Childcare at Freshlings Nursery

Find out about the childcare we offer at the University of Plymouth
Childcare at Freshlings Nursery
Working closely with the Plymouth Institute of Education, our on-Campus setting offers childcare provision for up to 88 children; 0-5 years of age. Our curriculum is designed to develop Creative, Kind, Independent, Curious and Confident children who are ready to continue their love of learning at school. We are passionate about working with our families to provide child-centered care and learning, personal assistance, and the continual promotion of child welfare. We pride ourselves on being play partners with those we nurture, ensuring that staff and children alike have a positive experience in our setting.
Open 08:00–17:30, Monday-Friday and 50 weeks a year, Freshlings Nursery is open to the students, staff and wider community at the University of Plymouth. Children are provided with a range of local, seasonal and Fairtrade food and snacks from our Campus Cafes, and are welcomed into our Caterpillars, Bumblebees, Dragonflies, and Ladybird room, dependent on age. This enables our Qualified Practitioners to tailor our curriculum and activities to meet the individual need of each child.
If you wish to be placed on the waiting list or require further information please do not hesitate to contact us at freshlingsnursery@plymouth.ac.uk, call 01752 588550, or pop in and see us. We also have a number of bank and student practitioner placement contracts, so please feel free to email us your CV and follow us on Facebook.

Nursery rooms

Join our team

Early years practitioners

Permanent, full-time, £21,794 / £11.30 per hour
Come and join us at Freshlings Nursery as an Early Years Practitioner. You will support the development of the setting, ensuring high-quality provision and reflective practice. Central to roles within the nursery is providing a safe, healthy, caring, inclusive and stimulating environment where children are respected and supported as individuals and encouraged to learn through play and exploration.

Casual nursery assistants

Temporary, part-time, national minimum wage
Join our team as a Casual Nursery Assistant. We are looking for staff who have experience working with children under 5 years of age and want flexibility of hours and a chance to gain further experience. You must have good communication skills and a willingness to learn in order to support the high quality of service provided. You must be able to support an inclusive and stimulating environment where children are encouraged to learn through play and exploration.

Information for parents

Spring Budget ratio announcement

You may have seen announced in the Spring budget that the ratio for staff-to-child will increase from 1:4 to 1:5 for two-year-olds in England from September 2023 – subject to parliamentary procedure.
Although this change would align us with Scotland and other countries, the team at Freshlings Nursery are committed to maintaining our focus on the quality of care and education we deliver, so as a result, we will not increase the level of children in the care of one Practitioner. This will enable us to continue delivering our curriculum, designed to develop Creative, Kind, Independent, Curious and Confident children who are ready to continue their love of learning at school, without any detrimental impact on quality. Research evidence suggests that increasing the ratios will negatively impact the children’s experiences, and we are not prepared to jeopardise this in any way.

Policies

At Freshlings Nursery we have an extensive Policy File which details the Organisations Policies, Procedures and Advice for Parents. Please see below for some of the policies we feel you as a parent should be made aware of. If there are any other policies you would like to view please email us at freshlingsnursery@plymouth.ac.uk and we can provide you with a copy. *Please note that the policies are currently under review

child playing at Freshlings Nursery