Latest news from The Teepee Day Nursery

The Teepee gets Food Hygiene Award for Third Year Running

As Bracknell's only family-run, independent nursery, we are celebrating our third consecutive Food Hygiene Award from Bracknell Forest which was presented in February 2008. This time around the award has changed and we were very pleased to be presented with a gold.

We are the only nursery that has this award at the moment, the fact that we have been awarded it three times is even better!

The Teepee is one step closer to having an Early Years Professional

At The Teepee we have always been keen to improve the our service and stay at the forefront of early years sector thinking. Rebecca (and link here to the info on the team page) started her Early Years Professional status at reading University in September 2008 and will complete the course within the year. The role is supported by a set of national standards set at graduate level which cover work with children from birth to the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Those who demonstrate these standards will be awarded EYPS which will be equivalent in level to qualified teacher status (QTS). The Government's aim is to have EYPs in all children's centres offering early years provision by 2010 and in every full day care setting by 2015. EYPs will be key to raising the quality of early years provision. They will be change agents to improve practice. They will lead practice across the Early Years Foundation Stage, and will support and mentor other practitioners and model the skills and behaviours that safeguard and promote good outcomes for children. Much of our early closes and team meetings are spent sharing this information and discussing it as a team.

And so to our name...

We are often asked by families looking around the nursery -"Why the name, is it because of The Teepee in the garden?"

When we first started the nursery we wanted something that was different from the rest (because we are different !!). We also didn't want something that sounded "babyish", as we wanted to be a solution that was family focused, but we really struggled to find the right name that didn't sound OTT

One Saturday morning, before we even had a nursery, Emma was trying to lie in (and failing) but instead was chewing over thoughts like "if we were like B&Q we'd be called T&P (as in our names Tennant and Platt)..." So to start with we called our fledgling company "TP", as more of a joke really.

By the time we had found our nursery it had stuck because it embodied all that we wanted to be. It was about us and our passion but it is also a dwelling that you want to take with you on a journey.

We strive to be that safe and cosy resting place that each family can take with them on their child's pre-school journey.

And yes we do have a teepee in the garden!