About us

About Purple Childcare

We are a family team with a strong background in early years education and special educational needs. Felicity (owner/ manager) is a qualified Early years professional (level 6) with over fifteen years experience in the childcare sector.

Gemma (Deputy manager/SENCo) is a qualified teacher and Early Years SENCo (level 6) with eight years childcare experience.

Our experiences with young children and those with SEN have informed our practice and vision. We strongly believe in the empowerment of children; in teaching children to communicate and manage themselves effectively and in helping children to reach the fullest extent of their potential.

Our vision

• Purple Childcare Bristol is an inclusive nursery where everyone is made to feel welcome.
• We strive to provide a broad, inspiring and balanced curriculum for all children, so that they can become confident, young individuals.
• We believe children should be taught the power of their communication and the value of working together through effective partnerships.
• Our inclusive ethos aims to encourage all children to be actively involved in their own learning. This involves valuing all children and staff equally and reducing barriers to learning and participation.

Purple childcare children

We treat each child as an individual, recognising their unique skills and supporting their learning process.

Our nursery a place where children will:

• Feel safe and secure.
• Grow in self esteem.
• Respect themselves, others and the environment.
• Develop independence and learn to collaborate with others.
• Become motivated, excited, enthusiastic, reflective learners.
• Feel confident with themselves, adults and each other.
• Build positive relationships with adults and peers.
• Know that everyone is welcomed and equally valued irrespective of race, gender, disability or religion.
• Respect, value and celebrate differences.

We put children at the heart of what we do.

We offer an environment where children can:

• Have an opportunity to share ideas, views and opinions.
• Can be listened to and respected.
• Are offered a broad, balanced and challenging curriculum.
• Can experience a rich, stimulating and dynamic learning environment.
• Can learn through a well structured, well planned, creative curriculum approach.
• Work with adults who value, respect, support and scaffold their learning. Experience adults working together in partnership with parents/carers and the community.

We believe it is every child’s right to be valued as a strong and competent learner with high self esteem.

• We strongly advocate that all children must have access to a happy and caring environment in which they can thrive, where their knowledge, skills, understanding and confidence are fully supported and extended.
• We believe that young children learn most effectively through being active, by organizing their own learning experiences, by using language and through considerate and respectful relationships and interactions with other children and adults.
• We also believe they are entitled to a broad and balanced curriculum, rooted in the process of how young children develop and learn, based on their interests and previous experiences, thus enabling them to make connections and succeed.

Our building

Our homely nursery is registered to take 41 children; 9 babies (below 2 years), 8 toddlers (below three years) and 24 preschoolers (three years plus). We are open Monday to Friday, 7.30 am – 5.30 pm.

We are a family team with a strong background in early years education and special educational needs. Felicity (owner/ manager) is a qualified Early years professional (level 6) with over 18 years experience in the childcare sector. Gemma (SENCo/Deputy manager) is a qualified teacher (level 6) with 11 years childcare/education experience. Our experiences with young children and those with SEN have informed our practice and vision. We strongly believe in the empowerment of children; in teaching children to communicate and manage themselves effectively and in helping children to reach the fullest extent of their potential.

Baby room

Upstairs we have a large baby room including a variety of soft play equipment to encourage physical development and sensory and heuristic play tools to engage children with exploration of their environment. There is a sleep room adjoining the baby room allowing children to nap within their normal routine.

Our baby room is run by Nessa Collings and Juliane Ramos. Nessa has 10 years experience working with young children and babies and has a level 5 teaching qualification. She is dedicated, nurturing and skilled in promoting early communication and social skills. Juliane is a highly skilled practitioner with a level 3 NVQ qualification in children’s care, learning and development. The children in the baby room teams care, flourish and are exceptionally well settled and happy within the nursery setting.

2-3 room

Downstairs we have a comfortable toddler room with a door leading to the garden outside to encourage free-flow play. Toddlers have a well equipped room with a role play space, home corner and soft sleep and sensory area.

Our toddler room is run by Maria Gonzalez and Ayesha Wiseman. Maria has a wealth of experience and forms excellent relationships with the children in her care. She has a level 4 diploma in childcare and education and brings her cultural expertise to our nursery. Including teaching Spanish lessons to our older children! Ayesha started with us as a volunteer and has continued to develop her understanding and expertise in Early years with us over the past 2 years. She is kind, caring and creative when it comes to developing exciting activities and experiences for our toddler children. She has worked closely with our SEND children as a 1:1 and is working towards her level 2 in childcare and early years education.

Our Toddlers loosely follow a play- based curriculum following their interests. Their play and learning goals are set by Maria along with input from parents. Our toddlers are beginning to be more independent and explore by themselves. Maria is an inventive and dedicated practitioner who works tirelessly to encourage children to reach their potential whilst having a fantastic time!

Preschool

In the preschool area, we have an ICT space complete with a large interactive white board and tablets. We have found this is a great way to engage children in a variety of topics as well as developing early computer and ICT skills. Leading from the ICT space is a large exploration and creative space with home corner, lego table, arts and crafts area and construction toys as well as a literacy and maths area. Pre-schoolers have their own exit to the garden space allowing free-flow play for our oldest children.

The upper pre-school is led by Gemma Lawrence and Naomi Harris, a qualified teacher and a level 3 qualified practitioner. Our lower pre-school is led by Sam Palmer, a highly skilled level 3 practitioner, experienced TA and Phonics Champion. A strong and experienced staff team means the children are constantly learning through play and engaging experiences. As the children grow towards school age we gently guide them towards school readiness whilst still making sure that learning is fun and child-led.

In pre-school children are beginning to follow nursery routines and to become more independent. They collect their own drinks and cutlery for lunch, hand out plates and cups and engage more with longer group times. The activities set for our pre-school children, follow the interests of the children and are designed to maintain the children’s interests and allow them to learn and explore at their own pace. The pre-school curriculum is set by Gemma, Naomi and Sam, along with the child’s key person and parents.

Garden

Our garden is large and has been considerably refurbished.

• We have a large outdoor play structure, living willow tunnel and obstacle course along with a huge sand pit and outside playhouse.
• We also have a forest school area and growing space as well as a separate sensory garden for babies.
• We make lots of use of our garden throughout the day (and in all weather!) as a space for learning, playing and moving.

Among other things children use the obstacle course and climbing frame to practise their moving skills and learn to manage risks; they dig in the sand pit and use our water table to explore size and capacity; with support children plant vegetables, watch them grow and then eat them during snack time; children also engage in sports activities and make large dens with our den making kit.

Young children enjoy exploring our smaller slide and climbing area and babies are safe to explore, move and learn in our sensory garden.