The Bank of Bermuda started up its childcare scheme near to its offices in Bermudiana Road in March last year in response to an employee survey which revealed that its staff wanted the provision of such facility.

The after-school facility is open to employees' children aged four to 11, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., with three bus services being laid on to pick them up from school, from as far afield as Heron Bay in Southampton to Harrington Sound in the east, and dropping them off at the centre.

There are currently 50 children on the programme, which is costs a nominal fee for employees, is run by a team of five staff and offers arts and crafts activities, a library and reading room and five PCs, as well as healthy snacks and refreshments, with a waiting list of other employees' children waiting to get on it.

"The Bank of Bermuda has a philosophy to become and remain the employer of choice here in Bermuda and we constantly looking to improve our services to employees and the issue of childcare has been one of the main issues that has been raised in the past," said Penny White, payroll and benefits manager at the Bank.

"Children were coming to the bank and sitting on the doorstep or in the office sitting with their parents, which we wished to discourage, so it was a good solution all round.

"The feedback has been great we did a feedback survey at the end of June and beginning of July last year shortly after we opened and wanted to ask their children what they thought about it and they said how excited they were with their programme."

Stuart McLeod, head of human resources, explained: "It alleviates pressure on parents because they have a central pick-up point from where they work.

"We are also working on a more formalised flexible working philosophy, particularly for people who have issues working around the early morning and evening.

"And it is a level playing field it is done on a first come, first served basis and not a business critical basis."

Ace has been one of the pioneers among Bermuda's business community in launching its own childcare initiative, with the initial idea of its nursery and preschool facility inspired by Nancy Duperreault, wife of former chairman Brian Duperreault, when it became clear that there was a great amount of stress being placed on parents trying to juggle family and work commitments, and they envisioned how a quality day-care facility would not only benefit Ace employees, but also the company, families, and, most importantly, the children.

Their aim was to create a work/life so employees could work hard without having to worry about their young children and a survey of employees overwhelmingly confirmed this rationale and, in September 1996, Ace established its childcare facility in property close to its global headquarters for children aged three months to five years old.The facility is open on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., with parents at Ace welcome to visit their children during the course of the working day and a dedicated mother's room, is also located at Ace's global headquarters.Day care is an important benefit to the company, parents and children as it provides:

l Well-trained childcare providers allowing peace of mind for employees knowing that their child is being looked after.

l Convenience of having a daycare facility next to the office and the ability to visit during the day.

l An important employee benefit to help in recruitment and retention of our employees.

When the facility officially opened almost 12 years ago there were four teachers, one administrator and 16 children, but today, approximately 12 qualified staff members look after 50 children, in four classes, and, although private, the Ace Nursery and Preschool actively encourages Government and child development officers to inspect their facilities, and to assess the children.

The Ace Nursery and Preschool curriculum is based on the internationally-recognised Baccalaureate programme, while the facility also operates a school van, specially fitted with toddler seats which can take groups of children on excursions. The facility also has a very active parents association.

The First Steps Association is a non-profit association that raises funds to help subsidise the extra activities provided by the Ace Nursery and Preschool including Kindermusic, Spanish lessons and a healthy lunch programme.

The promotion of an earth-friendly environment has been key to the facility, which has adopted a trash-free policy and recycling initiative, and, this year the school plans to introduce square-foot gardening to enable the children to learn about composting their food waste and growing herbs to use in their healthy lunches. On regular occasions the school participates in helping the community through food and clothing drives.

Last year the school decided to extend its outreach beyond the shores of Bermuda, with Mrs. Duperreault, who was involved with the Rafiki foundation, being able to offer it a medium through which to do its outreach, introducing the school to a pen pal Alice, a young child from Africa.