Setting up a nursery

[beachbummum]

I am a Childminder at the moment and am trying to set up my own nursery. At the moment I am writing my Business Plan and want to get ideas from parents about what they want from a nursery or if they have a child at a nursery all ready what they like about it or what they would change.

I like a nursery with the following;

Set routines
Balanced meals
Trained and/or experienced staff
Ratio's that are actually stuck to
Cleanliness
Staff that can adapt to each child's needs
Police checked staff
Aproachable staff
Keyworker system

Hope thats of some help beachbummum

Thanks for you comments all comments help me to set up to meet the needs of parents and their children

My mum runs a nursery and one thing they pride themselves on which parents seem to like is 'experienced staff' and not just qualifications. In our area there are many nurseries whose staff is made up purely of very young, just out of school/training, staff. At my mums nursery they have combination of ages in their staff with some young but also many older staff who have had children of their own and had lots of experience in childcare prior to this job. Also good staff working conditions are important because a high staff turnover is not good for continuity of care to the children.

i have worked in nurseries before and at the moment i am childminding. I have been childminding since i had my daughter who has just turned 1.

Excellent beachbummum. I'm sure you'll run a wonderful nursery. I think my mum found it a lot of hard work and slow going in the early days (I suppose all businesses are like that) but after some time when the nursery had established a reputation places started to fill up. Now it's a very busy place with a shortage of empty places.
Good luck, wish you all the best with your plans

at the moment i'm writing the Buisness plan and have never written one before so that's been hard. i have done it myself by reading books and looking at diffrent websites. because it was so expensive to buy the disks or have someone to help me to do it. i also think its more personal when you write it yourself rather tan an outsider.

its fantastic to hear about your mums nursery. where has she set up the nursery.

staff, staff, staff. The MOST important part of any nursery IMO. Nursery nurses who actually care and like children.

same in my opion. when employing staff i wil check refrances, interview them and see them working with children. all staff will have a tempory contract for 2 months before they recive a full contract. this will make sure that i get the right staff for the nursery.

beachbummum - business link might be able to help you with your business plan - they have really helped me

do you hve to pay anything. if so how much?

Well it has 'cost'me two meetings and about 8 phone calls - so yes in time but not in money

I've had help with holiday pay, a grant for consultancy for £350, help with training my staff £250

Alos try WEETU (a womens group) and there are other organisations can help

Where abouts are you setting up beachbummum?

i'm going to set up in Poole Dorset, hope that helps.

KatyMac thanks for that i will try them.

Okay for me:

Organic food - not everything but deffo organic milk and tomatoes and veg where possible.

Obviously, home cooked food / on site cooked, proper food.

A proper garden where the children can do things, not just a patch of grass outdoors.

The opportunity for children to spend some time with older children at the nursery (even if limited to start / end of day).

Key worker etc

Staff that have an understanding of Vygotsky's theory of devlopment and reflect that in the activities that they do with the child. To be up to date with knowledge on child's progres and to feed back regularly to parents (something more long term than a daily diary)

Staff that are child led - so no controlled crying but if the child needs hugs, they get hugs etc. Staff that show genuine concern and care for the child!

For babies to have their own cots

For quiet areas in the nursery, so babies and children can relax

Knowledgeable staff about children's needs (particularly new knowledge gained from science) and then to act on it - such as how some babies can suffer raised cortisol levels (stress) from nurseries in the afternoons - and so for staff to plan quieter activities for the afternoons to reduce stress levels / make provisions etc

Thankfully, I have most of these at my daughter's nursery (which I think is fab!)

Forgot to add but for the 3 -5s

A properly qualified teacher (with QTS) for the pre school, would be an absolute must for me!

And to see some mums on the staff - Training is one thing, but I would not use a nursery that was only staffed by young girls.

Again, thankfully my nursery has both of these, although they are rare - but then I do pay the extra for them!

I, OTOH, wouldn't be in the least bit bothered about seeing a qualified teacher in any nursery for under-5s as my reason for keeping them there would be to avoid school until the last possible moment!

Have you spoken to your local early years officer, ther might be grant funding available to start you off.

But Sue - chances are they'd be doing pretty much the same stuff in nursery as at a preschool? Would you prefer it to be organised by a teacher or an NNEB worker(or modern equivalent)?

Of the two day nurseries I had the choice between, both did the same programme for 3 -5s (was it a sure start one, maybe?) but in one nursery the nursery worker had her NNEB and was supported by a teacher who visited once a month... in the other, the nursery worker was a qualified teacher with QTS.

I opted for the teacher with QTS!!

Choosing a nursery where there isn't a teacher, doesn't necessarily mean you're going to avoid doing the pre-school programme, it just means there won't be a teacher overseeing it!

Before becoming a childminder i was working within a nursery atteached to a primary school. i worked with a teacher for ine and a half years and then i was put in charge with a teaching assistant to help me. i have no teaching qualifications only nursery nurse qualifications. i don't feel that a qualified teacher is essential in a pre school as long as nursery nurses cover the early years curriculm. teaching children under the age of 5 is diffrent to teaching children over the age of 5 and some teachers do not have the experiance of working with children under the age of 5.