School Improvement Award

This category is to celebrate a school that can demonstrate that it has improved significantly over the last 12 months.

It's perhaps easy for the high-flying schools to count off their successes in all areas. But it cannot be denied that some schools struggle for a variety of reasons.

But these schools are often where the hardest work is being carried out to make things better, and we want to hear about the schools which have done their best to improve, measurable over the past 12 months.

Perhaps a poor report from an inspector has been turned around, possibly there have been new initiatives put in place to encourage and engage students more fully. Whatever the manner in which a school has markedly turned around its fortunes over the course of a year, we want to hear about it.

There are many areas in which a school might measure its improvement - academic achievement, increased attendance, healthy living initiatives... this is a category in which most schools should be able to celebrate their achievements.

It could be a project or initiative which has brought significant improvements and, perhaps, involved the whole school.

Kinder Haven Ltd children's day nurseries is an award-winning Bradford based family business which was established in 2002.

From its beginnings with their first nursery in a converted pub on Sticker Lane, the company has grown to five nurseries creating over 416 childcare places for children aged from birth to five years old.

Kinder Haven has locations in Bradford's Wakefield Road, Sticker Lane, Westgate Hill and Halifax Road along with a site on Waterloo Road in Pudsey. The company has recently started development on its sixth new nursery in Horsforth on Wood Lane, which is set to open in spring 2015.

The business now employs 120 staff and looks after over 650 children from more than 500 families with most of it's nurseries awarded outstanding by OFSTED.

Kinder Haven was awarded the NDNA UK nursery of the year in 2008 and this year was the Day Nurseries top 10 nursery of the year, which is voted for by parents.

The company has a strong commitment to the learning and development of children and creating a skilled team of early educators to enhance children's achievements.

At Kinder Haven staff work in partnership with parents to support children's achievements and provide experiences for the best start in life, to enable children to build independence, freedom, self esteem and be prepared for school.

They continually strive to achieve high standards of care and to be the best at what they do, meeting the individual needs of each child in their care.

Kinder Haven have individual play rooms that are age appropriate, colourful, safe and attractive and they provide a variety of activities, in spacious surroundings to encourage children to learn, increase their abilities and explore.