Flying Start Nurseries

SNOW 30 November

2010-11-30T04:33:00.000-08:00

Snow news......all centres OPEN - brilliant effort by al the staff....WELL DONE !! As St.Meriadoc School in Camborne opened late, we were unable to run our normal Breakfast Club there but were able to accommodate the children at our centres in Redruth, Cornwall College and Camborne.

Our Snow Policy is available in all centres so assume we are open unless the website and the radio updates tell you different!

Pictured right are some of the children in

Flying Start @ Camborne having fun in the snow!

29 Nov 2010 SNOW NEWS

2010-11-29T03:10:00.001-08:00

08:30

Flying Start @ Cornwall College has had to close today as the College campus is closed, however, our nurseries in Camborne and Redruth are open and so parents can take their children there.

All other centres are open - well done everyone!

The Parents' Evening planned for tonight in Helston has been postponed until further notice and the Staff Meeting in Flying Start@ Penryn has been cancelled until further notice.

Parents Evening for Flying Start @ Redruth

2010-11-23T09:24:00.000-08:00

At our recent Parents' Evening in Flying Start @ Redruth we focussed on communication and ran Makaton signing workshops with parents to show them how to sign like their children!

We also set out different activities so that parents and children could play together to improve their children's communication.

A fire in a brazier meant we all enjoyed toasted marshmallows, which was enjoyed together with carrot and lentil soup specially made by the children.

Sales of soup and hot chocolate as well as teas, coffees and special firework biscuits raised over £80 for the RNLI as part of our ongoing appeal. Well done everybody...now whats the Makaton for well done.......

RNLI and Flying Start @ Saltash

2010-11-22T01:27:00.000-08:00

As part of our fund raising effort with the RNLI, the children from Flying Start @ Saltash were invited to visit the lifeboat station.

As you can see, we were even allowed inside one of the boats......great fun !

In total we have raised over £2,500 now across all Flying Start nurseries.

Well done everybody.

Flying Start @Cornwall College visit Rosewarne

2010-11-15T09:16:00.000-08:00

Oh my word, can you see what are in the background.........COWS!

A group from Flying Start @ Cornwall College recently visited Cornwall College's Rosewarne campus where Flying Start are planning a new After School and Holiday Club for 2011.

Its a wonderful place to visit and will be a wonderful place to be based, so that all the other nurseries can visit.

Playing in the sand in Flying Start @ Marjon

2010-11-11T03:02:00.000-08:00

Can you see the wonderful patterns that are being made in the sand in Flying Start @ Marjon

Environmental Club at Flying Start @ Marjon

2010-11-08T07:49:00.000-08:00

The children from Flying Start @ Marjon have set up their very own Environmental Club to link in with our Green initiatives and healthy eating.

Here you can see a group in their wellingtons with their gardening tools planting vegetables which they will grow and then eat!

Flying Start @ Helston make a shelter

2010-11-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

Look at this wonderful shelter the children from Flying Start @ Helston made.

They used the outdoor construction kit and then put the blue tarpaulin over the top - what a good idea!

How many are underneath?

Apple Pie for Flying Start @ Duchy

2010-11-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

Verity , at Flying Start @ Duchy, brought in some cooking apples from the tree in her garden and asked if we could make something with them. We decided to make a yummy apple crumble and so each had a mat to cut on, a knife and a piece of apple.

All the bits of apple were put into a saucepan before they were heated up and stewed. Oh, and we put some sugar in too!

We then made our own crumble topping and put it on top of the apple - all in a cooking pot beore it went in the oven.

When it was done, we all had a taste and it was really yummy. Thank you Verity, or bringing in the apples and having such a good idea !

Divali @ Flying Start Penryn

2010-10-28T03:38:00.000-07:00

As part of the Diwali celebrations for Flying Start @ Penryn, we tried out Mendhi handpainting.

Do you like it?

We also made clay diva pots and did some Indian dancing and dressing up!

Beach Fun for Flying Start @ Cornwall College

2010-10-27T05:48:00.000-07:00

Look at the fun the children from Flying Start@ Cornwall College are ghaving as they visited the beach at Porthowan.

They all have their shoes off and have even been paddling. Brrrrrr it looks a bit chilly.

Nic and the children also popped in to see the RNLI as part of our fundriaing to tell them we have already raised a whopping £2500 to help them with rescue equipment.

