Scottish first for Larkhall nursery
Flexi-schooling arrives
Parents sending their kids to school this year may be able to split their education between nursery and primary in a first-of-its-kind scheme for Scotland.
So-called ‘flexi-schooling’ is popular in Scandinavian countries, and set to be trailed at a Larkhall nursery.
Ethical investment enterprise Kids Connecting, founded in 2017, has purchased Big Bird Nursery and its premises on Machan Road.
Kids Connecting, set up by former social worker Kathy Black and her husband David, is now exploring the possibility of introducing ‘flexi-schooling’ to the nursery. It offers children from five and upwards the chance to split their time between nursery and primary school, to help ease the transition into full-time education.
Parents considering the option are required to submit a request to the council to withdraw their child part-time from school.
A spokesman for South Lanarkshire Council said it was not aware of the nursery scheme, but confirmed parents had the right to request flexi-schooling under Scottish Government legislation.
Kids Connecting hopes to begin trialing the concept at Big Bird Nursery from August 2018. It currently provides day-care services for children from birth to school age, and has 70 full-time spaces with an extra 50 spaces in its breakfast and after-school clubs.
David Black said: “We founded Kids Connecting to champion an ethical, socially-minded way of doing business.
“Big Bird Nursery is the first of hopefully many projects that will contribute to our goal of building integrated connected communities that build resilience and energy for both young and old.
“With this goal in mind, we’ll be looking to engage the early years with learning programmes focused on ‘in the moment’ planning and creative play. We’ll also be looking to engage the older generation from the local area in the dayto-day life of the nursery, as well as introducing a flexi-schooling programme.
“We’re keen to change the narrative around early learning education in Scotland. This means making sure that we’re providing a science-based approach instead of one that is purely economicallyled and providing outstanding care from the start that caters for the unique needs of each of our children. The groundwork for good school performance begins early, long before children enter formal education.”
Kids Connecting acquired the award-winning Happy Feet private nursery with the support of a £300,000 funding package from Bank of Scotland.
Brian Bovell, business development manager at the bank, said: “Kids Connecting is a great example of a local business that puts its community at the heart of everything it does.
“We’re proud to be helping them take this key first step for their social investment enterprise.”