Vandana Gandhi becomes the first Indian woman to receive Dubai Government’s excellence awardfor her consistent contribution in the pre-school education space 

·         Pre-school chain keen on starting India operations soon 

·         First company in the schooling sector, led and managed by 100% women workforce honored for its excellence, innovation and contribution to UAE’s economic development

·         Nursery’s “Child for Child” program supports orphans in India‎ and internationally

 

Ms. Vandana Gandhi, Founder and CEO of UAE’s largest Nursery chain, British Orchard Nursery, makes India proud by becoming the first ever Indian woman to receive Dubai Government’s highly coveted Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business (MRM) Award for business excellence and outstanding achievements. This is the first time in the history of these awards that a woman entrepreneur has received such a distinguished honor. British Orchard Nursery becomes the 1st in schooling sector run by an almost 100 percent women workforce, which makes this award all the more desirable. The 8th cycle of GCC wide Business Performance program recognized the nursery chain's contribution to UAE’s economic development and commitment to quality.

 

The Nursery chain plans to foray into international market including India through franchising and joint venture partnerships. Commenting about the India plans, Vandana Gandhi, CEO and Founder, British Orchard Nursery chain says, “We have plans to bring our unique curriculum to India and are certainly looking for suitable partners who can become part of our growth story in India. With more Indian women joining the working population, we are optimistic that our model will be successful here too. Through our franchise partners, we intend to simulate the same quality and excellence standards”. 

Vandana Gandhi, the woman behind the initiative is enthusiastic about this and has been recognized at multiple platforms for her consistent contribution in the pre-school education space. She elaborates, “Striving to outperform, we have created a robust measurement based teaching model that demonstrates an outstanding curriculum linked to children's assessments”.  

On winning the recent award, she says, “I am humbled and honored to receive this prestigious award. This is no mean feat for the nursery service industry sector, especially when we have to deal with the sensitivities of human emotions. Handling little children and laying the foundation for greater future achievements is a challenging but rewarding task. Awards like these reinforce our faith and commitment towards the cause of providing quality pre-school education. We as a team are proud of our achievements and all this has become possible because of the support of the UAE Government and the leadership of rulers which provides a very conducive environment for business success”. 

British Orchard Nursery is involved in various charity initiatives in UAE as well as in India. The BON 'Child for Child program' supports the poor, needy and orphan children internationally.  For every child who gets educated in UAE, a needy child is supported. 

About Vandana Gandhi: Vandana is a versatile personality with varied interests in Calligraphy, Yoga, Scriptural Studies, Squash, Table Tennis etc, other than creating stimulating surroundings and interesting concepts for the young minds. A Masters in Education with distinction, she is currently perusing Doctorate of Education from University of Birmingham, U.K.

She has won numerous leadership and excellence awards such as GR8 woman award, Feigenbaum excellence, Emirates Woman and Women in Leadership awards for her outstanding achievements.Having done a bit of her schooling in Dubai, she completed her Bachelor’s degree from Mithibai College, Mumbai and thereafter took Post Graduate Diploma in International Business Administration from NMIMS University, Mumbai. One could easily accolade Vandana, for bringing in a lot of new concepts and innovation to the idea of preschool education in UAE. She Introduced and conceptualized first of its kind ‘GymJuniorz’, a child’s Gym and Fitness center, to be incorporated within the curriculum. She also introduced the idea of Corporate Franchising to successfully run and operate a work place nursery for children of women employees of various UAE Government departments. She enjoys traveling and experiencing different cultures and is committed to make a difference in the society by ensuring that the children at her nursery grow as competent and confident learners.  

About British Orchard Nursery:British Orchard Nursery is the Middle East's largest nursery chain to be ISO 14001, 18001 and ISO 9001:2008 quality certified. Dedicated to helping children reach their highest potential, British Orchard Nursery is a well-established nursery chain, holding a reputation for excellence and a deep commitment to developing young minds. Their passion for providing quality care and education is evident in their success and increasing number of branches. The nursery now occupies 14 sites across the UAE, with branches in Bur Dubai, Jumeirah, Dubai Silicon Oasis, and Dubai Media City, JBR (Dubai Marina, RTA, Dubai Women’s College,Deira, DEWA, Dubai Municipality, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi (AlNahyan, & Al Bateen) and ADCO. Over the years it has become a well-trusted centre of excellence in UAE for early years’ education. It follows British National Early Years Curriculum, with the addition of structure and progression, whilst still adhering to OFSTED (The British regulatory body) guidelines.   

The Nursery chain has won numerous awards over the years including a Dubai Quality Appreciation Award (DQAA) as well as Dubai Human Development Appreciation Award (DHDAA) 2014. Having highly trained staff and fantastic facilities, the nursery caters to children from 6 months to 4+ years. Remarkably, the many facilities include an extensive gym and fitness centre specially designed for juniors, developing healthy practices through their “Gym-Juniorz” program, expertly promoting children's strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, self-confidence and self-esteem. The curriculum is planned to meet the needs of each child as an individual, ensuring that all seven areas of learning are interlinked throughout the day, providing in-depth and fulfilling learning experiences for children to explore, create, discover and study. The nursery provides extended care for children through their afternoon apple's club and also fun filled and stimulating experiences at their holiday camps.