About North Star Nursery

 
Image of a child painting a red heart shape

“Children thrive in this warm and welcoming nursery…they benefit from a large outside garden which gives them space to be physically active”


— Ofsted Inspection Report August 2022

 

A bit about us…

North Star Nursery, celebrating its 30th year in 2022, is a privately-run, not-for-profit, day nursery, providing a warm, nurturing atmosphere for children aged three months to five years old.

Based in purpose-built facilities within the secluded grounds of UKRI, we're open to all and situated in a central location just the other side of Swindon train station, providing an ideal location if you live within the town or a little further afield.

We are very proud of our excellent staff retention many of our early-years practitioners have been with us for five years or more and, together with our 'key worker' system, this helps to ensure a stable, reliable environment for your child's development as they progress through the nursery.

Each day the children have opportunities to play and explore in our indoor rooms and outdoor play areas, with each carefully planned creative activity providing them with the chance to embrace new challenges. Through hands-on learning, your child is more likely to remain engaged and to build upon their creative problem-solving skills.

For the slightly older children, between primary school entry to 11 years old, we also provide a Holiday Club allowing them to have a happy, secure place to enjoy their school holidays.

For a small, tight-knit nursery, we are very proud to currently be rated "Good" by Ofsted and are working hard to achieve an "Outstanding" rating in our next inspection. Feel free to take a look at our last Ofsted Inspection Report here: Ofsted Inspection Report 2022

 

Our curriculum statement

Through a language rich environment, we support the holistic development of each child, to be school ready and reach their potential as individuals.

You can download a Word version here: North Star Nursery curriculum statement 2022.

 

Meet the Team

  • image of staff employee Julie

    Julie

    Nursery Manager & Level 6 Early years Practitioner
    I joined the team in 1995. I hold a BA (Hons) degree in Early Years Education and, in addition, I have Early Years Professional Status. I also hold an NVQ3 in Playwork, which supports my work within the Holiday Club. I am the Designated Safeguarding Lead for the Nursery and Holiday Club. My main passion is music in early years and I enjoy engaging the children in music exploration and letters and sounds activities.

  • image of staff employee Sharon

    Sharon

    Deputy Manager & Level 4 Early years Practitioner
    I started here in 1997 as a nursery practitioner. I hold an NNEB Diploma in Pre-school Practice, a Certificate in Playwork, I also have a Level 2 Counselling qualification, and an NVQ4 in Children's Care, Learning and Development. I am usually based in the office but cover in all rooms.

  • image of staff employee Khamsin

    Kam

    Level 3 Senior Early Years Practitioner

    I am a senior nursery practitioner and I hold an NVQ 3 in Children’s Care, Learning and Development.

    I joined the team at North Star Nursery in March 2010, where I have worked across all age groups. I currently support all rooms within the nursery along with time in the office where I focus my time on the allocation of new children into the nursery.

    I enjoy watching the children develop and I feel passionate about ensuring we have the best environment to enable them to do this.

  • image of staff employee Corinne

    Corrinne

    Senior Early Years Practitioner
    I am a Senior Nursery Practitioner and I have recently embarked on a higher qualification as a level 5 apprentice. I first came to North Star Nursery in 2010 on a placement from college. I mostly work in the Discoverers room but you may also find me in the office and supporting all rooms with their Curriculum. My passion is drawing/writing and outdoor play in Early Years.

  • Nuruma

    Senior Early Years Practitioner

    I joined the North Star Nursery team in 2023 and work in Discoverers room. I have a Foundation Degree in Educational Practice. I am passionate about fostering children’s learning, growth and development. I enjoy teaching numbers and reading stories to the children.

  • image of staff employee Maria

    Maria

    Office Administrator

    I joined North Star Nursery in September 2021. I hold an Executive Personal Assistant Diploma and an NVQ Level 3 in Customer Relations. I am based in the office but I may visit the rooms to cause mayhem sometimes. My child used to attend the nursery which gave me great insight from a parent point of view and aided me to better understand parent’s needs.. I love music and active play!

  • image of staff employee Shannon

    Shannon

    Level 3 Early Year Practitioner
    I am a Nursery Practitioner and I work in the Adventurers room. I have worked at North Star Nursery since 2014 and I have a Level 3 Diploma in Childcare and Education, I also hold a CACHE Level 2 in Playwork and a CACHE Level 2 in Identifying Common Illnesses, I also am the Early Language Representative. My passion in Early Years is exploring through messy play and providing and enabling environment so your children can thrive.

  • image of staff employee Debbie

    Debbie

    Level 3 Early Year Practitioner
    I hold a level 3 qualification in Children's Care, Learning and Development. I have worked at North Star Nursery since September 2013. I work in the Adventurers room. I love our art activities with the children!

  • image of staff employee Lisa

    Lisa

    Level 2 Early Years Practitioner
    I joined North Star Nursery in November 2018 as bank Staff and worked across all rooms. I now work in Pioneers room full time and i have gained my Level 3 in Early years. i really enjoy doing group activities which include singing and dancing, this helps build up their physical and language development.

  • image of staff employee Jodie

    Jodie

    Level 3 Early Years Practitioner
    Hi! I joined North Star in 2015 and have worked in most rooms, currently I am in the Explorers room where I have been for the past 5 years. I hold a level 3 Early Years Practitioner qualification. I am passionate about teaching little ones to walk, talk and become mini humans! I am also the Sign Along Coordinator, teaching staff and children a new sign each month and use it in our daily communications.

