We are delighted to announce the latest addition to our group of nurseries, schools and educational camps. Heathcote House is a happy and thriving Nursery and Pre-School in the heart of the Wiltshire town of Devizes.
While Wishford already runs eight nurseries alongside its prep schools, this is the first standalone nursery to join the group. Heathcote House has been run successfully by Keith and Jean Hudson for over twenty years and the transition to Wishford will allow them to plan for a well-earned retirement. It’s clearly a special place. We are committed to maintaining that, and have no plans to change the leadership, staff or the approach the nursery takes to care and education.
‘As soon as I visited Heathcote House I knew it was a perfect first day nursery for the Wishford group,’ says Sam Antrobus, Wishford’s founder and Executive Chairman. ‘I was born and raised in Devizes, so I know the town well and have long been aware of the nursery’s excellent reputation. I have been deeply impressed with the care and commitment to excellence shown by the nursery’s leadership team and staff. We very much look forward to working with them to continue to provide the highest quality nursery provision in Devizes.’
Wishford has a great deal of experience in establishing and running happy and successful nurseries. All our settings have been given the highest possible rating in the most recent inspection cycle. Heathcote House has all the ingredients we value in creating a safe, happy and stimulating environment for young children, and we were impressed by the quality and sense of purpose we found there. We quickly recognised that it was the perfect match for Wishford’s aims and ethos. We are excited about the opportunity for staff across all our early years settings to learn from each other, share experiences and develop best practice.
We understand how critical a child’s first experiences outside their home are. We appreciate that parents need to feel confident and reassured that their children are in the best possible environment, where they will be safe and nurtured. Beyond this, as educators, we know the huge impact a lively, creative and happy environment can have on a child’s future learning. As a result, our nurseries are places of discovery and interest, where curiosity and questions are encouraged, where new skills are developed and confidence grows. We love nothing more than to see children graduate from our nurseries fizzing with excitement to take the step into big school, full of enthusiasm and equipped with the skills they need to make a positive start to their school career.
Keith Hudson also reflected on the change, saying, ‘Jean and I have greatly enjoyed growing Heathcote House Nursery to its present position in Devizes, during our 20+ years of stewardship. We now feel it the right time for Heathcote to progress to its next phase and we have tried hard to find the appropriate organisation to take up the baton. We think we have done this with Wishford Education. It is a youthful, energetic and well-resourced organisation with the same goal as us; to provide the highest quality of care and education possible to ensure the best start in life for each individual child. We would like to give everyone associated with the Nursery, children, parents and staff, our very best wishes for the future and look forward to hearing many more good things about Heathcote.’