Claylands Nursery is a safe haven, well away from traffic, rivers, fumes or houses, set in extensive secure paddocks and gardens for the children to enjoy.
The Nursery is located on a non-working farm in purpose- built farm steadings. We keep small animals for the children to care for. The children are outside taking advantage of the space, freedom and countryside environment. There is a hard area for gross motor skills as well as high quality equipment to encourage imaginative and physical play.
We have specialist fully qualified teams in our baby room, toddler room and pre-school room. Our mature, qualified staff are long-term and we have a very good reputation locally for the quality of our staff and management.
Our Nursery Cook/housekeeper makes all home cooked meals and snacks/baking, from scratch daily. This a better experience for the children, who eat home cooking in a relaxed and homely environment.
The children are able to use the garden as an extension of the nursery playroom, taking their activities and snacks outside. Outdoor play has been proved in so many studies to be best for children’s development, and at Claylands we provide more space and freedom to explore than other nurseries can.
We have a mini-beast garden, a composting garden, and many opportunities to explore and experience nature.
Pre School Funding
Claylands Nursery is now able to provide 1140 free hours of childcare a year for children over 3 living in Edinburgh and the Lothians.
2020-2021 Nursery Goals
As part of our Partnership with Edinburgh City Council each year we choose priorities to develop the Nursery. This year we are excited to be offering outdoor only spaces for a number of preschoolers. We have established our forest area in the garden, we plan to further develop this. We have an aspiring Level 8 qualified Outdoor Leader – This will further enhance our provision. We continuously undertake further staff development in Forest School philosophies. We have established our raised beds and plan to grow more produce in the nursery garden with the children for the cook to use in the nursery kitchen.
Care Inspectorate Report
The Nursery last inspection in July 2019 awarded ‘good’ grades in every area. Parent feedback was outstandingly positive and praised all aspects of the care we provide.