Nursery rated outstanding for 28 years lets toddlers sleep outside

The Aunties’ Old School Nursery has pioneered an outdoor play approach since it opened nearly 30 years ago, teaching children to take ‘positive’ risks through den-making and climbing trees.

The philosophy of one of the UK's first forest school nurseries is ‘life is so much more fun when we learn to participate rather that spectate’.

Children play outside for at least three hours a day in the nearby woods and the younger children sleep outside in the fresh air.

It is an ethos that is being adopted by a growing number of nurseries in the UK, keen to strengthen children’s links with the natural world and challenge them to take risks and experience open-ended play.

However, although ‘forest schools’ and ‘outdoor play’ are very much buzzwords at the moment, it hasn’t always been this way.

Sandy Enjily, co-founder of The Aunties' Old School Nursery which has two settings in Oxfordshire, admits there have been conflicts and difficulties over the years with both parents and the authorities over The Aunties’ non-negotiable commitment to an outdoor approach.

Battles over fashions and trends

She says: “We’ve had quite a few ‘battles’ through the years over certain fashions and trends which we felt didn’t serve the best interests of our children – for instance, we were advised in the early days to refrain from using our wild, natural outdoor space for ‘safety reasons.’”

Mrs Enjily based the nurseries on her own childhood experience. “We spent lots of time playing outside – that’s what we wanted for our own children, that they could use their imaginations in the natural environment.”

“It is fashionable now, but interestingly, in the late 80s and early 90s, we really had to work hard to win people over. Initially, people felt sorry for our children playing in the woods without the more commonly-used toys or climbing equipment. Once, we were advised to keep our children on the veranda, rather than going into the ‘dangerous’ natural environment.

“We really do believe there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing and this is an area we have had to remind parents of when bringing appropriate clothing. We always say: 'Come to nursery dressed for a mini-expedition, ready to cope with torrential rain, minus temperatures, mud, and sleeping outside!' We explain the benefits, the needs and the arrangements we’ve put in place and parents now encourage us to carry on.”

Children at the nurseries in Stanton St John and Wheatley can spend up to 10 hours a day outside.

“We plan our entire day around the weather and the children’s moods. For example, during high winds, we would carry out a risk assessment for potential falling branches, and then select one of our outdoor areas from there. As long as safety is at the forefront of a practitioner’s mind, there is no reason why children cannot spend periods of time outside, every single day, no matter the weather.” says Mrs Enjily.

She believes that being in the natural environment is “socially, developmentally, behaviourally and intellectually beneficial for adults and children alike.”

Being outside is 'challenging, stimulating and calming'

“Scientific research now shows that being outside is refreshing, challenging, stimulating and exciting, yet calming.”

“It’s up to us as adults to ensure children have every opportunity to benefit from the natural environment, to find their place, and become aware of their responsibility to the environment in which they live. At The Aunties, we feel it is important for children to develop a positive relationship with nature, as well as with people and the world around them.”

The Aunties proactively promote ‘responsible risk-taking’ within a safe framework.

“The onus should be upon the adults to ensure that things are safe for children to take reasonable risks, rather than on removing all joyfully active experiences from children to keep them safe. Children need to take risks and be pushed out of their comfort zones to learn. How can they know the full limits of their capabilities, if they’re not allowed to test them out?

“So, we ensure things are safe and well-supervised and let them get on with exploring and experimenting – as long as they’re not unkind or destructive. Respect (for life, for themselves, for others, and the environment) needs to be an important element within risk-taking,” she adds.

The Aunties believe that positive risk-taking within a safe framework is a means of developing emotional and physical resilience.

Mrs Enjily says: “A child tries something, stumbles, and picks himself up to have another go – that’s a metaphor for life and stands the children in such good stead as they go off to school and beyond. We want the children to learn to dance in the rain (literally and metaphorically), rather than hiding away from it. Life is so much more fun when we learn to participate rather that spectate!”

Sandy Enjily originally set up the nursery in the 1980s, when new mums only got 12 weeks’ maternity leave and she needed to work but still wanted to be with her sons.

“We decided to set up a nursery ourselves as a temporary venture – but here we still are nearly 29 years later!

“It’s a real family business as my husband, after helping set up the nursery and having his own very successful engineering career, fully joined the family business about 10 years ago. Then, our younger son, after graduating from the University of Liverpool four years ago also joined the business, as did his fiancé earlier this year – and their little baby will be coming to The Aunties next year - so, The Aunties’ succession plan is definitely in place!”

What the Government needs to do to improve the early years

“All nurseries would appreciate greater, professional respect, the removal of time-consuming bureaucracy, the removal of the onerous VAT element, greater levels of funding (which are currently derisory, disrespectful, and confusing), as well as a strategy to deal with the endemic staffing crisis caused by it having become an unattractive option to potential recruits of the future.”

The issue of sustainability for nurseries and early years’ funding has been very much in the news of late and interestingly The Aunties opted out of offering the ‘free’ hours of childcare funding for 11 years and has only started offering it again with the arrival of the 30 hours ‘free’ childcare scheme.

“We do offer the 30 hours, but as for all nurseries, it’s been exceedingly challenging as the funding is seriously insufficient and the whole thing is so incredibly time-consuming to administer!

“We were the first in the UK to opt out of the early years’ funding scheme in 2006 when the Government changed its Code of Practice. As we read the document, it was clear that it harbinged the death knell for nursery provision and was unsustainable. We opted out for 11 years and most of our parents simply forewent the 15 hours. However, we felt that 30 hours was too much to expect parents to give up, so we’ve returned; it’s early days but we’ll see how it goes,” says Mrs Enjily.

The Aunties' nurseries have the accolade of being consistently rated outstanding by Ofsted inspectors for the last 28 years, as well as the Platinum Investors in People and IiP Employer of the Year 2017. With these successful inspections and accolades under her belt, Mrs Enjily reveals her top tip for nurseries facing a visit from the regulator is: “Treat it like any other day; it’s all about the children, not Ofsted.”

click here for more details or to contact The Aunties' Old School Nursery