. It’s such a shame because the people that work in Ofsted are mostly really nice individual people but the tasks that they have been given and the ideas about how to get results are just utterly flawed.

The regulation mentality becomes all-consuming for the sector and it distracts providers from what really matters.

And it’s not just the Early Years, it’s the whole education sector. If you speak to any headteacher or teacher there are very few that would say that they look forward to an inspection or that they feel they can be guaranteed a fair inspection.

Over the last few years we have had some fabulous inspections and unfortunately a few bad ones and when this happens there’s no effective redress despite our best efforts. For me, it just became a toxic working environment and one I no longer wanted to work in.

BR: Looking at the sector as a whole, what are some of the biggest trends emerging that will become more significant in the future?

JJ: There’s a real passion in our sector that learning through play is best for children. Learning through play is what most of the sector have been doing for decades but it’s really important to keep informing the Government and regulators that this is the right and best way for the age group we look after. The whole issue around school readiness being directed to us to get children ready for primary school.

In fact, we believe that schools should be ready for our wonderful children and that there should be a much better transition for the children.

The ongoing challenges with our regulator are still there but I think the biggest risk for our sector is the lack of credible funding from the Government. Appropriate funding would glue it all together; it would mean staff are paid better, making recruitment and retention easier and it would allow us to invest in the best training. It’s all simple and straightforward when the funding is right, but right now that isn’t the 16 NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY

‘We created a culture where employees could freely speak up. A part of safeguarding is creating a workplace where people aren’t fearful of admitting mistakes.’ case and some nurseries are struggling to figure out how they are going to pay the wages at the end of month.

BR: Of course, increasing the National Living Wage is overall a positive step, but for it to be sustainable the government must offset the costs by reducing others.

JJ: Absolutely and let’s be clear, wages increasing is a good thing and it’s absolutely right that the people working in our sector are paid well for the amazing job they do but the government funding is not increasing in line with costs as it should be. Because of this there will continue to be more closures.

A lot of the nurseries that can’t cope with the increase in wages and lack of funding are often those in deprived areas where the children need that support and education even more.

BR: How have you managed to maintain an open and fair work culture throughout the years?

JJ: At Kids Allowed we had a number of mantras around this and one of them was to ‘challenge the nonsense’ and what we meant by that was creating an environment where employees could hold their hand up and say ‘why are we doing this?’, but it also fostered an openness that recognised that the answers could come from all colleagues.

We created a culture where employees could freely speak up.

A part of safeguarding is creating a workplace where people aren’t fearful of admitting mistakes.

If they are scared then that could lead to them making the wrong and potentially dangerous decision to hide it. Nobody wakes up in the

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morning to make mistakes but if you make one, just hold your hand up and then we can look further into why it happened – whether it was a policy issue, an individual issue or a training issue. On rare occasions it is a competency issue and we deal with that but for me the majority of the time it’s a genuine mistake in the moment which can be resolved very quickly and we learn from that together.

When you have a culture of openness and honesty, we can best look after the most precious little person a parent has.

The three keys things are to focus on are giving the children a fantastic day, on making parents happy and finally making it a great place to work. Happy children, happy parents, happy colleagues.

BR: Over your time in the sector what have been some of your industry highlights?

JJ: Oh, there are many. Without a doubt, one is the network of passionate providers that I’ve met along the way that have become life-long friends.

Also, the movements that I have been involved in like the Ofsted Big Conversation. We grew that from a meeting where around 60 providers turned up to over 600 providers.

That’s been a phenomenal success.

The Academy has helped us transform the lives of staff and encouraged people into a sector which they never considered. Of course, getting an MBE for services to Apprenticeships was a big moment.

BR: What will you miss the most?

JJ: I will miss the children, the parents and the colleagues. I won’t miss the regulators and the masses of red tape. ■

Recognising excellence

in Scotland The 7th Scottish NMT Nursery Awards will be held on Friday 4th September 2020 at the Hilton Glasgow, Scotland MAIN SPONSOR Following the huge success of the sixth Scottish NMT Nursery Awards last year, NMT Magazine are delighted to announce that the seventh Scottish NMT Nursery Awards are now open!

Exciting news – the Scottish NMT Nursery Awards are returning in 2020 for a seventh year and we are thrilled to be supporting this fantastic event as Main Sponsor!

Morton Michel is known as the UK’s leading childcare insurance specialist. For over 25 years we have provided specialist cover for nurseries and are proud to protect the assets and interests of almost 4,000 nurseries nationwide.

Our nursery insurance package includes a range of additional benefits such as FREE Early Years training from award-winning flick learning, access to our FREE Early Years Advisory Service provided by Croner-i, a FREE counselling helpline and lots of discounts for you, your staff and your business as part of our exclusive ChildCare Club!

The Scottish NMT Nursery Awards are designed to discover and reward the very best people in the Scottish nursery sector. Here at NMT we are delighted to announce that our Main Sponsor will be Morton Michel.

To enter, complete the online Entry Form at:

www.nmt-magazine.co.uk/scottishawards or email: events@investorpublishing.co.uk #ScottishNMTAwards

@NurseryManagementToday

@NMTMagazine

2020 CATEGORIES: ■ NURSERY TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT AWARD ■ INDIVIDUAL NURSERY AWARD ■ NURSERY INDOOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AWARD ■ NURSERY TEAM AWARD ■ FOREST OR BEACH SCHOOL / KINDERGARTEN AWARD ■ NURSERY MANAGER AWARD

We are really excited to be celebrating excellence in the Scottish early years sector this September and look forward to meeting many of you soon!

■ NURSERY AREA MANAGER / OPERATIONS MANAGER AWARD

Sue Lee Managing Director

■ NURSERY GROUP AWARD

■ NURSERY OUTDOOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AWARD ■ NURSERY NURSE / CHILDCARE WORKER AWARD ■ NURSERY ROOM LEADER AWARD ■ NURSERY PERSONALITY OF YEAR AWARD

CATEGORY SPONSORS

For sponsorship opportunities please contact Caroline Bowern; caroline.bowern@investorpublishing.co.uk

CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES: FRIDAY 15th MAY 2020

nmtspecial feature ADVERTORIAL

La Petite École Monaco: inspiring minds, fostering confidence La Petite École Monaco is a small school with a unique vision that creates positive and inspiring relationships with children to allow them to confidently enter the next stages of their school journey ehind this remarkable school are Stephanie Ayre and Aviv and who co-founded La Petite École Monaco.

Following her unique educational journey with their three children across three continents, Stephanie Ayre studied international law in Paris at Assas Pantheon Sorbonne and then trained as a Montessori teacher and studied nutrition. Her exposure to different schools and techniques with her children led her to open La Petite Ecole in Cap d'Ail in 2016 and then, following its success, co-founded La Petite Ecole Monaco and is the school’s director.

Prior to co-founding a school, Aviv was and still is a security specialist and volunteered in the humanitarian world including being part of an emergency team in South East Asia for during the 2004 Tsunami disaster.

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At La Petite Ecole Monaco, he leads the humanitarian aid projects coordinated by the school.

The school really is like no other; from its unique design, its philosophy and its curriculum, the entire school has an eclectic and creative atmosphere.

Its philosophy is one that has become increasingly renowned globally - the Montessori Method.

This method of schooling focuses on personal development and selfconfidence, rather than purely just exams. It is widely acknowledged that this way of teaching produces more mature, creative and socially adept children.

It veers away from traditional methods that have a set timetable for each and every activity. Instead it is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. In La Petite École Monaco, children make their own creative choices in their learning, while the highly trained teachers guide them through the curriculum and avoid interrupting the working of the children’s mind.

The school perfectly marries a leading educational curriculum with a caring and child-centric approach.

Stephanie, Aviv and their entire staff quite rightly believe that every child has a natural curiosity and desire to learn and their main role is to nurture that curiosity in a safe and positive environment.

As an independent school, anyone is able to apply. That being said, it is a small school and so there are not many places available. Parents who wish to send their child there can make the application directly to the school and based on what space they

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have the school will make a decision.

Reflecting what is on offer, the nursery fees are €24,000 for the early years. This fee rises a little for older students wanting to attend.

La Petite École Monaco caters to children of both local and international families alike and has a completely bilingual programme in French and English. Some of the children from families of nationalities further afield come to the school speaking neither French nor English but there is always a native French and English-speaking teacher in each class as well as an assistant to support them in their language learning.

The school is Cambridge International Education certificated school and integrates its curriculum between this, the UK curriculum and the French curriculum. Furthermore in every skill learned, the school takes the most advanced of the three curriculums.

The Principality has 139 different nationalities but the school and its philosophy are designed to welcome and respect all cultures that come to learn. It boasts a family-like and caring culture that open its doors with a smile every morning to greet the children.

It’s Montessori- based curriculum is elevated even more by its international, modern and advance teaching methods. It includes, but not limited to, Singapore Math and Jolly Phonics-all provided in bilingual English-French classrooms.

Every lesson is carefully designed to teach the children the best standard of education. Teaching

Integrated curriculum

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children languages, maths, geography and other subjects, merges seamlessly into Montessori philosophy of letting children lead their own interests.

At the core of this, is a community led relationship between parents, teachers, and children. Working alongside each other allows the school to provide individual support and guidance to each and every child.

But having fun is also a massive part of the school ethos. There is a wide variety of extra-curricular activities that range from yoga, music, and science, to sport and art.

The school makes a point of including all the children in its ecoefforts. The children helped plant trees and take care of the garden.

After the bushfires in Australia, around 1,200 trees were planted on behalf of the school.

The environment is a significant part of what makes the school unique. It is completely kitted out with sustainable materials and environmentally friendly furniture and toys. Everything the children eat are from healthy balanced menus.

Providing help for those less fortunate is a large part of the school’s character. Therefore, La Petite École Monaco joined forces with Mission Enfance and completed a humanitarian project in Laos.

The first school in Laos educates around 120 children. It was a great success and the children that are now receiving an education otherwise wouldn’t have if the school had not been built. The construction of the school was completely funded by La Petite École Monaco. Now there are three schools educating children across the county.

In May 2019, the school partnered with the Foundation Prince Albert II de Monaco, to promote environmental causes both in Monaco and around the world. The school has developed an environmental curriculum that the children are taught all year round.

Furthermore, as part of partnership, the school has planted a tree per student and staff member in India.

The projects don’t stop there. The school assisted in the reconstruction

As one of the co-founders has a history in the humanitarian sector, it is no surprise that we find the same passion for helping others in the school.

of an animal shelter, managed by ‘Let the Animals Live’. La Petite École Monaco also assisted in the acquisition of equipment, serving 100 abandoned and abused dogs that can now enjoy new in-door and outdoor playing areas.

It is certainly a school like no other.

Children attending La Petite École Monaco will benefit from a hands-on approach to learning, getting to develop their creativity while also learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

The open-space and community feel of Montessori classrooms along with a child-centric focus fosters peer-to-peer learning which can naturally lead to growth and selfconfidence.

What La Petite École Monaco delivers is a world-renowned style of education, but it also embraces the mindset to allow independence among its students.

Fostering independence and freedom of choice also cultivates children’s curiosity and fosters a love of learning that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. ■

Humanitarian efforts

● Founders: Stephanie Ayre, Aviv Pode M: (+33) 0640617717 E: info@la-petite-ecole-monaco.com W: www.la-petite-ecole-monaco.com

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nmtmanager’s helpline

Keep your accounts up-to-date and

slash costs Keeping accounts up-to-date will cut even more costs and enable nurseries to run even more efficiently, says Shaz Nawaz very business needs to keep accounts, and I can understand that if your primary skills do not include bookkeeping, then this can be a bit of a burden. Often a review takes place only when your accountant makes the annual requests for your books and records.

Typically, your year-end will go like this:

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You provide your books and records and other relevant information. ● Your accountant reviews these and raises bookkeeping and other. queries with you, for clarification ● Preparation of accounts to draft stage with draft tax computation. ● Review meeting with you. ● Approval of accounts. ● Filing of accounts at Companies House (if you're a limited company) and filing of accounts and tax return at HMRC. ●

In my experience, there's often a significant gap between the accountant's request and the client producing the books and records, and that's usually because the bookkeeping and other documents are being hastily up-dated. It's not 20 NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY

unusual for accountants to be faced with a mass of receipts, missing details and unreconciled bank accounts, which all have to be collated and updated before the main work can begin. This has a real impact on the fee which your accountant will charge.

So, as a basic first point, if you keep your books up-to-date, your annual accounts should cost you less. It's also worth remembering that the directors of limited companies have a statutory duty to have the company's up-to-date financial information available.

Annual accounts are, by definition, retrospective, and, although it's useful to be able to see how the recent year compares to previous years, your accountancy procedures can offer you so much more in terms of monitoring and forward-planning. One strategy you may want to consider is having monthly or quarterly management accounts. This term can cover many features, but the basic principle is that they will provide 'management information' relating to a shorter period than the annual accounts. So although they are still retrospective in nature, you can spot

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trends, such as increasing expenditure on, say, agency staff, or a reduction in fee income, and take the appropriate action sooner rather than later.

Your management accounts (unlike your annual accounts) need not be in a standard format but can be tailored to give you the business information which you need to manage your business efficiently.

For example, you may want to break down expenses into several different categories, and the more precise these are, the easier it will be to see where the money is going and, more importantly, where savings can be made.

I can't stress enough how useful a tool these are, especially if you combine this with measuring your actual figures against your projections. If you involve your accountant in the preparation of management accounts, or at least in a regular performance review, you'll not only save time (and therefore expense) at the year-end (because a lot of the work will already have been done), but you'll have the benefit of accountancy and taxation advice before you make important decisions.

Allied to management accounts is the concept of cash flow forecasts and budgets. The idea is that you should work out what your income and expenditure should be over a specified period and plot the actual figures against the projected ones.

As you can see, this only really works as a management tool if you keep it up-to-date.

Cost Management

nmtmanager’s helpline It also goes without saying that for this to be a useful management strategy, you need to know what statistics are the important ones – I call this 'knowing your key numbers'. It's surprising how many businesses there are where the business-owner's only barometer is profit. There are very few businesses that do not have the capacity of improving performance and, therefore, profitability.

For a nursery, I'd suggest the following as likely key numbers:

Fees.

Number of children in a setting. ● Number of vacancies. ● Numbers for full daycare, and for sessions (occupancy rates). ● Numbers in different categories (babies, toddlers, pre-school). ● Average duration of attendance at nursery. ● Number of enquiries. ● Number of leads which result in places being taken (rate of conversion).

