Co-op Childcare took home the award in the Nursery Training and Development 2018 category at the annual National NMT Nursery Awards on 1 December.
The business, part of Midcounties Co-operative’s portfolio, was nominated for exceptional commitment to training and developing staff. The training team at Co-op Childcare has been implementing a learning and development programme across the network.
As part of this, tailored training plans were created in partnership with nursery colleagues to enable them to take responsibility of their own performance and develop the highest quality settings for children.
The programme led to an improvement in performance, with 20 of its over 40 nurseries now rated as outstanding.
The society has also achieved Millie’s Mark, a gold standard in paediatric first aid. The certification shows that all nursery workers are fully trained in paediatric first aid and confident enough to put their knowledge into practice.
Babita Saroy, quality excellence manager at Co-op Childcare, said: “As a society, consistently improving the service and care we provide to our children, as well as offering industry leading opportunities for the development of our colleagues, is a top priority. I’m proud to be part of a group with so many outstanding colleagues, nursery settings, and training opportunities.”
In addition to the award for Nursery Training, the society was nominated in other categories.
Colleagues Karen Parker and Kelly Tindall at Co-op Childcare in Sussex were finalists for the Nursery Indoor Learning Environment 2018 while Nicola Jones and Carly Burke from Co-op Childcare in Newbiggin were shortlisted for Nursery Team 2018.
Sally Mayer, chief operating officer at Co-op Childcare, said: “It’s the efforts of our colleagues across the country that have enabled us to secure the industry-wide recognition that we have. I want to say a big thank you to our learning and development team for winning Nursery Training and Development 2018, and for the work they do daily to help our nursery workers achieve their full potential.”
