Nurseries: Don’t relocate! Reconsider your outdoor space instead.

This week it has been announced that nurseries may be allowed to accept and look after more children. Those that have highly qualified staff can now have a greater ratio of children to adults. As parents fight for their child’s spot in the top Early Years establishments, the teachers are trying to find ways to make space.

Often, on realising they need to expand, nurseries opt to move location or property to fulfill the needs of their growing classes. While this fresh start may seem like the most logical solution for a nursery that requires more space, it can be financially damaging. The costs involved in moving a nursery to a new property or locations, more often than not, will not outweigh the benefits.

Rather than packing up and relocating, nurseries should start to think about how they can make better use of the space they do have available. A simple solution to the problem can be to invest in an outdoor building. Looking at their school grounds from a new perspective could create room to grow and reduce the financial impact.

Comparing the costs between relocating and reconsidering the outdoor space can helps nurseries find the best solution for them.

• If a nursery is running out of space fast, moving will be a fast process that will typically result in the new property being rented. The costs of renting a new nursery space are extremely high and is something that will eat into a nursery’s budget for a long time. Although an outdoor classroom may seem like a big initial cost, there is wide funding available for schools and nurseries that can show how their children and the environment will benefit from this new project.
• Anyone who has moved between any two properties will know the amount of paperwork that is involved in the process. This paperwork also comes hand-in-hand with conveyancing, legal and agency fees. The cost of moving is not just the price of the property itself, it’s all the details that go along with it. When developing an outdoor building, the paperwork is not only reduced in the amount but also by how complicated it is. At The Learning Escape we ensure that when developing school grounds, we offer a full service that includes all the nitty gritty details.
• It’s not just the financial costs that nurseries should consider, it’s the social and emotional ones too. Children that are already part of the nursery will have to move with it and, at such a young age, this can be a daunting and confusing experience. The designing and installation of a new outdoor building is exciting and inspiring, the children can be involved at all stages and see the end result coming together in front of them.

To find out how we could help your nursery look at your outdoor space differently, contact us online or give us a call on 0800 917 7726.