Building at Flying Start @ Saltash

2010-10-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

Wow - look at the amazing structure that the children from Flying Start @ Saltash have made with their outdoor construction kit.

Flying Start @ Rosewarne

2010-10-20T08:24:00.001-07:00

Flying Start has a strong, ongoing partnership with Cornwall College for whom we run nurseries at Saltash, Duchy Stoke Climsland and Trevenson which is between Camborne and Redruth.

We are delighted to announce that we are now visiting Duchy College Rosewarne twice weekly, which is very close to Flying Start @ Camborne, with our After School group. We aim to open a permanent after-school and out-of-school facility in January 2011.

Both children and parents have visited and are all delighted at the wide range of activities that will be available including a football field, a forest, a large pond, vegetable and flower gardens. In addition, there are also lots of small animals including rabbits, guinea pigs and birds and even a reptile house with snakes, lizards and insects!

As you can see, the children are already having lots of fun, pictured above playing a "blind" treasure hunt......carefully following the string through the wonderful grounds!

Some of the boys are also shown here building their very own shelter in the woods.

Keep watching this space for more information

and new, exciting opportunities for after schoolers in Camborne.

Harvest Festival with Flying Start @ Redruth

2010-10-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

The children from Flying Start @ Redruth collecetd together fruit, tinned food and fresh vegetables and put them all in a box.

We arranged to visit the "Green" in Redruth and took the children to meet the elderly people who are cared for there.

Both young and old had a great time - you can see the children in their "Walking Bus" outfits just before leaving.

Balancing skills in Flying Start @ Duchy

2010-10-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

The children from Flying Start @ Duchy went into their garden and used the outdoors construction kit . With a little help from the adults they balanced planks on crates and buckets and made a wonderful off ground walkway.

Ruby and Rafferty were a little scared but with help managed to walk the whole way !

After a few deep breaths, they even managed to do some of it all on their own.

Well done - very brave!

Amazing sunflower in Flying Start @ Helston

2010-10-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

Look at this amazing sunflower that was grown by the children from Flying Start @ Helston. Strangely, they have also been enjoying the story of Jack and the Beanstalk! I hope they dont get any ideas!!!

Poetry Winners @ Flying Start Marjon

2010-10-11T05:06:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to these children from Flying Start @ Marjon. They enterd a poetry competition called "My First Poem" and received a certificate.

Their work is going to be published in a book for them and their proud parents to buy!

Flying Start Winners!

2010-10-08T06:38:00.000-07:00

As seen earlier in the blog, Flying Start @Penryn hosted the first Flying Start Sports Day.

Pictured here with the winning team on the Penryn RFC pitch is the deputy manager and organiser - Sophia.

The Flying Start Challenge Cup was proudly won by the team from the Fun Club in Camborne

.....and the individual winner was Harry from the Penryn After School Club - the proud owner of a prize football.

Well Done to everyone who took part and thank you to everyone who helped out.

Outdoor Fun at Flying Start @ Helston

2010-10-07T02:33:00.000-07:00

Just because it was raining didnt mean the children from Flying Start @ Helston couldnt carry on having fun and learning outdoors.

We all wrapped up warm and dry and did lots of pebble counting before making a shape we had drawn on the floor....can you see what it is?

Flying Start Sports Day

2010-10-05T03:23:00.000-07:00

Well done to the staff from Flying Start @ Penryn who organised the first Flying Start Sports Day.

Teams from Flying Start at Penryn, Redruth and Camborne competed against each other in lots of fun activities for the Flying Start Challenge Cup!

You can see everyone warming up.....

everyone took part in the competition and some activities meant we could all take part and have fun together......

Look at this amazing tug of war....who do you think will win??

Many thanks to Sophia and Jordan for refereeing , organising and for cheering everybody on !

Singing in the Rain for Flying Start @ Saltash

2010-09-29T09:16:00.000-07:00

The sun didnt come out but it didnt mean the children from Flying Start @ Saltash couldn't have fun outdoors or learn about pouring and how much different containers hold. Oh and a few songs too!

Flying Start @ Duchy tidy the Forest!

2010-09-27T02:21:00.000-07:00

The children form Flying Start @ Duchy decided to tidy up the forest as they had seen some rubbish down there. All the children helped lots. You can see Jed here putting some rubbish in the bag !

