Four aspiring apprentices at Kids Planet have now received their prizes for winning their ‘Apprentice of the Year’ awards for 2021. The celebrated Apprentices all received a giant cheque with the prize of £250.

The Kids Planet apprentices are from settings Hoylake, Trafford City, Southport and Poulton.

Gill Mason, Head of the Kids Planet Training Academy in Knutsford, said:

‘Apprentices are an excellent route into employment and bring a wealth of talent to Kids planet Day Nurseries.

‘Through these Apprentice Awards, our Academy wanted to recognise and celebrate our outstanding Early Years apprentices journey’s across all ages and levels. It was a difficult job to choose from the many truly wonderful nominations so I’d like to say a huge congratulations to our winners.’

The winners are as follows:

Outstanding Contribution

Hannah Dedenscuck – Kids Planet Hoylake

Lisa Taylor, nursery manager at Kids Planet Hoylake, said:

‘Hannah is a passionate and enthusiastic practitioner. She is dedicated to providing the best care and learning opportunities for our children.

‘She puts her heart and soul into her activities and always bases them around the children’s interests often thinking outside the box. We are so proud of how far she has come in just over a year of being with us. Hannah came for an interview with no childcare experience and is now a competent nursery practitioner.’

Rising Star

Elisha Lea – Kids Planet Southport

Elishia is a very confident and knowledgeable practitioner and demonstrates a good understanding of the children she supports. Elishia has recently stepped up in the absence of her room leader, showing her ability in the role, and received a special mention from Ofsted.

Resilience

Jessica Williams – Kids Allowed Trafford City

Jessica started the apprenticeship at 16 and focused on becoming a strong integral team member. Jessica’s manager always praises her amazing contribution as a team member and practitioner and has also highlighted how Jessica’s confidence has developed greatly.

Lisa Brindley, Manager at Trafford City, said: “Jessica is a ray of sunshine, always willing to help and support her team. She goes above and beyond for her key children and always works so hard to give hundred percent in all that she does.”

Newcomer of the Year

Hannah Wilkinson – Kids Planet Poulton

Feedback was that Hannah is enthusiastic and really wants to do well and very focused, which is lovely to see in a young apprentice. She is very particular and very aware that she is a role model to the children and other young apprentices. She is dedicated to her role, the nursery and the children and families.