Income drivers

● ●

Salaries (including SSP, SMP, SPP and SAP), employers' NI and workplace pension. ● Ratio of staff to children in different categories. ● Staff recruitment costs. ● Staff retention rate. ● Training. ● Sickness absence and use of bank staff. ● Debtor days. ● Average credit period from suppliers. ● Advertising and promotion events (plus resultant take-up). ● All the overheads of running the nursery (e.g. equipment, light & heat, insurance).

Cost drivers

●

You can break these down into as much detail as you wish, but the point is not to list each and every category, (your accounts will show you that), but to identify the ones which are most significant to the level of income or the level of costs.

How does all this fit into up-todate accounts slashing your costs?

Well, the more up-to-date your bookkeeping is, the more easily you can spot ways in which you can make savings and relate expenses

categories to income, for example staff costs where the age of the children result in a higher staff-tochildren ratio. With a budget and actuals, you can see, month by month, whether or not you are meeting your targets. Measuring achievement is as vital a part of business planning as knowing what you want to achieve – in other words, how do you know when you've got there?

So, although record-keeping may seem a somewhat mundane aspect of running a business, it's a very necessary one. It's the building blocks for what most businessowners find really exciting – looking at your accounts, finding out how far you've got, and planning the next stage.The downside of record-keeping is that it is very easy to let it get into arrears, particularly if you are doing the day-to-day bookkeeping yourself, as well as trying to run the nursery efficiently.

But – you don't have to do it all yourself. If you enjoy the recordkeeping side, fine – it will give you a great day-by-day perspective on the business. But if you don't, why struggle to do something you don't enjoy? There are plenty of people with the right skills, so why not recruit one of them as part of your team? A good computer programme, that is appropriate for your industry sector, removes a lot of the drudgery from recordkeeping. However, it will only be as good as the person doing the inputting, and you'll still need to use your brain to interpret the reports it provides. This is not an area where you should skimp on cost.

Only you can make the decision on how best to fill this role in your business, but just make sure you do fill it. If you're in any doubt about what needs to be done and how best to do it, then ask your accountant for help. After all, he's the one that has to deal with the outcome. ■

● Shaz Nawaz is a specialist business growth consultant who operates bespoke accountancy and tax practice, aa Chartered Accountants, in Peterborough. Shaz advises on a wide range of business and tax issues and regularly writes for the professional press. You can follow him on social media, read his books and listen to his podcast, Wealth Made Simple.

T: 01733 555 667 E: shaz@aa-accountants.co.uk W: www.aa-accountants.co.uk

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nmttraining

Learning not teaching: maximising people performance People are at the heart of every business. Optimising each individual’s talents will ultimately improve the entire workplace culture. Gemma Pawson, head of professional development at Bright Horizons gives her thoughts aring for children in the early years is a deeply human business with the opportunity to touch the lives of many children and their families.

At the heart of any company’s success is its people, with internal coaching providing a platform to unlock the full potential of staff.

Recognising the opportunity to unlock the potential of our people, we explored the opportunity to introduce our very own coaching programme for those with line management or leadership responsibility.

The Fundamentals of Coaching Skills launched in January and is the first of three levels of coaching development programmes that will be delivered by our Professional Development Team this year.

We built on the knowledge gained through our partnership with the Business Coaching Academy to provide leaders with the necessary skills they need to offer coaching to their teams. We are also in the process of having the programme accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM).

The Fundamentals of Coaching Skills takes place across two days with attendees taught six different skills by our Professional Development team including active listening, effective questioning, contracting, understanding

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perspectives, reading and responding, and taking action. We ensure the theme of having effective conversation is applied to coincide with the BRIGHT coaching model which is integrated throughout the programme: B R I G H T

– BUILD rapport – RESPOND appropriately – IDENTIFY a topic – Establish a GOAL – HANDLING HURDLES – TAKE action

James Sharrod, professional development consultant at Bright Horizons, said the programme improves the way nursery leaders communicate within their own teams as well as across the organisation. Using coaching skills empowers people, creates autonomy and develops trust in a relationship. A subsequent programme, The Progression of Coaching Skills, is also due to be released by the end of June.

To date, 47 leaders from across Bright Horizons settings have already attended our new programme since the start of the year.

One of those included Helen Stevenson, nursery manager at our Bright Horizons at 24 St Swithin childcare centre in Aberdeen:

May / June 2020

www.nmt-magazine.co.uk

‘Everyone worked with everyone in the room which gave us a chance to not only learn from each other but also build relationships,’ said Stevenson. ‘The programme pushed me out of my comfort zone but I have also learned so much, so it is a very worthwhile training course for Bright Horizons to offer. Everyone who has attended so far will be utilising the skills that they have learned from the two days.’

Chantelle Gudgeon, nursery manager at Bright Horizons Muswell Hill Day Nursery and Preschool in London, also spoke highly of the programme: ‘It has really got me thinking about my leadership style and ways in which I can empower my team,’ said Gudgeon. ‘Most importantly, it has got me thinking about myself and learning how to take time out for me.’

We have based the programme on four learning outcomes which are emphasised throughout. Our nursery leaders are tasked with describing the benefits of a particular coaching approach to determine its success and apply strategies prior to and when having those effective conversations. The implementation of the previously mentioned ‘BRIGHT’ coaching model is also key, as well as questioning the awareness of both yourself and others you are interacting with. ■

MAIN SPONSOR:

The Event of the Year!

We are thrilled to offer our support to the National NMT Nursery Awards 2020 as the main sponsor We understand how much effort it takes for nursery practitioners, leaders, managers and owners to achieve success within their settings, each and every day. The level of enthusiasm which goes into building and maintaining innovative, creative spaces for children to thrive in, is highly recognised by us. That’s why we believe The National NMT Nursery Awards provide a fantastic and relevant platform to celebrate all of the nurseries doing this.

As main sponsors, we don’t only give our full support to The National NMT Nursery Awards, but to the dedicated staff at each and every nursery setting around the UK, who do their very best to support the growth and development of the children in their care. We also hope that our collaboration with NMT will allow us to learn and grow as a business, with our customers remaining at the forefront of our minds.

We anticipate a fantastic year working closely with NMT and look forward to celebrating successes in November at the awards.

Chris Mahady – Managing Director

Rewarding excellence in childcare and a unique opportunity to participate in a spectacular evening celebrating your achievements CATEGORY SPONSORS:

O F F I C I A L

ENTRY FORM Closing date for entries will be Friday 17 July 2020 @NurseryManagementToday

@NMTmagazine #NMTNurseryAwards

T H I S Y E A R ’ S AWA R D C AT E G O R I E S PLEASE NOTE THAT ANY ENTRIES WHICH DO NOT SUBMIT THE REQUIREMENTS SHOWN FOR EACH CATEGORY WILL BE DISREGARDED

NURSERY TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT AWARD 2020 We are looking to acknowledge and reward exceptional commitment to training and developing staff. The award could go to an outstanding business or nursery or individual who is making an exceptional contribution to enhancing training within the childcare sector.

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give a full description of the exceptional training provided by the group, nursery or individual (up to 300 words) • Explain how this training has proved beneficial to the children and staff (up to 200 words) • 30 word biography of nominee

Supporting Evidence • Provide 1-5 testimonials from staff regarding the training and development support they receive • Provide details of any recognition or accreditation from any recognised bodies (if applicable) • Provide examples of the training courses/qualifications staff have completed/are completing as part of the training

INDIVIDUAL NURSERY AWARD 2020 Awarded to a nursery that is a single owned and run site (i.e. not part of a multiple group of owned nurseries) which has, in the view of the judges, created the very best environment to promote the highest levels of childcare, staff morale and business performance.

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give a full description of life in the nominated nursery on a day to day basis, also including the structure of learning, provisions for staff training, safety and security (up to 300 words) • Give a brief description of the sort of activities the children take part in and how they are designed to stimulate (up to 200 words) • Provide a brief summary of business performance over the last three years (up to 200 words) • 30 word profile of the nursery

Supporting Evidence • Include the most recent inspection report • Supply 1-5 photographs of the nursery and activities • Provide 1-5 testimonials from staff and parents to support the entry • Provide details of any recognition or accreditation from any recognised bodies (if applicable)

NURSERY INDOOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AWARD 2020 This award will be won by the nursery which has created an environment that most inspires and excites children. The entry will show how the nursery actively involves children in their learning, as well as celebrating their achievements.

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give a full description of how the indoor learning environment excites and inspires the children and staff (up to 400 words) • Explain how the environment empowers children to drive their own learning with examples of learning materials and activities (up to 400 words) • 30 word profile of the setting

CATEGORY SPONSOR:

NURSERY ROOM LEADER AWARD 2020 This award will go to a Nursery Room Leader who shows the leadership skills required to provide a safe and stimulating environment for children, excellent ability to support and develop other team members, an ability to observe, assess and track children’s learning and development, someone who has a high degree of integrity and empathy when dealing with children and is an excellent verbal and written communicator.

Supporting Evidence • Include the most recent inspection report • Supply 1-5 photographs showing indoor learning areas

McQueen’s Dairies

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give full details of this individual’s contribution to making their room an outstanding place for children to be. Provide evidence of the individual’s ability to support and develop other team members, resolve conflicts and provide age-appropriate activities (300 words) • Give a full description of this individual’s ability to observe and track children’s learning and development and demonstrate how they have used their integrity and empathy to benefit their children (200 words) • 30 word biography of nominee

Supporting Evidence • Include the most recent inspection report for the Nursery where this individual works • Provide 1-5 testimonials from children, staff and parents • Provide details of training, qualifications or accreditations this individual has received

NURSERY TEAM AWARD 2020 This award will go to the nursery team that has developed and maintained an excellent standard of childcare showing exceptional group values and a commitment to working together for the common good.

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give a full description of the environment the team is based at (up to 200 words) • Explain why this team would be a worthy winner of the award (up to 500 words) including how the staff have the skills, knowledge and enthusiasm to observe, assess and plan together for their children’s wellbeing • 30 word profile of the team

COMMUNITY NURSERY OF THE YEAR 2020 This award will be made to a nursery who has shown exceptional contributions to their community. The judges will be looking for evidence of how the nursey goes out of its way to support its community by taking part in local activities. The nursery will also demonstrate how it actively involves staff, parents and children.

NEW AWARD for 2020

CATEGORY SPONSOR:

Kindred

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give a full description of how the nursery: 1. Engages the local community by sharing their expertise more widely e.g. parent support classes, drop-ins (up to 250 words) 2. Make use of local expertise and resources wherever possible e.g. tradesmen and suppliers (up to 250 words) 3. Ensure that all children who want a place can access one (up to 250 words) 4. Find ways to make their nursery sustainable e.g. accessing grants (up to 250 words)

NURSERY MANAGER AWARD 2020 The nursery sector depends on the very best managers for its current and future success.

This award will be won by the manager who has shown outstanding caring and business skills and leadership in developing a thriving, high quality nursery which delivers a superb environment for children, staff and parents.

Supporting Evidence • Include the most recent inspection report from the nursery where the team is based • Provide 1-5 testimonials from children, related staff, management and parents • Provide details of any recognition or accreditation from any recognised bodies

Supporting Evidence • Supply 1-5 photos showing the community nursery • Provide 1-5 testimonials from staff and parents to support the entry • Provide details of any recognition or accreditation from any recognised bodies (if applicable)

CATEGORY SPONSOR:

Millhouse Manufacturing Design

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Show in what ways the individual has (up to 300 words): 1. Leadership skills and the ability to support, develop and motivate staff (up to 100 words) 2. The ability to work with young children and their families in a sensitive and positive way (up to 100 words) 3. The ability to create a safe, caring and stimulating environment (up to 100 words) • Give a summary including examples if available, of how the individual’s role and day to day management is so outstanding (up to 200 words) • 30 word biography of the nominee

Supporting Evidence • Include the most recent inspection report for the setting the individual manages • Provide 1-5 testimonials from a selection of children, staff and parents • Provide details of training, qualification or accreditations the individual has received

ENTER NOW! CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES: 17 July 2020

NURSERY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AWARD 2020 This award will be given to an outstanding launch of a new nursery business since January 1st 2018 or to a nursery or nursery group which has expanded significantly since January 1st 2018.

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give a full description of the new launch/expansion including the rationale (200 words) • For a launch please explain why it has been ‘outstanding’ including how it has benefitted the children, parents, staff and surrounding community (300 words) • OR for an expansion please explain why the expansion has been ‘significant’ including how it has benefitted your children, parents, staff and surrounding communities (300 words) • 30 word profile of the business

Supporting Evidence • Include the most recent Inspection report if available • Supply 1-5 photographs highlighting the best details of the launch/expansion • Provide 1-5 testimonials to support the entry

NURSERY OPERATIONS/AREA MANAGER AWARD 2020 The winning Operations or Area Manager will have demonstrated exceptional vision and leadership across the settings they are responsible for, enhancing the reputation and success of the Group as a whole.

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give a full description of the individual’s role and day to day leadership (up to 200 words) • Provide examples of where the individual has (up to 300 words): 1. Promoted good practice in their settings 2. Provided support, training and guidance for the managers they are responsible for • Summarise the positive management impact the individual has had on their children and staff (up to 200 words) • 30 word biography of nominee

NURSERY CHEF AWARD 2020 This award will be made to a Chef or Cook in a nursery setting, who shows exceptional ability in providing well-balanced, nutritious and delicious food, that takes into account individual needs of children, giving special attention to allergies, sensitivities, cultures and food hygiene. Applicants will be asked to supply a genuine 2 course menu from the nursery at the ‘Cook Off’ as well as supplying an example of a weekly menu plan created within the last three months.

Supporting Evidence • Include the most recent inspection report/s for the setting or settings the individual is responsible for • Provide 1-5 testimonials from staff to support the entry • Provide details of training, qualification or accreditations the individual has received

CATEGORY SPONSOR:

NEW CRITERIA for 2020

The Professional Nursery Kitchen

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Outline the reasons how the nominee shows exceptional ability in providing well-balanced, nutritious and delicious food that takes into account individual needs of children (up to 250 words) • Explain how the nominee develops menus for the nursery, giving special attention to the nutritional needs of under-fives (up to 250 words) • 30 word biography of the nominee

Supporting Evidence • Provide a copy of a monthly menu served within the last 3 months • Provide a copy of the two-course menu (taken from the monthly menu) that the nominee will cook at the ‘Cook Off’ if chosen to be a finalist • Provide the cost per child of the ‘Cook Off’ menu

NURSERY STAFF RESOURCE AWARD 2020 This award will go to the nursery Supply Company that has, in the view of the judges, brought to the nursery sector a new or wide array of resources to promote learning across the Early Years Foundation Stage, which best supports children’s learning and development in addition to staff skills and management.

