With the continued rising number of Covid-19 cases recorded in the UK and subsequently more restrictions being put in place by the Government as it tries to slow down the spread of the disease, a Portishead nursery has vowed to provide extra support for the parents of young children.

North Somerset Times: Babys playing together in the kindergarten.Babys playing together in the kindergarten. (Image: santypan)

Having already introduced a holiday club for children aged eight and under, to help working parents during school breaks, The Nursery has now launched a totally flexible nursery service to support parents further during the pandemic.

Jackie Hardie, who runs The Nursery in Combe Road, said: “We want families with young children to know we are here to support them as they continue to cope with the results of the coronavirus, however it may be affecting them. Redundancies are on the rise and while parents are between jobs, they may be in need of childcare but may not be able to afford it. We may be able to help them access additional funding. We have also come across frontline workers who say their varying shift patterns make it difficult for them to get the childcare hours they need at short notice. We are doing everything we can to accommodate this and are offering flexi-hour places for children of key workers. We recognise that at times like this we all need to help each other.

“As a nursery we have always employed a higher staff ratio than that which is required and we have additional rooms like our training room that are not used every day, so with this in mind we feel we can launch a flexible childcare service for families that need it whilst the pandemic and restrictions continue.”

The Nursery employs a specialist cohort worker who is experienced in trauma and anxiety to work with children who may have social and emotional challenges, which Jackie says is proving invaluable in the current situation.

She added: “Our cohort worker offers additional support for children who need it and we can also help parents who seek funding for early years childcare. Our office manager is happy to help families find out if they are eligible for funding and if they are not, there are other sources of funding we may be able to access for them.

Anyone in need of pre-school childcare during the pandemic, no matter how flexible this needs to be, or anyone seeking funding for their childcare needs can talk in confidence to a member of The Nursery team on 01275 402140. The Nursery is also taking bookings for its Christmas holiday club.