Founded in 2016, SMART Preschool Education Ltd ("SPEL") is on a journey to create a group of high-quality boutique preschools.
As a family-owned company, we understand the challenges faced by small businesses. Our respect for the owners and teachers running nurseries inspired us to create a great home for preschools, once the founder has decided to move on to pastures new.
No company can replace a passionate owner. But we can provide the infrastructure to keeps the founder's ethos alive and support passionate teachers to continue providing a safe and caring place for children to learn.
SPEL is wholly-owned by a single family. This means we can take a long-term view: we plan to own our preschools for many years to come. Importantly, this means we can give our preschools the space to breathe and fulfil their potential. This is SPEL’s secret weapon in creating the best home for preschools.
We hear reports that when other owners take over a nursery, the first things they look to do are increase fees and change terms of employment. This is when we bring out our secret weapon. Our owners are not looking to do any of those things – we know that such steps will interfere with our preschool's ability to deliver a safe and caring place for children to learn.
Instead, we work with teachers to identify what they do well and build on that. We listen to parents and see where we can make their children’s experience better.
Our track record backs us up. Since we took over our first preschool in 2017, our fees are up by just 15%. We did this at the same time as paying our team 15% more than our closest competitors and remain committed to the London Living Wage.
We added benefits ranging from dental care to compassionate leave – a small way to show our team we care.
Our mission is to be a great home for preschools. To do this, we focus on creating a nurturing and stimulating environment. Experience shows that there are many education approaches that can work really well. When we take over a business we do not look to change the educational approach of the preschool, or impose our ethos.
Rather we chose the preschool because they had already gotten it right. The established practice. The caring staff. The welcoming atmosphere. That’s what we look for. We want to continue to build on that strong foundation of excellence.
Be it Montessori, Reggio Emilia, Froebel... Each approach can work in meeting Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) outcomes. We will encourage teachers to put the child at the heart of the approach. That is what we can bring to the party: support the dedicated teachers to keep focusing on the child and delivering the best possible care and education.
We believe reputations are important. This is underpinned by our commitment to “doing the right thing” by our children, parents and teachers. Yet strangely, we don’t invest in branding.
Over time, we believe our actions will build the reputation our preschools need to prosper. By doing the right thing by our children, parents and teachers, we will build a reputation in the local community for being a safe and caring place for children to learn. No website, online campaign or glossy brochure will get us there. Only our actions will.
This extends to the new preschools joining the SPEL family. We will look to retain the name, look and feel of the place that the owner and team have spent so long building.
What will change once we own the preschools? Some things will change, but mostly in areas where SPEL has a real strength.
Our core competency is in supporting the teachers inside the four walls of a preschool. This means doing a lot of the non-educational functions centrally. Think: invoicing, local authority funding, team training, HR, financial reporting, admissions (and so much more!).
Where we can, we will try to introduce learnings from one preschool to another - often centred on introducing our SMART Safety Plan (‘SSP’). The SSP ensures we exceed our regulatory requirements, but more than anything else: it prioritises the safety of children and teachers.
We are lead by Antonietta and Tatiana. Between them they have over 30 years experience in preschools. Importantly, this experience has shown them what works and what doesn’t.
This is why they chose SPEL. They know our mission can deliver fantastic outcomes for children.
63 High Street Wimbledon SW19 5EE