thinking of opening a nursery - any advise?

[amiandcharliesmummy]

hi everyone, i found this forum while looking for some answers and decided it would be best to start my own topic rather than change the focus on another

so anyway here is my story, my husband and i are thinking of opening a nursery or something simular

after our kids were born my husband (who runs a property business) decided he didnt want to run a business that makes him unhappy and as he enjoys helping the kids we both decided to study to be teachers (currently doing a ba in childhood and youth studies).

we were thinking of being teachers but one of our friends was telling us she took her child out of nursery because of how bad the place was.

so it got us thinking that we might start a nursery (iv been helping out in the local nursery for the past year).

so i have a few questions that i hope a few people on here could help answer

1. what is it you would like in a nursery, what would make the place great and make you recomend your friends

1. is there anyone on here who ran/runs a nursery who could help us with any problems that they had and what was the biggest expenditure that they had to pay?

thanks

The best thing that you could do is...

Give me a job!
I'll help you then.

What she said

He sorry!

Get a nursery nurse involved from the start. Every decision you make will affect the quality of childcare so an NN's opinion would be useful.
eg. Are the windows of the possible building too high for children to see out of? If the garden directly accessible or does it involve an awkward route? High ceilings are hard to decorate etc.

If you get things right to start with your life will be sooo much easier.

stuff i love about my daughters nursery....

they spend loads of time outside, playing, going on nature walks- going to the post office. on hot days, they wash the cars in the playground. they go out in all weathers

flexible staff and hours. i dont use it but it offers term time only contracts so you get teachers from miles around coming.

lovely and plentiful food- hot lunch and dinner. the pre schoolers often make the cakes for tea. for breakfast they spread their own toast and make their own sandwiches.

healthy food but chocolate cake for birthdays.

fees are reasonable because it is not a chain- they do not own the building (it is a village community centre so the rent they pay also offsets the running costs)

staff genuinely like the children- a good mix of older ones and younger ones and male staff as well which i think is great. they also sponsor staff to do advanced studies. i have decided to keep dd there until she goes to school at 5.

hi there,

i have set up and now run 2 nurseries, it is very hard work and a complete minefield when you first open. The Childcare workforce development team within your local council will be able to give you loads of advice.

It really all depends on the premesis that you have got and the numbers or ages of children you are planning to have, let me know and I wil help if I can.

Parents do like it if the owners are on site, some bigger chains have no owner input at all and alot of parents have told me this puts them off

good luck with it

Hi there
I have just read your post from a year ago so this message may be too late! I have triplet boys and we set up a day nursery on a working farm,Coneygarth FArm, Haxey we started with 20 place including 3 babies (1997) we now have an 84 place day nursery! In 2001 we opened a second day nursery at Robin Hood Airport, Finningley Doncaster, this started as a 46 place nursery and we have now expanded to take 84 children. We also run an out of school club and holiday club. So if you are thinking of opening a nursery just email me and I will give you loads of free advice, sorry if this message is too late! My email address is [email protected]