A team on our Regional Prime South West contract recently worked with contractors Building Integrated Services and the Royal Navy on a LIBOR funded project to completely redevelop a nursery.
Woodentots Nursery, for Service families at HMS Collingwood, was deemed old and not compliant with current Ofsted standards so it was identified by the Royal Navy as an opportunity for development with LIBOR funding. LIBOR fines were levied on a number of banks and lenders following the government exposing interbank lending rate manipulation. It was decided by the government that the proceeds from these fines would be committed to support Armed Forces and Emergency Services charities and other worthy causes.
Senior Project Manager, Matt Thorn, and Project Manager Heath Martin, who was point of contact on a day to day basis, worked with designers, Martin Ralph Group, and contractors, Building Integrated Services, the Nursery Manager, and the Navy Liaison Officer Lieutenant Commander for the Royal Dutch Navy, Caroline Thomas-Hoefsmit to get the project done. There were, however, significant challenges following the extreme winter weather back in March which meant parts of the project were delayed.
The team also had to continue with the work whilst keeping the nursery operational so the project was split into three phases to ensure there was minimum disruption. The Vice Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Rear Admiral Iain Henderson CB CBE DL, completed the grand opening of the nursery with some of the Royal Navy, children with their families, nursery staff and Amey staff in attendance.
The nursery was pleased with the development and is happy that Woodentots Nursery is now a modern, safe and compliant environment where the children of Service personnel can play and learn. Earlier on in the build the children of the nursery were also invited on to the site in order to learn all about health and safety and the work going on at their new nursery. You can read the full story here.
Lucy Price, Nursery Director, said:
“Two years ago the Nursery was extremely fortunate to receive funding from LIBOR, which has enabled the Nursery to enhance and modernise the facilities that it provides, both within the individual Nursery rooms and the Nursery gardens. During this busy and at times challenging period, the Nursery continued to maintain its high standards of care and support for the families and children over a considerable length of time.
We would now like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to our parents and children for their collaborative support and understanding during this time of upheaval, which in turn dramatically minimised the disruption to the children in our care. The Nursery now provides an outstanding and excellent facility which benefits the children in their early years and has recently been graded as ‘Good’ by Ofsted.”
In June 2018, following the redevelopment of the nursery, the Ofsted Report read:
“Children develop good listening skills. For example, they listen to instructions when they are playing musical instruments. They write many recognisable letters, including their own names. Children develop their creative skills, and they select different resources to make models. All children are confident, happy and they make good levels of progress in their learning.”