Provision
Old Station launches NATO nursery
The Old Station Nursery is to open its 14th setting, providing childcare to the multinational families of NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC).
The Old Station Nursery is to open at Imjin Barracks, Gloucestershire
The new purpose-built 64-place nursery will open at Imjin Barracks in Innsworth near Gloucester next week.
The barracks, formerly RAF Innsworth, will be home to some of the ARRC's 600 families made up of 15 different nationalities, who have moved from Rheindahlen, Germany.
The nursery, a £1.6m eco-friendly building and facilities, has half of its places booked already and eight staff employed so far.
Sarah Steel, founder of the group, said she is confident that by the New Year it will be at full capacity. For now, she is aware of the challenge posed by the large number of children who do not have English as their first language.
'We have German, Italian and Nepalese families, so we're making home visits with our key workers to learn more about them.
'Our staff will be using a lot of visual elements such as picture timetables, cards with photographs of events and people on them and a phonetic translator.'
Nursery manager Tracy Wilce said her main aim was to get the children settled. 'Luckily we have a member of staff moving from Germany with them, which will help with the transition. We'll also have service partners, who can help with any emotional support the children may need by drawing on their own experience.'
The nursery will be officially opened by Lt Gen Sir Richard Shirreff, commander of the ARRC, and Lady Shirreff this month.
Families at the base will also be able to access the smaller 32-place Noah's Ark Nursery located within the Innsworth housing estate across from the barracks.
The Imjin Barracks nursery is The Old Station Nursery's fifth nursery on a Ministry of Defence site. The group also runs RAF nurseries in Oxfordshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Rutland.
