Our Team
Meet our team of experienced practitioners and support staff
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Forest Kindergarten teacher
Early Years Practitioner
Early Years Practitioner
Ethos & Education
At Newington Nursery we are committed to providing:
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An environment where all children feel safe, nurtured and included.
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A stimulating national curriculum; Providing breadth and variety of learning through play.
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Support and challenge, to help each child achieve their full potential and become confident and successful learners.
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A shared community where parents feel welcomed and involved.
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A committed team of friendly, experienced and qualified Early Years Practitioners.
Newington Nursery School, based in Mayfield Salisbury Church is situated in the heart of the Newington/Grange area of South Edinburgh and offers exceptional pre-school childcare obtaining a very good rating in our last inspection from the Care inspectorate
Curriculum
At Newington Nursery we strive to have happy children who thoroughly enjoy their nursery experience. The children’s learning and development is fostered by the whole team however each child has a key worker, overseen by the nursery Manager. The day’s activities are thoughtfully structured to support and challenge each child to reach their full potential and become confident successful learners.
As appropriate to the child's age and stage of development and following national guidance, our curriculum will be guided by: Realising the Ambition: Being me: National Practice Guidance on Early Learning and Childcare (Scottish Government 2014): GIRFEC (Getting it right for every child) and Curriculum for Excellence: early level (Scottish Government)
With the child at the centre, the Nursery curriculum covers eight areas of learning:
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Health and Wellbeing
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Literacy
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Numeracy
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Expressive Arts
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Social Studies
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Religious and Moral Education
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Science
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Technologies
Daily Routine
8.15-9am: We open the doors to welcome the children at 8.15am and serve breakfast between 8.15 and 9am. Children are offered cereal, toast and fresh fruit.
9.10am: We have a short group time on the carpet to take the register, talk about the day and date, weather outside and allocate the days snack helper and line leader
9.20-11.30am: Free flow play indoor or outdoor
10.00- 11am: Rolling healthy snack will be on offer. We follow the setting the table guidance and children will be offered a carbohydrate, bagel, oatcakes etc. 2-3 fruits or veg daily and dairy or dairy alternative, cream cheese, cheese, yogurt etc.
11.30-11.45am: Little tidy up – we encourage our children to be responsible citizens looking after their nursery resources by having a little tidy up during the nursery day.
11.45am: The children spend time with their key working doing small group activities in numeracy, literacy, story reading, song and dance.
12-12.45pm: Hand washing and lunchtime. The children bring a cold packed lunch and eat lunch as a group. This helps with their social skills and can often help encourage children to try new foods if they see their friends eating them.
12.20pm: Home time for our children who are only with us in the morning.
12.45-1.45pm: Free flow play both Indoor and outdoor.
1.45-2pm: Tidy up time
2-2.30pm: Story and games time.
2.30pm: Home Time
Activities
Baking – Led by Mrs Mcmillan – weekly baking sessions with small groups on rotation. Children prepare healthy bakes to serve for snack.
French – Led by Ms Ivic who also runs the nursery at the French institute in Edinburgh.
Spanish - Led by Ms Villena, weekly sessions to introduce children to Spanish covering colours, numbers and song.
Forest Kindergarten – Children are offered a six week block of weekly trips to the forest, with no additional charge to families.
Allotment – Led by Ms Thomson Children are given the opportunity to spend time in our allotment, growing fresh produce which they then cook and eat in nursery, learn about the cycle of life and how to care for living things.
Art – led by Ms Oliver, the children have free access to art materials daily but also take part in special craft projects through out the year to celebrate, festivals and events in the calendar.
Fees & Funding
Newington Nursery is a partner provider and can apply for 1140 hours of funding per year on your behalf from the local authority from the term after your child’s third birthday.
Our academic calendar provides the full 1140 hours to our children meaning that if we claim the full entitlement from the local authority we are free at source.
If you choose to use your funding elsewhere or take a place prior to being eligible for funding our current rate is £6.03 per hour which is in line with the local authority funding we receive.
Testimonials
I couldn't recommend Newington Nursery enough!
My daughter came from another nursery in February 2019 and we noticed how quickly she settled in with her new practitioners and her new friends. The staff are absolutely fabulous, very friendly, patient and you can tell they really care about the children.
They offer various incredible activities, like gardening, Spanish and French, yoga... My first child loved going there and it's the same for my second kid.
I also appreciate the small number of children (24) and the fact that the preschool welcomes a large number of children from different countries. This diversity allows children to learn about different cultures and to be attentive to others and to learn tolerance from an early age.
