Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Ex-teacher sets up new city nursery
FORMER pri mary school teacher is opening a new nursery in Dundee.
Learn and Grow Childcare on Clement Park Place, just off Harefield Road, opens its doors for the first time today.
Owner Laura Mooney says she has invested a five-figure sum into refurbishing the building – formerly home to the Oranges and Lemons nursery.
Laura, 35, has more than 10 years of experience teaching in primary schools.
The Former St Pius RC Primary School teacher says she was inspired to open a nursery of her own after the birth of her daughter, Lily.
She said: “As a working mum I felt so guilty about going back to work last year when Lily was eight months old.
“I felt awful leaving her and that’s what started the process of opening up my own nursery.
“I looked at this venue last summer and since then we’ve invested a lot of money getting the building ready. Lily will be coming to the nursery as well, she’ll be my guinea pig.”
The nursery – which will cater for up to 48 children – features a parent room and space for ages 0-2, 2-3 and 3-5. Every room also has access to a garden space.
Laura says she is keen to make use of her educational background to benefit the youngsters.
She said: “I’ve been visiting a number of schools and supporting teachers to do reading and writing at school.
“As an educator, we want to have that mix of fun and learning – which is just as important.
“Given the nearby nursing home, we also want to do intergenerational learning – the nursing home has been so welcoming to us moving in.
“We want to make this a home-awayfrom-home experience for the youngsters and their parents and guardians. The parent room will allow them to come and visit as long as they feel the need to.
“We want to be very family-centric, almost like a village.”
The nursery has created five jobs, which Laura hopes will grow in the coming months.
It comes after data collated by The Tele revealed the top-rated nurseries in Dundee.
You can compare childcare performance in Dundee and across Scotland using The Tele’s online tracker.