  • Grace

    Early Years Practitioner

    Hi I’m Grace! I joined the North Star Nursery team in September 2023. I have recently completed my Level 3 Early Years Educator Diploma. I work in the Explorers room. I am very passionate about Early Years, I love watching children grow and thrive as they move up to other rooms and school.

  • image of staff employee Sonia

    Sonia

    Level 5 Practitioner

    I joined North Star Nursery in February 2019 and currently work in the Discoverers room. I am a Level 5 Practitioner with a City and Guilds Supporting Learning Foundation Degree. I have vast experience in the Early Years Sector and really enjoy seeing the children progress holistically, I use their own interests to do so.

  • image of staff employee Meg

    Meg

    Level 3 Early Years Practitioner
    I started at North Star Nursery as Bank Staff in June 2017, I then became a permanent member of staff working in Pioneers, I currently work in the Discoverers room. I love getting creative and messy with the children doing loads of different activities.

  • image of staff employee Alex

    Alex

    Early Years Apprentice
    I recently joined the team and I’m working towards my level 3 qualification.

  • image of staff employee Traffiny

    Traffiny

    Level 4 Early Year Practitioner

    I joined the team in October 2021, I work in the Explorers room. I hold a BA degreee in History and Sociology and I am also a certified First Aid Trainer. I am passionate about developing a caring and supportive relationship with children of any age to raise standards, progression and continuity and quality of play based learning.

  • Ben

    Ben has joined the nursery as a Level 2 Early years Practitioner Apprentice.

    We wish ben all the best on his journey.

  • image of staff employee Lisa L

    Lisa

    Level 3 Early Year Practitioner

    I joined North Star Nursery in April 2022 and work in pioneers Room. I have a Level 3 Diploma in Childcare. I really enjoy doing arts and craft activities with the children, letting them show off their creative side.

  • image of staff employee Jose

    Jose

    Level 2 Early Years Practitioner
    I hold a Level 3 Early Years Practitioner Qualification. I have mainly worked in the Pioneers and Discoverers rooms. I am most passionate about Sport in the Early Years and cooking.

  • image of staff employee Bekah

    Bekah

    Level 2 Early Years Practitioner
    I work across all rooms in the nursery covering staff during breaks and record time. I joined the team in August 2018. I hold a Level 2 Childcare qualification. I enjoy messy play and being creative with the roleplay and display boards, I love involving the older children and seeing how they develop their own ideas and skills. I can happily spend all day in the babies room too, having cuddles, singing and dancing with them all day long.

  • image of staff employee Leyonce

    Leyonce

    Level 3 Early Years Practitioner
    I joined the team during the summer of 2021, after attending on placement as part of my level 3 qualification in early years. I work across all rooms at the nursery and I am currently studying towards a degree in Childhood Education and Care.

  • image of staff employee Tatiana

    Tatiana

    Level 3 Early Years Practitioner
    I work as a bank staff member during school holidays. I enjoy working with the older nursery children and holiday club, having discussions to plan our days together. I joined North Star Nursery in 2016 as an apprentice and I hold a Level 3 Early Years Educator qualification.

  • image of staff employee Louise-Rose

    Louise

    Level 3 qualification in Early year

    I joined the team in July 2022. I hold a Level 3 qualification in Early years. I work in Voyagers during the school holidays. I love baking and doing crafts with the children.

  • image of staff employee Soraia

    Soraia

    Level 3 Early Years Practitioner

  • image of staff employee Saima

    Saima

    Level 3 Early Years Practitioner
    I joined North Star in July 2019 and work as bank staff across all rooms at the nursery. I hold a level 3 qualification in Child Care Learning and Development and I am currently working towards a Foundation Degree in Early Years. I am most passionate about Pedagogy in Early Years. I am a fluent Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and english speaker.

  • Staff Image Georgie

    Georgina

    Nursery Chef

 

 

Easy2Name clothing labels

If you require labels for school uniform, bags and shoes or are thinking about purchasing personalised gifts, please remember that the nursery earns a small commission on all orders placed through the Easy2Name website (link below). Once you have added all the items you require to your basket, you will be given the option to select North Star Nursery as your fundraising group from the drop down menu on the checkout page.

 
 

Online Shopping with Easyfundraising.org

You can raise money for North Star Nursery while doing your online shopping with the Easyfundraising Shopping Payback Scheme at Easy Fundraising. You will need to register with the site, selecting North Star Nursery-Swindon as your good cause. When you shop online with any of the 2000+ well-known retailers, including Argos, Boden, Amazon, John Lewis, Boots, Vodafone, M&S, Play.com, Debenhams, eBay and many more, a percentage of the price will be donated to the nursery by the retailer - at no additional cost to you. You will need to make sure that you go via the Easyfundraising portal when you shop online and then use the links provided on the Easyfundraising site whenever you make a purchase.

Easyfundraising is completely FREE to use and if you select North Star Nursery-Swindon as the cause you wish to support when you register, you will help the nursery raise funds to enrich the experience of all the children in nursery and holiday club.

 

We are breast feeding welcome

We support mothers wishing to breastfeed their baby and are part of the Breastfeeding Welcome Scheme (BFWS). We can provide space for you within nursery to feed your child if you wish. We have a Breastmates breastfeeding peer supporter at nursery who can offer support and information about breastfeeding including latching, milk supply, expressing, any concerns, problems and questions. Our peer supporter can offer support during your breastfeeding journey with any age child (including younger siblings and newborns) by pre-booked appointment. North Star Nursery have signed up to the BFWS in Swindon which means we offer a safe and welcoming place for breastfeeding mothers.

 

 Want to book a visit or have a question?