Plans announced for bilingual nursery next to zoo

A new bilingual nursery could be built next to a zoo in Leicestershire.

Early plans have been submitted to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council to build a nursery next to Twycross Zoo, near Norton-Juxta-Twycross, for 42 children aged from three months to school age.

The plans would see a nursery block built on the site including a home education building and a kitchen, located near the zoo's entrance.

The centre is set to be run by a small business which already operates two other nurseries in North West Leicestershire.

The nursery will see children spoken to in Spanish and English by staff members, and be encouraged to use both languages when they are ready.

If approved, the new centre will be the third bilingual nursery run by sisters Stacey Dean, Kerry Goodacre and Rachel Barsby-Robinson.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Dean confirmed that plans were still in the early stages.

She said: "It's a family-run business and we were not planning to open any more nurseries, but with the demand we've experienced, we want to be able to serve more families."

Dean said plans would see the children visit the zoo most days as part of the experience.

A spokesperson for Twycross Zoo said: "As a conservation education charity, Twycross Zoo is always exploring new ways to connect children and families with nature, wildlife and outdoor learning

"We are currently looking at a number of potential future opportunities across our site, including early years learning, which we believe could align strongly with our wider educational and conservational mission."

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