About Us
Our Philosophy
“What we want for all of our children is that they leave our nursery with a hunger to learn, that they can make friends in the playground at school, and that they feel happy in their own skin.”
Our Philosophy
“What we want for all of our children is that they leave our nursery with a hunger to learn, that they can make friends in the playground at school, and that they feel happy in their own skin.”
Gill Medhurst – Director of Education, Nära Nurseries
Our Purpose
To provide excellence in early childhood education by nurturing the special relationship between our children, families and team.
Our Mission
To nourish the hearts, hands and minds of our children; and cherish each child’s early years as a unique and special time, which builds the foundation for future success, wellbeing and lifelong learning.
Our Vision
To build the most inclusive community of children, educators and families, united by our uncompromising values and determination to ensure a better future for all.
Our Values
We commit to promoting happiness, fulfilment and quality to all members of our community through a culture of kindness, respect, integrity and inclusivity.
At Nära Horton, we are committed to providing your child with not only the very best care and education, but as many moments of joy as we can squeeze into a day!
Our children receive a curriculum which has been developed based on the very latest research into how they learn and develop, and is underpinned by our purpose, mission, vision and values, which drives our commitment to excellence.
Parent Partnerships
We value our parents’ role as their children’s first and enduring educators so work in partnership with them, and actively involve them in their children’s education.
We know this successful partnership makes sure that children have the very best outcomes so we take time to get to know our families. This means we can celebrate special times with them, ensuring the diversity of family life is reflected between nursery and home.
Our Team
“The most valuable resource that all educators have is each other. Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives.“
– Robert John Meehan
At Nära Horton, we understand that having a contented team means joyful children, and joyful children mean delighted parents, and this cycle is at the forefront of everything we do.
Our Nursery Manager, Rachel McKay, leads an incredibly committed staff team of experienced educators. She is passionate about supporting her team to create a ‘home-from-home’ nursery where children experience awe and wonder every day, and fulfil their own unique potential. Outside of work, Rachel enjoys spending time with her family.
We believe that the best outcomes for children come about through a true synergy and connection between our children, their families, and our teams, which is why nurturing, nourishing, and cherishing everyone within our nursery communities is our number one priority.
Training and Development
We know that the daily experience of children in our nursery and the quality of provision depends on our educators having the appropriate training, skills and knowledge.
To secure the confidence and well-being of our staff, and to ensure that we have only the very best team caring for your children, we deliver a comprehensive training programme which develops confidence, knowledge and expertise, in addition to mandatory training including Safeguarding, Paediatric First Aid, Health, Fire and Food Safety.
Accreditations
“The purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”
– Sydney J. Harris
Mental Health First Aid England
We take the mental health and well-being of our teams seriously. To support the delivery of our well-being strategy, help build a mentally healthy workplace and challenge stigma, our nursery management are trained Mental Health First Aid Champions.
To further support positive well-being, we provide every member of our team with access to the mindfulness app, Headspace, as part of our benefits package.
NDNA
The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) is the representative body for nurseries in England and Wales. Being a member of the NDNA gives our team an extra layer of support and expert advice to allow them to focus on what they do best: caring for your children.
Early Years Nutrition Partnership
The Early Years Nutrition Partnership (EYN Partnership) is working to improve the future health outcomes of young children by setting a standard for nutrition practice in early years settings.
We are proud to be working towards this accreditation in our nursery, to ensure our children receive only the very best nutrition during their time with us.
Sun Safe Nursery
The Sun Safe Nursery Award is a national accreditation programme providing nurseries with the resources to assist them in safeguarding children against UV and preventing skin cancer through education. The accreditation demonstrates our commitment to providing an environment that enables children and staff to stay safe in the sun, and providing education around sun safety which increases knowledge and influences sun safe behaviour.
Healthy Smiles Accreditation
The Healthy Smiles Accreditation is an evidence-based programme designed to create Tooth Friendly settings for young children. Promoting oral health in early years is essential to protecting young teeth and establishing good habits for life, so we are very proud to have successfully completed this accreditation. Further information can be found here.
The Halo Code
We are proud to be a workplace committed to The Halo Code.
The Halo Code is, the UK’s first Black hair code, which ensures that no black employee should have to change their natural or protective hairstyle in order to thrive in the workplace. We hope that the Halo Code will move us one step closer to a world free from discrimination, where all black members of our community have their identities fully recognised and celebrated.
The Code:
“Our Nursery champions the right of staff to embrace all Afro-hairstyles. We acknowledge that Afro-textured hair is an important part of our Black employees’ racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious identities, and requires specific styling for hair health and maintenance. We celebrate Afro-textured hair worn in all styles including, but not limited to, afros, locs, twists, braids, cornrows, fades, hair straightened through the application of heat or chemicals, weaves, wigs, headscarves, and wraps. In this workplace, we recognise and celebrate our colleagues’ identities. We are a community built on an ethos of equality and respect where hair texture and style have no bearing on an employee’s ability to succeed.”
MITEY
The MITEY (Men In The Early Years) charter is a pledge for nurseries, pre-schools, childminders, nannies and other early years education settings across the UK.
By signing up to it, we have made a public statement that:
- We value men’s capacity to care for and educate children, both within families and as professionals
- We value the benefits to children of being cared for and educated by a diverse, mixed-gender early years workforce
- We acknowledge that early years education should benefit from the talents of all, so we are actively seeking to create a workforce that includes men, women and people with other gendered or non-gendered identities
- We are committed to removing the obstacles that stand in the way of a mixed gender early years workforce, including low pay and status, limited career progression and gender-discriminatory treatment
- We view early years education as a critical context in which to address gender inequality and stereotypes, for the benefit of children and wider society.
The MITEY campaign is run by the Fatherhood Institute and supported by the Department for Education.
Find out more at www.miteyuk.org.