Essex childcare provider rescues college nursery

Cheeky Monkeys, which owns two settings in Colchester and Earls Colne - near Halstead, will take over the running of the Colchester Institute’s nursery in April.

The Colchester Institute, a provider of vocational education across North Essex, announced plans to close the nursery, based at its Colchester campus, at the beginning of the year on the basis that it is no longer financially viable.

The 25-place nursery, which has been open since 1987 and is rated outstanding by Ofsted, will close for two weeks while Cheeky Monkeys carries out refurbishment and re-branding.

The nursery group also plans to use the setting as a teaching aid for childcare students at the college.

Cheeky Monkeys’ operations managing director Helen Palmer, who also teaches the Children's Play, Learning and Development BTEC Level 3 at the Colchester Institute, said,  ‘Seeing the impact the announced closure had on staff and children made me realise it was a situation I could assist with and help rectify.

‘At the time, we were already looking for a new site locally to connect with our other nurseries.  

 ‘The Colchester Institute nursery has an outstanding rating, which is one of the points that attracted us to it. At present the nursery is only a 25-place setting, however there is opportunity for expansion.

A spokesperson for Colchester Institute’s student services and support, said, ‘We are delighted to confirm the decision to close the nursery has been avoided, and that we have entered into an agreement with the already established childcare provider, Cheeky Monkeys, who will continue to operate the nursery.

‘We know the last couple of months have been a stressful time for all concerned, but this is a really positive outcome and we look forward to a smooth transition into the new nursery for the children, parents and staff, and to our on-going working relationship.’

Cheeky Monkeys opened its first nursery at the Essex Golf & Country Club in Earls Colne in 2008.  

Ms Palmer said, ‘While working for many of the large nursery chains gave me an excellent grounding in management, business and practice, I always felt stifled by the constraints of working for a big company. So when the opportunity came to take over the least of the nursery in Earls Colne I took it.’

Three years later, the group opened its second setting, a purpose-built nursery in Colchester. The Colchester nursery provides specialist support for children with additional needs and works closely with the nearby garrison.

Including the new setting, Cheeky Monkeys provides 152 childcare places. The nursery group also runs forest schools sessions for all the children in its care.