Scottish Government's Support for Outdoor Nurseries

I have had my two kids in the nursery for the last two years and can't praise the staff highly enough. Thanks and keep up the good work

Woodlands Outdoor Nursery is a fantastic, nurturing, creative and exhilarating place. When dropping my daughter there are peals of delight from the friends she has made there as their excitement for the day to come is barely contained. I would highly recommend it to everyone. As someone famous once said, "there is no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing"

My son has attended this nursery since the day after his 3rd birthday for between 2-3 days per week.  The staff are highly trained in outdoor learning and I trust them completely.  It is not a conventional nursery, and parents who are not familiar with outdoor learning need to be aware that a different approach is taken because of the context in which the children learn.  My son has also attended a council facility in the last year (for access to the Gaelic language, as his father is a native speaker) and I would recommend both for entirely different outcomes.  WOK is a very free, nature-led space, with a balance between structured exploration and person-centred play.  I feel it has helped my son become much more resilient, creative and independent, while the council nursery has prepared him to be aware of the nature of school-based learning.  So you really can't compare the two kinds of facility.  If I had any other children I would send them to WOK in a heartbeat.  We need more nurseries like WOK!

Our daughter has been attending WOK West End since turning 3 in February and we cannot recommend it enough! The wee girl who used to complain when it rained when we were out, and be very risk-averse, is now an all-weather adventurer. It has been lovely to see her develop socially, physically and emotionally thanks to WOK and the incredible input from everyone who works there. We had some settling in issues at drop off at the start and I will be forever grateful for the kind and supportive words and advice from Stina, Ruth and Diane (and all the other fabulous staff members) who helped us through it, and kept me updated of how much fun she was having in the woods (while I was still crying in the car). My husband and I love receiving the pictures of her adventures and reading her learning journal updates. We appreciate these little glimpses into our child's adventures in the woods and the hard work that goes into it.

I really can’t praise WOK highly enough. My son attends 4 days a week and absolutely revels in the outdoor play and learning. He leaves the house each morning with a bounce in his step and comes home at night with stories of his daily adventures. WOK’s online learning journals are an excellent way to let parents and family have access to observations made by WOK staff. The staff are highly attentive. In addition to the journals, receiving photos and a daily update from them is a delight to receive when getting through a day at work. I have another son and as soon as he turns three, I would like him to attend WOK. I only wish that there was an outdoor primary school that the children could graduate to!