What Parents and Carers Say and Recommend

RUGBY, England -

- Daisykins Day Nursery Rugby Childcare Comments Reviews Recommendation Feedback

Marie-France - I was very keen to find a nursery close to the town centre and close to schools, and Daisykins fits this bill for me perfectly, but when I visited I was sold on the structure of the beautifully restored Victorian Houses and the friendliness of the staff. I also appreciated how the bright rooms have been designed with the children in mind. Now, after a couple of years being with the nursery my daughter complains if she can’t come to Daisykins!

Mrs Anita Doherty - Both of our boys have been cared for at Daisykins from 10 weeks old until school age. We have found Daisykins to be a Nursery that excels in caring and nurturing for children. We have found the staff to be friendly, thoughtful, and clearly skilled in all aspects of advancing the development of the young child. Our boys have grown in confidence and skills, as they are entertained in a way that fosters good behaviour, sensitivity to others, growth in self-awareness and relationships. We have found their carers approachable, knowledgeable and sensitive to each individual child’s needs. This superior care is aided by good continuity of staff in a clearly happy working environment. Indeed, considering they have spent as much waking time with nursery staff as at home, our boys are as much a credit to Daisykins as ourselves. The collection of skills that Daisykins provided our eldest child enabled a straightforward transition to school. We continue to recommend Daisykins to other parents, without reservation, to provide an excellent start in the youngest years of life.

Jennifer Dardis - Both of my children attended Daisykins from a very early age until they started at school. I cannot speak highly enough of the nursery. The children are made to feel very welcome from the moment they arrive in the mornings. Their days are full of fun activities and they are surrounded by loving, responsible and sensible care at all times. The staff really get to know the children well and understand what they like to do but this is all not just carried out in a functional manner, they really care for them. I would recommend Daisykins to anyone looking for a day nursery for their little ones.

20 April 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby +44(0)1788-55-22-00 www.daisykins.co.uk

Gold Star Wendy

Roll over Jamie!, I’ve been cooking Daisykins’ delicious homemade meals for nearly seven years and we have always ensured that our children are getting their ‘five a day’. We’ve had yet another Gold star for our hygiene and have since had our commercial kitchen refitted to a new gleaming high standard. I cook everything from tasty spaghetti bolognaise (no, the sauce is not from a jar!) to home made shepherds pie, toad in the hole, fish and potato pie, mild vegetable curry, desserts such as cherry cake and bread and butter pudding. I even have my own Daisykins cook book called “Wendy’s saucy recipes” for parents and carers to cook from at home if they wish. Incidentally, our staff are encouraged, as role models, to eat with the children. Funnily enough I don’t get any of them complaining!

4 May 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby +44(0)1788-55-22-00 www.daisykins.co.uk

We’re singin’ in the rain!

No matter the weather, we can now enjoy the natural elements come rain or shine. The new light, bright canopy can be used for many different purposes, such as an outside classroom, picnics, weather observations such as rain or snow, and key group activities. What we do inside we can now do outside more extensively such as painting, sticking and gluing, water play and malleable play. We’ve already been outside in the rain this week, and the children love listening to the raindrops on the canopy roof whilst singing “it’s raining it’s pouring”.

We’re going round-the-bout

Look out for our new signs at either end of Whitehall Road, Rugby - we’re going for the double with sponsorship of both roundabouts to support Rugby in Bloom. Now you’ll know exactly where we are if you’re trying to find us!

12 May 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby +44(0)1788-55-22-00 www.daisykins.co.uk

Grow your own education!

Our chef Wendy found she’s got serious competition with the toddlers, as they are making their own yummy egg and cress sandwiches.

It’s really important for little ones to be part of each and every process of an activity. This is why our toddlers have planted their own cress seeds, watched them grow and made their own egg and cress sandwiches. This helped to develop their creativity, and understanding of the world.

Each toddler shows curiosity in why things happen and how things work, which is why these activities are so important.

Open Day “Open Dais”

Saturday 16th May 10am to 3pm - Official opening of our new Daisy tumble soft play area by long-standing Daisy parents Anita and Nick Doherty. Be the first to experience all the new things about Daisykins, look around at your leisure and have a taste of a delicious daisy meal (chosen from the menu) whilst your children supervised by our staff, can enjoy Daisy tumble for free! (strictly limited numbers at all times).

If you aren’t able to make it on either of the open days, but are interested in having a look at what we have to offer call us on +44(0)1788-55-22-00 to book an appointment for a time of your choice.

Hand gels

Maintaining a healthy place to work is a top priority at Daisykins. We’ve already got a shoe cover procedure in place, and now we’ve added hand gels outside every room to reduce the spread of infections, diarrhoea and sickness bugs.

