Our before and after school care in the Nursery (Froglets) recently featured in the Bristol Standard Celebration Stories booklet commissioned by Bristol City Council.
“We are proud to have been awarded the Bristol Standard which highlights our commitment to play and provision for our children. We received excellent mentor support and submitted a joint play provision and birth to five folder for validation. It has been really helpful and a strength for both the settings to meet together to discuss the dimensions.
Initially Froglets was underused; working together we were able to develop all aspects of our practice. Parents commented that children ‘are incredibly well looked after’ and that ‘staff are friendly and welcoming’. We soon doubled our intake.
We share a space, we share children and families and we share some members of staff and so it made sense that we worked closely together to learn from each other. We were able to identify similarities and differences in provision needs and work together to support each other. For example; ensuring that a shared space was suitable for the needs of 3-4 year olds in wrap around care sessions and also for babies and toddlers who attend the nursery ‘play and stay’ in the day. This was achieved by understanding the competing needs and working together to reorganise the room and use new and flexible storage options.
The Bristol Standard process has enabled us to develop a sense of shared ownership; it has given us a voice, a reason and way to apply for additional resources. We have slowly developed the ICT provision and resources for the children in wrap around care.
We also share the admissions process and staff training sessions and Froglets and the Nursery work closely to consider how to provide exciting opportunities for children’s play and development.
The Nursery has recently expanded to incorporate a Children’s Centre which gives us all additional partnership possibilities and learning opportunities using the process of deep reflection to achieve this.”
