Pioneer of child nursery sector
OSEMARY Murphy, who has died aged 68, will be fondly remembered as a visionary figure in the Early Years nursery sector.
The founder of Lindley-based Portland Nurseries and the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), was awarded the OBE in 2001 for her work to raise the sector to national prominence and for securing charitable status for the NDNA to provide support, advice, training and quality improvement schemes to nurseries across the UK.
Rosemary Murphy (nee Wright) was born in 1950 in Barrow-in-Furness and attended Barrow Girls Grammar School where she excelled in art, ballet, tennis and swimming and was a prefect in the sixth form.
She left home in 1968 to train as an art teacher in Reading and spent a year at East Michigan University, USA, in 1970.
In 1972, she met her future husband, Michael Murphy, an international Rugby League prop forward and teacher who was then playing rugby for Barrow.
He went on to play for St Helens, Bradford Northern and clubs in Australia and France as Rosemary pursued her career in teaching. They were married in 1978 and spent their first year of married life in Carcassonne, France, where Michael was player/coach.
The couple and their four children, Leoncia, Michael, Francesca and Anastasia, settled in Huddersfield in 1989 where Michael became chairman of Huddersfield Rugby League Club.
Rosemary opened Portland House Nursery at Lindley in 1991 and went on to acquire Harlequin Nursery, Holly Bank Nursery and later opened Oakwood House Nursery & Forest School, to form Portland Nurseries Ltd – going on to provide care and early years education for more than 7,000 children over 27 years.
The nurseries, rated “outstanding” by Ofsted, were the first to gain Investors in People accreditation in 2000, the Gold Healthy Eating award from Kirklees and the Soil Association’s Food For Life Award. Portland House was named Examiner Nursery of the Year in 2016.
Oakwood House Nursery was the first “forest school” in the area, recognising the importance of learning through play in the outdoor environment while the nurseries have raised over £100,000 for various charities.
Rosemary was NDNA chair for three years before becoming chief executive in 1998. In 2001, she received the OBE then went on to develop eight regional NDNA Centres of Excellence to support parents back to work, offer training to nursery staff and qualifications such as the Early Years Professional Status.
Rosemary retired from the NDNA in 2005 to further develop her own nurseries. In 2014, after being diagnosed with cancer, she handed over the running of the nurseries to son Michael and daughter Anastasia with the support of the nursery managers – some of whom have worked for the company for over 25 years. That year Rosemary was named Most Influential Person in Childcare in the Nursery Management Today Awards.
Karen Walker, NDNA network co-ordinator, paid tribute, saying: “Without her drive and ambition for the sector the wholesale improvement in quality within the Early Years would have stalled completely by 2008 when the recession started to bite.
“By then the inroads made by the NDNA were such that parents and people working in the sector were unwilling to allow standards to slip and although funding was dramatically cut and very big changes made, the striving for quality and the belief in the sector to provide the very best start in life for young children has been maintained to this day.”
Anastasia said: “There will be hundreds of families across Huddersfield that will lovingly recall how their children blossomed under her care and went on to further education as confident individuals. She will be fondly remembered as a wonderful role model who dedicated her life to achieving the best for all children.”
Rosemary, who lived at Edgerton, leaves her husband Michael, their four children and grandchildren Anastasio, Dolores, Michael (Buddy) and Leonardo.
Her funeral will be held at 1pm on Friday at St Patrick’s RC Church, New North Road, followed by committal at Huddersfield Crematorium.