A Church in Wales primary school that extended its childcare offering to all day care has taken on more staff to meet the growing demand.

Puddleducks All Day Care at Ysgol Trefnant now operates for fifty weeks of the year, offering parents a flexible service between the hours of 7.45am to 5.30pm for children aged two to twelve, including an after-school club.

There is also a holiday club which is open to all children, not just those who attend Ysgol Trefnant.

The centre’s new manager, Maria Evanson, has been in post since April 2018 to help introduce the new all day care service which opened in September. She said: “We have been overwhelmed by the fantastic response that we’ve had, so much so that we’ve employed two new members of staff.

“I think the fact that we are open all year round, except for two weeks at Christmas, is an attractive prospect to parents as they have a flexible and high-quality consistency of care for their child all in one place.

“We have a very caring, happy environment here, so children tend to settle in very quickly. Since the beginning of January eight new children have started with us and they’ve all settled in extremely well.

“Our planning is very much child-led and we work to a specific theme each week which we can then develop and explore with the children.

“As well as all the different learning areas we set up to include construction, creative, music,

role play and table top activities we also have focus tasks where we work with small groups of

children, looking at how we can extend their learning and understanding of the subject. Before lunch, we always have music, movement, and stories, which they love!”

Puddleducks has two large rooms and play spaces in different parts of the building which provide variety and a change of environment for the children. The school’s large outdoor play area also provides lots of fun activities, including a mud kitchen and a forest school.

Suzanne Van Loock, headteacher at Ysgol Trefnant, said: “I am thrilled to see how well the new all day care service is being received, it’s a great success.

“Puddleducks has been established for many years and we have seen how it really helps the children transition from pre-school to nursery here at Ysgol Trefnant. It’s such a natural progression for them as they are already so familiar with the school.

“With a great team of highly trained and experienced staff, led by Maria, I look forward to the ongoing growth of Puddleducks and to welcoming more children from the local area and beyond.”

Parents can book hours and days to suit their needs and there is also a parent and toddler group every Tuesday afternoon. For more information, or to arrange a visit, please contact Ysgol Trefnant on 01745 730276 or email puddleduckstrefnant@gmail.com