We saw lots of animals and talked about why we should take our litter home and then recycle it rather than drop it on the floor.

We ALL love our tidy forest!

Flying Start @ Cornwall College go to Tehidy Woods

2010-09-22T02:41:00.000-07:00

The children from Flying Start @ Cornwall College had great fun visiting Tehidy Woods......we walked round the lake and collected sticks and twigs as well as exploring round the lake.

We found we could do lots of counting outside and even made a den!

Flying Start @ Marjon are visited by the police !

2010-09-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

This is the second centre in the last few weeks to be visited by the police !!!

As you can see though, the children from Flying Start @ Marjon decided to dress up to make them feel at home.

Junk Modelling at Flying Start @ Helston

2010-09-17T03:14:00.000-07:00

Who said re-cycling and re-using cant be fun!

The children from Flying Start @ Helston are using old, empty boxes to make something.....can you guess what it is?

Paella at Flying Start @ Penryn

2010-09-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

As part of a Spanish themed week in Flying Start @ Penryn the older children made and ate Paella. Aprons were on and everyone had fun chopping up the ingredients, working out how much to put in and then the easy bit - cooking it!

After it was all all eaten there was the samll task of clearing up!

Mucho gracias!

Flying Start Saltash healthy lunches

2010-09-06T03:31:00.000-07:00

Healthy eating is key for growth and development. The children from Flying Start Saltash were joined by their cook for a very yummy lunch. As you can see a great time was had by all, with lots of very clean plates afterwards!

Snakes at Flying Start @ Redruth !

2010-08-26T07:01:00.000-07:00

The children from Flying Start @ Redruth joined together with Redruth Children's Centre and had a visit from some very scary creatures, and their handlers.

As you can see the staff are safely at a distance whilst the children were very interested in this tarantula

wheras this young lady was the bravest of them all - giving this snake a cuddle !

Flying Start Camborne go rock pooling!

2010-08-24T05:13:00.001-07:00

As part of our Beach School initiative - the children from Flying Start @ Camborne can be seen having fun in rockpools with their nets - what do you think they caught?

Flying Start Saltash are visited by the Police !

2010-08-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

The children at Flying Start @ Saltash were very excited to learn that the police would be visiting us. Tyrone, Gabbi and Olivia decided to dress up specially for the occasion!

Don't they look splendid.

Flying Start @ Duchy make biscuits

2010-08-20T06:36:00.001-07:00

As you can see, mixing the ingredients for making biscuits was good fun for the children in Flying Start @ Duchy.

The best bit though was tasting the results !

Flying Start @ Penryn fly kites!

2010-08-19T01:36:00.001-07:00

As it was a warm but windy day, the children from Flying Start @ Penryn decided they wanted to run around and fly kites - just like Flora the Flying Start logo!

So, we all went onto the rugby field and spent lots of energy chasing after our kite which flew beautifully as you can see.

Flying Start @ Cornwall College picnic on the beach

2010-08-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

As part of our "learning on the beach" initiative the children from Flying Start @ Cornwall College can be seen having a well-earned rest and a picnic lunch in the open air.

They met up with the RNLI lifeguards and had lots of fun.......

and found that drawing in the sand is more fun than on paper.....

and of course...paddling is always fun!

Flying Start @Helston and the Big Red Engine !

2010-08-17T01:30:00.000-07:00

We asked the firemen at RNAS Culdrose if they could visit us one day and guess what.......

Not only did they visit but they turned up in their huge, red shiny fire engine.

As you can see we all tried on helmets and special high-visibility vests.

and we even got to pretend to drive the engine !

and use the hose for REAL !

Thanks to everyone in the Fire Department at RNAS Culdrose !

Malaysian Day for Flying Start @ Marjon

2010-08-13T02:55:00.000-07:00

As one of Flying Start @ Marjon's Diversity Days, the children observed a mock Malaysian wedding and were interested to taste Malaysian food as well as being taught some Malaysian games.

Many thanks to the exchange students who put on a show for us and were so good at integrating and playing.

RNLI and Flying Start at Porthtowan Beach

2010-08-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

30 children from Flying Start @ Camborne, Cornwall College , Penryn and the Fun Club in Camborne all loaded up onto a big bus for a trip to see the lifeguards as part of our RNLI fund raising effort.

