The Early Years Nursery

Welcome to The Early Years Nursery Kidlington, a place where we provide inspirational childcare for a mixed age of children from birth to 5 years. Our nursery is located in the Old Farmhouse, situated within the picturesque grounds of London Oxford Airport, Kidlington. At our nursery, we create a homely environment that allows children to gently unfold and develop at their own pace.

Our sessions are led by our fully qualified and trained teachers and educators who act as caring and nurturing role models for the children. We believe that children are rhythmical beings who thrive in conditions that can reflect this. Therefore, our day follows a path of contraction and expansion, allowing the child to maintain a harmony of being.

Our ethos is to create and sustain a nursery that provides therapeutic and respectful care and education and to nurture the whole family in their journey of parenting. We aim to provide a rhythmical environment that has been created with the child's well-being at heart. Our pedagogy is based on respect, using rhythm, repetition, inquiry, and imitation, allowing the child to learn from life and out of life at a pace naturally set by them.

Our Story

We understand that choosing the right nursery for your child is a vital decision, but it can also be daunting. This is what motivated us to set up our very own homely environment that our children could thrive in. With over seventeen years of experience in the childcare industry, we have been able to create a place that embodies the feelings and qualities of a naturally paced environment.

Our nursery opened in February 2016 and is housed in the Old Farmhouse. We take pride in our beautiful premises, which have earth walls, exposed beams, natural light, and ventilation, creating a living space with a soul. Our surroundings provide a place where children can explore, learn and hypothesise about the world at an unhurried and gently set pace, blending rhythmically from one activity to the next.

The Pikler Approach

At The Early Years Nursery Kidlington, we follow the Pikler Approach, an educational and developmental concept introduced by Emmi Pikler, a Hungarian paediatrician. The Pikler Approach is based on a respectful relationship between adults and children. We believe that the relationship created between the adult and the child is key and that it creates a safe place for the child.

The Pikler Approach acknowledges the child as a free and equal human being, an equal partner in the relationship. Our adult carers do everything with the child, not to the child. This means that we value independent activity and free play, carefully responded to play moments, a naturally paced motor development, free movement, and tactful and respectful care giving routines. We also value a special, favoured, active relationship with the key person, fostering the child's awareness of itself and the environment around them, and ensuring good physical health within all our nursery routines.

Babies in our nursery are never put into a position which they cannot get into by themselves. They have uninterrupted time for free play using a variety of sensory resources, and adults who care for babies are experienced in tuning into the cues that they send out all the time. Our babies are treated in a respectful and responsive manner, just like all the children in our nursery.

At The Early Years Nursery Kidlington, we are committed to providing a homely and therapeutic environment that supports the development of the whole child. We offer a variety of services that promote the growth and well-being of each child. Our experienced and qualified staff members provide individualised care and attention to each child, fostering a love of learning and a sense of self-worth.