Deerness Valley Nursery

About this day nursery

Deerness Valley Nursery School offers a nurturing Christian education with a strong emphasis on outdoor learning, believing that play in a natural environment greatly benefits children's development. The nursery is relocating to Oak Field, Aldin Grange, Bearpark, and encourages prospective families to visit in person once the new site is ready to experience its special atmosphere.

They are open 48 weeks a year and do not offer term-time only spaces, stretching government funding to cover their open weeks. The nursery operates with a mixed-age approach where all children play and learn together, although they assign children to 'rooms' for organisational purposes, which are not physical spaces but rather a way to manage availability for different age groups (under 2s not walking, under 2s walking, two-year-olds, and three-year-olds and over).

Their curriculum integrates play, work, projects, and activities that often involve walks in the forest. Inside, resources are primarily natural and open-ended, focusing on wood toys and creativity over plastic and extensive screen time.

Daily activities include shared meals, often prepared in collaboration with the children, and a short group activity tailored to the children's age and stage, incorporating singing, counting, listening, and playing instruments. They also incorporate age-related responsibilities like gardening and chicken care in their 'Work' curriculum.

Meals are planned to meet nutritional needs and developed with children on a rolling menu.

Our ethos

Deerness Valley Nursery School provides a nurturing, Christian education centred on outdoor learning, promoting children's development through play in natural environments. Their curriculum integrates play, work, and projects, often involving forest walks, with a focus on natural, open-ended resources over plastic and screen time. They utilise a mixed-age approach, encouraging children to play and learn together.

What it's like

Children feel safe and secure and quickly become immersed in exciting activities, such as hunting for insects in the garden. They behave very well, sharing and taking turns, and show confidence and independence as they explore the range of activities and resources available. Lunchtimes are social occasions where children and staff sit together, with older children caring towards younger ones.

Pricing & funding

From September 2023 we are changing the timings of our nursery day. We will have two core sessions a day. These core sessions can be paid for using government funding for two, three or four year olds. The core sessions are: Morning 0900 to 1200 Afternoon 1300 to 1600 In these core sessions Educators will be leading learning, providing activities, observing learning, playing with children, providing support and additional activities for children with Speech and Language programmes. We will explore and deliver all aspects of our curriculum – Play, Work, Projects, and “About” (often walks in the forest). There will always be at least one Qualified Teacher present in these sessions. We will also be offering wrap around sessions for families who need their child to be at nursery longer. The wrap around sessions are:​ Early start 0730 – 0800 Breakfast 0800 – 0900 Lunch 1200 – 1300 Tea 1600 – 1700 Later finish 1700 – 1730 The Breakfast and Tea sessions will have a focus on the Work aspect of our curriculum, giving children the age-related responsibilities to help an adult with Gardening, Chicken Care, Laundry, and Kitchen tasks that might be cooking related or could be emptying the dishwasher. There will  be time and space to play. In the Lunch session will sit together and share a meal cooked at nursery by children and adults. The whole nursery day looks like this: We are open 48 weeks a year, and do not offer term time only spaces. We stretch funding to cover the weeks we are open. Click here to see our calendars - 2022 to 2023,2023 - 2024 Early Start 0730 - 0800 Breakfast 0800 - 0900 Includes a meal Morning 0900 - 1200 Lunch 1200 - 1300 Afternoon 1300 - 1600 Tea 1600 - 1700 Includes a meal Late Finish 1700 - 1730 We are mixed age and all play and learn in the same space, but to help us organise our availability we assign children to a "room". These "rooms" are not physical rooms, but instead ways to make sure we have enough space for our children and each room has its own private rate price. Please get in touch for the latest prices.