It was a noisy trip to Porthtowan as all the children were aged from 3 - 10 years.

As you can see they had brilliant fun trying out a jet ski!

Well they tried the helmet and the life-saver - oh and sat in the driving seat of course!

Doesnt that look like fun!

What brilliant roleplay!

Flying Start Managers at the Beach!

2010-08-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

Our annual Manager's Away Day is a day when all the managers come together for training and fun, whereas most of the Continuous Professional Development is done in the evenings or weekends. This year we were at Porthtowan Beach at the Blue Bar and did some work in the morning on Flying Start's 10 year plan - watch this space!

As you can see we spent the afternoon on the beach testing out some new outdoor construction equipment. The two teams had to construct a structure that would allow the passage of a bucket of water above head height ! Lets just say a few people got wet!

Flying Start Deputies Training at the Beach!

2010-08-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

The Flying Start deputies and team leaders met today for a Training day at the Blue Bar in Porthowan.

Pictured is Mike Keverne of Butterfly Training talking about empowerment and ownership.

Later in the day we all went onto the beach for some team building exercises. The day gained extremely good feedback from all the delegates, so we hope we all learned something whilst having fun too.

Special thanks to the team from Saltash and Duchy who had to catch a train at short notice - but still made it.

Flying Start @ Duchy in a rainy forest!

2010-08-04T03:49:00.000-07:00

The rain doesnt stop the children from Flying Start @ Duchy from going to the forest. We just put on our wet weather gear and wellies and off we all go!

Learning outside can be so much fun - look at the excellent balancing here !

There are Pirates at Flying Start @ Saltash

2010-07-30T08:21:00.000-07:00

Flying Start @ Saltash have been raising money for the RNLI by having a "Dress for the Beach" day or "Dress as a Pirate !"

The current total for the whole of Flying Start is very nearly £2000 !!! Well done to everyone.

Flying Start Penryn on the rugby field!

2010-07-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

Flying Start@Penryn are very lucky to be based very close to the Penryn RFC ground.

With permission from the club the children were allowed to take a parachute onto the field................

and have .......great fun !!

A Flying Start for Sophie

2010-07-23T07:48:00.000-07:00

As part of our RNLI fund raising effort, our beach toddle was very succesful and Sophie, who attends Flying Start @ Redruth is being held by Mum Demelza and her keyworker, Kloe.

She is the centre of attention because she raised over £300 and is only 2 !!!

Well done Sophie.

Planting in Helston

2010-07-22T06:34:00.001-07:00

The children in Flying Start @ Helston are now

growing their own flowers and vegetables. Many thanks to Ava's mummy for helping out!

We look forward to seeing, smelling, touching and tasting the results of all your hard work!

Marjons new garden!

2010-07-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

This is the view of our new garden at Flying Start @ Marjon - wonderful high new fence and rolling hills for lots of fun! It has been watered lots but now the rain is doing it for us. We still need to put in the bark and add posts to the concrete pad so we can make shelters !

We lost some of our old garden as Marjon College needed to build a new road. On the left is what our proposed garden looked like a few weeks ago. So as you can imagine we are delighted with the end result!

Camborne visit Tehidy Woods

2010-07-19T06:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some very excited children from Flying Start @ Camborne getting out of the minibus at Tehidy Woods. Welly boots and visibility vests were the order of the day, all ready for some fun in the woods and by the lake.

Lots of tricky counting in the water as none of the birds would keep still long enough to finish!

A glorious day and still time for a snack!

A Flying Start Sponsored Toddle for the RNLI !

2010-06-29T04:06:00.000-07:00

Children and staff from Flying Start nurseries at Redruth, Camborne, Heston, Penryn and Cornwall College all met on a glorious, sunny, Saturday morning to take part in a sponsored toddle around the beach.

Over 70 people attended and we are still adding up all the sponsor forms but hope to raise nearly £500 from this one event alone.

More photos to follow of the sand castle competition and a final amount!

Penryn visit the Childrens Centre

2010-06-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

The children from Flying Start @ Penryn linked with the Children's Centre in Falmouth and had great fun playing with the musical hand prints !

Singing into the microphone made a loud noise!

and pressing spots on the floor seemed to make the lights change colour.....WOW !!

Police at Saltash!

