News Releases
Worthing Nursery children to grow their own vegetables
Reflections Nursery in Worthing has recruited a horticulturalist onto their permanent staff to support children to grow their own fruit and veg in the nursery garden.
Gardener and mum, Sandy Rainey has been growing her own fruit and veg since she was a child and having spotted the local advert placed by Reflections for a 'Gardener with Children' considered it to be the ideal job, "I have a lifelong interest in growing fruit, herbs and vegetables and I have raised my son along with beans and courgettes. We have both found amazement simply in growing things we can eat. I am really excited about the opportunity to transform the outdoor areas at Reflections into a productive growing area, as ecologically as possible, and using as much recycled material as we can".
The nursery in Richmond Road has over half an acre of garden, providing more than ample space for children to create growing areas. This week they will be planting potatoes to eat for their Christmas lunch.
Nursery Manager, Yvonne Barr is delighted that children will have even more reason to access the outdoors, "We observed the fun children had planting seeds in pots for the garden and wanted to extend the experience. With Sandy supporting children's understanding of the seasons and planting cycles we think the children's interest will really blossom (excuse the pun!)"
Reflections was awarded the title of UK Nursery of the Year 2009/10 by Nursery World magazine and has a strong focus on the outdoors. They operate an optional Forest School programme taking 3 year old children to local woodland two mornings a week which has proved popular with children, parents and staff.
Managing Director, Martin Pace leads the Forest School practice. He commented on their latest recruit, "Bringing Sandy into the nursery is another step towards providing exceptional outdoor experiences for children and fits in perfectly with our approach to encouraging an understanding of nature. We are all looking forward to eating what we have planted together."
Worthing Nursery best in the UK
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Reflections Nursery in Richmond Road, Worthing has been awarded the title of UK Nursery of the Year 2009 by Nursery World magazine. Judge, Wendy Scott, who visited the nursery said, "Reflections is an exciting and inspiring place to be in relation to the physical, emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual wellbeing of children."
The nursery is set in a large Regency building with extensive gardens and offers 115 places for children aged 3 months to 5 years old. Reflections draws its inspiration from the world-renowned 'Reggio' approach to childcare & education which emphasises the value of listening to children and encouraging them to have theories about the world and to test those theories.
Reflections took over the nursery in October 2006 and has made significant developments since that time. Children in the nursery are highly motivated and work on long term projects drawn from their own ideas and they are supported in their creative work by a qualified artist. The nursery also offers a Forest School programme taking children to local woodland two mornings a week and an out-of-school programme which collects from five local schools.
Judge, Wendy Scott commented, "They deserve the award because of the close attention given to details, which ensures that their practice matches their stated aims, aspirations and principles. Children have genuine choices and a lot of scope for exploration and expression in an engaging, beautiful and very well-cared-for environment."
Nursery Manager, Yvonne Barr commented, "The team are absolutely thrilled that their hard work and dedication has been recognised and we are looking forward to a well-deserved celebration."
Managing Director Martin Pace said, "We are delighted that our passion for excellence has been rewarded and we see this as the beginning of the next stage of our development."
WORTHING CAUGHT ON CAMERA
Nursery children will focus on fund-raising
Children attending a Worthing nursery school have been swapping their classroom felt tips for digital cameras in readiness for a big charity fund-raising effort.
The children attend the Reflections Nursery in Richmond Road which has embarked on a project to raise £20,000 to build and equip a school in a poor part of Ghana.
Last year the children produced hundreds of paintings for sale, raising £3,000 by selling them at the school during the annual Artist's and Makers Festival.
Now they plan to repeat their success by heading into town with their cameras to take pictures on the theme of 'My Worthing.'
Hundreds of the pictures will be on display at the school during open weekends on July 5-6 and July 12-13.
The best of them will be blown up and framed for sale to parents who will also get the chance to have their children's photographic efforts enlarged and featured in large canvas format.
Reflections director Martin Pace said: "We've been teaching most of the children how to use a digital camera and compose a shot. We'll be taking them on photographic expeditions into the town where they can snap anything that catches their eye.
"It should result in a fascinating record of Worthing through a child's eyes and we're hoping that sales of the pictures will match or beat the total we raised at last year's painting event."
Reflections' children have already raised £5,500 towards their African school building target. Overseen by the international development charity Plan UK, the scheme will eventually provide around 170 children with childhood care in one of the poorest areas of Ghana's Upper West Region.
The Worthing school is planning to forge personal links with the African community later this year when it hopes to have achieved half its fund raising total.