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give a full description of the resource (up to 300 words) • Explain why and how the resource was created (up to 200 words) • Explain how the resource is already – or is going to - benefit the lives of the children or staff in a nursery setting (up to 200 words) • Explain why this resource is a long-term investment (up to 100 words) • 30 word profile of the resource

Supporting Evidence • Supply 1-5 photos of the resource • Provide 1- 5 supporting testimonials from a nursery setting or settings who have benefited from the resource

CATEGORY SPONSOR:

NURSERY OUTDOOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AWARD 2020 This award will be made to the nursery which has, in the view of the judges, created an outdoor ‘living classroom’ that inspires and excites children. Activities that promote physical well-being, creativity and first-hand learning experiences will be sought.

Timotay Playscapes

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give a full description of how the outdoor learning environment excites and inspires the children (up to 400 words) • Explain how the environment empowers children to become more confident and creative, including examples of activities and resources (up to 400 words) • 30 word profile of the setting

ECO-NURSERY OF THE YEAR AWARD 2020 This award will be won by the nursery which has put eco-friendly approaches at the forefront of its priorities. The nursery will actively have an environment focus in their day-to-day management of the setting. This can include the use of sustainable materials and teaching children about being eco-friendly at nursery and at home.

NEW AWARD for 2020

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give a full description of how the nominated nursery has implemented environmentally friendly measures and activities. Examples might include making buildings energy efficient, using renewable energy and how the nursery involves children in their goals. (up to 300 words) • 30 word profile of the nursery

NURSERY CHILDCARE PRACTITIONER AWARD 2020 This award recognises the outstanding childcare provided by a Nursery Nurse/Childcare Practitioner. The childcare will include warmth, equality, responsibility, safety, fairness and being supportive in all relationships involving the children, parents and organisation.

Supporting Evidence • Include the most recent inspection report • Supply 1-5 photographs showing outdoor learning areas

Supporting Evidence • Include the most recent inspection report • Supply 1-5 photographs showing the nursery setting, and highlighting environmental projects and schemes

NEW CRITERIA for 2020

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give full details about the positive effect the individual has had on the children, parents and staff within the setting since being in their role (up to 300 words) • Give a full description of why and how the nominee has proved to be exceptional within their day to day duties (up to 200 words) • 30 word biography of nominee

Supporting Evidence • Provide 1-5 testimonials from children, staff and parents • Provide details of training, qualification or accreditations the individual has received

FOREST OR BEACH SCHOOL / KINDERGARTEN AWARD 2020 This award will be made to the forest or beach school / kindergarten which can demonstrate their focus on developing personal, social and emotional life skills through learner led, naturebased learning. The entry will show how children are inspired creatively with activities and experiences with an outdoor approach.

CATEGORY SPONSOR:

daynurseries.co.uk

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give a full description of how the forest or beach school / kindergarten creates an exciting environment for children (400 words) • Explain how learning in a woodland or coastal environment emboldens children to grow in confidence, self-esteem and co-operative play with examples of activities and experiences (400 words) • 30 word profile of the setting

Simply complete the form over the page

Supporting Evidence • Include the most recent inspection report • Supply 1 – 5 photographs showing the forest or beach school / kindergarten

Turn the page for more categories ➤➤➤

...continued from previous page PLEASE NOTE THAT ANY ENTRIES WHICH DO NOT SUBMIT THE REQUIREMENTS SHOWN FOR EACH CATEGORY WILL BE DISREGARDED

T H I S Y E A R ’ S AWA R D C AT E G O R I E S

CATEGORY SPONSOR:

NURSERY PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR AWARD 2020 We’re looking for the person whose great personality and energy has made a real difference in their own setting in ways which are truly inspiring and memorable. This person will actively promote excellent care for their children, peace of mind for parents and a happy working environment.

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Describe how the individual’s ‘personality’ plays a role in the care they deliver (up to 300 words) • Explain how the individual has influenced or inspired those they have worked with (up to 200 words) • 30 word biography of nominee

CATEGORY SPONSOR:

Hope Education

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give a full description of the nursery group including how many settings, and numbers of children and members of staff (up to 300 words) • Give an account (up to 250 words) of: 1. The corporate identity, values and focus 2. The Group’s strengths/USP’s, training systems and approaches currently in place 3. The Group’s success in delivering high quality care across the group including plans for the future 4. A brief summary of the group’s business success over the last 3 years • 30 word profile of the Nursery Group

NURSERY GROUP (OVER 10 SETTINGS) AWARD This award is open to nursery groups with ten or more UK settings and is designed to recognise a forward thinking group which has shown outstanding success in delivering high quality childcare, well-trained and motivated staff, inspirational values, focus across the group and financial success.

Supporting Evidence • Provide 1-5 testimonials from children, staff and parents • Provide details of training, qualifications or accreditations the individual has received

NEW CRITERIA for 2020

NURSERY GROUP (UNDER 10 SETTINGS) AWARD This award is open to nursery groups with between two to nine UK settings and is designed to recognise a forward thinking group which has shown outstanding success in delivering high quality childcare, welltrained and motivated staff, inspirational values, focus across the group and financial success.

dot2dot Nursery Insurance

Supporting Evidence • Include the most recent inspection ratings for all settings (eg 5 Outstanding, 3 Good or 5 Very Good, 3 Good) • Supply 1-5 photos showing some of the group’s settings • Provide 1-5 testimonials from staff and parents to support the entry • Provide details of any recognition or accreditation from any recognised bodies (if applicable)

CATEGORY SPONSOR:

NEW CRITERIA for 2020

Hope Education

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: Criteria • Give a full description of the nursery group including how many settings, and numbers of children and members of staff (up to 300 words) • Give an account (up to 250 words) of: 1. The corporate identity, values and focus 2. The Group’s strengths/USP’s, training systems and approaches currently in place 3. The Group’s success in delivering high quality care across the group including plans for the future 4. A brief summary of the group’s business success over the last 3 years • 30 word profile of the Nursery Group

Supporting Evidence • Include the most recent inspection ratings for all settings (eg 5 Outstanding, 3 Good or 5 Very Good, 3 Good) • Supply 1-5 photos showing some of the group’s settings • Provide 1-5 testimonials from staff and parents to support the entry • Provide details of any recognition or accreditation from any recognised bodies (if applicable)

CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES: 17 July 2020

ENTRY FORM HOW TO ENTER

✓TICK

ENTRY CHECKLIST

This is your chance to nominate a colleague (or yourself) for the recognition their (your) excellent work deserves.

This entry form signed and dated by you

Enter the 18th National NMT Nursery Awards 2020 now!

Additional typed testimonials from colleague or parent/s if required

■ Choose the category or categories you wish to enter ■ Write an entry, referring to the criteria and supporting evidence for the category you have chosen ■ Enter online at: nmt-magazine.co.uk/awards OR ■ Complete this entry form and attach it to your entry ■ Post: To enter by post, please contact the events team for the postal address.

You have covered all the criteria

✓TICK

ENTRY CATEGORIES

Nursery Training & Development Award 2020 Individual Nursery Award 2020 Nursery Indoor Learning Environment Award 2020 Nursery Room Leader Award 2020 Nursery Team Award 2020 Community Nursery of the Year Nursery Manager Award 2020

Ofsted inspection report/s if required

Nursery Business Development Award 2020

Additional photographs if required

Nursery Operations / Area Manager Award 2020

Any details of training, recognition or accreditation if required

Nursery Chef Award 2020

A 30 word biography / profile Full contact details for the nominee on the form below

Nursery Staff Resource Award 2020 Nursery Outdoor Learning Environment Award 2020 Eco-Nursery of the Year Award 2020 Nursery Childcare Practitioner Award 2020

DETAILS OF NOMINEE Name of nominee:

Forest or Beach School / Kindergarten Award 2020 Nursery Personality of the Year Award 2020 Nursery Group (Under 10 settings) Award 2020 Nursery Group (Over 10 settings) Award 2020

Job title: Nursery name: Organisation / Group name: Website: Address:

Postcode: Name of person making nomination: Nominator telephone: Nominator email: Date:

RULES FOR ENTRY ■ The competition is open to all staff working in a nursery setting. In the case of the Nursery Staff Resource Award, a proven supplier to the industry ■ Entries are treated in the strictest confidence ■ Entries will be judged by a panel of eminent and impartial adjudicators appointed by NMT ■ Finalists will be required to attend the Judging Day in during October 2020 – date tbc. Judging for the Chef Award will also take place during October 2020 – date tbc.

■ Entries will not be returned ■ One copy of the submission is required ■ Use one entry form per entry. Photocopies are acceptable ■ Employees of NMT and their families are not entitled to enter ■ All winners will be announced at the Gala Night on 30 November 2020 ■ There will be four or five finalists in each category ■ Award winners and finalists may state in advertising or other promotional material that they are or have been winners or finalists. The year that the Award was won must be included in the same typeface and size as the statement of the Award.

ANY QUESTIONS? email THE EVENTS TEAM on events@investorpublishing.co.uk or call 0207 720 2109

nmtsoapbox he spotlight has never been so bright on mental health. A growing issue in society that everyone from politicians to the pub landlord, (who actually raised his concerns with me last night), is talking about. Mental health awareness has skyrocketed, and it’s about time that we all become more proactive to support our staff.

Time for some hard-hitting facts: around 1 in 7 people experience health-related problems in the workplace. However, a woman is nearly twice as likely to have a common mental health problem when compared to a full-time employed man.

A 2018 study by Minds Matter, specifically on mental health in the childcare industry, found that an astonishing 74 per cent of respondents felt regularly stressed as a result of their job in the past month.

Furthermore, nearly two-thirds of respondents say work stress or mental health issues have impacted on their personal relationships. All of this contributes to one in four early years’ practitioners considering quitting the sector due to mental health or stress-related pressures.

In my eyes this is entirely unacceptable, and I hope it is in your eyes too. The survey highlights many of the root causes. 76 per cent of respondents stated that paperwork and admin were a regular source of stress. While some paperwork is necessary, practitioners, who are there to develop the children via interaction and support, find themselves buried under mountains of paperwork which in turn is causing high levels of stress and mental health issues.

Moreover, 62 per cent of respondents also cited being overworked as a cause of stress with one respondent who commented that they regularly work a 60-hour week.

Many managers and owners point to the requirement of stay ratios as the reason behind overworking in the industry. However, the survey

T

The scary stats of mental health Promoting and protecting the mental wellbeing of our workforce is essential for an overall productive work environment. Matthew Martin, head of business development at the Little Beehive Nursery Group talks about the reality of mental health in the workplace ‘No one, in any industry, addresses this, and highlights that each cause is as avoidable as the next.

Investing in mental health

should be subjected to such high levels of stress and mental health issues when the causes are so avoidable.’

I debated about not including this next statistic, as something like this shouldn’t come down to an economic argument. However, investing in employee health shouldn’t be a negative, especially if that investment saves money. From a business point of view, an employee who is struggling with their mental health can cost a company thousands of pounds, however investing in mental health support can save even more. A study by LSE centre for mental health titled “The Economic Case” found that a company with an employee base of 500, where twothirds were offered and received support at a cost of £20,676, created a net profit of over £80,000 just two years later.

No one, in any industry, should be subjected to such high levels of stress and mental health issues when the causes are so avoidable.

Moreover, it's not only the staff that suffer, but the industry is also potentially losing, or putting off fantastic practitioners that can change the lives of children and your business’s bottom line.

We at little Beehive are in the infancy of our journey to support our team with their mental health, and create a work environment that prioritises wellbeing. We have recently started one-on-one mental wellbeing meetings with anyone who requests it. However, this is the tip of the iceberg in what we can offer and what we should be offering.

So, I know for me, ● Matthew Martin is Head of Business Development at the Little Beehive Nursery Group, which it’s going to be top of operates across the East of Scotland. He has worked in the nursery industry for 5 years. my list of challenges Connect with Matthew at LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-martin-b399b715a in 2020. I hope it’s W: www.littlebeehivenursery.co.uk E: matt@Littlebeehivenursery.co.uk top of yours too. ■ www.nmt-magazine.co.uk

May / June 2020

NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY 27

nmtwestminster

Tide turning depends on the Government stepping up The Government is certainly trying to support the sector, but we are a long way off from turning the tide. Decisive action is needed now, says Briony Richter ur world has been turned completely upside down from the impact of Covid-19.

Instructions to wash your hands very quickly evolved further to partial lockdowns nationwide; schools, nurseries and businesses closing with little time for owners and employees to properly prepare.

As the disease spreads rapidly, the Government has announced a string of financial measures to help support the economy and businesses, but for many, these measures have not come quick enough.

The transition to working from home has been a challenging one for many people, and of course, for those in the nursery and early years sector, practically impossible.

We know the Government’s advice to close early years settings has been necessary to help slow the spread of Covid-19 and it is paramount that everyone in the

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28 NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY

sector follows the guidance, but the number of early years and nursery providers is going to reduce drastically unless the financial support promised by Government is made available soon.

The Department for Education (DfE) has published guidance for the sector on early years and childcare closures due to Covid-19.

The guidance states nursery providers will be closed for most children until further notice and can only take children of key workers, as defined by the Government, and vulnerable children. However, this is not an easy task to complete.

The Government expects nursery providers, schools and local authorities to work together to ensure that different settings are supported to stay open, wherever possible. Although local authorities are playing their part in helping to organise what this will look like, it’s put nurseries under even more financial strain.

On Friday 20 March, the Chancellor announced that the government will allow all businesses to apply for grants to cover up to 80 per cent of salaries of staff who are not working but kept on payroll for three months during the coronavirus outbreak.

While there’s no doubt that the sector welcomed the Chancellor’s announcement, there were many unanswered questions from the sector.

Guidance and support so far

May / June 2020

www.nmt-magazine.co.uk

It wasn’t until later on in the week that the Government announced similar measures for the selfemployed which include thousands of childminders across the country.

The support package announced extended the financial support offered to employers to the selfemployed.

However, the package of support will not be available until the beginning of June and will exclude those who only became selfemployed within the last year.

According to PACEY there are 40,000 registered childminders in England and Wales. The sustainability of their wellbeing and careers depends on the Government delivering this support to people on the ground as soon as possible.

In the interim, childminding businesses will be able to apply for a business interruption loan, which has been extended to the selfemployed and universal credit.