2010-06-24T02:56:00.000-07:00

When we had an emergency at Flying Start @ Saltash we were lucky that Tyrone, Gabbi and Olivia were on hand in full police uniform to sort out any issues!

As part of a People Who Help Us project we are all learning and having fun too,

Helstons birthday party!

2010-06-23T04:16:00.001-07:00

To celebrate Flying Start's 17th birthday - the children at Flying Start@Helston had a birthday party for Flora (the name of our logo!) and very pertinent to Helston as Flora has her very own festival named after her!

As you can see we all donned our hats and sun tan lotion and had a lovely picnic on our brand new decking area.

Marjon Massage raises money for the RNLI

2010-06-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

Flying Start @ Marjon organised a novel way to raise money for the RNLI. One of the parents' sisters is a masseuse.......and so.......they arranged for her to provide massage for the parents including head, neck and shoulders. Lucky parents also could get their nails done all for a donation to our charity appeal!

Finally, baby massage was demonstrated on one of the youngest members of Flying Start...by her aunty!!

What a great way to raise funds for beach safety.

Penryn go fishing!

2010-06-10T02:41:00.000-07:00

A group of our After - Schoolers from Flying Start @ Penryn wanted to enjoy the good weather and so loaded up in the minibus and went into the marina at Falmouth.....consulted the mirror map to find the best spot and settled down to a bit of fishing off the pontoon !

Pirates in Redruth !!

2010-05-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

Flying Start @ Redruth all dressed up as PIRATES to raise money for the RNLI - many thanks to all the crew and children who made such a great effort ....and all for a good cause...........Yo Ho Ho

Penryn at the library

2010-05-27T03:23:00.000-07:00

Some of the children from Flying Start @ Penryn put on their safety vests and all loaded up in the mini-bus for a trip to the library.

We then drew and coloured our pictures of Mr.BIG.

Forest Balancing!

2010-05-25T03:41:00.000-07:00

The children at Flying Start @ Duchy College had a great time learning how to balance in the forest last week.

After their climbing adventure, we looked for interesting items to peg on our washing line....

RNLI at Penryn

2010-05-18T03:33:00.001-07:00

We have adopted the RNLI as our charity this year and one of their representatives came to Flying Start @ Penryn to talk about safety.

Here you can see some of the children pretending to use binoculars just like a lifeguard......

Camborne tidy the beach!!!

2010-05-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

As part of our outdoor agenda, a team from Flying Start @ Camborne went to help with the Big Tidy Up at Porthtowan beach.

They put on their outdoor waterproofs and loaded up the mini-bus, all very excited at the project ahead.

The children loved being on the beach and helping as you can see.

Waterfun in the forest

2010-05-12T05:04:00.000-07:00

The children from Flying Start @ Duchy College enjoyed a very wet adventure in the forest yesterday, exploring water and how it moves. They collected water travelling at different speeds and listened to the sounds it made on their buckets. Finally, building a dam across the river to try and stop the water !

Cornwall College go to the woods

2010-05-11T04:35:00.000-07:00

Flying Start @ Cornwall College linked up with Flying Start @ Camborne for a trip to Duchy Rosewarne. The children had great fun making natural potions, flower bracelets and toasting marshmallows by the camp fire and drinking hot chocolate - having a lovely time!!!

A trip to the beach is planned soon - watch this space.

Forest Fun

2010-05-06T03:52:00.000-07:00

The children at Flying Start @ Duchy College have a wonderful time mark making and generating their own see-saw in the Forest.....science in action and fun at the same time!

Flying Start Trainee of the Year

2010-04-28T02:30:00.000-07:00

Sophia Cowburn has been selected as the Flying Start Trainee of the Year by Chantelle Baron our Training Manager. She was chosen for :

Commitment shown to her Level 2 training whilst undertaking a full-time college course elsewhere and getting an unconditional place at university to start in September 2010.

Giving up evenings, weekends and college holidays to complete TLC coursework to a very high standard.

Working at a consistently high level within the centres and being flexible as she worked across all age ranges and centres.

WELL DONE !!!!

Employee of the Year 2010

2010-04-27T06:28:00.000-07:00

The Flying Start Employee of the Year

was presented to Sue Ferris for over 9 years loyal service as the Flying Start @ Saltash Nursery Cook for positively influencing the eating habits of hundreds of children and their families. More recently, she has undertaken additional study to become the Flying Start Food Safety Trainer and has cascaded her knowledge and experience to the whole company.

