Member Article

Businesswoman swaps marketing for muddy good fun

Businesswoman swaps marketing for muddy good fun

A pioneering businesswoman from Sussex has opened a nursery school with a difference, following a radical career switch.

Tracey Poulton, from Billingshurst, had a high-flying career in marketing, working with many big household names. One campaign with DEFRA made a big impression on her. The government department was running an educational programme to help children understand where their food comes from.

Tracey said: “We would go around on a tour bus talking to children about food. It was shocking to find out how many children thought a cow had to be slaughtered for its milk, and when we asked children to draw a hen, they would draw chicken nuggets.”

When the campaign was axed Tracey was disappointed as she had seen the positive impact it had on young people. So she decided to buy the decommissioned bus and decided she wanted to use it to continue educating children in farming and the natural world.

A while later – and by sheer chance - Tracey stumbled on a house set in 33-acres up for sale. She bought this in 2009, renovated the house, and moved in in 2011. Knowing she wanted to open as an education centre, she decided to use the land a children’s nursery where the focus would be on outdoor learning and understanding the natural world.

Four years ago Tracey opened the farm gates to Natural Nurture, where the children spend 80 percent of their day outdoors - all year round.

The nursery is bio dynamic certified and organic with the meals the children eat being raised or grown on the farm. Tracey’s nursery is possibly the only one of its kind in England and she’s striving to make a difference and get people to understand the importance of getting children outside and back to nature.

The bus still stands in the grounds of the farmland and is used daily by the children. The nursery cares for children aged from two to five years old and numbers are continuing to grow. The setting also holds holiday clubs for children up to eight years old.

Tracey continued: “There are many elements that set us apart from other nurseries including our understanding of how being outside positively benefits mental health. We also work with an independent registered psychotherapist using her services as part of our offering as an educational practice. Everything we do is to benefit children and help families truly get the best start in life.”

For more information about Natural Nurture visit www.naturalnurture.org.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Harris .