Working with Mon Ami

Mon Ami is an award-winning small group of nurseries in Lincolnshire owned and run by Samantha Lunneman and her partner Jarrod Britton. The pair opened their first nursery in Swineshead near Boston in 2002 when they were unable to find high-quality childcare for their daughter Amelia.

Since then they have opened two more nurseries, in Boston and Alford. All three have been assessed as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted while Lincolnshire’s Birth to Five Service has given Mon Ami the highest possible grading for education and welfare.

The Mon Ami ethos is to provide a calm, homely, natural environment for children, encouraging them to take managed risks and learn from the objects that surround them. All three nurseries have recently been remodelled and redecorated to provide settings that have the ambience of a home from home rather than an educational or childcare institution.

Creative Partnerships at Fulbridge School

A creative arts project involving staff and reception children from Fulbridge Primary School in Peterborough and St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Grantham was led by Katie Smith of The Thinking Bridge and co-ordinated for the Creative Partnerships programme by The Mighty Creatives, the young people's creative development agency for the East Midlands. High/Scope training sessions were provided by Mary Barlow and Barbara Thomas at The Totem Pole, an early years training and resource centre based in Grantham.
Creative Partnerships was developed by the last Government in 2002 as a flagship programme to develop creative teaching and learning in English schools. The programme brings creative workers such as artists, architects and scientists into schools to work with teachers and to inspire young people and help them learn.

Fulbridge School is a National School of Creativity – one of only 56 in England – and its creative programme is managed by Creativity Culture and Education (CCE). Fulbridge Primary School was paired with St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Grantham and worked with The Totem Pole to introduce new creative experiences to the children.