A baby and toddler class in Swindon is in the running for a top national award.

Debutots, which is run by mum of three Jenni Saunders, from Haydon Wick, could receive the award from the country’s biggest parenting site Netmums.com when the winners are announced in June.

The class has been nominated for the award by the parents of children who attend on Monday mornings at Christ Church in Old Town.

It involves mums exploring new stories with their children through music, drama and play.

Jenni, who is mum to six-year-old Oscar, Sadie, four, and two-year-old Lottie, said: “It’s brill- iant to have been nominated, I was so pleased when I found out.

“People come and say they have enjoyed it but you never really know just how much they have enjoyed it, so for people to have taken the trouble to vote is really nice.”

The class will now go through to the final national vote, with winners announced on June 21.

“I used to work at Nationwide but I have a drama degree and I always wanted to be involved in that in some way,” she said.

“Initally I had just intended to take my children to the class but then I saw that there wasn’t one near us, so I decided to buy into the franchise. It has been going for three and a half years now and I haven’t looked back once.

“I really enjoy it – I work with children from six months up to seven years old so it’s a wide range of ages and it is just lovely to see them engaging in different ways.

“I wouldn’t say any of the age groups are difficult, they all pose different challenges. With the little babies, they can’t interact in the same way so you have to find different ways of getting them to join in and we have a lot more going on with bubbles and puppets.

“With the older children it is a bit more flexible, I can let them go with their imagination.”

Last year more than a million mums cast their votes as part of the awards. Voting is open until June 17. Go to the Wiltshire section of Netmums.com to vote.

Netmums founder Siobhan Freegard said: “All the evidence shows that fun pre-school activities help kids blossom and give parents fun time too. That’s why we wanted to celebrate all they have to offer with these awards.

“Local mums and dads will be delighted to know Swindon has some of the best classes in the country.”

For more information, contact Jenni Saunders on 01793 325785 jenni@debutots.co.uk