Happy Birthday to Acorn

Exactly 35 years ago this week, I opened the first Acorn nursery, for just 30 children in a converted Wesleyan chapel in the village of Castlethorpe, near Milton Keynes. At the time, my ambition was more about achieving a work-life balance, and a way of creating a nursery that I’d be happy putting my own children in. My plan was to run a nursery for about ten years, in order to have my cake and eat it (work but have my children around me) then return to teaching…

Fast-forward 35 years, and I’m heading up a very different organisation. 35 years is a bit of a milestone, so I thought I’d reflect on some of the changes in that time. Firstly, when I started, we only took children from 18 months, as I’d believed all the ‘advice’ at the time that suggested that children only really benefited from nursery when they were at least 18 months, if not older. Up until that time, it was advised that babies and toddlers were better off with one-to-one care (by which they usually meant mum staying at home!). In the summer of 1989 my husband, two-year old daughter and I moved into the flat above the nursery, where our growing family lived for the next ten years. When my second daughter was born, a few months after we moved in, I learned my first important lesson about babies – that they are fascinated by other children. Very early on, Imogen made it very clear that she found the company of the nursery children infinitely preferable to being just with me, so we converted the Sunday school room into a baby room, and added six places to the nursery. Baby rooms, I realised, could be fabulous places, if you have the right staff, in the right environment, and with plenty of support to ensure that they can focus on what they do best – attentive, loving care and providing opportunities for babies and toddlers to learn, explore and have fun.

When I started the nursery, my parents were still running their educational supplies business in my home town of Wellingborough, so from the start we always made sure that we had the best furniture and equipment. It’s well known in our nurseries that if our staff teams ask for anything from the Community Playthings range of resources, they’re usually pushing at an open door! It’s one of the things that hasn’t changed one bit – I’ve always believed that it’s better to spend more money buying something of high quality that will last longer, and that wood is usually better than plastic, for so many reasons. My colleague Santa recently surveyed nursery families about their perceptions of our sustainability, and “wooden toys” was mentioned more than anything else!

So, things that have changed: the décor, for starters. Walls painted with bright primary colours jump out of many of the early photos, and the understanding that calmer, more neutral colours facilitate early language development has certainly had an impact, for the better, I think. Themes and daily routines have evolved into a more child-centred focus which responds to children’s interests in the moment. Snack times are usually ‘rolling’ to enable more autonomy for children and less interruptions to their absorption in activities. Technology has helped us get rid of paper registers and forms, and allows us to share photos and observations much more promptly – and for parents and carers to share their comments and observations from home too.

We didn’t have forest schools for the first 20 years, but were certainly early adopters, and we were always keen on outdoor play and learning. I’m so proud of our forest school provision and outdoor kindergartens and holiday clubs, and it’s an area that’s still developing. Another area I’ve always been passionate about is the professional development of our staff teams. I may not have gone back to a school classroom, but I did work as an NVQ assessor many years ago, and then as a lecturer on early years university programmes. It’s probably what has kept me involved for so long – the satisfaction of supporting colleagues to develop their personal and professional confidence and talents is unbeatable. It’s a real privilege to work with so many dedicated colleagues, and to see their passion and enthusiasm for doing the best for the children in their care is genuinely inspiring. It’s also lovely to have shared the journey with colleagues who have been at Acorn almost as long as me – and although it makes me feel old, it’s very rewarding to have several of our early children now sending their own children to our nurseries!

I’ll leave to one side (for now) the ways in which well-intentioned government policies have in fact exacerbated the systemic inequalities in the sector, but will note that we have noticed big changes in the attendance patterns of children. Longer maternity leave means that most babies now don’t start with us until at least 9 months, and part-time attendance is now the norm. There is still a long way to go on the journey to equal parenting, but more dads are now involved in their children’s care, and there is at least an acceptance of the idea that early childhood experiences should not be gendered (though the subliminal messaging from marketing media continually undermines the best of intentions). ?

In the course of the last 35 years, Acorn has grown from a 30 place nursery to offering over 1000 places across our nurseries and out-of-school provision, and we also have extensive forest school provision, training and consultancy, and even catering for nurseries without their own kitchens. We also underwent a transition from a private company to a charitable social enterprise. The intention behind this was to ensure that we remain an organisation in which children come before profit, and to take a long term perspective which isn’t about building a business in order to sell it, but to make decisions that are ethical, and for the long term, with the children’s interests at the heart. I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved so far, but there is still a long way to go to achieve our aim of providing the best early years care and education in a way which is inclusive, accessible and affordable, for every family that needs us.