We’re delighted to announce that Bright Stars Nursery was officially opened by local Stratford on Avon MP, Nadhim Zahawi on Friday. This was following on from a very successful initial six months for the Nursery since the soft opening in September 2019. Bright Stars currently has nearly one hundred and twenty children signed up and the business has already created twenty new jobs for local people, with further roles becoming available as the nursery continues to grow.
Oversley built Cosmic House (the home of Bright Stars) as a social enterprise project using local trades and materials to build a low carbon and natural environment dedicated to the specific purpose of becoming a nursery school. Oversley worked with Rixon Architects who designed the building using natural materials, in keeping with the theme of nature the nursery has adopted, Bright Stars encourages children to learn through exploration and observation and providing a safe, natural environment for play was key. The nursery boasts a large outside space and forest school, complete with natural wooden frames and toys. The school allows children to learn about nature and connect with the outside world.
Nadhim was first introduced to the project back in July 2016, by the founders of Bright Stars; Jane Walters, Elaine Geden and Lianne Golder. The aim of the project was to offer much needed local nursery spaces but also support working parents by accepting children from 7:30 am until 6:30 pm throughout the year. By offering not only nursery spaces but also comprehensive before and after school clubs the business supports a large part of the community. It also offers comprehensive holiday clubs meaning it is only closed on public holidays and weekends. In addition, Cosmic House was designed to include three community rooms which are offered for discount hire to help support local businesses and give people a space to meet and interact. There are three large rooms available which offer catering and Wi-Fi.
Nadhim has been very supportive of the initiative, saying ‘being able to officially open Bright Stars is a great demonstration of investment by local businesses to aid and support the community. Not only have we got a great new children’s nursery that raises the bar in terms of supporting early year development but also this was done in record time with ground being broken in January and the building being open in September. This demonstrates what can be done when communities pull together and invest into our future. I have always fully supported the continued development and prosperity of the Stratford on Avon constituency.’