King Edwin Primary School works in partnership with The Lime Trees wraparound care provider to deliver quality care and support beyond the school day and during holiday periods.
Provision at KEPS available from 7am to 6pm during term time and additional sessions are offered during school holiday periods.
Details of The Lime Trees provision can be found here: The Lime Trees CIC | Childcare Nottingham
A message from Gareth Deggenhart – Founder of Limetrees
“I’m confident that you won’t find another childcare provider like The Lime Trees. I know that because, believe me when I tell you, as both a childcare professional and a parent, I’ve looked! To understand how and why we’re different, it’s worth knowing where it all started.
Professionally, I’ve been in the childcare industry since my early 20s. I became increasingly frustrated at how most providers failed to realise that they were a direct reflection on schools – often, not a good one. More than just shoddy signage and no uniforms, venues were regularly under resourced and lacked the equipment and basic supplies to offer an engaging experience. I saw qualified childcare staff spending more time as administrators than actually working with the children in their care and disjointed communications that compromised service and safety. All in all, this type of set-up fast became a burden on the very staff and schools it was meant to be supporting.
When the time came that I also needed to utilise childcare services for my daughter, I faced a battle at every stage. From the lack of flexibility around the sessions that she could attend to the ever-growing fees, which even forced me to review my own working situation. Communication was slow and inconsistent, often leaving me feeling like the last to know. More than anything, I’d have loved to have had the option to be involved in my daughter’s development; to see what she was learning and how she was progressing. Instead, I was left with a fundamental blind-spot, with the service I was accessing feeling more like a holding pen than high quality childcare. Needless to say, it seemed a constant uphill struggle for families too. And, when I asked around, I found almost every other parent I spoke to felt the same way.
How was this the norm? From either perspective. The collective thoughts, fears and disappointments created a drive in me to better the system. For children, for families, for staff and for schools. And so, in 2013, The Lime Trees was born.
My ambition is for The Lime Trees to be the largest childcare provider, UK-wide. And we’re on our way. I’m incredibly proud that so many schools have seen that there is a better way of doing things and have chosen to partner with us. If you’re reading this, then I can only assume you’re thinking of doing the same. And for that, I’d like to say a very heartfelt ‘thank you’.”
