Nursery group wins bid to run children's centre settings
Friday, January 5, 2018
Three children’s centre nurseries in Cheshire will be taken over by new third party providers in March 2018.
Oak Tree, The Brooks and Monks Coppenhall Nurseries, all in Crewe, have been run by nursery group Safehands since 2011.
Cheshire East Council launched a tender process to take over the running of the three 62-place nurseries based on joint school and children's centre sites.
Reach for the Stars, a group which already runs three nurseries in Staffordshire, was successful in its bid to take over Oak Tree and The Brooks, while Monks Coppenhall Nursery will be run by Monks Coppenhall Primary School, which shares a site with the early years setting and is part of the Alexandra Academy Trust.
Safehands will continue to run the three nurseries until the official handover date of 29 March 2018.
Reach for the Stars was established in January 2014 when it opened a 29-place nursery in Biddulph in Staffordshire Moorlands on the premises of a former doctors’ surgery. The group then opened another setting in Leek in 2015, and a third in Knypersley in 2017.
Group director Adam Hindhaugh said, ‘We are very excited with our new venture and extremely proud of the growth of our nursery group within a small space of time.
‘This is new territory for us and will be the biggest challenge we have faced, but we are very excited to introduce the staff, parents and children to the ethos and values of our organisation.’
The group will retain all 20 existing members of staff across the two settings, and has applied for a round of capital funding from Cheshire East Council to enhance resources at the nurseries. The managers are also working alongside Community Playthings to develop the indoor and outdoor environments.
Councillor Jos Saunders, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for children and families, said, ‘We are getting a provider in place who will ensure that our young children get the best start in life. I think it’s a cause for celebration. I’m really, really pleased about it.’
A spokesperson for the council added, ‘Both suppliers demonstrated their passion for delivering good quality nursery provision and their commitment to work closely with parents, schools, children’s centres and other agencies to provide the best start in life for our children in Crewe.’
