Nursery News
Pre-loved donations
07 May 13
The nurseries recently asked parents to donate any pre-loved baby equipment such as cots, moses baskets, prams, car seats and stair gates for a special collection for the local charity Talkthru.
The charity would like to thank all the families that donated items to their baby equipment project, all of which will go to families who are experiencing financial hardship. Several items have gone out to clients
Make a change today
15 Feb 13
The Minister Elizabeth Truss has recently published a highly controversial paper “More Great Childcare”. There are a number of proposed changes but a key issue is her proposal to change the staffing ratios in order to force nurseries to reduce fees to parents. While we agree with the principle of making childcare affordable we do not agree that forcing staff to care for larger groups is
Snow time
29 Jan 13
The children have had a wonderful time playing in the snow over the last couple of weeks. They have been sledging, throwing snow balls, making snow angels, snowmen, snow dogs and even a snow woolly mammoth.
Here are some of the benefits that snow play can bring to your child
There are many benefits to children’s development through the provision of snow
Children helping children
18 Dec 12
The children, parents and staff at Portland Nurseries have been donating toys to our local charity the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice to help raise funds this Christmas.
The Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice has been raising awareness around their toy appeal over recent weeks, and we have shown our support with many kind donations from our families.
Children at
World Food Day
16 Nov 12
To celebrate World Food Day on October 16th the children at Holly Bank took part in food tasting activities to discover different foods from around the world. The babies experienced a mouth-watering medley of exotic fruits such as passion fruit, pomegranate and mango. While the toddlers tasted dips from tzatziki to sweet chill. Our amazing cook Karl made some healthy tortilla crisps for the children to dip into
Jan White renowned expert in Outdoor Play leads company training day
06 Nov 12
We were very lucky to have Jan White, the world renowned expert on Outdoor play lead our staff training day this month. Jan posed the question “How can our outdoor space become an ‘enabling environment’ with the potential to support each child to be a unique, competent learner and to make progress at their own pace in a challenging and enjoyable way?”
Nursery Staff applaud Outstanding Contribution to Special Needs and their Rising Stars
06 Nov 12
All 80 staff from Harlequin, Holly Bank, Oakwood House and Portland House Nurseries gathered at the Textile Centre for Excellence on Friday November 2nd 2012 for their training day followed by the Portland Nurseries Annual review and Awards presentation.
Pam Burrell, who has worked at Portland House for over 15 years, received an Outstanding Contribution Award for her work across all four nurseries for Special Needs. Rosemary Murphy OBE
Outstanding Achievement
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05 Oct 12
A big thank you to all the parents, family and friends who have helped us raise an outstanding £4752 for our chosen charity the Forget Me Not Children's Hospice.
Fundraising highlights have included a Den Making Festival, where the children, staff and parents came together to build their own dens out of the nurseries natural woodland resource’s, Sponsored Olympics, Tandem Sky Diving, Travelling
Peas in a pod
11 Sep 12
Peas, strawberries, tomatoes, beans and potatoes, just some of the tasty fruit and vegetables the children at Holly Bank have been growing this year in their vegetable plot. The peas and strawberries were so tasty we ate them straight from the pod. Our nursery cook used the potatoes for lunch so all the children could taste them. A big thank you to Kirsty (Callum's Mummy) for
Sky high for charity
10 Sep 12
A big cheer to our four very daring staff members who recently took part in a tandem sky dive to raise money for our chosen charity the Forget Me Not Children's Hospice. Sarah Craven from Harlequin, Vickie Sykes from Holly Bank, Stacey Smith and Kayleigh Moorhouse from Oakwood House all jumped from a plane with a qualified instructor which saw them free fall from 15,000 feet reaching