THE Assembly Member for Wrexham paid a surprise visit to a local nursery after it was highly commended by two regulatory agencies.

Lesley Griffiths AM visited the state-of-the-art facilities at the Little Scholars Nursery after the nursery and its staff were praised by both Estyn and the Care Inspectorate Wales.

During her visit to the nursery, which is located on Wrexham Glyndwr University’s Plas Coch campus, Ms Griffiths met with staff members at all levels of the nursery.

After meeting Wrexham’s AM, Rebecca Mottram, the Director of the Little Scholars Nursery, said: “We were absolutely delighted to welcome Lesley Griffiths at this very exciting time for early childhood education and care in Wales.

“It was great to not only show her the facilities and to discuss our Estyn report, but also to talk about our links with education and other degree programmes at Wrexham Glyndwr University and the work which we are doing with them.”

Following her tour of the facilities, Lesley Griffiths AM added: “Little Scholars Nursey is such a bright, modern facility and the dedicated staff provide a fantastic service to parents in Wrexham.

“There was a really positive atmosphere and it was lovely being able to spend time with lots of happy children.

“Thank you to everyone for the warm welcome and congratulations once again to Rebecca and her team on their recent Estyn inspection report.”

The Welsh education and training inspectorate, Estyn, visited the Little Scholars Nursery in July 2019 before producing a report which stated:

“Leaders provide children with a well decorated environment which takes in to account the interests of the children with plenty of facilities to enhance their wellbeing and learning successfully.

“Leaders provide a range of good quality, developmentally appropriate play and learning resources. For example, practitioners promote children’s curiosity and problem-solving skills through the use of ‘loose parts play’ where natural and recyclable materials can be moved around and used in endless ways.

“The setting has a wide range of low-level furniture and resources that practitioners use effectively to enhance children’s learning. For example, different sized planters enable all children to reach inside to plant and grow their own vegetables.”

Little Scholars Nursery is open both to Wrexham Glyndwr University staff and students, as well as to the wider Wrexham community.

It is safely and conveniently located in the Centre for the Child, Family and Society on the university’s Plas Coch campus near Wrexham Town Centre.