We started our journey with Lullaby Lane back in January 2018, when our daughter Charlotte had just turned one years old. I remember being pregnant and hearing that nursery places weren’t that easy to find, so I started looking well in advance. I’ll admit that I was very naive and didn’t really appreciate that there were such significant differences between nurseries.
It was a steep learning curve, but when I went to visit Lullaby Lane at Westerton, I knew that this would be the perfect place for Charlotte. It was small, welcoming, and the children were at the very heart of the nursery. I could see that the children had very special relationships with the staff – they were happy and loved as if they were family.
When it came to settling Charlotte into nursery, I was reassured and impressed at the process. Rather than being a ‘one size fits all’ approach, it was very much child led and we worked to slowly build up the time that Charlotte was in nursery. I was always made to feel welcome and this helped me to build strong connections with the staff. I think this is so important – I believe the whole family needs to be happy and connected to their childcare setting for it to be a positive experience.
Charlotte stayed at Lullaby Lane for 4.5 years and thrived during that time. She made lots of lovely friends, she adored her keyworker, Sophia and she grew in confidence to try new things. She was emotionally supported through important life events eg. Covid, the birth of her baby brother Thomas, and school transitions. Lullaby Lane always went over and above to support not only Charlotte, but us as a family. When Thomas was in hospital, Sophia took Charlotte to the shops to buy Thomas a present. They also dropped off connection bags during Covid and accompanied Charlotte to school visits.
As a parent, I have a strong bond with Lullaby Lane too. I have always felt very welcome to stop and chat to the staff. I have been supported emotionally throughout the years and know there was someone there to listen to me when I needed it. I struggled with school transitions and remember Pauline spending a lot of time with me to chat through my concerns and giving me lots of reassurance. Not many nurseries would spend so much time with the parents/carers as well as the children.
As Charlotte left nursery for school, our son Thomas became part of the Lullaby Lane family. We have been so lucky to have had so many happy years with Lullaby Lane. Our children are privileged to have a nursery who nurture, love and look after our them as if they were their own.
The Crane Family