As we reflect on the past year, we’re filled with pride and gratitude for the incredible journey we’ve shared with our amazing team and the wonderful families who entrust us with their children’s care at Bumbles.
2024 presented a year of ongoing challenges for the childcare industry. As a ratio driven Day Care, navigating rising costs, staff absences and recruitment challenges, and increasing regulations proved to be a formidable task. We adapted to changing circumstances, implemented cost-saving measures, prioritised financial support schemes for families, and improved flexible staffing solutions to ensure employee retention whilst maintaining a stable and nurturing environment for our young learners.
Welcoming New Families
We continue to remain steadfast in our mission, continually striving to provide exceptional care and support to the families we serve. We have seen a huge shift in enquiry requests and families seeking fewer days of attendance which in itself presents challenges, but we continue to adapt.
We’re thrilled to have welcomed 68 new children into our nurturing settings and environments this year. Each child brings unique joy and energy, and we’re committed to providing them with the highest quality care, fun and new learning experiences each day at Bumbles.
A Thriving Team
The Bumbles Team is the heart of our daycare, and we’re incredibly proud of their dedication and passion. This year, we welcomed 16 new individuals to our team, 2 of whom had previously started their Childcare careers with Bumbles and have now returned – we have been delighted to welcome them back.
Additionally, we’ve had the honor of celebrating 5 promotions within our team. Internal promtions included a Manager role, a second Senior Coordinator, two new Coordinators (Group lead) and a Senior Practitioner. These promotions reflect their hard work, expertise, and unwavering dedication to provide the best possible care for our children.
In the summer, we welcomed 2 new Managers from other Day Care settings, initially to cover 2 existing Manager’s Maternity leave. We are excited to have a further 2 managers on board and eager to watch our Senior Team evolve in 2025!
We also extend our warmest congratulations to five team members who this year embarked on new chapters in their lives. Now on maternity leave, we are overjoyed to share in their happiness as they welcomed their precious little bundles of joy into the world.
Team Training & Qualifications
We congratulated those who became Qualified Practitoners this year having successfully completed their Level 3 Childcare Learning & Development (CCLD) or Level 3 Playwork. This demonstrates their dedication and commitment to providing the highest quality early years education. We are excited for a further 9 team members who are currently undertaking their Level 3 course and 3 others who are progressing their Level 5 into next year.
Special thanks go to our Manager Seanna, who has successfully acquired accredited CPD certification status for Bumbles Day Care. Seanna has been working hard on compiling training material for the delivery of Level 2 Safeguarding and Child Protection in-house at Bumbles. This is mandatory training that all of our team must attend. We look forward to seeing how Bumbles Training Academy grows and develops in 2025.
There have been many other courses attended during this year including Food Safety, Paediatric First Aid, Fire Warden training, SENCO and Solihull training. We encourage our team to identify relevant training, that they feel would add value to Bumbles’ day to day operations and their own continuing professional development.
Childcare Careers
As we move forward, we remain committed to attracting and nurturing talented individuals who share our passion for early childhood development. We believe that by offering industry-leading salaries, opportunities to progress, unique perks like our driver incentive bonus (after 6 months), in-house massages, personalised recognition Birthday vouchers from Bumbles Director, Patsy, we can continue to create a supportive and professional environment in which to work and many opportunities to pursue a rewarding career path at Bumbles. This commitment to our employees, we hope will allow us to continue to attract and retain top talent, ensuring that Bumbles remains a leading provider of early years care and education. View our Careers page here.
Parent Support
We are proud to support our parents financially through schemes like the Northern Ireland Childcare Subsidy Scheme and the Bright Horizons Workplace Scheme. These initiatives help alleviate the financial burden of childcare costs. While there is increased administrative requirements associated with these schemes, we remain committed to facilitating this support for our families. We believe that by providing access to these subsidies, we are not only supporting individual families but also contributing to the overall economic well-being of our community. Whilst out of our control, we hope that the NICSS continues throughout 2025 until a more robust child care strategy is introduced and adopted in Northern Ireland.
BHSCT and Environmental Health Inspections
Every year, our settings are inspected by both the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and Environmental Health. These visits can happen at any time and whilst we await for our Rosetta Wraparound setting to be inspected, we have successfully completed the inspections in Bumbles’ 4 other settings. Once our reports have been shared we will link them to our website.
Each setting is inspected based on the 16 minimum standards under 4 headings:
- Quality of care
- Quality of staffing, management and leadership
- Quality of the physical environment
- Quality of monitoring and evaluation
We are pleased to report that all Bumbles settings have all achieved a 5 Star Food Hygiene rating.
This rating is based on:
- Food hygiene and safety – how hygienically the food is handled – how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored.
- Structure – the condition of the structure of the buildings – the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities.
- Confidence in management – how the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe, such as using a fully completed safe catering pack or equivalent, the previous history of compliance in the business and staff training.
Investing in Sustainability and our Environments
In line with our commitment to environmental responsibility, we made a significant investment by purchasing our first electric car for school pick-ups. This eco-friendly initiative aligns with our values and demonstrates our dedication to creating a more sustainable future for our children.
Our settings benefit from continued year round maintenance and investment in new projects which improve our environments. Some projects bigger than others! This year we undertook the following:
- Relocation of our HQ office and reconfiguring our entrance / kitchen area
- Installation of an outdoor bathroom at HQ
- Installation of a door entry system at HQ
- Installation of 7 new double glazed windows at HQ
- Creating a new bugging park at HQ
- Reopening and installation of 2 new double glazed windows in Bumbles in the Park
- Dismantling a large shed from HQ, reimagining it as a children’s outdoor den / Look Out and relocating at Bumbles on the Hill
- Outdoor areas extended and improved at Bumbles on the Hill
- Improved outdoor lighting in all settings
To the individuals who maintain and improve our settings whether that be hedge cutting, window cleaning, repairs, hanging our mood lighting or undertaking the bigger projects, we say Thank you. Thanks also to our suppliers and external agencies who we work with all year round.
Looking Ahead
As we close the chapter on 2024, we’re excited to embark on new adventures in 2025. We’re committed to fostering a nurturing environment where every child feels loved, valued, and empowered to reach their full potential.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to our dedicated team, supportive families, and wonderful children who make Bumbles a truly special place. Together, we’re creating a brighter future, one day at a time.