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The Nursery World Awards 2020 winners revealed!

Awards Previous Winners
Honey Pot Day Nursery Garston was named Nursery of the Year and Neil Leitch of the Early Years Alliance was awarded Lifetime Achievement at our glittering virtual ceremony.

At last, we can unveil the winners of the Nursery World Awards 2020.

We received a huge number of entries, highlighting the amazing people and organisations in our wonderful early years sector. The competition was fierce, and the judges had an extremely hard time making their decisions.

In a year when the coronavirus pandemic, lockdown and restrictions have made it especially challenging for early years settings and services to support young children and their families, it is even more important to recognise the fantastic work that has been going on against all the odds.

This time, we celebrated the awards with an extra-special virtual ceremony, premiered live at 17.00 on 4 February 2021.


ORGANISATIONS

Nursery of the Year

Sponsored by childcare.co.uk

Winner:

  • Honey Pot Day Nursery – Garston

Highly commended

  • Meadow Lane Children's Nursery
  • Young Friends Nature Nursery

Finalists

  • Leeds Montessori School & Day Nursery
  • The Blue Door Nursery

 

Nursery Group of the Year

Sponsored by Realise


Winner

  • Little Barn Owls Farm and Forest School

Highly commended

  • London Early Years Foundation

Finalists

  • Child’s Play Private Nursery
  • Fennies Nurseries
  • N Family Club
  • The Village Nursery Group

Pre-School of the Year

Winner

Puddleduck Preschool

Highly commended

  • Clophill Preschool
  • Enya’s Childcare

Finalists

  • Fit n Fun Kids
  • Leeds Montessori School and Day Nursery

Childminding Business of the Year

Sponsored by childcare.co.uk


Winner

  • Kayla’s House

Highly commended

  • Julie & Jo’s Childcare

Finalists

  • Vicki Chenery
  • Kate’s Childcare

 

Early Years in School

Winner

  • Newbridge School

Finalists

  • Gateways School
  • Kingsgate Primary School


INITIATIVES

Community Support

Winner

  • Rosebuds Preschool at Loughborough Community Centre

Highly commended

  • Fit N Fun Kids

Finalist

  • Marcham Little Angels

 

Working with Babies and Toddlers

Winner

  • The Baby and Toddler Pod at Snapdragons Nursery

Highly commended

  • Supporting the Under 2’s at The Old Forge Day Nursery

 

Team Development Award

Winner

  • Learning & Development at The London Early Years Foundation

Finalists

  • Continuous professional development with our support at The Elms Day Nursery - University of Birmingham
  • Talent Management at Treehouse Nursery School

Online and Social Media Award

Winner

Highly commended

  • Muddy Boots Nurseries, www.muddybootsnursery.co.uk
  • Shada Lambert, www.nannysharz.com

 

Eco-Friendly Early Years Award

Winner

  • Enya's Childcare

Highly commended

  • Tops Day Nurseries
  • Young Friends Nature Nursery

Finalist

  • Honey Pot Nursery Group

 

Working with Parents Award

Winner

  • FAB (Families Are Best) - Harrington Nursery School

Highly commended

  • Tots Talking - I CAN Children's Communication Charity

Finalists

  • Hand in Hand Parent/Carer Network - SEND to Learn
  • Talking Together - BHT Early Education and Training, funded by Better Start Bradford

Health and Wellbeing Award

Sponsored by Fennies

Winner

  • The LEYF Early Years Chef Academy - London Early Years Foundation

Finalists

  • Keep Your Cool Toolbox - Mine Conkbayir Consultancy
  • Woodlands Wellbeing Charter - Woodlands Day Nursery

Nursery Food

Winner

  • Elmscot Broussa Day Nursery

Finalist

  • Amberley Hall Day Nursery

Inclusive Practice Award

Sponsored by nasen

Winner

  • Warberries Care Home Intergenerational Childminders

Highly commended

  • SEND to Learn Nursery
  • The Interactive Music-Making (IMM) Training Course and Network

Finalists

  • International Gingerbread Travels - Child's Play Nursery
  • Mark's Gate Nursery Food Bank & Community Outreach - London Early Years Foundation

 

Enabling Environments Award

Joint winners

  • Houghton Community Nursery School
  • Meadow Lane Children’s Nursery

Highly commended

  • Enquiry Based Provision at Little Barn Owls Farm and Forest School

Finalists

  • Forest School at Tynemouth Nursery Group
  • Imaginative Spaces at N Family Club
  • Into the Outdoors, responding to COVID at Barnkids

 

 

INDIVIDUALS

Nursery Practitioner of the Year

Winner

  • Robert Sherrington, Spring by Action for Children - Bensham

Highly commended

  • Amy Chappell, Evergreen Early Years
  • Jessica Angell, Kindred Nurseries – Odstock

Finalists

  • Petra Gulyassy, Fennies Nurseries – Woking
  • Amy Delooze, The Quays Day Nursery

 

Nursery Manager of the Year

Sponsored by Christie & Co

Winner

  • Karen Potter, Wind in the Willows

Highly commended

  • Kath Dickinson, SEND to Learn

Finalists

  • Danielle Riley, Woodlands Day Nursery
  • Deana Hunt, Brock House Day Nursery
  • Eleanor Hutton, Explorisity Education
  • Melanie Shepherd, Muddy Boots Nursery
  • Sophia Covill, Meadow Lane Children’s Nursery

 

Trainer of the Year

Sponsored by Nursery Story

Winner

  • Vicki Dawson, The Sleep Charity

Highly commended

  • Edwina Revel and Georgia Leech, Early Start Group

Finalist

  • Ben Kingston-Hughes, Inspired Children

 

Nursery Operations/Regional Manager of the Year

Winner

  • Martha Bott, Little Giggles Private Day Nursery and Pre-School

Highly commended

  • Jayne Mallett, Nina’s Nurseries

Finalist

  • Clare Porter, Hungry Caterpillar Day Nurseries

 

Newcomer of the Year

Winner

  • Kayla Jones, Daisy Chain Nursery

Finalist

  • Bethany Hayter, Gateways School

 

Childminder of the Year

Sponsored by childcare.co.uk

Winner

  • Vicki Chenery

Highly commended

  • Catherine Fay

Finalists

  • Julie Dixon
  • Michaela Ellis

 

Outstanding Contribution

Winner

  • Nicola Fleury, Director - KidzRus Nursery

 Finalists

  • Jamie Louise Fitton, Owner and Director - Little Giggles Private Day Nursery and Pre-School
  • Mary Rose, Deputy Manager - Seahorse Nursery School

 

Nanny of the Year

Sponsored by BAPN and Nannytax

Winner

  • Cristina Sajtos

Highly commended

  • Keziah Warne

Finalists

  • Bernadette Rodbourn
  • Holly Chaberka
  • Jackie Robertson
  • Stefanie Coleman

Lifetime Achievement

  • Neil Leitch, Early Years Alliance

 

RESOURCES

Professional Books

Winner

  • Best Practice Guidance by The Education People, The Education People

Highly commended

  • Learning Without Fear, by Julia Stead and Ruchi Sabharwal, Crown House Publishing
  • Exercising Muscles and Minds, Second Edition, by Marjorie Ouvry and Amanda Furtado, Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Finalists

  • A Sense of Place: Mindful practice outdoors, by Annie Davy, Bloomsbury Education
  • It's OK to Cry, by Molly Potter, Bloomsbury Education