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Last Updated on April 7, 2025
Why the nursery settling-in process is more important than ever for babies born during the Covid-19 pandemic
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February 28th 2022 was International Hygge Day. ‘What is that’? you may ask.
March, 1 2022 Read story![1. Friendly childcare team outside Thrive Childcare nursery, providing high-quality early years education and nurturing environment in a welcoming setting in [location].](https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize/www.thrivechildcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Village-Nureries-group-acquisition.jpg)
Thrive Childcare and Education begins 2022 with the launch of a new website.
January, 10 2022 Read story
Often children start at our nurseries at the age of 10 to 12 months, usually we find this ties in with mothers’ returning to work after maternity leave. This is also, however, an age at which separation anxiety becomes commonplace.
Children joining us at this age may have spent much of their time enjoying one-to-one time with their parent or carer but, as they grow older, they have to get used to sharing adult attention. They also need to learn to share toys, to take turns, to start looking out for and supporting their friends and to understand routines.
Gaining experience with children of a similar age helps to prepare them for school where they may be in a classroom with 20 to 30 children. If a child is unused to being left by their parent and with other children, settling into school can be a challenge.
We often receive feedback from local schools that children who have attended our Thrive nurseries are confident and settle well into school routines.
One of the benefits of our Thrive nurseries is our commitment to children spending supervised time outside and exploring safe outdoor spaces. At our Nature Kindergartens this ethos is extended to ensure pre-school children spend at least half of their time learning and exploring outside.
Messy play including using sand, water and paints are staples for children at all our nurseries, providing opportunities they may not have at home. In the nursery environment children learning from each other is as important as learning from our nursery teams.
The opportunity to explore new things safely alongside their peers provides significant benefits to children as they progress through nursery and towards school.
For more information, see our blog providing more information about our nursery settling-in processes. (link to Why the nursery settling-in process is more important than ever for babies born during the Covid-19 pandemic).
When their parent leaves, children are naturally afraid that they may not come back for them. Through experience, the child learns to trust that their parent will return. Our nursery teams and managers are well-trained to understand this anxiety and help to ensure each child’s individual needs are met and that they form new attachments.
For those children who remain at home with a parent or family member until they are two or three years’ old, socialisation with other children is an important part of their time at nursery. It is not until around two-years-old that children actually start to play together.
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Leading UK nursery chain, Thrive Childcare and Education begin 2022 with the launch of a new website which will encompass all 38 of its England and Scotland nurseries as well as their latest acquisition, Poplars Nursery in Lancashire.
The new website, designed by the outstanding Manchester-based web-development agency, Juicy Media, will allow parents and carers an opportunity to see for themselves all of the different nurseries and what they have to offer. It will also provide information regarding the Thrive Childcare and Education ethos, its commitment to children as well as the environment. Putting children first every time is paramount to Thrives philosophy as well as providing childcare settings where children can learn through play, explore the world around them and develop respect for nature and the environment.
The easy-to-use website will allow parents to find the nearest nurseries in their areas as well as showcase the awards that Thrive has won, testimonials from parents who have their children attend the nurseries and the caring and educational ethos, with its emphasis on outdoor learning, sustainability and respect for nature, which makes the Thrive Childcare and Education experience so unique. It will also allow parents access to the ParentZone App which will make it easy for them to pay fees as well as keeping them up to speed with discounts that they may be entitled to.
We hope you enjoy the new website, its layout and design, and we look forward to an exciting and productive 2022.
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One of the top children’s nurseries in the North West of England has become part of the high-quality Thrive Childcare and Education Group, which is growing its presence in the region.
Poplars Nursery in Leyland, Lancashire, which is ranked in the North West’s Top 20 nurseries by daynurseries.co.uk, becomes Thrive’s 12th nursery in the North West, with a further 26 in Scotland.
Founded more than 35 years ago, Poplars Nursery was extended and fully refurbished over the past five years to provide modern nursery and pre-school services for 68 children from just months old to five years.
Thrive CEO Cary Rankin said: “Poplars is a very successful, well-equipped and well-run nursery, providing a high-quality indoor and outdoor environment which gives children the space to play and learn.
“We share the vision and ethos of former owners Vanda and Geoff Hope in putting children and families first and recognising the importance of the dedicated nursery team.
“We want Poplars to remain first, trusted choice for parents and employees in the Leyland area. Like all our nurseries, it is part of the local community and we are committed to maintaining its local identity. We will work with and continue to develop the excellent and trusted team.”
Nursery Manager Hayley Hinton, who has worked at Poplars for 13 years, said: “Poplars is well known and loved by families in the Leyland area, thanks to its dedicated and, in many cases, long-serving team, who will continue to maintain the ethos and values that are shared by Thrive Childcare and Education.
“We are all looking forward to working under the Thrive umbrella and are excited about the similarities in our vision and the unison that this will create. I am particularly looking forward to being a part of the Thrive nursery ‘family’ and the wealth of experience that they will bring as they support us in maintaining the reputation that we are so proud of in the community.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to pass on heartfelt thanks to Vanda and Geoff for their dedication and investment in the nursery during their time here. Poplars is a nursery I am proud to be at the forefront of, with a fantastic team behind me. The scale of development that Poplars has undergone in recent years is so very much appreciated and we all thank them for enabling this.”
Established 20 years ago in Scotland, Thrive has acquired a number of high-quality nursery groups including Happitots, Holyrood, Corner House, Bright Beginnings and Enchanted Forest, as well as successful independent nurseries.
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