Nurturing your kids to become “Bright Little Stars”

Reshma Trilochun Thursday 22nd February 2018 04:46 EST
 
 

Having to be away from your child can be quite daunting, especially for first time mothers. There is always that sense of anxiety of how the child will be coping without them, which also leads to a sense of guilt for having to go back to pursuing their careers. However, with ace nurseries such as Bright little Stars, parents can be carefree and at complete ease about their child's wellbeing and care in their absence.

Co-founders of Bright Little Stars Nursery, Amol Devani and Rupeen Popat had different career backgrounds prior to joining the early years industry.

Amol Devani has 15 years of top level banking, managerial and project management expertise, having worked with Capula Investment, Goldman Sachs and UBS. While Rupeen Popat comes from a family background of nursing homes and has had managerial roles in the hotel and hospitality industry with IHG.

Asian Voice caught up with them at one of their nurseries in Harrow, Northwest London, which opened one year ago.
 Rupeen shared, “We wanted to get involved in the industry where we are making a social impact, where we are making a difference and it's a positive difference. At this age – under 5s, there is so much nurturing involved. There are a lot of good schools in Northwest London, but we felt that there was a lack of quality in early years. We designed this Harrow nursery just one-and-a-half years ago and tried to brand it up so all of our four sites look the same. The concept is that the facilities, the teaching level and the additional parent partnership that we offer are consistent, so that children, parents and staff should be happy.”

Rupeen wanted to always get involved in a form of care but he found nursing to be dim as “when somebody comes in to a nursing home, they are well cared for but unfortunately may not have long term growth and may not go back home”. Hence, he decided to get into the early years side of the care business. He said, ‘’We wanted to make an impact and wanted to give a social benefit. Believe me, we both sleep very well at night knowing that so many children are benefitting from the services we're providing. And that's what we wanted to do.”

Amol shared, “My background was banking, investment banking, foreign exchange. In that industry, I learnt how a professional, well regulated and a highly well run business can run. After 12 years, I was looking for new challenges. My career was going well as a managing director in a bank. However, there were two things inside me. One was doing something more entrepreneurial for myself. Second was giving back and doing something more rewarding society-wise. My wife was actually a teacher at the American International School in St John's Wood and I was close to the education sector because of that. I had a window into education, one might say. And when looking for something entrepreneurial yet wanting to have social benefit, it seemed like a natural area to explore. Rupeen and I were looking at similar things at the same time and we kind of coalesce.

Rupeen and Amol have been family friends for over 25 years and have opened four Bright Little Stars nurseries in Mill Hill, Harrow, Watford and Stanmore.

The nursery in Mill Hill was graded as “Outstanding in all areas” by Ofsted and is currently said to have a wait list of over 100 children. Each of our learning rooms have ample space with direct connected outdoor space for free flow play often with a covered area, making it accessible in all seasons and letting your little ones get plenty of fresh air.
 The nursery also gives the child the opportunity to choose whether they want to partake in the extra curricular activities inside or outside.

Bright Little Star also ensures that your child is fed with only nutritional and healthy food. They provide hot food prepared in their on-site commercial kitchen, which is something quite rare in the early years' industry. They have a no fried food policy at the nursery and also don't serve any red meat. None of their food, including their vegetables, are frozen. They provide freshly made food for children so parents do not have to worry about their children's nutritional intake throughout the day.

Parents can also be tension-free while their child is at the nursery as they'll be able to see their child's daily activities through the Nursery Cam – CCTV which is inside each room at the nursery. Parents can log in and get daily 15 minutes access to see what their child is up to. This is a complimentary service, inclusive in the fees. However, for those who are sceptical about the Nursery Cam and the safety of their children, permission to access CCTV are only given to parents who have registered, and only for the sessions that their child is attending.

Rupeen said, “The access is only 15 minutes a day, and two accounts to each parents. We don't give more accounts to grandparents and anyone else. To our parents, this is the most reassuring thing because for them, us saying that they can see their child shows that we have nothing to hide. It's transparency.”

What sets Bright Little Stars apart is the fact that they go an extra mile by putting a child's wellbeing and safety at the forefront. Apart from extra curricular activities within the fees, there are various complementary workshops, for example dentists who come to the nursery and explain to parents about what they should be doing for their child's oral hygiene. Additionally, the nursery offers parents an introductory bespoke course on early years paediatric First Aid. Rupeen shared, “How many parents who have a 6 month- 1 year old baby know what to do for First Aid? Not everyone, but a good portion have an idea for adults. But the rules are completely different for early years. You can't apply what you learnt at a First Aid training course at work to a child under the age of 4. It's completely different. Some parents don't know that. The other thing we appreciate is that parents don't have time. If we say come to our nursery for training for two days, they won't come. We work hand-in-hand with St John's Ambulance and designed a specific paediatric early years First Aid course condensed into two hours. It's not all encompassing for all ages but its focus is on under-5s. We understand people need to look after their children and they need time as well. We offer this complimentary service once a year. Any parent can get First Aid training specific for the under-5s. St. John's Ambulance tell us that we're the only nursery in the country doing this with them. It’s something we are proud of and we welcome other settings in the industry to follow suit.”

Another unique selling point new to 2018 is our School Relationship Manager. Amol explains about the role and duties, “One of the most difficult things is the first day at school. I don't know if you remember your first day at school. My first day at school was difficult and I was crying all day. It's hard, it's a big change. In nursery, children are nurtured in a very small environment. School is a big, scary place. Not enough children are ready for that change. This year our School Relationship Manager is running school-readiness workshops for our parents. The School Relationship Manager provides information to parents when their children are aged 2 on what their options for schools are, selective and not selective. For all: open days, applications deadlines, requirements, all information about the schools. For Selective: information on assessments, how they should be preparing, fees and anything else they may need to know, so parents can start considering and preparing.”

He continued, “The next level is assessment preparation. So they provide workshops for helping parents and support for our pre-school staff. Next step after assessment, once a child has been accepted into a school, is school-readiness and transition. So they are helping to ensure that children are ready for school in September, as well as looking at where gaps are and who needs additional support. The last step in the puzzle is the relationship with the Schools themselves and funnelling all useful information to parents. So they have relationships all the schools and meet with each Head of Early Years periodically.

For Rupeen and Amol, being in the nursery industry is not a business, for them it is a rewarding notion they receive on a daily basis as it is their way of giving back to society. To summarise, Amol said, “When starting in this industry. I found it rewarding from day one as I had children and my children are going through this cycle. For example, two of my boys are at Mill Hill nursery now. The reward, the feeling inside from giving is even greater because as you have your own children, you appreciate more and more what we are doing. The benefit I receive in return is growing, and next year I look forward to having three children at Mill Hill.”

Undoubtedly, the work that they are doing is having a great social impact and laying a very strong foundation for these children to go on and build a secure future for themselves.


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