Irish operator, Tiger Childcare launched in London this week, opening its first childcare centre in Elephant & Castle.

The 7,000 sq ft centre is located in Elephant Park and will welcome 120 children from 4 months to 12 years. The operator aims to make learning a fun and memorable experience for the children with its two large partially covered outdoor play areas, sensory rooms, dedicated crawl spaces and sleeping pods.

Tigers Childcare was conceived in 2003 by former resource teacher Karen Clince in response to demand for high quality after-school provision for children of working parents in and around Dublin. Over the last 17 years it has grown to include full day care and pre-school provision for children aged 4 months and up.

Currently, over 1,250 children are looked after by Tigers Childcare across 13 centres. All senior staff at Tigers Childcare have degree qualifications with the remainder qualified in early-years care and education.

Karen is one of only 50 people in Ireland trained in the world-renowned ITERS and ECERS scales. Speaking about the launch, Karen stated:

‘We want to provide something that’s unique in the UK when it comes to childcare quality and family experience. Much more than a childcare service, Tigers Childcare brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the UK market using the latest in research and thinking. We provide holistic, child-centred, individualised care for every child that is regularly audited and evaluated against international childcare standards.

‘Tigers Childcare views parents as the primary educators of their children and treats them as partners in their service. Building trust with parents within the community is very important. Each child is allocated a key worker who’s responsible for the child’s developmental path. Parents receive daily updates and monthly learning stories on their child’s progress and a plan for the path ahead.’