Childminders are an absolutely critical part of the early years and if more isn't done to support them through this crisis, we many lose them from the sector completely.

These are worrying and challenging times, however I have seen many positive efforts to bring the sector together from providers and suppliers. There is no sugarcoating this, it will not be easy and it is absolutely vital that we all follow the guidance to stop the spread, but also continue to call on the Government to support the sector as much as it possibly can. ■

B rrrrilliant ic e p lay ac tiv ity id eas. . .

At Hope, we love nothing more than creative, outdoor play. So, we enlisted the help of our Brand Rep and outdoor expert Katie to help create 3 exciting activities based around ice play. The best thing is, they all require minimal equipment and can be done in the garden, at a setting or anywhere with a freezer!

ideas...

4

Open up for 3 free activity

pa g Ke e

Children love ice play. It can open up so many opportunities for young children and will aid a wide range of skills in their development. This sensory experience can be completed in summer with the added bene t of cooling down children, or if the weather is cold enough in winter, freezing items naturally in the outdoors. With excellent links to Understanding the World in the EYFS, freezing and melting within this type of tactile play opens up plenty of language opportunities. Children can experiment with pouring warm water onto the ice or adding salt to nd out the reaction. This will also enhance their ne motor skills and pre-writing skills too!

The home of inspirational and best value resources for Early Years

Be inspired at www.hope-education.co.uk

yo ep pu ur m ll -o se e tt fo ut in r ! g

Katie is an EYFS teacher and leader, who has taught in Early Years and Key Stage One for over twelve years. Her passion is outdoor learning and she loves to share her ideas on Instagram, inspiring others with nature based play.

Frozen Dinosaur Eggs Create your own: Blow up the balloon and stretch it out a little, allow to de ate. Pop the dinosaur inside the balloon and ll with water, ensuring any air is removed before tying. Place in the freezer overnight. Once frozen, remove the balloon from the ice and allow the children to explore. Provide a variety of tools to hatch the dinosaur, such as pipettes, hammers or brushes. Add warm water and salt in bowls too.

Frozen dinosaur eggs are great starting point for developing curiosity about the natural world for children.

Allow the children’s interests to lead into discussions about where dinosaurs are now, fossils or even create names for your newly hatched dinos.

You will need: Balloons Dinosaurs Water

Be inspired at www.hope-education.co.uk

Frozen Nature Exploring the outdoors is a natural way for children to connect with the world around them. Collect some nature and allow children to observe and interact as the ice melts around it.

You will need: Nature; such as owers, leaves, conkers, pine cones etc‌ Scoops, bottles, ladles, containers

Create your own:

Place items of nature inside different sized containers and ll with water. Place in the freezer overnight and take out the next day.

If the ice blocks are dif cult to remove, run warm water over for a few seconds. Place the frozen nature blocks into a large tray and add scoops, bottles or ladles.

Allow the children to investigate how to melt the ice and discuss what is happening.

Once the ice has melted, the remaining water and nature makes perfect ‘nature soup’. This can be used for creating potions in bottles or pouring into bowls. Children will love pouring and lling with the mixture.

Be inspired at www.hope-education.co.uk

Ice Painting Provide children with a different medium to paint on. Ice blocks are perfect for experimenting with colour.

Create your own:

Freeze water in containers and remove the next day. Provide children with paint and allow them to create their own masterpieces on the ice blocks. As the ice melts, children will be fascinated as their creation transforms.

You will need: Paint & brushes

Looking for more inspiration?

Visit our Instagram page @hope_earlyyears for 100s more inspiring invitations to play.

The home of inspirational and best value resources for Early Years

Be inspired at www.hope-education.co.uk

nmthot topics

Make way, the future is flexible Flexible hours allow employees with varied responsibilities to come and go when they need to, and then catch up on lost hours when they have the free time, for instance after their children are in bed. Susan McGhee explains why flexible working is necessary for our society lexibility; the quality of being able to change or be changed easily according to the situation, a quality for which demand is growing exponentially as our working lives move away from the 9 to 5 and our routines become ever more variable.

The drivers behind this increasing demand for flexibility are many and varied, including factors such as the short term engagements of the gig economy, employees rights to make flexible working requests, the shift patterns needed in the businesses that support our 24/7 lifestyle and the enabling powers of technology that makes scheduling and managing busy diaries possible.

The need for flexibility is also driven by constrained family budgets and increasing poverty. Flexibility creates equity of access so no child, family or community misses out. It makes your service accessible and affordable to a client group who may previously have faced barriers based on the rigidity of session times and costs.

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Our world is changing, and as we face the challenges of the current pandemic situation with Coronavirus, the rate of change is only going to get faster, the demand for something different is higher and the need to think outside the box ever more prevalent.

But can flexibility really be applied to delivery of early learning and childcare? Can we move away from

Keeping up with the times

traditional, rigid sessions? Allow parents to change their booking pattern as often as needed? Flex staffing to meet varied occupancy levels? Do all of this whilst maintaining the highest of standards? And, do it sustainably?

The answer is a resounding yes. It’s not easy, but like many things that take a lot of effort the outcome is so worth the work involved. It’s vital that our sector keeps pace with changes in the way families live and work and there are so many benefits.

This is a move that really can be described as game changing.

As the name infers, flexibility is about change and change means your version of flexibility doesn’t have to be our version of flexibility.

We’ve gone all out, fully flexible, pay as you go, but you could start by simply opening a few sessions a week to be sold flexibly. Consult your service users and your staff team, find out what would really work for them, hook up with other providers including local childminders to offer a blended model and remember this year’s flexible model may not be the one that works next year, it’s definitely an evolving model.

Flexibility in your service delivery model also helps ease the current

workforce capacity issue across our sector. It enables colleagues who have previously achieved qualifications and worked in the sector then left to care for their own family to return on a flexible, sessional basis. They can work at times that suit them and you can flex staffing up and down to meet booking demand.

Flexible working could enable our team members to work for more than one setting, we could share staff, introduce blended working…perhaps a combination of childminding and working in a nursery or out of school club. Hours could be reduced in school holidays to meet family needs, yet everyone is still part of a team, able to access training and develop their career. If we are to resolve current workforce challenges we need to think differently, create more varied entry points, enable smoother transitions and make careers in early learning and childcare truly aspirational, with clear progression routes and flexible training and development opportunities.

That’s a lot of change but it can all be delivered through a more flexible approach to service design. Give it a go and if you need help or just want to know more get in touch. ■

● Susan McGhee is director of Flexible Childcare Services Scotland (FCSS), which is challenging traditional delivery models by providing high-quality, affordable, accessible services on an hourly basis.

T: 01382 504652 W: fcss.org.uk Connect with Susan on LinkedIn

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nmtviewpoint

NMT, Nursery Estate, Acquisition & Expansion forum The 2nd NMT Nursery Estate, Acquisition & Expansion Forum took place on 10 March at the wonderful Amba Marble Hotel and was a fantastic day of networking and discussions he event is organised by Nursery Management Today, a leading publication for nursery owners, directors and senior management.

Kicking off the day, the audience listened to a brilliant presentation from Arun Kanwar, a partner at Cairneagle. His presentation, ‘Mood

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music in the UK Childcare Market and Opportunities for Larger Operators’, highlighted the key trends that were influencing the market and pointed to the avenues for growth.

Although there are challenging times ahead, Arun stated that this is still a lucrative time to be active in the industry.

A free event, the forum allows providers to meet face-to-face with suppliers to discuss their business goals and determine if they can work together. At this event, nursery groups were able to meet with buying agents, lawyers, finance brokers, furniture manufacturers, insurance brokers, software specialists and catering businesses.

With 15-minute slots for each meeting, nursery groups were able to move between suppliers and meet a variety of different people across the sector, really maximising their time. Each provider commits to 10 meetings during the course of the day.

Those who had attended the inaugural event last year and newcomers both commented

Networking

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that meeting companies in the industry that they hadn’t come across before was extremely beneficial.

The networking was split between the morning and afternoon with a fabulous buffet for lunch and the event was rounded off with a cheese tasting and drinks reception, well deserved after busy day of business.

The closing remarks were given by one of the industry’s giants, John Woodward, Co-founder and President of Busy Bees childcare and Managing Director of Busy Bees Benefits.

In 1984, John, alongside five teachers, opened the first Busy Bees nursery: The Rocklands in Lichfield.

Now, Busy Bees is now the UKs largest childcare provider and has a global presence with nurseries in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Ireland, USA, Canada and Australia.

However, John noted that the industry is facing hurdles with recruitment and retention, but, just like Brexit, the sector can weather them. John himself described some of the challenges he faced including getting councils on side with having a setting that had a capacity of more than 20 children. Looking back on his time in the industry, he reflected on

Closing speech

nmtviewpoint Q&A: Audience discussion

Q John Woodward

how drastically the sector has changed and much for the better. He remarked that the crucial thing to do when starting or expanding a business is to recruit and grow a quality team. Having that will enable nurseries to navigate through changes and challenges much more easily.

Throughout his career, John has continually campaigned to support children, employees and parents.

In 1998 he developed one of the first childcare voucher schemes. Built from nothing, the schemes helped 600,000 parents make considerable savings and was sold in a multi-million-pound deal in 2008. In response to organisations needing a quality, consistent service, John, alongside his original

team, launched a new childcare voucher and employee benefits company, Busy Bees Benefits in 2010.

Concluding, he said that although there will be hurdles ahead, the sector is a resilient one with passionate people keeping it going.

One request he made was for everyone in the sector to work closely together and share experiences and good practice: ‘In this industry we want everyone to do well. It’s not the competitor who does well that will give us a problem, it’s the ones who fail that will be problematic.’ ■

You have been in the sector for a huge amount of time, as a national and a global operator. What key trends do you see coming to the UK that you have experienced in other markets?

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The whole technology side is going to become increasingly important. We live in an era where parents and children can use tech from a young age and I think this will continue to increase significantly.

I think as well we may see more mixed sites where you have early years sites and care for the elderly in the same building. I have witnessed that in places like Vietnam.

Integrated intergenerational sites is very positive over there.

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Do you think it has gotten harder to recruit quality staff and how do you do it well?

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Who should attend?

Only owners and directors will be eligible to attend this free event. They will meet and discuss business with leading suppliers to enable them to progress with their expansion plans. The networking sessions are carefully organised so that both the supplier and nursery groups meet the businesses they want to and are introduced to new faces.

The following is offered on a complimentary basis:

In this industry, recruitment has always been hard but I see staff as the asset of a business and not the problem – most people are very committed and want to do well.

The more you can involve them in creating the answers, the better that is and most people, given the opportunity will want to take it.

My advice; be kind, do your best, involve them and pay them as much as you can.

Pre-arranged meetings

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• Pre-arranged nursery provider/supplier meetings lasting 15 minutes all taking place in a large meeting area. The suppliers stay fixed at their tables while the nursery owners and directors circulate between them. Providers commit to 10 meetings throughout the day.

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Interactive conference sessions • There is the opportunity to attend a conference session at the beginning and end of the day to listen to the keynote speakers comment on key trends and current issues. At the end of each session there is an opportunity for Q&A.

Networking opportunities • As well as the formal pre-arranged meetings, there are plenty of opportunities throughout the day to meet more people during the buffet lunch and a drinks reception. There are separate and spacious areas where informal events can take place with tea and coffee provided throughout the day.

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What are your views on key changes in the next 30 years as a sector?

I think the relationship with the Government will change. I think it’s important to have a mixed market of Government support and private. Having that healthy balance between them is good but communication is key. I believe in tight regulation; it protects us all but there must always be open conversations. We can’t expect politicians to just do it – we have the knowledge and experience so it is up to us to share it.

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nmtmanagement

Delivering excellence in childcare services is no easy task What does it take to deliver services that are both high-quality and meet the needs of children, staff and parents? Tracey Storey, CEO of ICP Nurseries Limited speaks about their strategy to continue delivering top quality services while maintaining an engaging and inclusive environment for everyone CP Nurseries Limited started in 2016 with the aim of acquiring a collection of the very best nursery settings in Greater London, the Home Counties and the South East.

Our self-proclaimed mission is to deliver exceptional education and outstanding childcare to our children and families, through our commitment to valuing and developing staff and providing engaging and inclusive environments for all.

Our plan is to grow a group, and not a chain, and this aim is underpinned by our belief that staff, like nurseries, should be treated as individuals. We believe that the best way to provide outstanding care

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and education to all of our children, is to ensure they have the very best staff team possible to care for them.

It is for this reason, that fostering and maintaining an open and fair work culture is at the forefront of everything we do. We want staff to feel valued as individuals and have opportunities to develop both personally and professionally, and believe what we offer our staff does just that. As well as offering excellent base salaries, and a reward and recognition scheme, our staff all benefit from a range of other initiatives designed to promote not only professional

‘We strongly believe that a staff team who feel supported in their own individual circumstances and career aspirations, and whose contributions and ideas are valued and listened to, will provide the very best care and education to our children’

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Tracey Storey, CEO of ICP Nurseries Limited

development, but also physical and mental wellbeing. Our staff have access to a private healthcare scheme, discounted gym and health club membership, a Bike2Work scheme, paid time off for birthdays and the Christmas/New Year closures, and a long service and attendance reward, among other benefits.

All of our nursery managers have been trained in Mental Health First Aid to ensure they are able to identify any member of their staff team who may need support with

Mental health support is vital

nmtmanagement mental health issues. We have also implemented a dedicated ‘we are listening’ helpline, so that anyone can seek confidential advice about an issue that may be concerning them.

We strongly believe that having a highly skilled staff team, not only significantly benefits each and every child in our care, but also engages our staff in striving for excellence and improvements every day in their own professional development. We offer a wide range of fully funded qualifications for our staff, including Levels 2, 3, 4 and 5 childcare qualifications, Forest School Leadership and SEND. We have recently launched our own Leaders of the Future Programme.

This training course is a fully accredited programme designed to prepare some of our brightest stars of the future for promotion to a management role.

We also want to support bringing new talent into the childcare sector and are incredibly proud to have been named the Eden Training Solutions Apprentice Employer of the Year 2020. As an organisation that strongly believes in training and education this was a highly valued accolade which we were honoured to be awarded.

We strongly believe that a staff team who feel supported in their own individual circumstances and career aspirations, and whose contributions and ideas are valued and listened to, will provide the very best care and education to our children. Our approach to learning is child-centred and we want all children to engage in meaningful play in an environment that has the best equipment and resources in the sector. This means that all our children can develop social and cognitive skills, mature emotionally and gain the self-confidence required for later life.

