Kingscliffe Day Nursery in Loughborough and The Ark Day Nursery inHalifax were both nominated by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) fortheir outstanding commitment, in separate categories. The winners willbe announced at an awards ceremony in London on 10 July.
Kingscliffe, with nine members of staff, is a finalist in the MicroEmployer of the Year (1-9 employees), while The Ark is a finalist in theSmall Employer of the Year (10-49 employees).
The Ark set up a training academy in association with Cosdale College 18months ago. Co-owner and manager Jo Brock said, 'We always had stafftraining and doing long hours, so it makes life easier training on-siteand with people they know. Often the absence of these factors has been abarrier. Many staff didn't want to do training before.
'At the moment we do NVQ Levels 2 and 3 and we're looking at whether wecan extend that further. Staff train one morning a week. It's verycohesive and a really positive culture. There's high morale, high staffretention, and a high ratio of quality staff - 95 per cent are trainedor in training, which exceeds the Ofsted requirement,' she added.
Alexis McConnanie, owner of the 32-place Kingscliffe, became involved inapprenticeships in 2001 when the nursery only had 20 places. She said,'We promoted staff within the business and recruited from local schoolsand colleges. Apprentices go on to a permanent role within the businessand get on a career ladder. We tried to recruit qualified staff and it'snot worked for us as a small nursery.'
'They have a training allowance of 80 per week. But we actuallygive them a raise above the official allowance. Having someone on alower wage helps the business in the short-term as well.'
People from the professional community from a large nursery have foundit difficult to settle in and acknowledged that.