Old school building at The Square in Pennington to open as the Clock House Nursery

A former school building in the heart of Pennington is set to reopen in January as a nursery for up to 85 children.

The Grade II listed old school building at Pennington square has been painstakingly converted and restored by the Kapila family ahead of its January opening as the Clock House Nursery.

Featuring state-of-the-art facilities, colourful, nature-inspired murals, child-sized wooden furniture and an array of sensory toys, every detail has been created with its children and families in mind.

Nursery directors Paul and Renu Kapila have collectively worked in the childcare and education sector for over half a century, having previously operated one of the largest nurseries in the country near Chertsey in Surrey. First opened in 1991, Rainbow Nursery was awarded the NMT Award for Best Design, with space for more than 224 children, a working farm, hedge maze and double-decker bus.

Paul and Renu eventually sold Rainbow Nursery in 2012. But when their children Nikhil and Esha both qualified as primary school teachers, they started looking at opening another family-run business around five years ago.

Paul said: “There is always a need for high quality childcare – there will never be any shortage of demand for quality nurseries. We are owner-operators and we will only run a quality provision – hence two nurseries and not 22.”

In September 2020, the family opened Twynham House nursery in Store Road, Christchurch, which is now running at capacity with up 88 children at a time.

The pair also have a strong ethos on recruitment. Nikhil said: “We are 100% dedicated to our team. We have very high staff retention and very low staff turnover – in Christchurch we have many staff who started with us three-and-a-half years ago.”

Paul added: “Our ethos is that our delivery of service is to someone’s most cherished possession – it has to be a very high standard. Every single part of our nursery has to be fully dedicated to the expectation of every parent.”

Nikhil added: “Our motto is that our dedication to childcare will exceed every parent’s expectations.”

The design has shaped the learning environment, with dedicated areas for arts and craft, yoga activities and small group work. The nursery features areas for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers, as well as a welcome area and reception for parents and a staff rest room.

The spacious and enclosed garden area has also been designed with colourful play equipment and outdoor games, with plans for further expansion in the next few months.

For more information visit www.theclockhousenursery.co.uk