We encourage our staff to go above and beyond the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to foster deep level learning and optimise children’s potential.

To facilitate this, we provide extensive training so our staff can deliver a range of unique educational experiences which

Recruiting passionate people

Caption here?

enable children to become successful, lifelong learners. Our staff are passionate about the experiences they provide for children and empowering them to deliver these unique learning opportunities to children, really ignites their enthusiasm.

We strive to embed our core values of, integrity, excellence, team work, dedication, and equality into everything we do, and so we were absolutely delighted to see this passion result in being honoured with a Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award. The award, which is in its sixth year in the UK, recognises the Best Places to Work in 2020. It is based solely on the input of employees, who elect to provide feedback on their jobs, work environments and companies on Glassdoor. This means so much to everyone at ICP Nurseries, as it reflects everything we wanted to achieve with, and for, our staff team.

Speaking about the award, Tracey Storey, CEO, said: ‘I am absolutely thrilled that ICP Nurseries Limited has been ranked 14th in the top 50 of the best places to work. This award is as a result of our dedicated workforce and I am extremely proud of everyone for

Award winning values

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this achievement. Here at ICP Nurseries we welcome all backgrounds and experiences with a passion for childcare, so come and work for our amazing company.

‘My prime focus in building our group is to ensure that not only are we providing an outstanding level of care and education for our children and families but that we give priority to our staff – whether that be upper quartile salary and benefits or access to fully funded training and development opportunities or a range of wellbeing benefits and support.

I’m a firm believer in valuing our staff and making sure they are happy and proud to work for the company.’ ■ ● Tracey Storey is CEO of ICP Nurseries Limited W: https://icpnurseries.com

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nmtspecial report

Researching the impact of

home visits Through the voices of children, practitioners and parents, Zoë Raven, CEO of Acorn Early Years Foundation speaks about the impact of home visits and the findings from the research project which was presented to the British Early Childhood Education Research Association (BECERA) hen one of our nursery managers did her Foundation Degree at Pen Green, several years ago, one of the ideas she brought back and implemented was carrying out home visits for children about to start nursery. She very soon became a keen advocate of these, telling everyone about the benefits for children and their parents, and we began encouraging our other nurseries to follow suit. This soon proved to be more difficult than we anticipated, and when we began monitoring how widespread the practice was, we realised that a home visit was the exception rather than the rule for most of the nurseries. It was easy to understand why. Taking two staff out of the nursery for one or two hours isn’t practicable if staffing is tight, and only the manager is supernumerary, and the families at some nurseries lived some distance away.

One Autumn a couple of years ago, however, almost all the nurseries were generously staffed, thanks to the usual seasonal dip in

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occupancy, so we asked them all to give it a go, and, as with the experience at the first nursery to try home visits, the benefits spoke for themselves, and very soon all the nursery teams became determined to keep the practice up all year round.

So, what are the benefits? We heard plenty of anecdotal insights from the managers in our monthly meetings, so when we formed our action research group, evaluating the impact of home visits was an obvious first choice of subject. One of the reasons we set up our action research group was to discover ways of further improving our practice, and we were keen to explore whether the benefits we had heard about from our managers could be evidenced more effectively.

We began sending short questionnaires to parents after each home visit, and towards the end of the year, sent out a similar questionnaire to practitioners. We also wanted to capture the child’s voice, which was a more challenging exercise. But we were

‘As my child is a cautious child she’s shy around strangers. Having her key worker playing with her sister at home, showed her it was ok and she had the confidence then to join in.’

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able to gather several comments that children had made to either practitioners or parents, and these gave us an insight into their perspective.

Firstly, then, the parents’ views were, as we hoped, very positive.

Out of the parents who responded, 93 percent agreed or strongly agreed that the home visit experience was beneficial for their child and also for parents. Many commented on their children being more relaxed and comfortable in their own home, and therefore able to show their true personality, and to begin bonding with the key person more easily.

They felt that it helped with the settling in visits that followed: ‘When my son met his key worker at nursery after the home visit he noticed her straight away and smiled and knew who she was.’

They also commented that it allowed more time to ask questions and, for example: ‘It was nice for me to be able to relax without wondering what the twins were up to while we were talking.’

Several said that they felt it gave a positive message to their child that the key person was someone that could be trusted, as they’d been invited into the house, and that it helped ease parental nerves too: ‘It's a lot less daunting to walk into a room of people (at nursery or anywhere) when you know who to look out for and you've already met one of them. Having a conversation

nmtspecial report ‘Archie felt more relaxed and comfortable and began to bond with the key person really quickly by showing her some of his toys. Also, the welcome to the acorns book really helped with Archie and he showed an interest looking at the pictures! And still does now.’ about his likes and dislikes and routines is also a lot easier at home.

It helped put me at ease and feel less nervous, which I think then helped my son know that it was nothing to be nervous about.’

Feedback from practitioners was very similar, and their observations included the benefits of seeing a child’s natural behaviour at home, and also their preference for particular toys and activities. They also commented that it was helpful to have a deeper understanding of the home environment – whether there is a garden, or whether the TV is permanently on, for example, and to observe parenting styles at first hand, in a relaxed environment. The opportunity to then tailor the preparations for settling in visits was also valuable, and this was also commented on by parents: ‘Giving Lily a photo of Helen was great because we had it on the fridge and Lily was very proud to tell friends and family who she was.

Also, Helen remembered about Topsy and Tim and fairies that Lily loves so when starting at nursery she made sure that the fairies were out for her to play with.’

The challenge of capturing the child’s voice was partly met by noting down when children referred back to their home visit, sometimes much later: ‘when are you going to come to my house again?’ but also from a child whose younger sibling was about to receive a home visit.

He had not had a home visit when he began nursery, but had a school home visit, and asked his key person why she hadn’t visited him at home. He was very excited that she would finally be coming to his

Positive feedback

house to see his younger brother, and most especially because she would be able to meet his cat. Understanding the wider family dynamics, including pets, certainly helps the partnership between the nursery and the whole family.

In particular, we were really pleased that parents recognised the home visits as part of our wider ethos of personalising care for children: ‘I felt like there was more of a connection as they were coming into my personal space and everything was done at home rather than in the nursery environment. It felt like they were taking personal care which in turn made me feel at ease and comfortable.’

The culmination of this part of the research project was presenting our findings to the British Early Childhood Education Research Association (BECERA) at their conference in February this year, and for this, we undertook a literature review to explore current practices in home visits, and also to look at related literature on transitions, parent partnerships and supporting children’s home learning cultures. In doing so, we realised that home visits are relatively uncommon in childcare settings, as they originated largely in the context of health and early intervention. Those families often felt intimidated by the home visit experience, however, we found that our parents embraced them enthusiastically, and we recently won a business achievement award for customer service, based partly on the personal touch that home visits provide. www.nmt-magazine.co.uk

Finally, an unintended consequence, but a key part of their value, has been the impact on practitioners in terms of their selfawareness as childcare professionals. I think being involved in home visits has enhanced their self-esteem and confidence. Our action research group has also reinvigorated the drive for us to be at the forefront of developing best practice in early years provision. We have always encouraged senior practitioners to do higher level qualifications, and having an in-house action research group has enabled our graduates to take their professional development even further. If you can, please do try them, you won’t look back. ■ ● Zoë is the CEO of Acorn Early Years Foundation, a social enterprise and charity which has 13 nurseries in Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, as well as a training and consultancy arm, forest school provision and out-ofschool clubs.

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www.acornearlyyears.org.uk zoe@acornearlyyears.org.uk Twitter: @zoeanneraven

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nmtgreat outdoors

Keeping it open pportunities for children to be out in the natural environment are decreasing.

Children are spending less time outside due to concerns over safety, traffic and technology. Technology has significantly increased children’s sedentary time. It is for these reasons that nurseries are in a fantastic position to introduce children to the adventures that can be found outdoors.

Chatting about Little Forest Folk, Lisa and Conor speak about what makes the outdoors such a fantastic place to educate children.

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Firstly, Lisa and Conor, what is the vision of Little Forest Folk?

To re-connect children with nature.

We want children to have the opportunity to play, learn and explore in an outdoor environment where they have the time and freedom to be children. We also want them to develop a love and understanding of the world around them and an awareness of how to care for it.

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It’s very clear that overall, healthy and happy children do better in school. But education is not just about lessons within the four walls of a classroom. Being outdoors in nature encourages a whole new set of skills. Looking ahead, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a surge in outdoor nurseries as the way we teach children constantly evolves. Briony Richter speaks to Lisa Behan, chief operating officer and Conor Williams, operations manager at Little Forest Folks about their vision for the great outdoors and education Especially in our society, what is the importance of embracing more outdoor learning for children across the sector?

Being in an outdoor environment brings many benefits. From our experience over the last five years, we see first-hand that children who spend the majority of their day outside exploring and learning, builds confidence, independence and resilience.

Our children are encouraged to take risks in a safe supervised environment, they learn to climb trees, build dens, work with tools and take part in fire activities. We believe an outdoor, child-led and play based environment really allows children to thrive. And in a world where the climate and our impact on the environment has never been more important, these children are enthusiastic and excited about

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making the world a better place which is vital for the future health of our world.

How do you utilise an outdoor space effectively?

You don’t necessarily need a forest with lots of trees to be able to carry out outdoor learning, but it helps.

Most days we set up areas where children know they can access literature activities, arts and crafts, building activities, a mud kitchen, but we also give the children lots of space, time and the opportunity for freedom and exploration. When children aren’t given lots of resources, this is often when we see them at their most creative. Some days in the forest we will have ‘no resources’ days where the children have to use the natural things around them as their resources. Sometimes less really is more.

nmtgreat outdoors

and fun outdoors Keeping in with an open and fair environment, what are some of the challenges that come with staff training while looking after children outdoors?

We pride ourselves on giving everyone the opportunity to develop professionally and personally, and we actively support ongoing training and development both in the forest and out.

We have planned training throughout the year, practitioners who are part of university study programmes (part-time) and we also have a number of INSET days throughout the year and even trips abroad.

It takes a lot of planning and flexibility but we are really proud to be able to offer such an array of different opportunities to our staff.

What obstacles have you faced when educating and playing with children outdoors?

Educating some new parents about the weather is always a common one.

It’s usually the last thing the children worry about though. Our biggest obstacle is continuing to find spaces we can use. We can’t expand without suitable spaces.

Another obstacle has been around conserving our existing outdoor spaces but when it comes to the children there are no obstacles for them.

How can an outdoor environment help children with social, emotional and mental health concerns?

The outdoors is incredibly beneficial

when it comes to helping children develop socially and emotionally. If a child gets upset, we can go to a quieter area and the sound is often carried away on the wind. When looking up at the trees, watching the sky and listening to the birds it can be a truly calming environment.

Our approach is child-led which means that we follow the children’s interests, and everything is tailored towards the individual child. We want to instil independence and confidence through giving children the time and freedom to develop at their own speed.

In your opinion what is the ideal inclusive playground for children?

Come and visit one of our nurseries and you will see. An inclusive playground is one where all children are free to be who they want and to develop at their own pace. We offer mixed aged learning because we see the benefits.

We aim to offer a mixture of role models and want to make sure there is always enough time for the children just to be children.

What’s next for Little Forest Folk in 2020?

In September 2019 we opened a primary school in addition to our six nurseries. In 2020 we’d like to see this continue to grow. We’re also always on the lookout for new green spaces we can use, and we want to improve our environmental and social awareness this year.

We have moved to biodegradable www.nmt-magazine.co.uk

nappies, wipes, nappies bags and biodegradable single use gloves. We are trialling hot composters for our food waste and we have termly meetings where our designated Environmental Leaders from each site get together to discuss how we can continue to move forward across these areas.

We are continuing to help staff through L3 Childcare and L3 Forest School qualifications, and we want to have better links with our local communities. We are also always on the look-out for our next superstar practitioners to join us in the forest, so we hope to expand our team too. ■

● Facebook: @littleforestfolk W: www.littleforestfolk.com

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nmtlegal advice

Legal advice for Covid-19: What can you do about your insurance?

Many businesses are deeply concerned about their future as Covid-19 continues to bring the UK to a standstill. Amanda Hamilton, CEO of the National Association of Licenced Paralegals (NALP), discusses what nurseries can do regarding their insurance

e are going through unprecedented times with lock-downs and selfisolation, all of which is having a knock-on effect on a wide range of areas; some we can predict, and many we can’t. However, what is clear is that income chains are being affected as the government announces the closures of nurseries and schools.

Is there anything you can do? Will the contracts you have in place protect you? Will your insurance company pay out?

Every small or medium sized business must have insurance to cover the business they operate within. Nursery businesses are no exception. So, what happens if a customer or client fails to fulfil their obligation under a contract they have with you, claiming that there are special circumstances due to, for example, Covid-19. Can you claim against your insurance?

In English law there is something called the doctrine of ‘Force Majeure’. This means that if an event happens which is not through human intervention but more like

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an act of nature, which prevents the parties or one party fulfilling their contractual duties, this pre-empts any recourse or compensation. It is not a legal presumption that anyone can rely on, therefore it has to be specifically mentioned in any contract or insurance policy.

Most Insurance Policies will have a ‘Force Majeure’ clause within it, meaning that if certain listed events happen the insurance company will not make a pay-out. However, these circumstances and events must be specifically listed.

So, the first thing to do is to read through your policy. If there is no such clause, then you may have a good claim to make. If you do find such a clause, then establish whether it specifically mentions ‘unexpected legislation’ or ‘political events’. If it does not, then you may have an argument to force your insurance company to pay out. If it does mention this, and the Force Majeure clause is clear then you may be on less secure grounds.

If your business is unable to fulfil

its contractual obligations and a client is trying to make a claim for compensation, you may be able to rely on the doctrine of frustration if you do not have a Force Majeure in your contract. This means that a contract comes to an abrupt end by some irresistible or extraneous cause for which neither party is responsible. The contract therefore becomes discharged. However, this will not apply if the contract merely becomes more difficult or less profitable or inconvenient.

As always, getting legal advice is the best route to go, however many businesses don’t do this as it’s simply too costly. One way to get advice, without spending huge sums of money, is to use a Paralegal.

Paralegals can do almost everything a solicitor does (with the exception of a few ‘reserved activities’).

When engaging a Paralegal ensure they are appropriately qualified and have a Licence to Practice from a membership organisation like the National Association of Paralegals. ■

● Amanda Hamilton is Chief Executive of the National Association of Licenced Paralegals (NALP), a non-profit Membership Body and the only Paralegal body that is recognised as an awarding organisation by Ofqual (the regulator of qualifications in England). Through its Centres, accredited recognised professional paralegal qualifications are offered for a career as a paralegal professional.

