Our News items
St Vincent's Nursery wins a National Award!!, by Ms Beckett
Date: 13th Aug 2019 @ 9:04am
St Vincent’s Nursery in Altrincham, Cheshire, is the winner of a national award – Healthy Nursery of the Year 2019.
On Friday 28th June, the team from St Vincent’s Nursery attended a prestigious awards ceremony in stunning surroundings of Chesford Grange Hotel in Warwickshire, where they were crowned the winner of the Healthy Nursery of the Year 2019 Award, after being shortlisted for this award as one of only 3 finalists in the UK with the National Day Nurseries Association.
St Vincent’s Nursery was shortlisted earlier on in the year as a result of votes from parents of the children who attend the nursery, who unanimously agreed that ‘the wonderful initiatives taken by the nursery that the children really enjoy help them stay fit, healthy and active’ and that they are a ‘great nursery with a really positive ethos promoting happiness and healthy lifestyles for all its children and staff’.
The judges praised St Vincent’s Nursery for the holistic approach that they take to ensuring they make a real difference in everyone’s lives; starting from the Daily Mile morning run, their Physical Development Champion accreditation and the healthy ways of celebrating the children’s birthdays in the nursery, to name but a few. As one parent rightly pointed out, ‘In a time when childhood obesity and inactivity is a real concern in this country I can't thank St Vincent’s Nursery enough for engraining this in my child so young so that he is well prepared to continue to live a healthy life style as he grows supporting his physical well-being and his mental health!’
Ivana Beckett, Nursery Manager, who very proudly accepted this award alongside her team on the night, said, ‘A year ago, when we embarked on our mission to educate our children on keeping fit, healthy and active, we completely underestimated the impact that this would have on the children’s learning, development and outcomes, on our families’ home life and on our staff’s wellbeing. After an amazing journey and many achievements along the way, winning this award is an absolute cherry on the cake and a true reflection of our team’s passion for what they do and dedication to the children in our care. What makes it even more special is the fact that it is our families who played the biggest part in us winning this award and for that we are incredibly grateful.’
St Vincent's Nursery becomes an accredited member of the Living Wage Foundation, by Ms Beckett
Date: 13th Aug 2019 @ 9:16am
St Vincent’s Nursery in Altrincham, Cheshire, is the first nursery in the North to become an accredited member of the Living Wage Foundation
St Vincent’s Nursery, privately owned by the Board of Governors of St Vincent’s Catholic Primary School, based in Altrincham, Cheshire, is the very first early years setting in the North of England, and only the fourth in the whole of England, to achieve this accreditation alongside the school and also their out-of-school club, The Sunshine Club.
St Vincent’s pays the real Living Wage which is higher than the government minimum. Introducing the Living Wage is not only the right thing to do for all St. Vincent’s staff, it also fits with our catholic ethos to enable us to provide a great experience for our children.
Ivana Beckett, the Nursery and Sunshine Club Manager, said: ‘We pride ourselves in having highly-qualified and exceptionally skilled staff team at St Vincent’s; every year we invest considerable amount of resources into their continuous professional development. Between the nursery and the Sunshine Club, we are entrusted with almost 400 children aged 0-11 years. Becoming members of the Living Wage Foundation shows that not only do we recognise and reward the hard work and dedication that each and every one of our staff team puts into every single day, but also our 100% belief that our children deserve the absolute best!’
We have achieved a Healthy Setting Award!!!, by Mrs Beckett
Date: 13th Sep 2018 @ 5:08pm
We are very proud to announce that St Vincent's Nursery have achieved a Healthy Setting Award, awarded to us by Trafford Early Years.
Over the last few months we have worked on gathering evidence on various aspects of the award, ensuring that we not only meet every single criteria within each section, but we over-achieve them to the highest standard, when it comes to children's physical development and activity, emotional well-being, safe food and healthy eating.
Our heart-felt thank you goes to every single member of our nursery team - from practitioners, to the kitchen team, to the management and support team, who ensure every minute of every day that all aspects of the award are, and have always been, accounted for. This is reflected in our routines, daily physical activity, nutrition and the strong supportive relationships that our practitioners build with the children. Well done!
Nursery Summer Developments, by Mrs Beckett
Date: 6th Sep 2018 @ 4:59pm
During our summer closure weeks, we have worked extremely hard on developing all our rooms. This involved:
- having the whole nursery painted indoors and outdoors
- putting up brand new room display boards to complement the learning areas within each room
- purchasing brand new tables and chairs in Pre-school
- purchasing a brand new 'Billy Goat's Gruff Bridge' for Young Explorers, to support physical development of our youngest customers
- purchasing brand new furniture and resources for all rooms to create a fantastic learning environment for children of all ages and provide them with unforgettable experiences whilst in our care
Nursery Achieves Highest Level Food Hygiene Rating, by Mrs Beckett
Date: 6th Sep 2018 @ 5:08pm
On the 26th July we received an unannounced visit from an Environmental Health Officer who was carrying out a routine inspection. It didn't come as a surprise to anyone that we have once again achieved the highest level of Food Hygiene Rating - Level 5 - which is a true reflection on the outstanding practice of the kitchen team. Well done Greg and Jacky on such an amazing achievement, we are all very well looked after for sure!
