An outstanding Jewish nursery based at Muswell Hill Synagogue and adored by the community is being saved from the brink. Yeladenu nursery, which has an “outstanding” Ofsted rating, was set to close in July at the end of the summer term due to low numbers and the retirement of its founder and headteacher of 20 years, Helen Style. However, parents were so upset at the prospect of losing the nursery that they rallied together to save it and came up with a proposal that they presented to the management committee and which caught the attention of early years expert Michelle Levene.
Alongside local mother-of-two Rachel Brahams, Levene will bring the nursery back as Gan on the Hill in September, offering longer hours all year round to enable wrap-around care for children of working parents and extending the service to children under the age of two. Michelle was devastated to hear that another Jewish nursery was closing. “I just felt that this can't happen,” she said.
“We need Jewish nursery schools. They can’t just die – we have to make sure they continue.” Rachel Brahams, who is delighted that the nursery at Muswell Hill Synagogue will remain open for her daughter (Photo: Rachel Brahams) Rachel, whose four-year-old son Rafi attended Yeladenu for two years, and whose three older stepchildren also attended, had planned for her 11-month-old baby to have the same experience as his big brother.
“I absolutely love it,” she said. “It's a really magical place that Hel.
