A NEW preschool and nursery at Knaphill was born out of the frustration of one of its founders in being unable to find early years childcare for her autistic son.

Steph Middleton used that experience to set up Wonderbloom with Sammy Rogers.

Steph, who is the business manager, also drew on skills learned while running an award-winning childcare recruitment business.

Sammy, who is the nursery manager, has worked in childcare for seven years, starting as an apprentice and moving up to management roles and has a BA (Hons) degree in early education.

She told the News & Mail that speech therapy is a main focus of Wonderbloom, which takes children aged 18 months to five years at its premises in Knaphill Methodist Church.

“It’s embedded within our daily routine for all children to benefit from,” Sammy said.

“We have a speech therapist who helps all the children and also does one-to-one and small group work with those who require additional speech and language input.

“Steph and I decided to open our own nursery to make sure nobody gets left behind.

“All our staff are Makaton trained,” she added, referring to the language system that uses signs, speech and symbols to help young children with communication difficulties.

“We are inspired by the Montessori way and Curiosity Approach and have our own sensory room.”

Sammy said there are currently four members of staff in addition to her and Steph, and more will be recruited as the nursery grows.

“We have places for children but are filling up pretty quickly. We’ve had a lot of enquiries and registrations,” she added.

* FOR more information, visit www.wonderbloom.co.uk, email [email protected], or call 01483 904902.