W: www.nationalparalegals.co.uk Twitter: @NALP_UK Facebook: www.facebook.com/NationalAssocationsofLicensedParalegals LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-hamilton-llb-hons-840a6a16

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nmtcatering

Reducing food waste Our duty to be more environmentally focused has rapidly increased with governments all across the globe introducing and expanding initiatives to protect the environment. Regular columnist, Annie Denny covers the importance of reducing food waste across early years settings y reducing the tonnes of food going to waste every year, most of it avoidable, we can assume that year-on-year food security will improve. Excessive food waste is a global concern and tackling it will bring a wealth of benefits to the environment, manufacturers and distributors, and people.

The recent unprecedented impacts on food availability within the UK have made it ever more vital for

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early years settings to be resourceful with food and careful not to waste food.

Additionally, some children may have recently experienced their household needing to be resourceful with food at home, having to make food go further, or making use of alternative ingredients when popular ingredients are out of stock.

It’s important to be sensitive to these issues.

To make food go further, there are several tips and tricks that will save you money (and time) and help you avoid throwing away surplus food that is safe to eat.

According to Love Food Hate Waste, in UK households we waste 6.5 million tonnes of food every year, 4.5 million of which is edible.

That figure should make us think how we can stop wasting food within early years settings and start making some simple changes to use it more efficiently.

By thinking about how you can avoid throwing away food, the cost savings to settings can be substantial. In domestic homes, savings could be up to £70/month for some families - in early years settings, savings are likely to be even greater.

‘The recent unprecedented impacts on food availability within the UK have made it ever more vital for early years settings to be resourceful with food and careful not to waste food’

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nmtcatering

Tips and suggestions Reducing food waste can also help reduce total waste, by reducing demand for food packaging and reducing packaging production processes.

Tips ●

Limit food waste and make food go further by ensuring portion sizes are appropriate for children. Research shows that many children are served too large a portion size. For tools to help ensure the right sized portion is served for each child, visit www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/toddlers/new5532. html and https://infantandtoddlerforum.org/toddlersto-preschool/portion-sizes-for-toddlers

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There is some great information about food waste available from Love Food Hate Waste’s website www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

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Resources to help businesses track and reduce food waste can be found at www.guardiansofgrub.com/resources/operationalresources/1

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Rather than throwing food away think about how you can use it: for example, soft ripe fruit can be put into a smoothie or be stewed, pureed and frozen. When pureed or mashed it’s great added to plain yoghurt as a healthy dessert for children. Chicken bones and scraps can be made into a fantastic stock; leftover pasta or rice can be added to a salad or omelette; curries can be used to make tasty wrap fillings.

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Leftover or surplus vegetables can be used to make delicious soups and sauces; you can add them to stews or use cooked leftover vegetables in pasta, rice or stir fry dishes. By washing vegetables thoroughly, you can leave the skin on vegetables such as potatoes and carrots, which means you use the whole vegetable, increasing fibre content of the meal and not having anything to throw away. Vegetable stalks that you don’t want to serve can also be added to soups and sauces.

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Batch-cook to use up leftover fresh food, then freeze the dishes for later use.

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Many foods can be frozen including milk/dairy foods, bread and bread products, cooked pasta and rice, raw meat and fish, even eggs – beaten, or yolks and egg whites frozen separately in different containers. Ensure that you follow food safety rules on thawing and re-heating. Take out of the freezer only what you need to avoid wasting foods that should not be re-frozen once thawed. Check your fresh food for use-by dates: if you don’t think you can use it before it reaches its use by date, see if you can freeze it.

A lot of food is wasted due to incorrect storage: ●

Bread should not be in the fridge but in a cool dark place, as should potatoes. You can also freeze bread.

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Put leftovers in airtight containers or wrap properly with cling film.

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If you have half-used cans of food, these should be emptied into containers rather than leaving them in the can.

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Fruit, including apples, last longer stored on a tray rather than stacked on top of each other in a fruit bowl or kitchen bowl.

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Store bananas separately as they speed up the ripening process of other fruits. Also, don’t store bananas with citrus fruits as citrus fruits speed up the bananas’ ripening process.

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Correct fridge temperatures are vital for food safety but also for minimising food waste – fridges should be below 5 degrees Celsius.

Compost anything you can’t use anymore and encourage the setting to get a wormery! Having a compost source is great for children’s growing activities. Children can benefit from understanding how compost systems and wormeries work, helping them understand the world around them.

Rather than throwing away any ripe bananas, freeze them in a container and add them to yoghurt or a smoothie, make a banana bread from them for dessert/snack time, or you can blend them from frozen with a little milk to make delicious homemade noadded sugar ice cream.

Purée overripe soft fruits or pears and freeze them in ice cube trays for handy portions to be added to yoghurts or porridge. Stew browning apples with a little cinnamon and some raisins for a tasty compote; chop surplus veg up and freeze in portions for soups and stews. Stale bread makes excellent croutons, breadcrumbs or bread and butter pudding.

● Annie Denny is a nutritionist at the Early Years Nutrition (EYN) Partnership, which aims to improve the future health outcomes of young children by setting a standard for nutrition practice in settings.

The Partnership also provides expert support and training on catering for dairy-free, plant-based and special dietary requirements.

T: 020 7697 2565 E: hello@eynpartnership.org Twitter: @EYNpartnership Facebook: eynpartnerships

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NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY 45

nmtfinancial advice

How to cut costs without crippling your nursery So, your nursery needs to cut costs to make profits. Where should you start? Not all expenses will have a great impact on your profits. And not all costs should be looked at simply based on how big they are. Jonathan Amponsah CTA FCCA, The Tax Guys explains how to reduce costs efficiently

study by McKinsey & Co (a global consulting firm) revealed that whilst a 1 per cent reduction in fixed costs can lead to around 2 per cent increase in profits, the same reduction in direct costs has a bigger 7 per cent increase in profits.

In this article, we will look at five smart ways to review and cut costs.

These avoid the conventional practice of simply looking at costs in isolation and cutting them, as this is often to the detriment of the nursery.

A

1 Costs classification

The first thing to do is review your profit and loss accounts to see whether all your costs have been correctly classified. You need to separate your fixed costs (such as rent and admin) from your variable costs (direct staff costs, food and other direct expenses).

The reason this is an important first step is that fixed costs are generally incurred whether or not you have fee income coming in. On the other hand, variable costs tend to increase or decrease as a result of your revenue. Therefore, the more children you take on, the more direct staff, food and nappies you are likely to incur.

Unless you know where these costs are sitting in your accounts, 46 NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY

you may start off by looking at fixed costs which may have little impact on your profits whilst ignoring the variable costs.

Key variable costs you should look at are those associated with certain age groups. If you’re aware of the profitability of certain age groups, then using this as a guide will have a greater impact on your profits.

2 Costs percentages

Here you take each expense item and divide it by the total fee income of the nursery. Let’s say your annual fees are £500,000 and catering, toys and rent for the year costs £20,000 £5,000 and £30,000 respectively.

Your cost percentage analysis will reveal that catering accounts for 4 per cent of income and toys and rent account for 1 per cent and 6 per cent respectively. Whilst this will focus your mind on where your profits are going, you will not necessarily go and cut the biggest expense. You will carry out the next cost trend exercise and then bear in mind the Cost Classification point above.

3 Costs trends

Trends are certainly your friend when it comes to reviewing your accounts and making financial decisions. Here you will compare the cost over a period of time to gain a bit more insight. Let’s say your direct staff costs have been

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creeping up over the last few years.

You also notice an increase in fees which is perhaps driving the variable costs (staff ratios). So here you have two options. You either carry out age group profitability analysis to assess which variable costs to cut or you simply increase prices a bit.

benefit 4 Cost analysis

The fourth step is to conduct a cost benefit analysis. I include the following 6 exercises when consulting with clients:

Relevance Just because you’ve been incurring a cost for the past few years does not mean that the cost is adding value to your setting or that it’s still relevant or fit for purpose.

As you go through each line of expenses (especially the ones on monthly payments), ask yourself these three questions: Is this expense adding any value to the setting? Will a key part of the nursery suffer if we stop the payment? Have we made the most of this expense in the 2 years? If you answer no to these questions, then it’s time to eliminate this cost.

Automation Let’s assume the cost is relevant.

The next step is to consider whether the task can be automated. So, if you have an admin person manually issuing invoices or engaged in any

nmtfinancial advice

manual nursery admin paperwork, then you may find that a cloudbased nursery management software could cut the hours down and reduce costs as well as errors.

Assign or Outsource If the task cannot be automated, then ask whether it’s vital that the activity is done in-house. For example, you have a part time accounts and admin person who comes in say 2-3 days a week and you’re paying say £15,000-18,000 a year. Can you outsource all or part of the accounts and only pay a fraction of the costs?

Return on Investment To simply cut a cost without knowing or understanding its return on investment could prove detrimental to your nursery. Let’s take staff costs, marketing, PR or accountancy. It’s important to have a measurement in place to assess the return you’re getting. If a PR company is getting you the exposure, a marketing agency is getting you the leads, an accountancy firm is saving you money or staff are meeting their key performance indicators leave these costs for now.

‘Trends are certainly your friend when it comes to reviewing your accounts and making financial decisions.’

Control and Leverage If we take your light and heat cost as an example, it may well be that these could be controlled and reduced by change in behaviour or installation of a smart thermostat.

Now your rent. Could you get more out of the premises by leveraging its use, perhaps by hiring it out for kids’ birthday parties, or local community events?

This principle can be applied to other expenses and the idea is not to go in with the mindset of cutting costs at all cost (no pun intended here).

Price Shop for the Best Deal Whilst this is normally the first step some nurseries take, it should actually be further down the list.

Have a conversation with your suppliers. Tell them that your new accounting team or finance director or co-directors have suggested you price shop for the services they are offering. Ask them the best they can offer you. Compare this with 2 or 3 quotes you’ve received. Do bear in mind that new suppliers may promise the earth to get your business. See if you can simply try them out with a small project www.nmt-magazine.co.uk

first. Besides, an existing supplier who is adding value may always be looking to increase their prices and may not accept a price reduction.

5 Tax expense

It is often forgotten that tax itself is an expense. Yes, we all need to pay tax and no responsible nursery can get away with paying no tax. For a nursery, it’s important to concentrate on tax reliefs around payroll and property as there are often tax breaks to consider including tax free perks and property capital allowances. ■ ● Jonathan Amponsah CTA FCCA is an award-winning chartered tax adviser and accountant who advises nursery owners on entrepreneurial tax reliefs. He is the founder and chief executive officer of The Tax Guys.

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W: thetaxguys.co.uk

NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY 47

nmtspotlight

Getting through Covid-19 will require

collaboration and trust It’s a worrying time for the early years sector, but those working across the sector are resilient and experienced people who, together will be able to support each other and call for more Government support.

Rosemary Collard, director of Snapdragons Nurseries talks about the impact of Covid-19

hen I was asked to write this article, news of Covid19 was coming through from China and it was unclear how much it was going to affect us here.

This new strain of Coronavirus was concerning, but it was a long way away. In the ensuing weeks, the situation moved so fast that every day – every hour – brought new challenges for us all. Quickly it dawned on us that this would change everything – at least for the foreseeable future. Nursery owners and managers are very used to being resilient and adapting to new guidance, whether from Ofsted, the Local Authority or the Government.

This situation, though, brought such fast-paced change that we were all reeling. With information being rolled out almost 24 hours a day it was very hard to keep everyone feeling informed, especially with so many lives and livelihoods at stake and stress levels at fever pitch. The road ahead is going to be hard for many of us, but if we are adaptable and keep communication lines open, we will be able to help each other get

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through and pick ourselves back up.

Even without a pandemic, nurseries need to keep a watchful eye on the macro and micro environment to anticipate change and be ready to meet it. Networking with decision makers, scouring the media, researching our industry and investing in technology are all essential tools for keeping up to date.

But keeping our children, parents and staff’s needs at the forefront of everything we do is key to building a successful nursery. They are the stakeholders who matter most and it’s important that we keep them informed and with us for the journey by communicating with them so that they are part of the team and feel valued and listened to.

Work culture is even more crucial during tough times

At difficult times like these, the culture of our business could make all the difference. It is so important that we show our staff how much we value them so that when tough times knock us back, we are able to get through them together as a team. As Snapdragons has grown, the importance of getting the culture right and fully embedded has become evident. In the earlier days, I was able to be face-to-face with my

‘At difficult times like these, the culture of our business could make all the difference.’

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employees daily, sharing my personal passion and values with each one. For me the ‘people’ part of work has always been the most rewarding, be it children, parents or my team. Now we have over 350 employees and a broader geographical spread it is a little harder to know everyone in quite the same way, but I want to retain that shared vision.

Culture in a business does not follow a rule book, which is what makes it so hard to replicate. There’s no template. We do know, though, that as a service business the success of our nurseries rides on the people who represent us. Are they committed, motivated? Do they feel able to share ideas and talk freely to all members of the team right up to the highest level? Unlike many businesses, I believe nurseries do need a level of hierarchy and structure because of the compliance and safeguarding aspects which are so important. ‘Open’ cultures encourage autonomy as well as creative thinking. We would like the creativity, but we need to retain the safety net of procedures. That doesn’t mean that we can’t allow people to share their thoughts and innovations if they see a way that things could be done differently or better. When people feel their ideas are valued and adopted, they feel truly invested.

And it’s important that we listen to the people who are actually doing the job of looking after the children and not get too distanced from the core purpose. Our staff intranet has been a

nmtspotlight

‘We aim to inspire trust, decency, fairness and to expect that from all our employees in return. Be consistent, believe in your culture and stick with it.’

great way of keeping the communication flowing in all directions. All our staff have a company email and are on Teams so they can contact colleagues directly with ideas, worries or questions and to celebrate each other’s work on our Superstars system. And I still get round to all the nurseries at least once a week to check in in person.

The culture of your business can help or hinder recruitment and retention which makes it an essential part of your sustainability. In terms of recruitment, things have been very difficult recently. Finding the right staff is hard and we are all competing in a diminishing pool of practitioners. I believe that it’s important to think of our employees as another group of customers and think hard about what it is that would make them choose to buy into us as a nursery. Our employees spend the majority of their time with us, rather than at home, so we need

to make that time feel purposeful, safe and nurturing. Job opportunities are shared openly and the recruitment process is transparent.

