Placement Information

Lollipops Montessori Nursery was established in 1986. Their philosophy is to provide a loving, caring world during the important transition from nursery to primary school.

'Lollipops is a Montessori Nursery, which means we offer a safe and stimulating environment that actively champions a child's personal growth and happiness. The Montessori child is given the best possible conditions to promote physical, social, emotional and intellectual development, helping the child to reach their full potential'

The Nursery is a very welcoming place for children. Parents also get the opportunity to watch their child from home as there are live cameras in every room of the nursery. Also within the setting the staff are extremely welcoming to the students who are on work placement. They make you feel like part of their team.

The nursery has a good carpark for parents, however it can be slightly difficult to get a space if your staff. Staff may only park on the parent carpark if they finish late. If any staff finish early you would need to park on the dirt track next to the nursery, or on the road up from the nursery. This is where most people park.

Accomodation

If you do not live near the nursery there are many hotels and bed and breakfasts that you can stay in. The three main ones are:

• The Swan, 46 Greengate street, Stafford, ST16 2JA.
• Leonards Croft, 80 Lichfield Road, Stafford, ST17 4LP. 
• Stafford North Spitfire Premier Inn, 1 Spitfire Close, Stafford, ST16 1GX.

Transport

There are several different ways of getting to the nursery. There is less than a 5 minute walk from the Stafford Railway Station to the nursery. There is also a good bus service around Stafford with many bus pick up and drop off points outside the nursery and also oppposite the railway station. There is also parking available on a dirt track next to the nursery or there is a car park next to the train station if you feel it is more secure. 

Social life

There are many different things to do around Stafford for example shopping, the cinema, the pubs or restaurants. There is a cinema called the Apollo Cinema which is just a 10 minute walk from the nursery and near to the cinema there are plenty of pubs and restaurants some being:

Pubs:

• Casa Stafford 1 Bridge St, Stafford, ST16 2HJ
• Yard, Espleys Yard, Newport Rd, ST16 2EZ

Restaurants:

• The Picture House 12 Bridge St, Town Centre, Stafford ST16 2HL
• Bella Italia 20 Greengate St, Stafford, ST16 2HS 

Things to do, things not to do

Whilst being at the placement you need to make sure that you wear an appropiate dress code such as black trousers and a smart top. You also need to make sure that your jewerelly is kept to a minimum as children can start from the age of 6 weeks old until they are four years of age.

The placement has a strict no mobile phones policy. You need to ensure that your mobile phone is kept in your bag in the staff room at all times. This is safe as there are cameras all around the nursery.

You also need to make sure that you do not use any bad language within the nursery as this is taken very seriously. Also if you are part of social networking sites there is a strict nursery policy that you must represent the nursery in a positive manner.  

Useful Contacts

Before you go

As this placement is not abroad, the only things you would need to make sure are that your CRB is given in, health and safety checks are complete and sent back from the setting and making sure that if you do not live near, make sure that your hotel or bed and breakfast is confirmed a few weeks before hand. Taking a reference number with you would be good as this would make it easier to prevent double bookings. Also before you go a good idea would be to go on the website and look at the staff profiles so that you can familiarise yourself with who everyone is. Make sure you have contact information for Cheryl and Cyndy in case you need to get in touch with them.  

Costs