The Nurture Nursery is our second attempt at settling Ayla (age 3) in a nursery and we couldn’t be happier. The previous one was much larger, and attached to a primary school. Unfortunately, Ayla didn’t take to it at all and became increasingly upset at the thought of going, so we withdrew her place.
The appearance of Covid made the idea of finding a new nursery, and with that, a whole set of new challenges on top, seem all the more daunting. After hearing that funded places were available at the Nurture Nursery, and hearing lots of positive reviews, I jumped at the chance to visit. From the moment we arrived in the amazing big front garden, I instantly felt at ease and breathed a sigh of relief that this would be a more positive nursery experience for Ayla. The number of kids in attendance was much lower and I got an immediate sense of family from the staff and kids there. It was easy to see that every child was getting one-to-one interaction and the staff knew their individual personalities so well.
The atmosphere is relaxed and the learning being led by the children was a breath of fresh air, allowing the kids to develop a sense of adventure outdoors. From daily slug counts to picking vegetables for lunch from the garden, they learn about nature in an exciting and interactive way. This aspect really appealed to me as I’m aware that Ayla is a true girly girl has always hated getting her hands dirty! Suddenly, that didn’t seem to matter to her and she was exploring the veg garden, spotting insects, or taking turns being pulled on a sledge down the garden. It makes me so proud to see how much she’s grown and flourished, even in her first few months there. I’m even happy that she’s come home on occasion with the obligatory scrapes and dirty clothes that comes with the best type of childhood.
I appreciate getting updates of her activities when I collect her each day – whether it’s painting, running around dancing and singing her favourite songs, or a day spent entirely outside enjoying the huge garden and making the most of the weather (rain or shine!).
Ayla attends the morning session and is therefore offered toast in the morning (which is great since it’s a struggle to get her to eat in the morning!) and a cooked lunch, prepared by the lovely chef, Rachel. Unfortunately, Ayla has a stubborn aversion to new foods but I’m still hopeful that she’ll eventually tuck in because the menu always sounds delicious! (I’ve seen first-hand Rachel’s freshly prepared profiteroles and can vouch that they look mouth-watering!)
I’d recommend to anyone the very aptly named Nurture Nursery, as I most definitely feel that all the children there are nurtured, while having fun learning early life skills, and making lots of friends. Even although Ayla is a Mummy’s girl and can be clingy at times, she is excited to go to nursery each day, which makes me one happy Mum!
