A new nursery is set to open in Clanfield next week as children return to school following the Easter holidays.

Sunny Smiles Nursery will open its doors on Tuesday, April 22 at the Scout Hut opposite Clanfield Junior School.

The team are keen to get started and make connections with the community and getting individuals and organisations to do activities with the children.

“We just want to be a part of the whole community,” said manager Esther Maidens.

“If there is a police officer who wants to come, we will have them in and we want to work closely with Havant and South Downs Colleges.

“Apprentices and younger people are very welcome and we show them how we see Early years education.”

Esther added that the nursery’s approach is all about natural resources, getting the kids to be curious and letting them use their imagination. As part of this ‘curiousity approach’, the team plans to be out in the woods up the road, do bushcraft and utilise the hut’s outdoor space as much as possible.

In addition, the nursery promote diversity through activities such as dressing up, by providing clothes from different cultures.

After finishing each day, the team will pack up the nursery equipment so the space can be used by Scouts and other community groups.

Esther added: “We work quite closely with the Scouts because they’re going to teach us outdoorsy things. They use it in the evenings, so we work with them when we can leave it up and when we can pack away. They have been been really lovely from the get go, so we're really lucky to have that partnership with them.”

Nursery owner Maggie Trotman is very excited about the new business, saying: “I simply love children and I am passionate about finding each child's unique qualities!”