Daisy tumble

Daisy tumble soft play is designed with ideas that will both delight, and help develop your child in so many ways, with three levels of fun featuring a slide, ball pit, ball blower, open soft play area for the younger ones and challenging multi-level courses for the more confident. This adds a new dimension to the broad activities Daisykins children already enjoy.

2 June 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby +44(0)1788-55-22-00 www.daisykins.co.uk

Choco-licious chocolate play

We just love getting messy whilst developing our senses in Babykins. With various activities including squidgy stuff such as chocolate, jelly, and custard (not together!), it’s an exciting way to develop and explore using all the senses. Daisykins babies use their whole bodies to interact with the materials, and obviously chocolate may mistakenly be tasted!

Great paintings can be created through body art. Look out for choc-art!

8 June 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby +44(0)1788-55-22-00 www.daisykins.co.uk

Budding Bookworms

The baby unit had a wonderful time when they visited the Rugby Library recently. The babies explored the environment, discovering a world of books, enjoying the colourful pictures and textures. Charlotte from baby unit said “the babies handled the books with care, and after making their own choices (and with help from us) they really enjoyed their selections as you can see!”

Daisy tumble

Kelly - our head of EYFS operations had a great time with children earlier this week. “Daisy Tumble is an excellently equipped area for all children. This week I positioned laminated numbers around the soft play and asked the children to find each number. When parents arrived the children didn’t want to go home”. Our soft play will help develop all areas of your child’s learning, and sufficient time is given for children to persist in activities; practising new and existing skills.

16 June 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby +44(0)1788-55-22-00 www.daisykins.co.uk

Holidais holiday club - Daisykins holiday club

Our holiday club at Daisykins is a great social scene for any school holiday. For children from five upwards you can book from one morning a week to five days 8am to 6pm. And from only GBP20 a day it’s fantastic value for money. Your children can choose from activities such as arts and crafts (in our dedicated arts and crafts room), a large variety of board games and table top construction, even a comfortable media zone. There are also lots of sports activities to take part in including football, parachute games, rounders and other team games. Jennifer Dardis, one of our holidais parents said “both of my children come to holidais holiday club, they have such a good time they never want to come home!”.

Great reception for masterpiece

The babies were commissioned by Daisykins this week to complete a very important work of art for reception. Andy Warhol’s Pop Art screen print of a daisy has been donning our walls for nearly seven years, and we thought it was time to let the little ones create their own interpretations of a flower. Choosing a variety of painting techniques, the babies came up with a beautiful work of art, building up from a background of yellow, to the petals of red hand prints. The babies explored the feel of paint using their whole bodies, they made various marks and patterns and stimulated new ideas on different ways of painting. The activity involved the children being absorbed in play, whilst having to concentrate on holding a tool such as a paint brush or paint pot. Come and have a look at the work of art yourself, just drop in and say hello. Whilst you’re here ask us about what we can do for you, and about all our features on offer.

23 June 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby +44(0)1788-55-22-00 www.daisykins.co.uk

We’re no daisychain!

“We hear it so often!” said Jayne, Nursery Manager; (front left) “”I thought you were a chain” comment parents, but NO it’s NOT true. We’ve dedicated all our energies and resources into the children of Rugby, nowhere else!” Daisykins on Whitehall Road has been giving little ones a great start for nearly seven years “and the changes we are making this year are nothing short of amazing” said Pam, Daisykins deputy manager (back left). So far we have undergone a complete makeover, including adding new toilets and changing areas to make it more accessible for children and staff. We have added a large canopy to our rubberised surface outside area so children can play and discover in all weathers, we’re changing the seating in reception to make it easier for parents to change their children’s shoes.” Not only have we changed the environment but Kelly and Carly are constantly developing our practice through the Early Years Foundation Stage to meet the needs of both children and parents. Wow! what more could you want? Well, there is more! Much more this year, plus we have a wonderful creche called Daisykins at L.A. Fitness at (you’ve guessed it) L.A. Fitness, open between 9am and 11.30am including Saturday. You DON’T need to be a member of the club. Go shopping in your own time or have a coffee with friends. Just drop your little one off with our fantastic creche staff on Webb-Ellis Road (past St. Matthews Bloxham School) and that’s it! We’ll be reviewing our creche very soon so keep watching this space. Call our creche line +44(0)7975-845455 or just drop in to have a look.

Daisy tumble

“Last week my key group chose to build a bridge with our soft bricks in Daisy Tumble” said Jess, EYFS Practitioner. The children were developing many different skills just undertaking the one activity such as hand - eye coordination to build the bridge support, brick colour matching, problem solving, communication with other team members on how to build the bridge and of course building confidence and self-esteem. Jess said “If they got stuck on anything they asked us for help. The children gained many skills by working as a team, and the children were extremely proud of what they had achieved, and enjoyed showing practitioners the finished result.”

