About us

  • TSN social

about us
(Illustration by Martin Davidson)

Our inspiration - The Spanish Sisters of Charity

The Spanish Sisters came to London over 45 years ago to help single Spanish young women who were alone and vulnerable in London. They supported them to integrate in the community, learn the language, and find employment. Some of them were mothers, and as they went to work, the Sisters looked after their children. Over time this developed into a Day Nursery.

For over 45 years, the Spanish Sisters of Charity helped raise children with love and unswerving dedication. They developed an ethos where children felt safe and secure, valued and unique. The Spanish Sisters of Charity Day Nursery closed its doors in July 2012 as the Sisters returned to Spain to continue their mission to help others in need. The Spanish Nursery and Children's Centre for Culture and Language was opened in recognition of their amazing work and with the desire to continue their incredible service to children and their families.



Meet the Team

All our staff are native Spanish speakers and are fluent in English. We pride with the level of the knowledge and expertise our staff show: most of our staff are Qualified Teachers at degree level or at least NVQ Level 3 and have significant experience in similar settings in Spain and UK. All our staff have current enhanced DBS checks, Paediatric First Aid and Child Protection Training as a minimum. We consider continuous professional training vital to improving the quality of our services and all our staff attend regular relevant training.

Carmen Rampersad

Carmen Rampersad - QTS, MSc Social Care Management and Community Development

The project was developed in June 2011 by Carmen Rampersad and Aliette Fenton-Sharp – whose children attended the Spanish Sisters of Charity Day Nursery (with the help and support of many of the other parents and staff - for which we are very grateful). In January 2017, Aliette Fenton Sharp stepped down as a Director of The Nursery and Carmen Rampersad remained the sole owner and Director.
Carmen’s background is in statutory child protection, safeguarding children’s welfare and quality assurance and for the last 15 years has occupied various management positions in a London Local Authority. As an independent consultant, Carmen has taught the child protection module for Early Years practitioners who complete their Early Years Degree at London Metropolitan University.

 

The Teaching Staff
Marta Paola Cebolla Fuertes

Marta Paola Cebolla Fuertes has a Degree in Pedagogy obtained in Spain. She also has specific qualifications and experience for Special Educational Needs. She has experience working with children who have Attention Deficit Disorder (with or without the hyperactive element). She is calm, patient and carrying, highly skilled in managing the team and promoting the best outcomes for our children. She is driven by the children’s achievements and strives to provide the best environment for our children to grow. She drives a curriculum which puts a strong emphasis on formation of strong attachments and happy children. She is thoughtful and considerate, extremely patient with children and has a strong sense of fairness which she instils in the children and staff alike.

 

The Spanish Nursery operates a 'key person system' for all children under the age of 5 years. Before a child starts, a key person will be appointed from the group in which they are based. The key person ensures that the child's care needs (toileting, food, drink etc) are met on a daily basis, that they have equal access and are fully included within the Centre. The key person carries out regular observations on the child which forms part of their individual Achievement Report to ensure they are developing appropriately.

Information for parents

Support for parents
TSN accepts childcare vouchers towards the costs of the fees (nursery, after school and holiday schemes). Most childcare providers are accepted: Fideliti, EdenRed, Kiddivouchers and KidsUnlimited. We also receive funding for 15h and 30h Universal 3 and 4 year olds scheme for qualifying children (terms and conditions apply). The universal entitlement is available the term after the child turns 3 and is available term time only.

Siblings have priority admission and 15% sibling discount (from the lowest fees) if they attend the same provision at the same time.
If parents refer us to a family, a 10% referral discount for the first 2 months applies to both families upon taking a placement with The Spanish Nursery. The discount is available only for 1 child of the family (the lowest fee).

Parents as partners
TSN operates an open door practice. Parents and carers can contact the staff at any time to discuss any issues related to their child or their family. The Director is also available for appointments. TSN updated the Data Protection policy to reflect the changes in the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations, 2018) and parents are asked to carefully read our GDPR Statement before enroling the child in our care.

andres
(Parents join us for weekly library trips)

We welcome parents’ involvement in various projects in the nursery. Parents are invited to share their particular skill or interest with our children, like reading books, playing an instrument, singing, cooking, joining us for weekly library trips, doing photo workshop, etc.

Please ask the office for a copy of the Parents as Partners policy.

Parents Guide to the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (EYFS) is a document designed for parents and it outlines the EYFS statutory requirements, what parents should expect from the childcare provider and how they can best support children’s learning and development. The document talks about the prime and specific areas of learning, the progress check at age 2 and the EYFS profile (assessment at age 5). It also directs parents to further sources of information. The document can be found by accessing:https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/EYFS_Parents_Guide.doc

Safeguarding children’s welfare
The Centre operates a comprehensive Child Protection procedure under which every staff has a duty to report concerns and share information with the Local Authority if there are safeguarding concerns about a child in the Centre. We will endeavour to always ask for the parent/carer’s consent before any information is shared however when/if there are reasons to believe that a child is put at further risk/likelihood of risk of significant harm by sharing the information with the parents/carers, than staff are under London Child Protection Procedures duty to report such information without the parent’s consent. (For a copy of the child protection procedures please contact the main office).

The OFSTED report on the inspection held at The Spanish Nursery and Children’s Centre for Culture and Language on April 2016 is now available on OFSTED’s website.
You can access it here: https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/CARE/EY453063.

Office for Standard in Education (OFSTED)
The Spanish Nursery and Children’s Centre for Culture and Language operates under the OFSTED registration number EY453063. OFSTED can be contacted on telephone number: 03001231231; by e-mail at: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk and/or by post at the following address:

Piccadilly Gate
Store Street
Manchester
M1 2WD

Curriculum Click here for EYFS curriculum »»

Daily routines Click here to see the daily routines »»


Healthy eating

chef
(Our award-winning chéf, Valentina)

Food Standards Agency rating:

We feel that fresh, home-made nutritious food is the best for children’s development. The food is prepared daily onsite by our cook who has appropriate qualifications and experience.

• At 10am all the children share a fruit and a small snack
• At 12pm a three course freshly made meal is made available. Salad is on the menu daily and it includes a selection of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, grated carrots, sweet corn, beetroot, etc
• Water is available throughout the day and will be served with the food. No fizzy, nuts or sugary drinks are served;
• A glass of milk is served with the 3pm snack and a fruit snack is served at 5pm;
• Your comments are important to us and we value your feedback
• You are welcome to share some of your recipes with us

cooking
(We bake cakes together)

Our cook won the "Little Steps to Healthy Lives" Award every year since February 2014.




We like to guide children to experiment with ingredients, textures and different materials. We are engaging children in cooking together and they enjoy the end result.

Birthdays are always celebrated at TSN and we welcome parents to bring a fruit based cake to share with the 3pm snack (please do not bring nuts in the Centre in case of severe allergies).


eating
(Support children use cutlery)




We strongly believe in the importance of meals as social events and sharing food. Our staff sit together with the children sharing the same food. We invite parents to have lunch with us and the children, especially during the settling in period.



For a sample of the menu, please see this document. »»
Click here to see a picture gallery of food served »»

The food we are serving is meeting the guidelines set by the Children's Food Trust (Voluntary Food and Drink guidelines for Early Years). These guidelines can be found at: https://www.childrensfoodtrust.org.uk/resources/ebsb-resources/guidelines »».

It is important to evaluate and reflect on everything we do within our setting, including our approach to food and drink provision. We do this by:

• Getting feedback from parents and acting on their suggestions;
• Feedback from staff who attend relevant and up to date training in this area;
• Reviewing the food policy once a year together with the rest of the policies and procedures.