4 – 18 months
Fireflies
Twelve babies, four staff. Sleep and feeds on your routine, not ours.
1:3ratio
A converted villa with four small rooms, a shaded garden used every single day, and food cooked in our own kitchen. You will know every member of staff by name inside a fortnight.
We had the space to take ninety children and chose not to. Four rooms means a key person actually knows your child's routine, and it means the garden is never a rota.
Our staff have been here an average of seven years, which in this city is unusual and is the single thing we are proudest of.
Children move up when they are ready, not on their birthday.
Twelve babies, four staff. Sleep and feeds on your routine, not ours.
First words, first steps outside, and a lot of very messy painting.
Potty training done gently and on the child's timetable, plus early phonics songs.
FS1 preparation: name writing, sitting for a story, and packing your own bag.
Pick a room. If the nursery is open right now, the current activity is marked.
Handover at the door with your child's key person, and a note of how the night went.
Whatever your routine is at home. We do not push a nursery schedule onto a baby.
Shaded garden, water tray, and treasure baskets on the mat when it is too hot.
Cooked here, blended to the right stage. Cots in a separate darkened room.
Small groups on the floor with instruments, mirrors and a lot of repetition.
A proper tea at four, then quiet play until collection. Photos sent before you arrive.
Rooms set up before anyone arrives so there is always something to walk into.
Everyone at the table. Toddlers pour their own water, which goes about as well as you would expect.
The longest outdoor block of the day, before the heat.
Paint, dough, water beads. Spare clothes are not optional at this age.
Hot lunch cooked here, then mats down. Non-sleepers get quiet books instead.
Books, puzzles, and the first attempts at sharing.
Second garden session as it cools, then collection.
Children find their own name card and put it on the board. It is the first bit of school.
Weather, days of the week, and who is here today.
Twenty focused minutes, then activities that use the same sounds.
Climbing, balance beams, obstacle courses, and a great deal of running.
Lunch served at tables, then a short rest with an audiobook.
Whatever the half-term topic is, plus a book each to take home on Thursdays.
Free choice until collection, with the day's work laid out for you to see.
“Her key person noticed she was left-handed before we did. That is the level of attention you are paying for.”
“Same faces at drop-off for two years. In Dubai nurseries that is almost unheard of.”
“He started FS1 able to write his name and carry his own bag. They had clearly been practising for months.”
We only do look-arounds during the day, with children in the rooms. An empty nursery tells you nothing.