Opportunities are available for anyone who wants to progress and shows that they embrace the values of the business. We have wellbeing champions and support staff who are on hand to listen and guide our employees through the tough times.

We have invested in a raft of employee benefits from mindfulness to awards and holidays, which have been well received but it is not all about those tangible benefits.

We need to act what we say and remember to reflect our values in

everything we do. We cannot expect loyalty from our employees without being loyal to them. So, we aim to inspire trust, decency, fairness and to expect that from all our employees in return. Be consistent, believe in your culture and stick with it. At times like this, our support for each other and our very culture could be the difference between success and failure.

So, at the time of writing this, I cannot begin to predict where we will be when you read this – the landscape will look very different.

Let’s get through Covid-19 together and be strong to face whatever comes at us next. ■

● Rosemary Collard is a director of Snapdragons Nurseries Ltd, which operates nine award-winning nurseries in the South West.

E: rosemary@snapdragonsnursery.com W: snapdragonsnursery.com Connect with Rosemary at LinkedIn

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NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY 49

nmttechnology

Why technology is the key to safety and security in nurseries It’s no secret that our day-to-day lives are becoming increasingly digitised, both in and out of the working environment. And, when it comes to nurseries, there’s the age-old debate surrounding whether technology strengthens or threatens overall security.

John Ingham, chief information officer at Connect Childcare, shares his thoughts on the topic owadays, data is the driver – and decision-maker – for most organisations, from nurseries and colleges to businesses spanning a range of sectors. But when it comes specifically to nurseries, data is crucial, not only for the safety and security of the children but for the staff too.

And while there’s plenty in the news about how tech doesn’t allow you to ‘switch off’, when working in a fast-paced nursery setting, is this really a bad thing?

One of the primary reasons why technology is being adopted by more practices across the country is because it has the power to centralise – and simplify – data, processes, administrative tasks, child observations, and communication with parents. It’s this integrated package which provides staff with more control over the information they collect and store, as well as the peace of mind that it’s safe.

But how does having a more digitised approach to management improve the security of a nursery?

It’s widely known that the effective running involves lots of administration – there are dozens of

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forms to fill out on a daily basis.

Having everything paper-based is not only less convenient, but also carries greater risk of being able to be intercepted, or even modified, by unauthorised parties.

In truth, technology allows nursery practitioners to know, and manage, exactly who has accessed the data, policies and training materials, and who has taken a copy. There’s also a lower risk of accidental deletion.

Data accuracy and child wellbeing

As we know, nursery childcare is in high demand and there’s lots in the headlines about the staffing and recruitment crisis. So, any tool which saves staff time and gives them the headspace to focus on children and their development, is a welcomed guest.

But, having a more organised and consistent approach to data also contributes to wellbeing and safety.

For instance, a nursery environment is a busy one – there’s lots going on and staff always have to be alert.

However, human error is unavoidable and does crop up from time to time.

‘Any tool which saves staff time and gives them the headspace to focus on children and their development, is a welcomed guest.’

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In reality, people can be simultaneously the strongest and weakest link in a chain, if they don’t have the support in place that they need. For instance, if a practice is working from a paper-based system, there could be gaps in a child’s data record, or papers could be accidentally misplaced. Therefore, if nursery workers need to make a decision based on a child’s wellbeing – whether related to activities or meals – the reliance is upon the data being in the right place and up to date.

Cloud-based systems, however, make updating data simpler, more rapid and easy-to-highlight. So, if a child has recently developed a food allergy, instead of being a footnote in a paper file, it’s front-and-centre on all their digital records.

As a result, technology is a progression which, instead of being feared, should be embraced by the childcare sector, as it’s there to support, centralise and streamline the day-to-day of managing a nursery. ■ ● For more information about Connect Childcare, please visit: www.connectchildcare.com or call 01282 507 945.

ENTER NOW! We are proud to announce that the National NMT Nursery Awards are returning for a 18th year in 2020! The Awards recognise the very best in the early years and nursery sector, culminating in a glittering Gala Evening in November in London on the 28th November 2020!

We are delighted that Hope Education will be joining the awards as Main Sponsor.

Visit nmt-magazine.co.uk/awards to enter your nominations We are thrilled to offer our support to the National NMT Nursery Awards 2020 as the main sponsor

MAIN SPONSOR

We understand how much effort it takes for nursery practitioners, leaders, managers and owners to achieve success within their settings, each and every day. The level of enthusiasm which goes into building and maintaining innovative, creative spaces for children to thrive in, is highly recognised by us.

That’s why we believe The National NMT Nursery Awards provide a fantastic and relevant platform to celebrate all of the nurseries doing this.

As main sponsors, we don’t only give our full support to The National NMT Nursery Awards, but to the dedicated staff at each and every nursery setting around the UK, who do their very best to support the growth and development of the children in their care. We also hope that our collaboration with NMT will allow us to learn and grow as a business, with our customers remaining at the forefront of our minds.

We anticipate a fantastic year working closely with NMT and look forward to celebrating successes in November at the awards.

Chris Mahady – Managing Director

@NMTmagazine #NMTNurseryAwards @NurseryManagementToday

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NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY 51

nmtproperty

Impact of global pandemic on the UK childcare sector T he Covid-19 pandemic is first and foremost a tragedy, affecting millions of people around the world and increasingly impacting the local domestic, national and indeed the global economy.

Following the government’s announcement that all early years settings and schools (excluding those caring for children of key workers and vulnerable children) were to close on 20 March until further notice, the impact the pandemic has had on the childcare sector has been unprecedented.

This article intends to provide UK nursery owners with insights, from a business property perspective, into the evolving situation, and to highlight key themes we are seeing in the childcare sector.

While an immense raft of business support initiatives – such as Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, Business Rates Relief, Business Interruption Loan Schemes, Deferral of VAT Payments - have been introduced by the UK government, increasingly operators have voiced significant concerns around delayed payments, especially associated to Job Retention Scheme salary payments.

On 8 April, Jim Harra (CEO, HMRC) announced that the online system for making claims had been developed but would not be launched until 20 April.

Many businesses have found this scheme to be a great help, enabling them to furlough staff and access support, rather than having to consider redundancies.

But for many nurseries, whose largest expenditures are staff costs, we have heard increasing concerns around the lack of cash flow and the impending inability to pay wages should HMRC not process applications quickly.

Cash flow concerns

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Covid-19 is incredibly fast moving, with developments occurring daily. Details summarised herein are reflective of our perspective as at 14 April 2020 from Courteney Donaldson MRICS, Managing Director (Childcare & Education) at Christie & Co

Across the UK many of the most well-known high street banks, and indeed challenger banks that are newer to the commercial sectors, have been simply overwhelmed by the volume of customers seeking to contact them for additional support.

Some nurseries, including Children 1st Nursery Group, who continue to provide childcare for key workers, have been able to secure additional bank support, via a ÂŁ1.6m finance agreement from Lloyds Bank, offered in conjunction with a 12-month capital repayment holiday on existing borrowings. However not all nursery providers are having the equivalent positive experience.

Bank support

Increase in business mortgagees reporting financial distress

During recent weeks, providers with mortgaged freehold settings that were already struggling with financial sustainability pre-COVID19, have reported that their bank is no longer able, or perhaps willing, to further support operations due to

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banking covenant breaches.

We have spoken with multiple nursery owners from across England, Scotland and Wales that have been heartbreakingly advised that they will not be able to reopen their business. Some of these providers who have mortgages secured against their nurseries, and in some cases their own homes, may be left with little choice but to sell in order to repay bank loans.

For leasehold nurseries, rent payments are, after wages, frequently the second largest operational cost item.

Leasehold nurseries

nmtproperty

Section 82 of The Coronavirus Act 2020, which specifically relates to business tenancies in England and Wales, awards protection from forfeiture (a landlord’s termination of a lease) between 25 March 2020 and 30 June 2020.

While this protection is currently in place, refusing to pay the lease rents could still entitle the landlord to take subsequent action against a tenant. Should nursery providers find themselves in this position, they are encouraged to contact their landlord to try and agree a mutually acceptable arrangement.

Market uncertainty & pricing readjustments

On 14 April, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicted that the UK economy 'could shrink by a record 35 per cent by June’ which is sure to have a detrimental effect on UK businesses and childcare facilities alike. Uncertainty and such change, in whatever form, causing market stagnation and impacting on values, can be incredibly damaging to a business.

We have continued to complete transactions, albeit at reduced levels

compared to the volume of business sales completed prior to the commencement of Covid-19 lockdown. The market for day nurseries presently available for sale with vacant possession basis looks significantly different to the market for operational nursery business sales, given that, at the time of writing, the operational nursery business landscape is so different from that just several weeks ago.

Operators, buyers, investors and banks alike are uncertain as to when nursery re-openings may be permitted, and on reopening what each nursery business will look like.

Will providers still be catering for the same number of children that they had previously, or will numbers have fallen due to changes in demand and potentially increased levels of unemployment? And, for a

small number of providers who took what may have been perceived as a hard approach with parents on fees during Covid-19, might this approach have detrimentally impacted on their reputation and the level of goodwill they had with parents pre-pandemic?

There are so many unknowns at this time, but while uncertainty prevails it will have an impact and we anticipate a nationwide UK pricing readjustment across the day nursery market, and indeed the wider commercial property markets in the short to medium term.

The nursery sector has long been known for its resilience. While there may be unprecedented times ahead, we are all in this together. With passion, dedication and determination, united we will get through it. ■

● Courteney Donaldson MRICS has specialised in the nursery sector since 1999, providing valuation, transactional and advisory services to operators, banks and investors at Christie & Co. She can be reached at Courteney.Donaldson@christie.com or you can follow her on Twitter, @courteneyccs.

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nmtproperty sold

properties

recently sold

We are excited to announce the successful sale of Si-Lwli Nursery This historic Whitchurch nursery has been operated by the vendor since 2003, but it has been established for over 45 years. Capitalising on the excellent reputation this nursery developed over its decades of operation, the vendor ultimately positioned the nursery at the top of the childcare sector in the local area, supplying a professional quality of childcare to an ever-increasing demand in the area. Redwoods Dowling Kerr handled the sale, securing 11 viewings. The location of this business was appealing to the first-time purchasers who acquired it.

The buyers commented;

“My experience with RDK was good. The service was very good also. The response was good to any questions and so was the quality of answers. My feeling on completion was very positive. I would definitely recommend RDK.” Lead Negotiator Sarah Ellison commented; “It was a pleasure dealing with Mr & Mrs Forrester to help them secure their first business acquisition. I would like to wish them all the best in future and hope to deal with them again if they wish to expand on their portfolio in childcare.”

Park Lane Kids Limited sold by Redwoods Dowling Kerr Park Lane Kids Limited, a group of 2 children’s day nurseries in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, have now been sold. This nursery group was established by Samantha Faulkner. The first setting, Park Lane Nursery, has operated since 2008. Occupying a residential location, the nursery provides comprehensive childcare and enjoys healthy occupancy levels. The nursery is rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted.

The second setting, Woodlands Nursery, was established in 2012. This nursery is rated ‘Outstanding’

by Ofsted. Park Lane Kids Limited was eagerly acquired

by Dan Slipper of Alpha Kindergarten, after 10 viewings and 2 offers. The excellent reputation of the settings

prompted the acquisition.

The Vendor commented; “The initial appraisal was very relaxed. I knew I wanted to sell whilst the business was on a high. Now was the time. During my time on the market Natasha made it very easy, she was friendly and communication was excellent.”

Acquisition: We play our role as professional and dedicated business brokerage. Our industry leading Corporate Sales Process is bespoke to your sale and is result driven.

Contact us to discuss how Redwoods Dowling Kerr can assist you with your sale and acquisition strategies.

Edgbaston Nursery School is acquired by Storal Learning Limited Edgbaston Nursery School operates from a substantial property in Birmingham, which has been superbly converted as a nursery accommodation. The nursery has an excellent reputation in the area, earning a ‘Good’ rating upon its most recent Ofsted. Within 4 weeks of marketing

by Redwoods Dowling Kerr team, Edgbaston was acquired

by Storal Learning Limited, an experienced nursery group, establishing the 20th nursery in their portfolio.

Varun Chanrai, Managing Director at Storal Learning Limited commented; “Thank you to Redwoods Dowling Kerr for introducing

us to another great nursery. They were instrumental and very helpful throughout the deal process. We are absolutely committed to building upon the years of work put in by and we would like to extend a big thank you to everyone.”

Lead Negotiator Sarah Ellison commented; “It has been a pleasure working with Storal Learning to help them secure their 20th Nursery purchase. Edgbaston came on the market to allow the sellers to retire from the childcare sector. We had an offer and a sale agreed within 4 weeks of marketing and we are very pleased to achieve a successful completion.”

Redwoods Dowling Kerr have sold Beeches Day Nursery Beeches Day Nursery in Prestwich, Manchester is an outstanding childcare provider, with a prominent position within its community. Ran by an experienced management team, and a dedicated team of staff, the high quality of childcare provided by the nursery is evident in its “Good” report from Ofsted upon its most recent inspection. Once placed onto the market, the business was subsequently acquired by 2 first time purchasers. The purchasers are now very excited to own their own business.

The buyers commented; “We would like to thank Redwoods Dowling Kerr,

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and in particular Sarah, for her help in our purchase.

Sarah was always available on the phone and she was extremely proactive in coordinating all parties. The experience with RDK was very good, and they were very knowledgeable. We are both extremely excited and really looking forward to getting started with our business.”

Looking to sell your nursery: With over 30 years’ experience in the brokering deals in the Childcare sector, our insightful and professional services are tailored to maximising your sale price and delivering the best deal possible to you.

nmtproperty sold

properties

recently sold

Busy Bees acquires Squiggles Childcare Limited thanks to Redwoods Dowling Kerr One of the UK’s leading childcare providers has acquired Squiggles, a substantial setting based in Sevenoaks.

Squiggles Childcare Limited provides early years care to children aged from 0 - 5 years. After competitive bidding, a sale was agreed for the price higher than the expected with the purchaser Busy Bees. Following on from the acquisition, Busy Bees owns more than 35,000 children across the UK and Ireland.

The Vendor, Jackie Hedges, commented; “We have enjoyed running this nursery and we are pleased Busy Bees share our mission to ensure every child’s happiness, wellbeing and progress is prioritised.”

The Buyer, Europe CEO of Busy Bees Cheryl Creaser commented; “The team provide exceptional care and their mission is to provide children with a calm, safe and happy environment. It’s our pleasure to welcome everyone to Busy Bees.”