7 July 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby +44(0)1788-55-22-00 www.daisykins.co.uk

Which one will I choose?

At Daisykins, the unique new EYFS model Child Centricity (c) Daisykins Ltd 2009, ensures an effective focus on the right aspects of children’s individual needs and experiences. Children enjoy discovering more fully when they are able to make their own choices, not only indoors but outdoors as well - as you can see! This recent activity shows children choosing what shape, colour and pattern to explore with. Many games can be played such as colour and pattern matching, grouping, counting, stacking and knocking down. New fun and exciting creations can be produced such as snakes and anything children put their minds to! (One child even decided to role play pizza making out of cube shapes). Children also enjoy the sensory experience of different curves and angles of individual shapes, and with the gentle help of EYFS practitioners they are provided with learning opportunities to help scaffold learning. But being able to play with their peers, and learn from each other will also help to provide for development in social skills, and confidence building.

It’s got us written all over it

The free parent pick up and drop off area will no longer be confused with the dentist’s car park thanks to the whopping great Daisykins logo painted on the entrance way tarmac. New parents and visitors will definitely know they are in the right place when turning up!

Join us for summer holiday fun

Our holiday club at Daisykins is a great social scene for any school holiday. For children from five upwards you can book from one morning a week to five days 8am to 6pm. And from only GBP20 a day it’s fantastic value for money. Your children can choose from activities such as arts and crafts, board games and table top construction. There are also lots of sports activities to take part in including football, parachute games, rounders and other team games. Jennifer Dardis, one of our holidais parents said “both of my children come to holidais holiday club, they have such a good time they never want to come home!”

14 July 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby +44(0)1788-55-22-00 www.daisykins.co.uk

Snap happy?

Is it snap these children are playing at Daisykins? well in reality we don’t know! not until we’ve observed the children at play. But more importantly what are they experiencing? What are they discovering? There are so many things a child can learn when having fun. It just takes time to think about them. Socially, they are all getting on with each other, they are listening to each other, taking turns and discovering the wants and needs of others apart from themselves. They are looking at the flashcard pictures and talking to each other about them - one child even says “the snail is crawling to the drum”. The children are enjoying the game they have created. Friendship and trust are built from experiences like these. However simple a picture may seem - look a little deeper and you’ll find a world of discovery.

Daisy tumble

Carly - our Joint Head of EYFS operations said “We were all singing ‘five little monkeys jumping on a bed’ and adapted it to the Daisy tumble scramble net. We started with all the children jumping on the net, gradually taking one child away, and watching the numbers reduce to zero. The children enjoyed the song whilst acting out the lyrics and supporting mathematical development. Our soft play will help develop all areas of your child’s learning, and sufficient time is given for children to practice new and existing skills.

18 August 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby +44(0)1788-55-22-00, www.daisykins.co.uk

Daisy = growth and flowering

Kin = family

Did you know that we are a family owned day nursery? We cater for children from 6 weeks to school age. Some of the children that attend our nursery have been here since they were babies and we will be sad to see them leave for school in September, however because we also run a holiday club we see our children return year after year. At Daisykins we are constantly improving and developing in all areas. We are committed to providing a safe and secure, yet stimulating environment through our unique practice called child centricity ((c) Daisykins Ltd 2009), which has been devised following the implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage. At Daisykins we work in close partnership with parents and carers, as they know their children best. We feel it is important that they feel supported by practitioners and managers at nursery, and we ensure a consistent link between home and nursery life. Coincidentally, as you can see in the photo above, week after week we are continuing to develop closer ties between home and nursery.

Daisy tumble

Michelle and her key group had great fun in Daisy Tumble this week, re-enacting the story of Handa’s Surprise. “The children were pretending to be animals from the story, picking the fruit out of Handa’s basket, as we listened to the story on our listening station. Some children were describing to me the fruits they were taking and were dancing in time to the music, and others were pretending to be Handa with a basket of fruit on their heads. We used the whole of Daisy Tumble to move around freely, whilst taking on characters such as monkeys, giraffes, elephants and parrots. We even used the ball pit as a watering hole. After that exhausting experience we were very pleased it was time for lunch (home made shepherds pie, jam sponge and custard for pudding - yum!)

