world class nursery care
The Asquith family vision is to deliver a positive experience to our children through a learning and development programme that is second to none. We specialise in giving individual care and attention in an unrivalled environment. We have ploughed resources in to supporting wide and varied opportunities for creativity. We are intent on promoting independence through a nursery experience that will make a significant difference to your child's future development. The formative years of your child's life are key to their ongoing educational, physical, and social development. It is of the utmost importance to us to give them the best possible beginning. There is a growing consensus amongst researchers and early years professionals around what a good quality nursery provides.
opportunities
We believe that children are active learners and that we need to provide them with the right environment, scaffolding (support) and experiences to stimulate their curiosity, imagination and creativity. We have thought very hard about the opportunities that we can offer your child. To achieve this, not only do we need to make sure that we attract and retain the right staff but we also need to ensure that we stimulate your child emotionally and intellectually by providing the best circumstances to promote active learning. This might sound like something that you would expect to hear from the Managing Director of the company but I am pleased to tell you that we have already achieved great things and have plans for much more! We believe that all the stakeholders in Asquith, particularly the 9,000+ children we care for on behalf of 18,000 parents, will benefit greatly.
investment
During 2007, we re-equipped all our nurseries with brand new toys and furniture, spending in excess of £1.5 million. We have also invested heavily in refurbishments and almost half of our nurseries have already benefited from our £7.2 million refit, creating nearly 700 additional places.
This culminated in January 2008 with our most recent refurbishments at Kenton Day Nursery in North West London and Springfields Day Nursery in Lichfield, West Midlands.
a new look
More recently, each of our 115 nurseries and crèches has adopted its own unique logo (designed by our nationwide team of young, yet undoubtedly talented, artists: our children!). Most importantly, it gives each nursery an individual identity whilst maintaining the core values of the Asquith brand and our ever growing reputation for superb care.
staff training
Staff development is paramount and our Open University initiative was launched last year offering all of our nursery staff the opportunity to study for a Certificate in Early Years Practice, an NVQ Level 4 equivalent. We intend to offer the best training opportunities to our staff to support and build on our Birth to Three Matters Framework and the Foundation Stage Curriculum. We want parents and the regulatory bodies (Ofsted, CSIW and the Care Commission) to see us as the leading provider of high quality childcare and education. We take nothing for granted and are committed to constantly monitoring and evaluating our standard of care. We are currently working with other organisations including local authority early years departments, local schools and teachers, the National Day Nurseries Association and the Open University to ensure that we keep up to date with current 'best practice' and are capable of offering the very best to your child. We are also working with 'Learning through Landscapes', developing our outdoor provision to ensure that we offer the same excellent facilities outdoors as well as indoors.
communication
We recognise how important it is to keep parents and nursery staff informed as much as possible and we communicate our news and views regularly to parents via our 'My Nursery' publication, distributed every few months.
superb childcare
Quite simply, our aim is to provide the best nursery care and education available in the UK. This will happen if our nurseries have the best resources and our staff are confident in their abilities. We want you to be happy with what we do and how we do it. After all, our collective aim is for happy and contented children who enjoy living in a culture that nurtures and values the importance of childhood.
