Toad Hall Nursery Group has come on in leaps and bounds since appointing former National Strategies director Ruth Pimentel as its chief executive.
The woman who helped develop the Early Years Foundation Stage was asked by the owners of the group of 15 nurseries to review all aspects of the business and create a model of best practice to be used across all the settings.
More than a year on, occupancy at the nurseries has risen by as much as 15 per cent at some sites, and turn over has dramatically increased. Many of the nurseries have also reported an increase in the number of enquiries and bookings from parents.
Ms Pimentel explains, 'The group's practice and provision was very good, but it needed a spring clean. For me the priority was to focus on quality, as once that is achieved the rest will follow. It was a big step to move to the group, but I felt it was time to put policy into practice.'
Branding changes
According to Ms Pimentel, the improvements made to the chain were based on the views of key stakeholders and parents, who filled in a questionnaire about what changes they wanted to see made to the Toad Hall Nursery Group.
'Many parents said they felt that the group's branding didn't communicate the right message,' she says. 'To solve this we worked with a design company, Bluegreen, to create a new logo which would reflect the nurseries' emphasis on early learning, physical development, learning though play and a high standard of care.'
All the nurseries have since received new signage with the re-designed logo.
Another change to the group's branding was modernising the website. 'The new design of the site has attracted a lot more enquiries,' says Ms Pimentel. 'However, we hope to build on this with the development of a more interactive website planned for next year.'
Nursery makeovers
To enhance the new branding, a rolling refurbishment programme was launched across the settings, which is still going on.
As part of the programme, improvements are being made to the interior and exteriors of the nurseries, ranging from a general tidy-up to a complete redesign of their indoor and outdoor space.
Work so far has included creating an area of outdoor decking at the setting on Manor Road, Walton on Thames; enhancing the gardens at the Woking site; replacing the windows at the Hitchin nursery in Hertfordshire, where a project to give the garden a makeover is planned; and extending the size of rooms at the setting in Ealing, west London.
Another aspect of the group that Ms Pimentel tackled was the nurseries' meals. To ensure all the food served to children would meet the Caroline Walker Trust nutritional and practical guidelines for children under five years old, she enlisted the help of specialist early years nutrition company Grub4Life, who redesigned Toad Hall's menus.
She also organised an arrangement for the nurseries to buy their food from Creed, a central supplier, instead of supermarkets. Where possible, settings were encouraged to use local suppliers for high-quality seasonal ingredients, helping to reduce their carbon footprint.
Back office
'Parents also highlighted problems with the back office system, in particular with invoicing', says Ms Pimentel. In response, she moved the responsibility of invoicing from the individual nurseries to head office and encouraged a system of emailing invoices and the nursery's newsletter, which she says is helpful for busy parents who work.
The review of the nurseries also flagged up a need to refresh the group's policies and procedures. Environmental health consultants Perry Scott Nash were invited to come in and draw up new guidelines for health and safety, including managing children's allergies, accident reporting and general attention to health and safety guidelines.
Perry Scott Nash continues to support the nurseries with their training and regular health and safety reviews. Staff handbooks have been revised to update practitioners on the current requirements.
Paperwork
Ms Pimentel says she noticed, when examining practice at the nurseries, that their planning for the Early Years Foundation Stage was quite lengthy and staff were completing lots of paperwork. Indeed, some of the nursery practitioners had become swamped by the paperwork to support the EYFS.
So, she took a back-to-basics approach and encouraged practitioners to focus on what they believed was right for the children.
'I stripped back the amount of paperwork and made it clear to staff what is expected from them,' she says. 'Having less paperwork has meant that staff can spend more time with the children. Consequently, many of the practitioners say that they feel more assured about their practice since the changes were put into place.'
Drawing on this new-found confidence, Ms Pimentel is now implementing an early language programme throughout the nurseries to help create more opportunities for language.
The programme was designed by literary consultant and author Kay Hiatt. 'It is a menu of activities which aims to help practitioners consider ways to develop children's language by extending role-play areas or introducing new songs, games and rhymes, which can also be shared with parents,' says Ms Pimentel.
'We are already noticing a difference, as the Early Language Champion carries out an audit of each room in the nurseries to ensure that there are regular opportunities for children's language development within the continuous provision, but also through regular, well-planned adult-led activities.'
Further improvements in the pipeline include introducing regular social occasions at various nurseries, such as coffee mornings and information events, and looking into the way staff can be rewarded with incentives.
Outstanding
As an endorsement of the quality of the nurseries, two of the settings have recently gained an outstanding from Ofsted. Toad Hall nursery in Langley, Berkshire, and the nursey on the Cambridge Road in Walton on Thames, Surrey, received top marks during inspections this summer.
The 12-place baby unit in Surrey was commended for its 'superb and nurturing environment for babies', along with the 'professionalism and expertise of staff'. Inspectors praised the setting in Berkshire, which has 121 children on roll, for 'its skilled staff who are fully committed to meeting children's individual learning and developmental needs exceptionally well.'
Ms Pimentel says, 'Gaining the outstanding judgements has really given us all a boost. Now the other nurseries are working extra hard to gain an outstanding judgement.'
Most impressive of all, perhaps, is that all the improvements have been made to the nursery group from Toad Hall's existing finances, with forward projections looking very positive. The increase in occupancy will mean that the group can continue to invest in standards to sustain the improvements.
New Nurseries
The owners of Toad Hall now hope to build on the current success, and plan to use their chief executive's model of good practice as they continue to expand the group of 15 settings and work towards a goal of becoming a significant player in the daycare sector.
'We spent this year improving the existing nurseries, which are now operating at a good level,' says Ms Pimentel. 'The idea is to roll out that model across any new settings.
'It has been a busy 18 months, but we are all excited about moving forward and continuing to develop the high quality childcare and early learning I have always believed in.'