Well Done Sue - a very popular choice as could be heard by the cheers from the audience!

Training Day Results

2010-04-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

When we run a Flying Start Training Day we also analyse the feedback of all staff attendees. The results are now in!! We ask for feedback on everything from the organisation of the day to each of the seminars. Staff choose between excellent, satisfactory or needs improvement. Out of over 600 total responses only 12 needed improvement with 81% of all responses being EXCELLENT and 98% being Excellent or Satisfactory!

The Catering and Organisation got exceptionally high marks so thank you to Cornwall College and to Becky and her team for all the admin work.

Maureen Strong, who was our keynote speaker and an internationally reknown dietician, gave an excellent opening speech and her feedback showed it.

She pitched the level perfectly and has left us with some excellent materials. We werent expecting her to analyse our menus but we were delighted to pass with flying colours! More work was done later by Maureen with our hardworking team of cooks.

Further sessions on Eating Well for Under 5s, Grow It Cook It Eat It and Nutrition in the Early Years supported the days theme.

Some of the seminars gained exceptional feedback including InspirAsian Dance, Confident Capable Boys, Relaxation for Childcare Workers, Makaton, Drama on the Move, Assertiveness, Mark Making for Under 3s and Ongoing Customer Satisfaction. These all got perfect or near perfect scores. Amazing. Thank you.

Training Day 2010

2010-04-19T07:33:00.000-07:00

The third annual Flying Start Training Day took place last Friday. All the nurseries were closed for the day so that over 100 staff could meet at Cornwall College for a full days training. Maureen Strong, a published national and international consultant in Nutrition provided the key-note speech on a day focussing on Child Health and Healthy Eating. Staff then had a choice of 18 seminars to attend including Bhangra Dancing as can be seen.

Also an opportunity to practice putting out fires with Firewatch - as Dave Morgan here, the manager at Flying Start Redruth, is ably demonstrating!

We had glorious weather and many thanks to Cornwall College for providing such a brilliant venue and an excellent lunch.

More photos to follow!

Marjon Telephone

2010-04-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

We are delighted to report that our landline at Flying Start @ Marjon is working again ! Many thanks to the College for arranging a new telegraph pole ! We are back on 01752 636858.

Flying Start @ St Meriadoc's great Ofsted result !!

2010-04-07T09:58:00.000-07:00

We are delighted to report that the Flying Start Fun Club which provides breakfast, after-school and holiday care for the children of Camborne based at St.Meriadoc C of E VA Infants School has gained an overall GOOD Ofsted report.

The report quotes :

"Overall the quality of the provision is good.

The staff team of fully-qualified, eperienced and committed pratitioners provide a safe, welcoming child-centred environment, where children can engage fruitfully with a good range of activities and resources and make good progress. Staff ensure children's individual welfare and learning needs are met well and effective partnerships with parents and carers support that endeavour. "

For the full report pleaase contact Flying Start or go to www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxcare_providers/full/(urn)/EY275180

This is our second recent Ofsted report following on from the OUTSTANDING grade for Flying Start @ Helston late last year.

Shadow!

2010-04-06T05:49:00.000-07:00

Here is Shadow - the guidedog, whose £5000 training is being funded by Flying Start. He is pictured with his trainer Kirsty at the Leamington Centre where he has just started his training.

2010-03-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

We are delighted to announce that Kerry Baker has gained her Early Years Professional (EYP)status. She is now the third person in Flying Start to be awarded it.

Kerry joined us in July 2007 as an Arts teacher, starting on projects with after-school children including a memorable and magnificent full-scale camel !! She moved on to lead Art sessions in all 5 of our settings in the west of Cornwall. Kerry quickly demonstarted her commitment and ability as a qualified teacher (BA) and rapidly rose through the ranks to become the manager of Flying Start @ Camborne in September 2008.

She has made great efforts in outdoor activities including utilising her chef's skills following the building of a Scandanavian style forest shelter in Camborne (as can be seen in the photo with her version of flame-grilled corn on the cob). A fabulous Save Our Seas project attracted lots of press attention as Kerry taught the children about their local environment and conservation issues.

Kerry has worked very hard to gain her EYP status and we are very proud of her and her achievements.

