About Lambsmead Nurseries:

We are a husband and wife team who have been involved with children’s day care both as parents and as children’s day care workers. Our aim is to set up the kind of nursery we ourselves would like to send our children to. We believe in an holistic approach to child care where all elements contribute to the greater good of the child. Be they the environment the child is in, the people that are caring for them or the food they eat. Our focus has been to establish the best possible environment for each and every child. We maintain accessibility for all by offering the highest level of care at a competitive cost compared with other nurseries in the borough.

We will provide your child with:

-         A majority of experienced fully qualified Nursery Nurses with a minimal number of trainees to satisfy future staffing needs. We are offering above average wages and a very attractive employment package so as to secure the best staff we can find. We focus very strongly on recruiting and retaining staff who have a professional, motivated attitude, who love children and whose fulfilment is gained from helping them grow into happy, well-rounded, well-behaved and stimulated individuals.

-         Nurseries that have been refitted completely to provide a flexible, purpose built environment. We aim to have each child benefit from attending our nursery and provide them with the space and materials to do so. We will always maintain plenty of room for each child regardless of how many we are legally allowed to accommodate.

-         All our food is freshly prepared using high quality and certified organic ingredients. The menu over the period of a week is designed to provide your child with all their nutritional needs. The menu is also constantly reviewed so that the children develop a broad appreciation and healthy eating habits. We are more than happy to cater for special dietary requirements be they on health, moral or religious grounds.

-         A pre-school curriculum that is formulated whilst liaising with the local primary schools to ensure that the learning systems we use are the same ones your child will encounter in their Reception year. We aim to minimise the impact of the change from nursery to school.

Our motivations:

We became aware by experience that behind a thin veil of marketing much of the children’s day care on offer is of a far from suitable nature. The lack of supply of day care places has been met by chain nurseries that make every effort to market effectively and appear appealing to parents whilst investing the absolute minimum in your child. In our experience they run on a formula which is designed to maximise their profits with little regard for how important their role actually is:

-         They generally have a bare minimum of qualified staff with the majority being ‘trainees’. This term can refer to anyone who has recently signed up to a child care course. The result of this is that staff turnover is unbelievably high, with your child having to adjust to a different carer many times during their attendance at the nursery. It also leads to a lack of effective care and very little in the way of pre-school preparation for your child. Staff motivation levels are often extremely low as the main reason for hiring ‘trainees’ is that they are paid the minimum wage.

-         Their aim is to maximise the amount of children OFSTED will allow on their premises and then keep the nursery as full as possible, often exceeding carer/child ratios. This leads to a crowded, noisy environment which is far from ideal for a child who is trying to take their first steps in learning the key skills that will smooth their transition into school and shape the rest of their lives.

-         The quality of food provided is, in the main, of an extremely poor quality. “Meals prepared on site” often translates to reheating frozen food delivered by a catering company. This food is often high in sodium and has to be cooked once by the caterers and again at the nursery meaning that it is woefully low in nutrients. The quality of produce used, whether by the caterers or by the nursery themselves, is always based on cost and is therefore extremely low. Little regard is given to creating a balanced menu that meets all the nutritional needs of your growing child.

As a result we decided to establish the kind of nurseries we would like our own children to attend. We believe that although you may find nurseries of a similar standard you will never find one that is better for you and your child.