Group to hold a day to celebrate nursery practitioners

The aim is to recognise the important role nursery practitioners play and their impact in inspiring and educating children every day.

The nursery group is also launching a new wellbeing and benefits scheme for employees.
The day of celebration is also part of a wider move to highlight the sector-wide shortage of nursery workers.

Last year’s Ceeda survey with Nursery World found that 45 per cent of vacancies at private and voluntary-run nurseries and pre-schools in England were unfilled. Earlier this year, Pre-school Learning Alliance research found that stress is taking its toll on the workforce with a quarter of early years workers considering leaving the sector due to stress and mental health problems.

The Co-operative Childcare will be celebrating the day throughout the group’s 44 settings. A competition will also give one employee in every setting the chance to win a holiday.

The nursery group has also involved parents and children to help make its 1,300 nursery workers feel special and appreciated, including setting up appreciation walls for parents to contribute to and hosting a ‘thank you’ party in each of its nurseries. 

Rachael Escott, sales and marketing manager at The Co-operative Childcare, said, ‘Just as teachers do, nursery practitioners shape the minds of the future and have a massive impact on the children they inspire and educate every single day. Nursery workers just aren’t getting the level of recognition they should considering the important role they play.

‘We want to do what we can to make them feel appreciated. This celebratory day is just a small way of saying thank you, and forms part of a much wider programme to reward our fantastic workers, which includes a colleague in each of our nurseries winning a fantastic holiday. We are also launching a brand-new wellbeing and benefits scheme and already have a host of regular incentives in place.’