A NURSERY which has been praised for "letting children be children" has been nominated for a Worcestershire Education Award.
Abberley House Nursery, which has been on Droitwich Road for the past 17 years, has been put forward for the Early Years Education Award.
The nursery was nominated by Paula Challacombe, who wanted to recognise the work of the manager, Jane Dallard.
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She said: "She has created such an enabling and natural environment at Abberley House Nursery, where she keeps the setting small, so every child has the love, care and attention of such a wonderful team.
"The love and care at Abberley House are evident, and their teaching, promoted by Jane Dallard, is to allow children to be children - so they can thrive.
"For the children who attend Abberley House, to ensure that the future generations are valued, listened to, respected and resilient in such a tough world today is key.
"The children of Abberley House experience such a different way of learning, a fun and relaxed approach which really benefits every individual child."
Ms Dallard told us she was pleased and quite surprised for her nursery to be nominated for the award.
"It has been a long long journey to get to where we are today.
"When we first opened, people were ringing us up, saying the nursery is a free-for-all, but there were not many forest schools back then.
"Now parents want their child to have that freedom.
"This place is not just a learning journey for the child but for the parents and teachers.
"We know our children so well, we know if they know their numbers, and we can incorporate that into their outdoor learning through singing songs and playing with wood.
"It is the children who make up their own decisions on what they want to do."
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The Worcestershire Education Awards in partnership with the University of Worcester has 12 categories and runs across all of our Worcestershire titles – the Worcester News, Malvern Gazette, Evesham Journal, Bromsgrove & Droitwich Advertiser, Redditch Advertiser and Kidderminster Shuttle.
The closing date for nominations is Monday, February 13.
The awards will culminate in a black-tie event on Thursday, April 20, at 7pm at the Abbey Hotel, Great Malvern.
Nominations take just a few minutes. To nominate someone, click here.
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