Nursery Information

When we are in the woods

We are open 47 weeks of the year, Monday – Thursday 0830 – 1710 and Fridays 0830 – 1300. We have a two day minimum attendance policy in place for all our  new starts. New children must be of pre-school age and have already turned 3 to start with us. We are currently working with children in two cohorts and so have slightly staggered start and finish times.

As a Partner Provider of Fife Council offering Preschool Education we have a responsibility to both the Council and parents to evidence what we do in the woods and how we do it. Over the years we have developed what we call our ‘Spiral Curriculum’ or ‘Nature as Teacher curriculum’ which encompass the 4 capacities for the Curriculum for Excellence (Confident Individuals, Successful Learners, Effective Contributors and Responsible Citizens) alongside the Early Years Framework. Staff will be happy to discuss this with you when you enrol.

Children can attend the Secret Garden on funded, non-funded and split placements (attending another early learning/childcare setting alongside the Secret Garden). Please contact us if you have any questions regarding funding and placements. 

Enrolment Process

If you are interested in enrolling your child the first step is to contact the office and we will send you out an info and enrolment pack. We can also arrange a visit to the woods for you with your little one (they can be under 3 for a woods visit). The visit will give you the chance to see the nursery in action and chat to staff about any questions you may have.

We can accept enrolments all year round and we can add under 3’s directly to a waiting list if you know this is the nursery for you. A space on the waiting list can only be confirmed once the enrolment pack is complete. 

We know that enrolment and funding can seem confusing so please do contact us directly regarding enrolment and we will be happy to discuss things with you. 

Fees

Commencing August 2023, our fees are £59.76 per full day and £33.62 per Friday session. Preschool funding is available and we also accept Childcare Vouchers. Our friendly office team will be happy to answer any administrative questions you may have regarding funding and payment, you can reach them on the details below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Being a fully outdoor nursery we appreciate there may be some questions you would like to ask about logistics and structure of the day, clothing maybe? Over the years we have compiled an Information Booklet containing several FAQ’s from prospective parents to browse. This is available over on the parent resources page. 

Kit List

If you are interested in sending your child to Secret Garden they will require some specialist clothing to keep warm and happy all year round. Do not let this put you off though, we have various agreements with some great local children’s clothing providers and some really good kit of our own which we can lend children.

Children will need different layers depending on the time of year but typically these will always include:

  • waterproof trousers and jacket or suit (thickness depending on season)

  • waterproof, thermal boots/wellies in winter and lighter boots or shoes in summer

  • fleece layers (trousers and top)

  • thermals (winter)

  • wool socks

  • spare clothes in a dry bag (just in case!)

One of our practitioners, Mazz, has also written a blog about kit and another about winter care of children which gives further information.