Also planned is a second sponsored walk in September, taking in a 13-mile circuit from the nursery around Cissbury Ring and culminating in a garden party at the school.
For further information contact: Martin Pace. Telephone: 07971 569561.
Reflections Nursery, Westerfields House, 54 Richmond Road, Worthing BN11 1PS.
Telephone: 01903 208208. www.reflectionsnurseries.co.uk
Childcare Experts take over Worthing Nursery
A team of education and childcare care consultants have joined forces to become the proud owners of a £1.4m nursery in Worthing.
Reflections Nurseries Ltd, headed by Martin Pace who sold his chain of six London nurseries in 2005 along with education consultants and authors, Linda Thornton and Pat Brunton have bought the nursery in Richmond Road, Worthing known as Westerfields House.
The 115-place nursery and after-school club, which now trades under the name Reflections Nursery, is a three-storey Grade II listed building dating from 1845 set in three quarters of an acre of walled gardens with mature trees.
Drawing on practice from the famous city of Reggio Emilia in Northern Italy, the nursery offers places to children aged from 6 weeks to 5 years and has an out-of-school club taking children up to 12 years old.
Linda Thornton said, "Our practice will be influenced by our personal interests in babies and young children as explorers and inventors, and the key principles of Reggio Emilia. Our main interest is to raise the quality of good practice in line with UK standards. We are totally committed to developing partnerships with parents and the local authority, and in the long-term we may look to offer training externally."
The three new directors plan to take on major refurbishment project in the first six months at an estimated cost of £75,000. Martin Pace said, "The money will be spent on refurbishing the interior and improving the outdoor area. We have been looking to buy a nursery for two years and we are very excited by this project. It has huge potential and we've inherited a very enthusiastic team of 40 staff who are keen to work with us on developing our plans."
Worthing Parents Prepare for Pier to Pier Hike
Walk will raise funds for African school project
A group of Worthing parents face a thirteen-mile walk to pick up their children.
It's not part of the Government's fight against obesity, but the latest event in an ambitious fund-raising project in aid of disadvantaged children in Africa undertaken by Reflections Nursery in Richmond Road.
Children, their parents and nursery staff are getting behind a scheme to raise £20,000 to build and equip a school in Ghana under the auspices of the international development charity Plan UK.
The fund got off to a flying start when hundreds of painting produced by the children were sold during a four-day art sale at the school in July which raised more than £2,000.
Now the parents will be taking part in a 13-mile sponsored hike on October 14 which will take them from Brighton Pier to Worthing Pier - with a stop at Lancing Green to pick up their waiting children to complete the final lap to Worthing together.
Reflections director Martin Pace said the nursery, which is aiming to fund the entire African project over the next two years, hoped money raised by the walk would at least match that achieved by the art sale.
"We're confident of a good turnout for the event and would welcome anybody and everybody to join us on the day to support this really worthwhile project which is giving our children a great opportunity to help a group much more disadvantaged than themselves."
The proposed school will provide around 170 children with good quality early childhood care in the Tendoma community of Ghana's Upper West Region, which is one of the poorest areas of the country.
Anybody wishing to take part in the sponsored walk can obtain details from Reflections Nursery on 01903 208208 or log on to www.justgiving.com/reflections
Reflections is a 115-place nursery and after-school club. The nursery offers places to children aged from six weeks to five years and the out-of-school club takes children up to 12 years old.
Worthing Nursery Walkers Boost Charity Fund
A Worthing nursery school aiming to raise £20,000 in aid of disadvantaged African children has achieved a quarter of the total in less than three months.
Reflections Nursery in Richmond Road has pledged to collect enough money to build and equip a school in one of the poorest parts of Ghana under the auspices of the international development charity Plan UK.
More than £2,000 was raised in July during a four-day art sale when hundreds of paintings produced by children attending the nursery were sold.
The total was boosted by a further £3,000 last weekend when children, staff, parents and supporters of the school completed a 13-mile sponsored pier-to-pier walk from Brighton to Worthing where they were welcomed by the Mayor (Coun. Dr Heather Mercer).
Reflections Director Martin Pace said: "It's been a great start to the project. We've still got a long way to go, but everybody at Reflections is encouraged by the wonderful support we're getting locally and we'll be working hard to reach our target."
The next big fund-raising event will be a dinner-dance in the New Year.
The Reflections walkers celebrate with the Mayor of Worthing (Coun. Dr. Heather Mercer) after completing their 13-mile hike.
For further information contact:
Martin Pace
Tel 07971 569561
Reflections Nursery
Westerfields House
54 Richmond Road
Worthing
BN11 1PS