Testimonials

My daughter has always been shy. When she started at LSEY I had just had a baby, and my daughter had stopped attending her childminders- it seemed a lot of significant changes were happening in my daughter's life all at once. However, Leonard Stanley Early Years took the time to get to know her and were sensitive to her needs. My daughter settled down quicker than I could have ever expected, and before I knew it, she couldn't wait till the next time she would see Vicki. She developed friendships that saw the seamless transition into school and grew exponentially in their care. Thank you.

My son has additional needs- we are in the process of getting him diagnosed with autism. When he first attended, he used single words and was locked in his own world. Vicki and her team helped him open out to the world and supported him to develop friendships. My son now has friends and is thriving at Leonard Stanley Early Years. He is happy and looks forward to the days that he spends at Early Years. My son is due to start school in September, Vicki has ensured he has all the support that he needs in starting school and gone above and beyond in supporting his transition. Thank you LSEY for all of your support.

My daughter, Gracie has completed her pre-school year at Leonard Stanley Early Years and has loved every session she has attended. We honestly cannot fault anything the entire year she has been with Vicki and her team. Gracie comes home every day fondly speaking of every staff member and we as parents know that she is in the safest of hands because of this. Vicki and her team have helped to guide Gracie through not only her learning within the setting, but also with big changes at home in becoming a sister. The communication has been second to none and is such a weight lifted as a parent. The weekly updates are a fantastic part in keeping us in the loop with what the children have enjoyed doing that week and what they will be looking forward to the next week. Gracie has come out of her shell and is a much more confident child since starting pre-school, LSEY have given her the key skills to confidently start school in September. Although Gracie was not allocated a place at Leonard Stanley school in September, we have no worries that Gracie will thrive at her new school, and this is with huge thanks to everyone at Leonard Stanley Early Years. Despite the strange year we have had, we could not have asked for a better start to Gracie’s education, and we will be sad to leave next week! Thank you for all your hard work, it doesn’t go unnoticed!

My daughter joined Leonard Stanley early years in January 2021 which was her preschool year. She was late joining as she is deaf and was in a small setting prior to early years and although she showed lots of signs of being ready for a larger and more structured setting, we were still extremely anxious about the transition. The team at early years have been incredibly welcoming to my daughter and she settled in very well and very quickly. It was like she had never been anywhere else. This I put down to the staff, my daughter came home happy and well cared for and tired. This all told me everything I needed to know, she was being cared for and stimulated mentally above and beyond my expectations. My daughter has made huge improvements in her development in the short time she has been at early years which has only been possible with the help of early years. Vicki has gone above and beyond to not only care for and nurture my child, but also incorporate her speech and language therapy suggestions into her sessions and get the most out of her and including all her friends in this too. This has ensured my daughter feels involved and an important part of the group. Vicki has not only done all of this for which I am truly grateful she has also ensured good communication with us as a family and from start to finish made us feel happy with sending our daughter here and confident that our daughter has had the best start possible on her journey into school. There is a lot of paperwork involved in our daughters care due to her deafness and Vicki has always done this to a high standard and in a timely manner. I would highly recommend Leonard Stanley early years to all as it is the most welcoming, nurturing, and caring environment and any child would be lucky to go here. My son will be going in September 2021.

My son started to attend early years when he was two and has enjoyed every minute of his time whilst attending early years.
I personally cannot thank Vicki enough for the guidance and support for which she has provided us over his attendance at early years. It will be a sad day for myself and son when he leaves early years. But I do believe that with all Vicki’s hard work and patience has prepared my son to be ready and take the next step into the reception class.

"I had the pleasure of attending a Parent's Duty at Early Years on Thursday and felt compelled to write this.
Your staff at early years were fantastically professional on what seemed to be a very busy day.
I am a mum with a child with special needs and find it a little stressful sometimes, however Vicki and her team were looking after my son, another child with high additional needs, plus a few children with behaviour issues, whilst also looking after the rest of the class (how they do it I don't know).
From working closely with Vicki with my son I am so impressed with her dedication to the children and making sure their individual needs are met. This I know from experience cannot be easy.
She manages a great team and this shows in how well the children play and behave.
It's so nice to see how your Early Year’s Manager and team build up the confidence of children with additional needs and prepare them for school."

