A NEW school is to open in Honley.

Former headteacher Susan Jones and her IT consultant husband Martin, from Holmfirth, have set up the Honley Day Care and Pre-preparatory School at Queen Square Business Park off Huddersfield Road.

The centre, which starts its sessions on January 4, will take children from birth up to five years of age.

There are also plans to gain independent school status, which will allow children to stay there until the age of seven.

There are 50 places at the centre and rolls are starting to fill up.

The centre will be open 52 weeks a year and Susan, who has been teaching for 11 years, will teach children aged three to five.

She will also monitor the development of the younger children and manage the centre.

She recently gave up her job as a primary school headteacher in Sheffield to pursue her new venture.

She said it is unusual to have a teacher on-site at a day care centre.

Susan said: "Usually, the nursery nurses deliver the foundation stage curriculum and just get advice from a teacher.

"Having a teacher on site is why we can call ourselves a school. This is uncommon.

"For me, it is very similar to being a headteacher, because my role is to ensure the staff are recruited properly and fulfil their roles, that parents are communicated with and that children develop."

Also working at the centre will be Susan's mother, a registered childminder, who will help with the children and provide home-cooked food for the youngsters.

There will also be a deputy manager, a senior nursery nurse and nursery nurses working at the centre.

Martin is a director at the centre and the person registered with Ofsted.

However, he will leave the running of the centre to his wife and will continue his work as an IT consultant.

The couple began planning their new venture two years ago.

They spent a lot of time researching and designing the building, which was completed six months ago.

Susan designed all the furniture herself and had it custom made.

She said: "It's all wood. There's self-servicing units, which means the children can access things themselves. There are different areas and different sized things for different aged children. There's also a large shared area for group activities. It's unique and very modern.

"We tailor things to the children's and parents' requirements. The quality of education and standard of the place is what makes us different really.

"There are lots of really good day care centres in Honley but we saw a gap in the market for what we do."

Contact www.honleydaycare.co.uk or the Kirklees Council Children's Information Service on 01484 223041.