Twinkles Nursery group now offers a combined total of 286 places for nursery children and wraparound care at all three sites.
Set in the business area of Knaresborough, Twinkles Nursery will offer 92 nursery places and an out-of-school club, providing wraparound care for children at the nearby Aspen Park primary school, which caters for 450 children.
Twinkles currently employs 53 members of staff and the new nursery has created 40 more jobs in the area.
Owner Jill Johnson said that the new nursery at Knaresborough has given staff from the other two sites the chance to take on new roles.
Ms Johnson said, ‘Expansion has meant that we can assist staff in growing their careers. For example, we’ve appointed a manager internally. We have 15 children enrolled already and have had lots of enquiries, more than we expected.’
The nursery will open 51 weeks a year from 7.30am to 6pm.
Ms Johnson was a primary school teacher for six years before setting up her first nursery with a business partner in 2001 when she could not find nursery care for her own child. A second nursery followed in 2003.
In 2006, she set up on her own under the Twinkles name, taking on the sole running of the nursery at St Mary’s Primary School in Boston Spa (pictured).
A nursery in Wetherby followed, opening in 2008, at Crossley Street primary school.
Ms Johnson said, ‘The nurseries are purpose-built on primary school sites. I’ve spent a lot of time building up a relationship with schools.’
Crossley Street Primary has its own pre-school, with children splitting their time between the pre-school and the Twinkles nursery.
Parents take their 15 hours at the pre-school, choosing either a three-hour morning or afternoon session, and can then pay for more hours at the Twinkles nursery on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Boston Spa site does not have a pre-school and the nursery offers nursery care fro children from three months to five and wraparound care.
All of the outdoor areas at Twinkles nurseries have been designed with natural materials in mind and no plastic elements.
Ms Johnson said, ‘The children wanted a swimming pool. While we couldn’t stretch to that we have put a stream in, so they can play pooh sticks and be in and out all the time in their wellies.’
