A happy place.
When you drop your child at nursery, you want to know that they will be safe and happy.
At Shapes, this is at the heart of everything we do.
As an independent family business operating out of three beautiful well-located and fantastically resourced settings, we create an atmosphere of happiness. So much so, that most of our staff have been with us for many years, and at the end of the nursery day, even some of the children don’t want to leave! This takes effort, passion, investment and hands-on caring management from a committed team.
When you are looking at nurseries, it’s so important to find the right one for you. The right location, setting, facilities, operating hours, but most importantly, where you feel you and your child will be happy.
Having worked in childcare since I was 16 years old, developed my career in London nurseries and managed them to outstanding level, I know what it takes to provide exceptional level childcare.
It takes great staff, continual investment, experience, passion and always looking to improve.
For that reason, our nurseries are stunning settings, with high quality, fresh and clean resources and staffed by a team who share the values, passion and work ethic of our small business.
We aspire for every baby and child in our care to have the most enjoyable and wonderful day. To explore, to learn, to develop and ultimately be happy.
To find out whether our nursery is right for your family, we’d love to show you around.
Sue Richards x
For more information or to book a tour, visit our nursery pages…
At Shapes we love counting to ten! And here’s our top ten reasons to join us.
- Ongoing re-investment in our buildings, facilities, play equipment, furnishings, learning resources and toys
- Well-trained, well-supported long-term staff who enjoy working as part of our team
- Small family business, enabling you easy and quick access to nursery managers and our nursery owner when you need it, and ongoing communication and updates on your child’s welfare and learning journey
- Fantastic settings in large, spacious airy heritage buildings, with facilities including soft plays, gardens, exciting play equipment and extra-curricular activities, for the ultimate varied, healthy and fun-packed day
- Separate baby centres and cot rooms, for maximum safety, comfort and care
- Strong focus on learning through play and supporting pre-schoolers with their transition towards school
- A culture of celebrating and sharing children’s lovely creations, with eye-level displays of children’s work for them all to enjoy
- Building fun into independence with children having their own pegs, trays and space
- A positive, happy approach to eating, with our chefs visible to the children and meals linked to growing fresh produce in the garden
- We love a happy ending! A ‘graduation ceremony’, leaver’s party and leaver’s outing when it’s time for our bigger children to go to school
Here are some quotes from Ofsted about our nurseries.
“The owner and manager are highly motivated and inspiring leaders. They work exceptionally well together, and support and lead a dedicated staff team who shares their passion and enthusiasm. They work extremely hard to maintain and keep improving the high quality of practice“.
“Children develop exceptionally strong bonds with staff from the start. Staff are especially caring and sensitive to the children’s needs and personal situations. They offer limitless reassurance, comfort and support to children and families when required. Parents refer to the staff team as being like ‘family’“.
“Staff have an excellent knowledge of how children learn and develop. They are highly skilled at recognising children’s individual needs and interests, and create inspiring and challenging experiences that focus on children’s learning”.
“Children make exceptionally high levels of progress from their starting points. Their achievements and development link to the typical developmental stages for their age and often exceed planned targets. Children are developing and practising highly impressive skills, which supports their future learning”.
“Children are highly respected and listened to. They confidently arrive at the nursery, eager to join in and chat to the staff and their friends. Children are developing highly impressive social skills. For example, they consistently support and listen to each other as they share resources and experiences”.
“The baby unit is exceptionally well led and organised. Staff plan and provide highly stimulating activities for babies that they thoroughly enjoy. Babies sleep comfortably at times consistent with their home routines, are exceedingly well settled and form strong emotional attachments to their designated member of staff”.
