Edition 8 – 2019
Network round-up
Welcome to the March 2019 edition of the Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries Newsletter. Head Office and the network have already had a very busy year so far and we can’t wait to tell you what we’ve been up to.
Following the email update issued by Rebecca Crosby this week, I’m sure you are all now aware of the exciting changes soon to take place within our Regional Team. As part of our continuing initiative to ensure we are providing our network with the most beneficial support, we have created three new Head Office positions. The first position to be undertaken is the role of ‘Operations Coordinator’. Our newest recruit, Chloe Rackham, who joined us on Monday, will be taking on this crucial opportunity, overseeing the weekly running and diaries of the Operations Team and devising and implementing new systems and procedures to enhance the delivery of this service. Chloe will be contacting the network very soon.
In the next few weeks, we will have two freelance Early Years Inspectors (EYI) who will be conducting mock inspections on an ad hoc basis. As you all know, the mock inspection is a vital service we provide to the network and is currently carried out by our Ofsted expert, Julie Firth. Our aim by growing this workforce is to increase the yearly number of visits we make to each nursery, with a new target of two mock inspections per nursery each year.
The third role to be introduced within the regional team is an additional ‘Operations Manager’(OM). The OM will conduct post-inspection nursery visits, following up on the key observations and improvements recommended by our EYI, ensuring that successful changes have been made and any further support is provided to our nursery owners and managers. This position has been taken up by Joy Wood, who many of you may know as the Nursery Manager for Monkey Puzzle Highbury, where she has worked for over 5 years. Joy will be sad to leave the wonderful Highbury team, but we are excited to have her on board and staying within the Monkey Puzzle family.
Moving from new Head Office members and onto new nursery owners, we would like to give a big welcome to Sammi and James Walker, who must still be reeling from their hugely successful open days last week. The parent turnout for Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery Southend was enormous and kept the open day team on their toes. We would also like to welcome Gaitri and Amit Sharma who will soon officially open their new nursery in Stafford following an equally successful open day last Saturday. Congratulations to all of you, we look forward to watching your nurseries flourish.
We would like to give a big mention to some of our nurseries who had their inspections over the last 3 months. John and Sukhy Gill at Monkey Puzzle Uxbridge had a visit from Ofsted a couple of weeks ago and were awarded ‘Good’. Jenna was pleased to report that Notting Hill received a ‘Good’ and West Acton were also awarded a highly deserved ‘Good’, which Shpresa and Inesa are thrilled with.
Lastly but certainly not least, Glasgow Central had a visit from the Care Inspectorate who awarded the nursery with a Level 5/Very Good, in both elements, which were Care and Support for Children and Leadership and Management. Congratulations everyone!
Finally, we would like to welcome Richard Blunden, our new Franchise Director. Richard joins us following 6 years with the Volkswagen Group where he was appointed National Network Development Manager for the Franchise division. Some of Richard’s key focuses will be to drive sustainable profitable growth for both Monkey Puzzle and the franchisee network, aid the development of the Monkey Puzzle future strategy, and support franchisees to drive performance in their businesses. Welcome, Richard, we look forward to working with you
