Airdrie Nursery

Kirktonholme Airdrie was opened in January 2018, making it Kirktonholme’s 10th nursery. We are lucky to be located in a beautiful residential area, yet still only 1 mile from Airdrie town centre and less than 3 miles to the M8 with links directly to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Our nursery is registered for 53 children from birth to school age.

Our vision is to provide high-quality care and education for all children in a safe, secure and nurturing environment, where all children are encouraged to learn skills for life and are involved in developing the setting by looking inwards, outwards and forwards.

We have created a home-from-home environment, where our families feel welcomed and included. The children are at the centre of all that we do, and we aim to provide and cultivate learning and development. All of our staff are passionate about embedding our vision in all that they do. Our team is constantly on a mission to improve themselves, either working towards their HNC as one of our trainee practitioners, continuing their career development through training for their level 4 or studying for a BA in childhood practice while working at the nursery also.

Our Baby cottage, the Fern room hosts our children from birth to the age of two and is registered for 12 children. The Cottage has only been completed in January of 2020, we decided to purpose build a space for our babies to allow us to create the perfect environment in which they can relax and feel at home. The room is flooded with natural light and provides ample floor space for crawling and toddling. It also boasts cosy areas for a cuddle, to read a book and allow for calm times. The children of the fern room have access to their own garden, designed to allow the babies to explore the outdoors in a safe and secure environment, filled with exciting opportunities for developing and learning. We also have lie flat prams and encourage outdoor sleeping.

The children then transition into our Thistle room, which holds 12 children from the ages of 2 years to 3 years. This playroom has three main areas: a cosy carpeted space, which we have transformed into a sensory den where children can relax, read stories and investigate the loose parts play. The second area is set up for more messy play with our tuff spot and home corner where children are encouraged to cook with real food and explore their senses. From this room the children have free flow access to the front garden which is used as an extension to the playroom in all weathers. Within these playrooms we follow the national guidance document ’Pre-Birth to Three: Positive Outcomes for Scotland’s Children and Families’. This document supports staff in identifying the four Key Principles of Rights of the Child, Relationships, Responsive Care and Respect.

Our heather room is a bright playroom with three indoor spaces and free flow access to the back garden. Within this playroom, we begin to introduce the Curriculum for Excellence, which each child will continue to follow all through their school career. Within this room, we encourage the children to become more independent by providing opportunities such as a make your own playdough station, self-service at snack and lunch and more challenging and risky play. The back garden is a huge learning environment all on its own. At the bottom of the garden, we have incorporated some values of forest school and left the wildflowers to bloom and trees to grow. We also have a stone fire pit which can be used under supervision by a qualified member of staff. Within the garden, we have a climbing frame that sits high amongst the trees with a large slide. Children are encouraged to explore this area, learning how to balance taking risks and staying safe. On the top section of the garden, we have a covered area which the children use for outdoor creative activities, a reading corner and small world play.