Kerry Baker EYP

2010-03-23T09:25:00.001-07:00

Spanish at Marjon!

2010-03-17T05:03:00.001-07:00

The children at Flying Start @ Marjon College are having a story time, and the reader Angela with her son Ali on her lap.

Angela is one of our parents and has a degree in Spanish - she is reading the Crunching , Munching Caterpillar in Spanish.

She also helps with naming and labelling everyday items in Spanish.

Gracias !

Training Day - 16th April

2010-03-16T03:52:00.001-07:00

Plans are well in place for our annual Training Day.

This year all the nurseries will close on 16th April and we will gather our full staff team together. This year we will focus on Healthy Eating and we will be based at Cornwall College in Pool in the wonderful lecture theatre.

Chantelle Baron

2010-03-10T06:55:00.001-08:00

Flying Start sends its congratulations to Chantelle Baron for gaining her Early Years Practitioner status in March 2010.

She is the second person to achieve this status in Flying Start, ( second only to our proprietor, Sharon Cowburn) though we are awaiting other results........

Chantelle has been with us the whole time we have been in business - 17 years! She has risen to the role of Senior Manager for Training and has completed her degree and now her EYP, largely in her own time though she did get some day releases to college.

She is a highly committed member of staff, regularly completing hundreds of hours of training a year. Not only is she a diligent trainee but also an accomplished trainer. She has been instrumental in the success of TLC, our training division and has over 20 NVQ students at the moment. Chantelle planned the delivery of over 3000 hours of "continuing professional development" for our staff teams last year. In recognition of the success of TLC, we were honoured to win the award for the Outstanding Commitment to Training in the 2010 Excellence in Busines Awards (see photo below!! Chantelle is much more comfortable in the forest with the children than being honoured at a black tie dinner)

In addition to all this, Chantelle leads on our Outdoor and Forest initiatives and is busy implementing ideas from her recent trip to Stockholm. Our Employee of the Year in 2003, we were able to celebrate with her in Milan, on our recent trip for all staff who had over 10 years service with us.

We are very proud of Chantelle and her great achievements!!!

CONGRATULATIONS.....CONGRATULATIONS......CONGRATLUATIONS.....CONGRATUATIONS....

Charlotte

2010-03-04T01:47:00.000-08:00

CONGRATULATIONS to Charlotte McConnel who has qualified at Level 3, as part of the Flying Start TLC programme. Charlotte has just returned from maternity leave as little Aalia interrupted her training!

She is pictured here in her Bhangra dance outfit and some of the performance by after school children following her Eastern influence.....

Forest School

2010-03-01T06:08:00.000-08:00

A group of pre-school children from Saltash came to join the children from Duchy College at their Forest School session today. Great fun was had by all as the children explored "small", "big" and "GIGANTIC".

RNLI

2010-02-24T04:30:00.001-08:00

Flying Start have agreed to adopt the RNLI as our charity for 2010. We will be raising money for this worthy cause and raising awareness with our children, staff and families about beach safety. We will be planning trips to the beach and lifeboat stations and hope to be visited by lifeguards!

In 2009 we raised £5,000 for a guidedog puppy and Shadow is now growing up fast and has visited the nurseries much to the delight of the children.

Green Team Meeting

2010-02-23T04:06:00.000-08:00

As part of our Green Team initiative to make our nurseries more environmentally friendly, and to encourage the children, staff and parents to be more aware - we will be holding our termly Green Team meeting on Monday 1 March.

As well as our normal recycling activities we are currently collecting used print cartridges and old mobile phones as part of the Support Your School. Each cartridge and phone generates a small amount of money which we will donate to our Charity of the Year - the RNLI or use for further Green initiatives. Please help with your old cartridges and phones.

Training Award

2010-02-12T01:40:00.001-08:00

Flying Start were delighted to be awarded the Outstanding Commitment to Training Award as part of the Excellence in Business Training Awards 2010. We were congratulated on our NVQ training programme now in its third year (TLC), the large amount of ongoing professional development and our Fast Track programme for staff who wish to become graduates whilst working for us.

NVQ 2 success

2010-02-09T07:46:00.001-08:00

We are delighted to report that Sophia has completed a Level 2 NVQ in a record time of 6 months using the paper-free system. The assesment team were particularly impressed with the standard of work and Sophia's competence in the nursery. Well Done !