Friendly Families Story
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Friendly Families Community Nursery is a parent-led co-produced nursery on Friendly Street in Deptford, South London. This is the story of what we did and when we did it. The team behind Play Build Play worked with local familie, colleagues from NEF, Peabody, Coram Family and Childcare and Collaborative Design and Build, and community collaborators to create a wonderful community resource. |
October 2018 to February 2019
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NEF worked with Peabody Housing Association to obtain a lease on the site, and with the GLA and Trust for London to secure funding for the pilot…
We began by
We began by
- clearing the site and making good the key infrastructure
- Getting to know the local area through door knocking, 1-2-1’s, local asset mapping...
February 2019 to June 2019
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- Started stay and play sessions.
- Initial furniture and architectural explorations...
- Sessions to get to know parents and people in the local community
May 2019 to September 2019
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As the relationship developed so did the sessions, moving from stay and plays to stand alone co-design and build workshops delivering the core elements required by any setting, training and onsite creche to support local parents access NVQ qualifications. Alongside this there was less visible work including gathering parent directors, registering as a charity, opening a bank account and beginning recruitment of the nursery manager.
At this stage we reviewed the impact of the nursery. We found we had brought an empty building back in to community use and 25 local people had gained NVQ level 3 qualifications. A survey of parents who had taken part in play sessions, workshops and co-design sessions at the nursery found that,
At this stage we reviewed the impact of the nursery. We found we had brought an empty building back in to community use and 25 local people had gained NVQ level 3 qualifications. A survey of parents who had taken part in play sessions, workshops and co-design sessions at the nursery found that,
- 69.6% agreed that they spend more time with people from a different background to them
- 91.3% met new people and expanded their social circle
- 95.7% feel more connected to their local areas
October 2019 to Feb 2020
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Repeated rounds of unsuccessful recruitment, ongoing stay and play sessions and renting the space to enable other local activities and groups, securing social finance loan from Trust for London to support staff salaries during the start up phase.
February 2020 to August 2020
With core staff in place we were able to begin the Ofsted registration process and start setting up all the internal processes needed to open the nursery. At the same time start working on the pedagogical furniture tied more closely to the specific practices that staff and parents will follow, recruiting and registering families to join the nursery. This period also included the first national lockdown due to the COVID pandemic
August 2020 to April 2021
Opening and growing the nursery, phased settling in of children, ongoing concerns about COVID, developing relationships with our local authority, adapting and reviewing our processes, ongoing recruitment of families to join the nursery, Zoom meetings with parents and staff (face to face not allowed due to COVID), recruitment and induction of classroom volunteers, expansion of parent directors team, review of parents experiences of the nursery. Adjustments to comply with COVID requirements included installing an additional covered outdoor space to maximise outdoor activity and creating a set of flexible barriers and cleaning stations.
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Looking forwards
We are now running a thriving Ofsted registered setting. We continue to recruit families and as our numbers grow we will need to expand our staff team. We continue to work with staff, parents and children on site to help refine and improve the setting. We have found some parents are joining us due to our location rather than our parent-led ethos. Parent Directors and the staff team are working to ensure every family that joins is supported to be part of the life of the nursery. Each new family is assigned a ‘buddy’ family to support them to settle in and get involved.
Read more about:
Talk to us about your co-produced childcare project by emailing [email protected]
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