We have something really special to celebrate! Yesterday at our Knutsford Training Academy, we hosted a graduation ceremony for the very first group of students to complete our National Professional Qualification in Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL) course! This brand-new course, developed in partnership with University College London (UCL), is all about providing experienced early years educators with the chance to further their skills, knowledge, and career prospects. We’re so proud to see 14 students from our own teams, from nursery managers to directors, completing this year-long programme and sharing their incredible findings from their studies.
Introducing Jane Molyneux, our nursery manager at Kids Planet Wallasey, who works incredibly hard to see the amazing impact of her work in creating a nurturing space that gives our children the best start in life! Here at Kids Planet, our Nursery Managers really are the driving force behind what makes our nurseries so special. Their leadership, passion, and dedication create environments where children, families, and staff can truly thrive.🌟
We are so proud to announce that Kids Planet Southfield in Cramlington has been awarded ‘Ofsted Outstanding’ in all areas following their recent inspection. Very well-deserved and a huge well done to the team for such a fantastic achievement!👏
What are your fondest memories of playing as a child? We are sure lots of your first thoughts go to puddle-splashing, den-building, exploring and getting muddy come rain or shine (or snow) in the great outdoors! In today’s modern world, we’re becoming more and more dislocated from nature, spending more time indoors than ever before. The lack of outdoor time we’re getting has far-reaching consequences on both our physical health and mental well-being. This is where Udeskole comes in. In our latest podcast, we were joined by Megan Jenkins, Third in Charge/Udeskole Lead at our Chester nursery, and Rhiannon Mountain, Head of Outdoor Learning – to dish the dirt on our unique nature-based approach, Udeskole. We look at the benefits of outdoor learning on children, staff and the community, including physical and mental wellbeing, getting outdoors in all weather, and SEND outdoors sessions! Thank you to Jake Simpkin for shooting this for us 📽️ ✨
We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!🎅 As 2024 draws to a close, we are reflecting on the incredibly exciting and rewarding year we have had, from our continued growth and development into new territories, to the many successes throughout our teams!
Our Founder and CEO Clare Roberts OBE recently joined Christopher Maguire and Jonathan Boyers on The Dealmaker Uncut podcast! From Clare's story of launching and rapidly scaling our family-led nursery group and her approach to acquisition, to how she navigated Covid, it's an episode for entrepreneurs like Clare not to miss!
What an unforgettable evening we had at the Kids Planet Awards on Saturday 7th December, at the stunning St George’s Hall in Liverpool! With the fabulous Mark Simmons as our host and lively tunes from the band South West, 500 colleagues from across England and Wales came together to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our teams over the past year, raising money for Girls Out Loud! Huge thanks to Megan Bettoni and Grace Hardcastle for their amazing work in organising such a magical evening, and to Pete Pinnington Productions for making sure everything ran smoothly behind the scenes, who created this fabulous video! More photos and videos to come...
🎉 We Have AMAZING News! 🎉 We’re overjoyed to announce that Kids Planet has been crowned the winner of the ‘Nursery Group (Large) of The Year’ category at the Nursery Management Today Awards this weekend! 🏆👏 This incredible recognition reflects the dedication, passion, and hard work of every single member of our Kids Planet family. 💚 We’re beyond proud and deeply grateful to our amazing teams who made this possible - your magic shines bright every day! ✨ A huge congratulations to all the finalists and winners - such an inspiring event celebrating excellence in early years education! 🤩
Our CEO Clare Roberts OBE has successfully completed a trek across Cambodia, including the Angkor Wat temple, raising over £12,000 in vital funds for the EY Foundation charity! The challenging expedition saw Clare navigate tough terrains and high temperatures, all in support of EY Foundation’s mission to create better futures for young people. A huge well done to Clare and all of the group for this accomplishment!
Our passionate Wellbeing Manager Lucie Sweeney (Assoc CIPD) recently contributed to Connect Childcare's ‘A Look into Early Years Staff Wellbeing’ Report 2024, which highlights the latest trends in mental health and wellbeing within the early years sector. This research aims to understand how early years professionals feel about various aspects of their workplace wellbeing. The report reveals several challenges early years professionals face, including mental wellbeing concerns, comfort in discussing mental health, job satisfaction, gaps in workplace support, leveraging technology, and much more