Daisykins Storydais library opens

Daisykins opened its new lending library on Monday this week, allowing the children to borrow classic storybooks to enjoy before bed-time. Manager Jayne said “we’ve had a lot of feedback from Daisykins practitioners, parents and carers, and now have a lending library including books such as The Gruffalo, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Giraffes Can’t Dance and Handa’s Surprise. “It’s so easy” said Carol Lewington, mum of two. “I just drop in, and whilst picking up my little one, can select a guaranteed good read”. Jayne said “We really wanted the books to be more ‘interactive’, so have made book bags with loads of resources to encourage the little ones to get really involved in the story, and to help parents and carers turn the story into a game or a colouring activity.

15 September 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby +44(0)1788-55-22-00 www.daisykins.co.uk

Little ones make appetising choices

Every activity is an enjoyable experience at Daisykins Day Nursery on Whitehall Road, Rugby. Choosing what you want to eat at snack times is just one of the valuable activities that the children take part in. Not only is it a sociable get together with friends over a piece of banana but it is also a chance to learn lots of skills for the future. The children are gaining mathematics experiences by counting the snack, motor skills by picking the cups from the stack and pouring their choice of drink, and social and emotional skills (being with their friends and feeling independent). The children are encouraged to take turns and serve themselves, and are prompted by picture cards as to what choices they have. Head of EYFS Operations Kelly said “The children really enjoy their snack time as it’s a chance to sit, chill out and chat to one another, but they also get to choose snack and help themselves - so they get a sense of self empowerment, and to feel independent. They also learn important responsibilities as they have to clear up after themselves, re-stacking bowls and cups ready for washing.”.

21 September 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby +44(0)1788-55-22-00 www.daisykins.co.uk

Daisykins scrubs up

Daisy staff were Pretty in Pink this week as our new unique inform was introduced at Daisykins to many surprised parents and carers. “Scrubs are well known for comfort and practicality in both care and medical establishments, but the cold green, blue or plain white colours do not reflect the welcoming, happy atmosphere that Daisykins portrays. So we decided to combine the best of both worlds and turn to the U.S. for the first Hot Pink Scrubs uniform in the U.K.

1 potato 2 potato

Potatoes (or in fact any other fruit or vegetable) are not just for eating, “there are so many activities to enjoy and games to play” - said Kaillee, one of our EYFS Practitioners. “We have designed and made our own fruit and vegetable activity experience, and this week we’ve been counting and sorting. We don’t just have a ’standard potato’, but lots of different varieties and sizes, and that goes for the other thirty odd fruits and vegetables we use. This helps children understand that diversity is an integral part of life”. Not only do we use our fruit and vegetables for counting, sorting and grouping, but also to learn how and where fruit and vegetables grow. “Children are learning from a very young age where their food comes from. This helps to encourage a healthy interest in what they eat, whilst having a lot of fun!”

28 September 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby +44(0)1788-55-22-00 www.daisykins.co.uk

Can you dig it?

Daisykins Day Nursery Pre-school went digging for treasure of the wriggly kind this week, ready for their new wormery. It’s part of Daisykins’ Child Centricity (c) curriculum, designed to help the children understand the world around them. Michelle and Kerry, EYFS Practitioners talked with the children, and through careful questioning took them on a learning journey through a wormy world. Kerry said “It is really important to take children right back to nature. To know that the worms they are watching and studying have been dug up by their own little hands make the activity so much more interesting, and gives them a real sense of purpose and achievement”. Michelle said “The children even named their worms but I fear identification might be a problem later on”. Over time the children are going to watch how worms live, eat and interact with each other. “We have already seen the worms take the leaves from the top of the wormery and pull them through the various layers of soil. The children found it fascinating to watch and were asking lots of questions”. It just shows how learning through discovery can be so much fun!

Parents and carers would highly recommend this Day Care Provider Daisykins Day Nursery. Why not visit? We cannot go into specific details about all we have to offer on the internet. The best place to find out more is at Daisykins!

We will let parents and carers know if poor or bad weather changes our opening or closing times.

Source: Daisykins LTD

20 April 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby +44(0)1788-55-22-00; 4 May 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby, +44(0)1788-55-22-00; 12 May 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby, +44(0)1788-55-22-00; 2 June 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby, +44(0)1788-55-22-00; 8 June 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby, +44(0)1788-55-22-00; 16 June 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby, +44(0)1788-55-22-00; 23 June 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby, +44(0)1788-55-22-00; 7 July 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby, +44(0)1788-55-22-00; 14 July 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby, +44(0)1788-55-22-00; 18 August 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby, +44(0)1788-55-22-00; 15 September 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby, +44(0)1788-55-22-00; 21 September 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby, +44(0)1788-55-22-00; 28 September 2009 - Daisykins Day Nursery, 3 Whitehall Road Rugby, +44(0)1788-55-22-00;