The Cottage Kindergarten in Helensburgh has been named “Nursery of the Year” in a competition against other nursery schools from across the UK. The prestigious award is sponsored by Nursery World, a respected publication in the nursery and early years sector which is read by over 100,000 education and childcare professionals. The results were announced at a glittering black tie dinner in London on Friday night.
The Kindergarten, based in East Montrose Street, had previously been told it had been shortlisted for the award during the summer and that it was the only Scottish nursery school to make the final shortlist.The award judge, a former OFSTED nursery inspector and a UK government advisor on the Early Years curriculum, spent a full day at the Kindergarten at the start of September talking to the children, parents and the staff.
Helen Baynham, the owner and Nursery Manager, said that she and the staff were taken by surprise to actually win the award. “We were delighted to have made the final shortlist but we were over the moon when we heard we had actually won.”, said Helen, “We really enjoyed our day with the judge and she was very complimentary about us and what we did with the children, but we knew that there was strong competition from some very good nursery schools down in England.” Helen singled out the staff for particular praise saying that “Our staff are what makes the Kindergarten special. They work hard to ensure that the children benefit from their time with us.” In her final report the judge commented that “The manager has very high standards and an ambitious vision, shared by a team of well-qualified and dedicated staff.” and summed up by saying that “The Cottage Kindergarten is a delightful place to be… this is the nursery that deserves the 2012 award.”
The Kindergarten has been open for just three years, and started with a handful of children when it first opened its doors. It is now very close to capacity with a maximum of 23 three and four year olds attending for three hours either in the morning or afternoon during term times.
The Kindergarten was also presented with one of only two Highly Commended awards in the ‘Enabling Environments’ category for its outdoor play area.
Very proud to work in partnership with The Kindergarten. Well done Helen and her amazing team.
Congratulations
Well done Helen and all the staff – What a fantastic, well deserved, accolade!
Very well done to everyone involved – a great achievement.
A lot of hard work and dedication from staff, good working relationships with children and parents must have went into your excellent nursery to have won such an award. Congratulations to you and your staff.
As a parent, the nursery never fails to absolutely amaze me. Every day such care is taken to create wholesome, unusual and oh so enticing areas of magical play. The staff are all incredibly professional, warm, approachable and experienced. It is no wonder that they have achieved this I just wish that I was 3 again so that I could be there too!
Congratulations to you all,well done.