 

"Dear Mr Green
I have felt the need to send an email to let you know that you have a truly wonderful member of staff, who for me personally has gone above and beyond the job title - Vicki Richardson. 
My daughter Evlyn started early years at 2 years old after having a rough couple of months. At 13 months old I gave birth to her twin brothers at only 24 weeks in to my pregnancy and we were rushed to Bristol where we spent the next 4 months in and out of intensive care. Emergency surgery after surgery. 
Evlyn was pushed from place to place and became very withdrawn as you can imagine.
Vicki has worked so hard in getting Evlyn to open up and accept what is going on at home.
Vicki has always made sure at the beginning and end of session that we as a family are OK and always offered a shoulder to cry on.
Freddie my healthier twin has been with Vicki and the team for a few months now and he has grown so much due to the love, care and dedication of Vicki. The twins do have additional needs and Vicki has always treated them like they are her own children and the change in Freddie’s behaviour is out of this world.  
When Charlie was due to start Vicki again has fought his corner every step of the way and has stood behind me when I said he should go to a main stream nursery. She has taken on my worries and fears and listened to all health care professionals in what is best for Charlie and by doing this he is completely a different child. 
I owe so much to Vicki for not only taking care of my children but for taking care of us as a family when things have got rough, which they do due to Charlies ongoing needs. 
I just felt I needed to tell you how blessed you are to have her on your team she is a credit to Early Years, the school, and teaching as a whole. I just hope Evlyn will be as happy with you all in September."

"I’ve never had any problems with him coming to play group"

"She has a very hectic home life and I am so grateful for the care she receives at nursery"

"Very constructive feedback to help child to develop at setting and at home"

"Learning journey book is amazing"

"Really impressed with the attention & techniques used in monitoring development"

"Good level of friendliness and authority, which encourages respect and good behaviour"

"He has settled excellently – a very happy little boy"

"Really happy & doesn’t want to come home"

"Really thorough communication & reporting of activities and outcomes"

"Very welcoming"

"My husband loved it"

"Lovely environment"

"My impression of Early Years has been excellent. My child hasn’t been attending for very long but he loves it."

"Great welcoming and really good at the way they settle kids down."

"Staff are always friendly"

"Always friendly and greet children nicely"

"Always happy and friendly to adults and children"

"Staff always enthusiastic and keen to chat to children"

"Very happy and excited all week to come back"

"She was very upset to start but staff were brilliant with her"

"Very supportive of children who struggle to settle and the parents"

"Settled and enjoying structure of pre-school"

"She enjoys coming and is upset on the days she doesn’t attend"

"Very Informative topic sheet"

"Planning sent home, plus home to EYs book shows very good communication"

"I feel confident my child is safe"

"Very secure, although parents do not always remember to shut the gates"

"Brilliantly made book of all her achievements"

"Staff give regular feedback using meetings, reports and informal chats"

"Good to have progress meetings"

"I am confident that any concerns would be brought to my attention"

"Always good at communicating issues"

"She is always happy and excited to come, which I think speaks volumes for the care given"

"We are very happy with the care and provision at EYs thank you"

"Good preparation for school"

"Always happy and easy to talk to"

"Very approachable and understanding of all situations"

"My daughter started Leonard Stanley Early Years in her preschool year, the October before she started in the reception class in the school. She was already in a private nursery but I moved her as her sibling had just started in the school.
My daughter had issues with her speech and language, I was the only person who understood what she said and her nursery had told me that it was not that bad and that school would address the issue.
Within her first few weeks at early years she had been referred to a speech and language therapist. The staff were excellent, they reassured me that it was not my fault, talked me through the process and asked my permission to monitor her speech before referring her as they had noticed that something wasn't right. 
She was referred quickly and had one on one and group therapy sessions to improve her speech. The Early Years team also had copies of the reports sent to them so they could support her development whilst she was there. 
My daughter had a lovely key worker, she took the time to get to know my daughter and build up a relationship with her. If she had problems understanding her she would talk to me about it and we would resolve the problem. I appreciated the honesty and felt happy knowing she was in such good care. To this day my daughter still talks about her.
The early years also have a close relationship with the school, they go over to do PE, have lunch and spend time with the reception teacher. 
I always felt welcome to pop in and talk to the staff, they always had time to talk to me and understood my worries as a parent, I felt they understood that each child had different needs and that they were supporting my daughter's. 
Recently I attended my daughter’s parents evening, she is in the middle of key stage one, she is doing extremely well at school, her speech is perfect for her age and she is developing at a fantastic rate. I feel that the Early Years team have played a part in this; their care and knowledge gave my daughter a great start to her education. I am extremely grateful, my only regret is that she didn't have more time there. 
A very happy parent".