Once Upon a Time is a family run business. It was founded by Helen O'Neill in 1999 and it is now managed by Rob O'Neill, her son. Helen's aim was to create a truly home from home child care experience and provide bespoke, high quality care for children under 5. This philosophy defines everything we do today.
Being small allows us to be spontaneous about when and how we incorporate extra-curricular activities into our days. Our more rounded approach to learning helps give our children a fabulous start and prepare them fully for the years ahead.
My aim was simple; to create a home from home style nursery in a cosy and happy environment where caring, qualified staff would have the time to provide each child with the support and attention that they need and deserve.
Our ethos of being a home from home environment permeates everything we do. We want to know each child and each parent so we can ensure we are looking after your child in the best way – your way. We aim to make the transition from home to nursery as easy and stress free as possible for both the child and the parents and we pride ourselves on being one big family.
I attended Westbury Park Primary School and later moved on to Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital School in the centre of Bristol. I have a degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Birmingham and since university I studied to become a chartered accountant and spent 7 years working for PricewaterhouseCoopers as a specialist in performance improvement for a wide range of local and regional businesses.
Naturally, education and childcare has always been an important part of my life. My wife, Beccy, is Head of Science at a local secondary school and I have a son, Max, who was born in 2014 and a daughter, Edie, born in 2016. This only helps to reinforce my passion for education especially in the early years of a child’s life when the experiences they gain and the memories they make will change the way they live their lives forever. We are so proud to be trusted by so many parents to help develop their children in the best way possible.
Mission Statement
To create a truly home from home child care experience by offering bespoke, high quality and brilliant care for children under 5. To provide caring, safe, fun, happy and engaging environments conducive to active learning, promoting children’s development and helping each child to reach their full potential.
Toni has been working in day nurseries for over 10 years and has a GNVQ level 5 in management. Toni is wonderfully passionate and motivated and has brought lots of new ideas into the nursery, both as deputy manager and Cubs room leader and as manager. We are sure that Toni will continue to improve the nursery and further develop our offering to children and their families. We are proud and tremendously lucky to have someone of Toni's caliber leading our team here at Once Upon a Time.
Once Upon a Time provides a truly home from home experience for your child. Our highly qualified, fully trained and experienced childcare staff deliver brilliant quality, bespoke care for babies and toddlers while our fully qualified pre-school teachers work to prepare children for primary school.
