2009 Improvements.

It has been 5 years in the making, transforming a building that was constructed in 1799 to an exciting, stimulating environment for children during their early years.

The relocation of Pre-School from 1^st floor has marked the completion of major refurbishment of nursery at the Old Grammar School. The quality of the learning environment at the setting, with a particular emphasis on providing access to all children to all parts of the nursery and outdoors was central to our design philosophy.

Outdoor play is now recognised as essential for young children’s development. At Playdays we encourage a free-flow learning environment by using both indoor and outdoor space simultaneously.

These improvements, coupled with elegant equipment, vastly improve the learning environment within the settings. The design enables the outdoors to become part of the learning experience for the children and will ensure that children of all abilities can learn and play in a fantastic setting. The Toddler Hall and new Pre-school have been designed to cover all the areas of learning and provide freedom of choice for the children to learn through play. The Baby Room, like the other rooms, has access to the 0.6 acres of outdoor space but also benefits from its own designated area giving the babies freedom to explore a varied sensory environment safely

The new layout has also helped to improve the operation of the setting as the majority of our facilities are at one level. We plan to utilise the first floor as a sensory room and designated computer suite in the future, doubling up as break away rooms, adding flexibility within the overall nursery. The design of the new nursery incorporates a solar panel and an air source heat pump that provide all the green energy to provide hot water and heat the building.

Playdays provides an extremely flexible approach to childcare whereby parents can make use of our facilities from 2.5hrs per day (free to all 3 and 4 year olds) to full time places for 51 weeks per year.