Educare welcomes special guests to celebrate milestones
Children at Educare Nursery with local dignitaries and some of the animals from the Purple Pig Company
A CHILDREN'S nursery celebrated with an open day as it continued its 20th anniversary celebrations by marking the completion of a new extension and a stamp of approval in the latest Ofsted report.
Educare Nursery in Beverley also earned the endorsement of distinguished visitors the Mayor of Beverley, Councillor Bryan Pearson, and Councillor Kerri Harold, Chair of the Children and Young People Committee at East Riding of Yorkshire Council.
The Mayor said: “Nurseries are very important to the local community because people have to get their children looked after. The better the facility the happier the people are, and this is a wonderful facility with first-class staff.”
Councillor Harold said: “It is always a pleasure to be invited to visit Educare and, once again, I was very impressed with the setting. The investment the company has recently made in the facilities has clearly had a positive impact on the provision and the experience for the children.
“The staff are amazing and are dedicated to providing the best possible care for the children. The nursery sector has challenges around funding and to see Educare’s commitment to continually growing the business under these circumstances is really pleasing. Beverley benefits from Educare and its committed staff.”
The children and their guests were joined by some of the animals from the Pocklington-based Purple Pig Company, which set up one of its mobile farms in the Educare garden.
David Whincup, owner of Educare, said: “The visit was part of our plan to have a year of memorable events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the nursery, and the timing couldn’t have been better.
“We invited our special guests to see the extension which we opened at the beginning of the year following an investment of £150,000. We were also able to show them the outcome of our latest Ofsted inspection which recognised the quality of the services that we provide for children and parents.”
The Ofsted report highlighted the checks carried out by the nursery when recruiting staff, the obvious enjoyment of the children when playing and learning with the Educare team, and the attentiveness of the staff in noticing when children are hungry or tired. It added that all children make good progress and “develop excellent social skills”.
David said: “We were very pleased that Ofsted recognised that all areas and activities of the nursery are good and we know the latest investment will enable us to make further improvements to our facilities and services to benefit children and their families.”
The extension was constructed in response to growing demand from families to take up the offer of 30 hours of free childcare every week for 3 and 4-year-olds. It has created space for a new library and sensory area, with increased provision in the nursery’s out-of-school and holiday club.
As a result, the overall capacity of Educare has increased by 20 to 110 child places plus 40 in the out-of-school club. The number of staff has increased from 12 when the nursery opened in 1998 to the current figure of 35.
