A BURLEY in Wharfedale nursery has been judged one of the top 20 in Yorkshire and Humberside for the third year in a row.

Esscroft Private Nursery has won the Top 20 Nursery Award in Yorkshire and Humber, out of 1,023 early years settings in the region.

The nursery opened back in 1993 under the management of Anna Kouvatsos. Following Anna's death five years ago the nursery is owned by her daughter Maria. It now has 125 families on its roll.

The top twenty nurseries in Yorkshire and the Humber have received an award from the leading day nurseries reviews site, daynurseries.co.uk, with the award based on the reviews give by the children’s families and carers.

The nurseries were rated on overall standard, facilities and outside space, learning, resources and equipment and ICT, care, activities, staff, food and nutrition, management, cleanliness, safeguarding as well as value for money.

Amanda Hopkins, reviews manager of daynurseries.co.uk, said: "We would like to congratulate Esscroft Private Day Nursery on being rated by parents as a top nursery in Yorkshire and the Humber. Being chosen as one of the best nurseries in the UK by family and carers of children that attend the setting is a massive achievement.

“The past year has been a huge challenge for nurseries, many of whom were offering childcare to vulnerable and keyworker children during the various lockdowns and giving children that all important ‘normality’.

“We hope these awards will boost the spirits of nursery staff who have been through such a lot and give parents vital guidance in choosing the right nursery for their child.

“Reviews of our Top 20 nurseries show these settings stimulate and nurture children, improving their social and emotional wellbeing and enhancing their learning.”

Nursery manager Ellen Ogley said:“This year has thrown us its challenges for sure but our key focus was to ensure our children continued to have the best time at Esscroft. During the pandemic, we have managed to retain all of our staff without making any redundancies.

"In fact, we continued to build on this and today, I have an amazing staff team of 36. They each contribute into making Esscroft the amazing setting it is today and I am extremely proud of each of them.”

Third in charge and deputy room leader, Sophia Tariq said: “Esscroft is a truly special place, not only for the children but for the staff too. We come to work each day but we have just as much fun as the children, making it a truly wonderful place to be.

"We would like to say thank you to our families for their kind recommendations and helping us win the award for the third time.”