Pennies is given top marks – again
STAFF and children at Pennies Day Nurs- ery inWeavering are celebrating after an Of- sted report rated the nursery as outstanding in all areas – the highest possible rating. The latest report follows an inspection in March 2008 in which the nursery also got the same, highest possible rating. Operations director Dominic Scotton
said:“To getthe gradeonceisamajor achievement, retain- ing it is incredible. I can’t thank the staff enough. “This grade is a tes- tament to the hard work put in by every-
one who has worked at that site since the last report.” The Hockers Lane nursery, registered
in 1999, has a total of 100 babies and toddlers on its books. Nurserymanager Trudi Mayes praised her
Pennies raised over £400 at a summer party for a diabetes charity in memory of Andrew Vickers, a former employee who was found dead in his room at Ex- eter University in 2010.
team. “Their amazing dedication became so evident when the Ofsted inspector reported that ‘staff demonstrate a very positive atti- tude towards im- proving practices, skills and knowl- edge, and the gen- eral atmosphere within the nursery’.”
The nursery now
offers a range of nan- nying andmannying (male nannying) services.
Top of the tower – toddlers in the play area at Pennies
U-turn on council dog bins scheme
MAIDSTONE Council has come up with alternatives to scrap- ping its dog waste bin service. Public pressure forced the rul-
Staff and children at the newly opened Harrietsham nursery
Double delight for growing Langley day nursery
LANGLEY-based Sunrise Day Nursery had two reasons to celebrate after gaining a good Ofsted rating and opening a new branch in Har- rietsham. The nursery was in such high demand, having looked after chil-
dren at The School House, Sutton Road, since 1993, that it decided to expand and additionally operate from former offices at Station House, next to Harrietsham rail station. Deputy manager Helen Cole has taken over at Harrietsham and the
site will be run exactly as it is in Langley. It has 10,000 sq ft of out- door space, which will be developed to include an all-weather play surface, staff and parent parking. It can cater for 26 children. Ms Cole said: “Langley was full and there was a long waiting list,
so we decided to get somewhere else. Parents travel from as far away as Charing because there are notmany places that offer care between 7.30am and 6.30pm all year, rather than just in term times. “At Harrietsham we will use the same ethos – of being here totally
for the children – aswe developed at Langley.” Ofsted inspector Claire Parnell reported that Sunrise was out- standing in engaging with parents/carers, and in the extent towhich children adopt healthy lifestyles and make positive contributions. She wrote: “Staff promote children’s welfare effectively and they demonstrate a strong commitment to making improvements that ben- efit the outcomes for children.” To get an overall outstanding rating, she added that the nursery
needs to extend planning systems for each child and boost commu- nication so all staff are aware of new ideas to improve practice.
A LARGE new Audi car dealership is due to open off M20 junction 6 next year. Construction work has begun on creating a 17-
car showroom and 20-bay workshop on the for- mer site of the Veglios Motel in Sandling Road, which will replace the company’s site on the QuarryWood Industrial Park, Aylesford. The original planning application, submitted by
BMW, was granted on appeal after Maidstone Council’s June 2004 refusal on the grounds of pre- venting the creep of out-of-town retail centres, landscape protection, wildlife conservation and road safety. Latterly, the site changed hands and a revised detailed application was submitted by Audi that, following pre-application discussions with Maidstone Council, incorporated features de-
16 East
ing Tories to rethink their origi- nal proposals to save £33,000 by removing dog bins across the borough. Now they have decided to
make the cuts mainly from a couple of staff posts "with mini- mal impact on service delivery". An officer’s report also said it "became clear through feedback from residents and parishes that the removal of the dog waste bins would be unpopular, re- quire a significant change in dog walking habits and posed a risk of increasing incidents of dog fouling or littering of bagged dog waste".
Cabinet member for the envi- ronment, Cllr Marion Ring, re-
ceived several objections and asked officers to look at other ways of making budget savings. The cleaning firm, which was previously given notice that the dog bin contract would termi- nate, has been asked to continue until July 30 next year. It was also agreed that the number of waste bins should not be increased and that deci- sions about replacing damaged bins would be based on suit- ability of location and the prox- imity to alternative dog waste and standard litter bins. Since 2008, a change in clas- sificationmeans that bagged dog waste can be treated as litter for disposal, not special waste. Last year, the council's 'foul play' campaign promoted the use of the borough's 1,300 litter bins as suitable for bagged dog waste.
Forum for rural matters
PARISH councillors and clerks, community groups and others from Maidstone’s rural communities can consider and discuss important issues affecting villages in the borough on Saturday, October 22. All are welcome to attend the parish conference from 9.30am until
1pm at Headcorn Community Centre, which will start with a wel- come from Cllr JohnWilson, Maidstone’s cabinet member for com- munity services. He said it would be a chance for parish councils and others to get together with the council to talk about issues such as budget planning, youth matters, planning policy and enforcement, and volunteering inMaidstone.” Council leader Cllr Chris Garland will give his overview of the is- sues affecting Maidstone council and the rural community. Kent As-
Work under way on new car showroom
signed to provide habitat niches for wildlife. Cllr Tony Harwood, a planning committee member and Boxley parish councillor, said: “Hopefully, some of the orchids and rare inver- tebrates which formerly abounded on the site will survive the ongoing destructive ground- works stage and re-colonise the small areas of habitat that form an element of the agreed land- scaping plan for the site. Achieving safe access and egress for pedestrians and motorists at this new development on the already challenging Running Horse roundabout A229 slip road is a real local concern.” Audi customer care coordinator Sue Leach said:
“The new site will have extended facilities for cus- tomers and for staff.We aim to make the transition to our new premises as seamless as possible
Visit Downs Mail’s website —
downsmail.co.uk
sociation of Parish Councils’ chair, Geraldine Brown, will give the parish council perspec- tive. The day will finish with a question and answer session.
Back to school for
computer classes SIXTH-formers from Invicta Grammar School are offer- ing to guide the over-60s in learning computer skills. The one-to-one help is of-
fered free in weekly hour- long sessions every Wednesday, from 11.15am, at the school. Info – 01622 755 856 /
m.bennett@invicta.
kent.sch.uk.
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