Cuthmans 1st Year Celebrations

A fantastic out of school club in Steyning is about to celebrate its first year at its new premises. Cuthmans out of school club moved to the youth wing site at the Cuthman Centre on Horsham Road, Steyning in November 2009 and has enjoyed a great first year there.

Cuthmans is owned by Elan Nursery which has recently taken over ownership of Little Foxes Nursery. Elan Nursery provides childcare for children aged 0 – 8 years at their Chanctonfold site, including out of school care for children aged 5 – 7. The decision to move the out of school care for children aged around 7 - 13 has proved enormously successful. The youth wing site was designed with young people in mind and it offers a space which is ideally suited to the play needs of these children.

Laura Thornley, Cuthmans Manager, is a trained Play worker, qualified NVQ tutor and assessor in childcare. Laura said ‘It is very important for children to have a place to go after school that allows them to play freely. Adults instinctively want to protect children and therefore generally forget how important it is for them to experience all different types of play even if it may appear risky or rough. As children ourselves we probably spent quite a lot of time in risky play for example climbing trees or swinging on rope swings.’

 ‘Children should have the chance to learn from their own mistakes and develop at their own pace and this is what our aim is... to facilitate play but to let the children determine their own level of risk and take control of their own play.’
Professional Play Worker Pete Darlington from Meynell Games who recently visited Cuthmans said ‘The atmosphere has a feeling of freedom where children can choose how - whatever they may want to do.

This atmosphere and environment is further enhanced in part by being independent from the schools that children attend, and this acts as an independent space solely for play. The enthusiastic team of play workers makes Cuthmans a playful place to be.’

Cuthmans prides itself as being a place for children to play and Laura and her team would like to thank the parents and the children that attend Cuthmans for their continued support.

Should you have any questions or wish to book a place please feel free to call Laura on 07704 277633. You can also read the full Meynell Games report on the Elan Nursery website - www.elannusery.com.

Since the out of school club opened at the youth wing, it has been recognised that there is also a need for a transitional club between the out of school care and the youth wing and Julie Chapman from WSCC Connexions team is now looking to facilitate this on a Wednesday evening from 6.15pm for children aged between 11 and 14 years.

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