Laroche - Battledown, Cheltenham

About us

We are open from Monday – Friday 8.00am – 5.45pm

The nursery is closed for the week between Christmas and New Year and all bank holidays.

We are registered to accept the government nursery grant scheme.

Our children are divided into four different age groups catering for the needs of the developing child from birth to three to the foundation stage:

	Age Group
Honey Bees	3 months - 1 year
Humpty	1 year - 2 year
Sunshine	2 year - 3 year
Rainbow	3 year - 5 year

Each room has its own entrance and the benefit of a Teamleader + assistant team leader.

Your child will be organised in one of the above groups, generally in their 'academic year group'. We are registered to accept 53 children from the age of three months until they reach statutory school age.

Honey Bees

Our younger children join the Honey Bees Room where you, as parents/carers, alongside our qualified and experienced staff can work together to ensure a smooth transition from home to nursery. Your child is introduced to treasure baskets, a medium-sized, round basket is filled with up to 100 items from the real world. The contents are chosen for their stimulating properties; all are small enough to be held by tiny hands but large enough not to be swallowed. The Treasure Basket is filled with objects that babies want and need to play with in order for them to learn about the world they live in. Therefore we hope we can become an extension of home for your family, leaving you secure in the knowledge that your children are safe and happy at play in a loving and stimulating environment.

Humpty

From the Honey Bees Room, children move on to join our Humpty Group where they are further encouraged to participate in the many varied activities provided. The treasure basket is further developed to heuristic play any object can be a Heuristic Object since a child will try and learn from anything you give them. But some objects offer more opportunities for investigation and discovery than others. The objects used for Heuristic Play are simple, everyday and natural items. All aspects of your child's development are enhanced through play and social interaction in this relaxed and happy environment.

Sunshine

In the Sunshine Group children have a little more structure introduced to their day. They still benefit from the experiences of heuristic play, language, independence, social skills and all other areas of development are further developed through free play, topic work and well-planned, fun activities.

Rainbow

During their third year, children join our Rainbow Pre-School Group. They are introduced to the foundation stage and develop these skills through play. Here, the knowledge and skills acquired in their previous groups, together with the children's other day-to-day experiences are built upon. With a relaxed atmosphere and a balanced mix of structured activities and free play, confidence and a desire to learn are nurtured in each individual child.

To Introduce You to our Staff

The friendliness and professionalism of our staff is regularly flagged up for special praise when parents, children, visitors and inspectors give their views on our provision.

All our staff have a mature outlook, up-to-date training, experience and a desire to offer top quality care and education for the children and their families. One of our main aims is to maintain good teamwork and a mutually supportive environment. Though we are one of the larger nurseries in Cheltenham, we really are ‘one big family’. Many of our staff have been with the nursery for a number of years.

Nursery Aims

Recognise you as parents/carers to be the main carers and educators of your child(ren) and to work in a supportive role with you.
Provide a safe, loving environment where your children can be cared for, thrive, learn and be happy.
Provide a wide range of learning opportunities and enriching experiences designed to encourage your child to reach his or her full potential.
Be aware of your child's individual needs by forming close relationships with you, your child, and your family and by the careful observation and monitoring of your child's developmental progress.
Keep you as parents/carers fully informed of your child's progress and of current events within the nursery by way of direct discussion with you, letters posted in your children's individual trays and by keeping notice boards up-to-date.
Promote a respect for the environment and for other persons, irrespective of culture, ability, belief, language or gender and to encourage within your child, high self esteem, self-discipline, and good manners.
Provide a high ratio of qualified and experienced staff and to make available to those staff, the training opportunities and resources necessary to extend their knowledge and skills.
Run the nursery in a professional and business-like manner, thus ensuring high quality of care and continuing improvements of standards.
To achieve each of the 14 DfES. National Standards for under Eights Full Day Care

Outdoor Area

As well as excellent indoor facilities, we are fortunate to have a well-equipped, safe, outside play area fenced off entirely for the children's use. This includes a lovely 'Nature Garden'.

For your added safety and convenience we have a large private car park at the rear of the building.

Meals and Snacks

Our chef prepares all meals and snacks fresh each day on the premises.

We offer a varied, well-balanced menu. Lunch is served at midday and snacks at approximately 10a.m. and 3p.m.
All meals and snacks are social occasions. Children have the opportunity to sit with others at the table, learn to use their cutlery and to form good eating patterns and table manners.
Our menus are changed frequently and are posted on the notice boards for your information.
If your child has special dietary requirements, the nursery will, in most circumstances provides an alternative to the meal on our menu.
For babies under one year, staff work closely with parents/carers to ensure that each child's individual feeding routine is consistent with home.

We are pleased to inform you that the Nursery has been repeatedly granted the prestigious ‘SPA AWARD’ for ‘EXCELLENT STANDARDS OF FOOD HYGIENE’ following unannounced visits from the Environmental Health Department. We are confident of receiving this in the name of Laroche also.

The nursery is regularly inspected by ‘Ofsted,’ [Office for standards in Education], the Fire Safety Officer and the Environmental Health Department. All inspection reports are readily available for parents/carers and other visitors to see.

We have recently upgraded the majority of the nursery to a very high standard and added a light-sensory room, to provide further stimulation for your child.

Laroche at Battledown is conveniently situated at the edge of the town centre. We operate from a converted detached family house, with a large purpose-built extension, in Hales Road, Battledown.

We are ideally situated for parents working in the town centre, and for many of the local businesses, government buildings, banks, building societies, insurance companies and the East Gloucestershire Trust hospitals. There are many residential areas nearby and parents from further away tell us they are prepared to travel some distance out of their way for the peace of mind of knowing their children are happy, safe and secure at Laroche.

Fees	Under 2 Years	2 Years & Over
Full time mon-fri 8.00am – 5.45pm	£185	£180
Full day 8.00am – 5.45pm	£39	£38
Morning 8.00am – 12noon	£18.50	£17.50
Afternoon 1.00pm – 5.45pm	£18.50	£17.50
Extra hours	£4.75	£4.50

*A non-refundable deposit is required to reserve a space (equal to one week’s fees)

Our Address

Laroche Daycare Nursery
Battledown Lodge
77 Hales Road
Cheltenham
GL52 6SR

Contact Details

Kate Birchley – Manager

Zara Williams – Deputy

Kay Turner – Senior Nursery Nurse

Sandra Hayman - Administrator

Tel: 01242 525374
Fax: 01242 581406
Email: larochechelt@yahoo.co.uk

Laroche Daycare Nurseries Ltd Company No. 5510226

Registered Address: 77 Hales Road, Cheltenham, GL52 6SR