Director of Childcare Jenna Caldwell commented; “There was substantial interest in this nursery, with all parties submitting an offer after viewing. This resulted in a price being achieved in excess of the vendor’s expectations, with the chosen buyer being one of the UK’s leading childcare providers”.

Little Leprechauns Day Nursery is under new ownership thanks to Redwoods Dowling Kerr This nursery in Chesterfield, Derbyshire was established by the previous vendors to meet the increasing demand for high-quality childcare in the area. The nursery has effectively positioned itself as the top-level childcare settings in the area earning a ‘Good’ Ofsted report. The nursery was swiftly sold on the very first viewing as soon as it was promoted on the market. The prime trading location of the nursery was what ultimately influenced the sale. The purchasers wish to continue the reputation of the nursery.

The Vendor commented; “Many thanks again Natasha for all your help in securing the sale of the nursery.”

Free Appraisal: We have specialist business valuation team providing local knowledge and service on national scale. Having completed several valuations in Childcare sector, we’ve built up a remarkable database of market intelligence.

Get in touch if you would like to opt for our “FREE” business appraisal service.

To find out more details about the businesses available for sale, and sold, through Redwoods Dowling Kerr please visit: www.redwoodsdk.com

Futurepath Childcare sold to expanding French operator through Christie & Co Specialist property business adviser, Christie & Co is delighted to announce the recent sale of Futurepath Childcare, a renowned family-run nursery group located in Hampshire.

The established group, which holds an exemplary reputation for providing high quality childcare, comprises five reputable nurseries.

Located in high profile locations including Southampton, Park Gate, Ower, Whiteley in Fareham and Romsey, the group offers a combined operating capacity for c.375 children.

The owners, Peter and Jacky Barnett are experienced childcare operators who recently opened their latest addition to the group in 2019.

They made the decision to approach Christie & Co and explore the option of selling after seeing the successful and confidential sale of one of their competitors.

Futurepath has been acquired by Grandir UK, an expanding French childcare operator who also own and operate Kiddi Caru Day Nurseries Group across the country.

Nick Brown Head of Brokerage handled the sale and adds, “Following our first meeting with Peter and Jacky, it was clear to see that Futurepath is a leading childcare provider who has established themselves in the surrounding area as the ‘go to’ provider. Working under a strict timeline via a highly confidential sales process, my colleague Sophie Willcox and I were able to create a high level of competitive tension from all parties which resulted in numerous offers being received on this exciting opportunity.

“We are delighted that we have been able to work with Jacky and Peter to enable them to retire from the childcare industry and we should also mention the excellent supportive work provided by Julie Hughes at Cripps Pemberton Greenish solicitors.

www.nmt-magazine.co.uk

May / June 2020

NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY 55

nmtproperty sold

properties

recently sold

Smarties Nursery Group sold to expanding operator through Christie & Co Specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co, are delighted to announce the recent sale of Smarties Nursery Group, which is located in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire’s largest market town.

Rated Outstanding by Ofsted, this group of two settings comprise both a freehold and leasehold nursery of the highest calibre. With a combined operating capacity for 69 children, these nurseries boast good levels of occupancy and exceptional learning environments.

The settings have been owned and operated by husband and wife team, Steve and Christine Doubtfire, who after teaching careers, followed by 13+ years in the childcare industry, decided that the time was right to retire and pass the nursery onto new owners. Run with a management team in situ, this was an ideal opportunity for buyers looking for an established group situated in sought after locations, with scope and potential for further growth.

Steve and Christine commented, “We are delighted to be able to pass the nursery on to Heena and Girish, who we believe are just as passionate about high quality childcare as we are. Our grateful thanks to Nick Brown of Christie & Co who was able to find us the perfect match.”

Smarties Private Day Nursery Ltd. has been purchased by existing operators, Heena and Girish, who are adding to their established other setting. Heena and Girish commented, “We were very lucky to find such fantastic nurseries, which have an outstanding team and provide the highest quality childcare. Nick Brown has always been a pleasure to work with and was able to identify exactly

what we needed to take that next step. Christie & Co are always supportive, professional and responsive. Everything you need when trying to grow!”

Nick Brown, Head of Childcare Brokerage at Christie & Co, handled the sale and comments, “It has been a pleasure working with Steve and Christine and helping them to achieve their aim of retirement. This is a super

group of two settings that will be perfect additions to new owners, Heena and Girish’s existing portfolio – I was lucky enough to sell them their first setting several years ago!

“This sale highlights Christie & Co’s expertise in matching well-funded, acquisitive buyers with willing sellers, culminating in an excellent result for all parties involved.”

Small Friends Day Nursery sold to The Old Station Nurseries Specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co is pleased to announce Small Friends Day Nursery, located in Leigh-on-sea, Essex, has been sold to a growing national operator.

Situated in the heart of the busy seaside town, Small Friends has an exceptional reputation in the local community, and this is reflected through the nurseries Outstanding Ofsted rating since 2015.

Having operated the nursery for a number of years, the previous owner, Louise Parfett is looking forward to pursuing new ventures as a result of the sale.

Louise comments, “I have loved creating and nurturing Small Friends into a thriving and outstanding provision

and business. I will miss the wonderful staff team, children and families, but after 19 years it is now time for new opportunities. I am very excited for the future of Small Friends being part of Sarah Steel’s thriving Old Station Nurseries group. I wish Sarah and Small Friends my very best wishes and continued success in the future.”

The nursery has been purchased by The Old Station Nurseries, a premium nursery provider with sites across the UK. The acquisition brings them to 19 sites across the South region.

Sarah Steel, Managing Director comments, “We are really excited about Small Friends joining our family. It is

a really great nursery, with an ‘outstanding’ rating from OFSTED, and we are looking forward to getting to know the children, staff and parents.”

Sophie Willcox, Associate Director at Christie & Co handled the sale and comments, “It has been a real pleasure working with Louise. The Old Station was the perfect fit for the nursery, and I am delighted to have assisted once again in their acquisition plans. I wish Louise all the best for her next venture.

“We received a number of offers and we went under offer within weeks of coming to the market. The demand for good quality assets in London and the South is as strong as ever.”

Christie & Co has the largest dedicated team of childcare business property agents in Europe.

For further information about businesses for sale through Christie & Co, go to www.christie.com/business-search/childcare and for details of businesses recently sold, go to www.christie.com/business-search/childcare/sold

C O N TA C T S U M M A R Y CHRISTIE & CO

YORKSHIRE / NORTH EAST

REDWOODS DOWLING KERR

SCOTLAND

Vicky Marsland..................... 0161 833 6914

SPECIALIST NURSERY TEAM

Martin Daw.......................... 0131 524 3406 Emma Govan........................ 0131 524 3401 Alistair Watt..........................0141 352 7306

LONDON

CHESHIRE / NORTH WEST

SOUTH WEST

Sofia Beck.............................0161 833 6915

Jassie Sunner........................ 0121 452 3708

MIDLANDS

PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS

Jassie Sunner........................ 0121 452 3708 Tareq Haque..........................0121 452 3712

Courteney Donaldson........... 07831 099 985 Nick Brown........................... 07764 241 316

Jenna.Caldwell@redwoodsdk.com Scott.Toward@redwoodsdk.com Karrina.Lee@redwoodsdk.com Robert.Forrester@redwoodsdk.com Sarah.Ellison@redwoodsdk.com Mark.Phillips@redwoodsdk.com Natasha.Satterthwaite@redwoodsdk.com Matthew.Preston@redwoodsdk.com Kim.Emsley@redwoodsdk.com Mathew.Parkinson@redwoodsdk.com Robert.Yates@redwoodsdk.com Andy.Sharp@redwoodsdk.com Head Office Telephone: 08442 488 322 / 01772 775 780 Email: sales@redwoodsdk.com

56 NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY

Sophie Willcox...................... 0203 846 0619 Lucy Mclean..........................0203 846 0612

May / June 2020

www.nmt-magazine.co.uk

REGIONAL DIRECTORS

Increase Occupancy with our UK made BunkCot Both Fafunia & The New Factory are proud to work in collaboration in bringing you their space saving product the BunkCot. The BunkCots are designed for Day Nursery settings as they arrive with you fully assembled and complete with mattresses. Each cot is solidly made from Birch Plywood and fitted sheets are also available including a waterproof breathable mattress protector. Delivery times from point of order are between 2 -3 weeks.

Shop for a BunkCot at www.fafuplay.com

www.nmt-magazine.co.uk

May / June 2020

NURSERY MANAGEMENT TODAY 57

REPUTATION DISCRETION KNOWLEDGE

We're Here For You!

Now offering market appraisals with a telephone appointment The coronavirus outbreak has signi cantly impacted the en re world due to the scale, severity and uncertainty of the virus.

At this me, we recognise that your a en on will rightly be focused on the children in your care, your sta and your loved ones.

However, at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later, things will return to normal. We an cipate when that happens it will be important that we’re prepared with any impact that Covid-19 might have had on your business.

We know you will be doing your best by taking all necessary steps with minimal disrup on in this di cult circumstance.

However, if you need any advice or a friendly voice at the end of the phone, Redwoods Dowling Kerr team will be more than happy to have a chat with you.

On behalf of all of us at Redwoods Dowling Kerr, we extend our best wishes to you and your loved ones in this di cult and challenging me.

Continued Success in Childcare at Redwoods Dowling Kerr

SOLD

SOLD Squiggles Childcare Kent

SOLD

Park Lane Kids & Woodlands Cambridge

SOLD

SOLD

Edgbaston Nursery School West Midlands

Beeches Day Nursery Greater Manchester

SOLD

Just Imagine Day Nursery Essex

Si Liwi Nursery Cardi

To see our latest Childcare opportunities throughout the UK visit: redwoodsdk.com Contact us to discuss your exit strategy

TO BUY: 0844 3877 406 TO SELL: 0844 3877 407

childcare@redwoodsdk.com buy@redwoodsdk.com

www.redwoodsdk.com/childcare

sell@redwoodsdk.com

Redwoods Dowling Kerr

@RedwoodsDK

THE COMPLETE CHILDCARE BROKER CAMBRIDGESHIRE FREEHOLD

WEST MIDLANDS FREEHOLD

WORCESTERSHIRE FREEHOLD

WEST SUSSEX FREEHOLD

Reference: 47732

Reference: 47317

Reference: 47330

Reference: 47221

£1,450,000

£999,950

£750,000

£780,000

• Turnover of £561k y/e 2019 with an EBITDA of £149k • Capacity of 65 children • Valuable freehold property • Additional plot of land included

• Fee income of £439k y/e 2018 with an EBITDA of £172k • Capacity for 68 children • Excellent reputation • Convenient and unique position

• Fee income of £220k y/e 2018 • Versatile freehold setting • Capacity for 37 children • Ideal for rst time buyer

• Fee income of £290k y/e 2019 • Capacity for 45 children • Rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted • Potential to increase numbers • Converted building

EAST YORKSHIRE LEASEHOLD

NORTH YORKSHIRE LEASEHOLD

DEVON FREEHOLD

LINCOLNSHIRE LEASEHOLD

Reference: 45937

Reference: 47044

Reference: 47648

Reference: 47764

£500,000

£480,000

£390,000

£375,000

• Income of £587k y/e 2018 • Capacity for 140 children • Immaculately presented • Truly enviable reputation with high occupancy levels

• Income of £580k y/e 2019 • Capacity for 72 children • High occupancy levels and operated with a management team

• Fee income of £183 y/e 2019 • Capacity for 48 children • Management structure in place and superbly presented throughout

• Fee income of £436k y/e 2019 • Capacity for 81 children • Impressive and well-presented property • Enviable reputation

WEST YORKSHIRE LEASEHOLD

LEICESTERSHIRE LEASEHOLD

LANCASHIRE LEASEHOLD

LONDON LEASEHOLD

Reference: 47253

Reference: 47446

Reference: 45019

Reference: 47721

£275,000

• Turnover of £437 y/e 2018

• Impressive children’s indoor activity centre & party venue • Fantastic growth potential • Operated under management

£250,000

• Turnover of £310k y/e 2019 • Capacity for 24 children • Convenient and accessible setting • Management team in place

£225,000

• Fee income of £332k y/e 2018 • Capacity for 70 children • Soley run by the strong manager and staff • Excellent reputation

£195,000

• Fee income of £290 y/e 2019 • Capacity for 25 children • Owner managed • Ideal for hands on owner

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES

Project Gabriel

SUFFOLK

NORTH EAST

ARGYLL & BUTE

SOUTH YORKSHIRE

FREEHOLD

A GROUP

FREEHOLD

A GROUP

Reference: 47634

Reference: 47394

Reference: 46272

Reference: 47468

• Independent, Co-educational day and boarding school • Capacity for 200 children • Exclusive rural location • Extensive private grounds • Rated ‘Outstanding’

by Independent Schools Inspectorate

• A group of three charming day nurseries • Combined capacity for 207 children • Income of £1m with an adjusted EBITDA of £268k

• Popular freehold nursery • Capacity for 60 children • Income of £324k with an adjusted EBITDA of £77k • Rated ‘Good’ by Care Inspectorate

• Group of two day nurseries • Combined capacity for 85 children • Leasehold sale • Income of £545k with an adjusted EBITDA of £113k • Rate ‘Good’ by Ofsted

£4,000,000

£1,000,000

£550,000

£325,000

We are here to support you.

Since 1935 Christie & Co has supported our clients through many diďŹƒcult moments. Whilst we now face unprecedented times, we remain available to support nursery owners throughout this challenging period.

If you need our support, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

Courteney Donaldson UK, Europe & Asia

T: +44 7831 099 985 E: courteney.donaldson@christie.com

Nick Brown UK

T: +44 7764 241 316 E: nick.brown@christie.com

christie.com

Everything for Early Years From high quality resources and everyday essentials, to outdoor furniture and stationery, we have all the tools you’ll need to support the successful day-to-day running of your setting.

FREE nursery design service, made easy

Your nursery essentials at marketing leading prices

Extensive outdoor range designed for little explorers

Main Sponsor

1000s of high quality resources to ignite curiosity We are delighted to support The National NMT Awards as their main sponsor this year. We know how much hard work and effort goes into the running of each and every nursery across the UK, which is why we look forward to joining you all at NMT in Autumn 2020 to recognise and celebrate the year’s successes.

The home of inspirational and best value resources for Early Years Be inspired at www.hope-education.co.uk

@hope_earlyyears

HopeEductionUK

HopeEducationUK