Auden Place Community Nursery is located in the lovely village-like community of Primrose Hill. It is close to the London Zoo, Regents Park and Primrose Hill itself where the children can climb to the top and look out over the whole of London.
Arriving at the nursery, you can put your buggy in the buggy storage outside the entrance, and ring the bell for the appropriate room. When you are let in, the first things you come to are the kitchen and management office. All the meals are cooked on the premises, and our amazing cooks are often there to smile and wave out the window.
The management office door is the next one you come to, and during peak pick up and drop off times, you will always find at least one of the management team around to chat about anything you might need.
To the left as you come in is the Rainbow Room which is for the youngest members of the Auden Place community. Babies as young as 6 months start out in the Rainbow Room, and their indoor spaces have been specially designed to accommodate their varied abilities and learning levels. There are high chairs for those that need it, and tables are brought in for those big enough to sit at a little table for meal times. Little mattresses and blankets are brought out for nap times. There are huge windows that make the room light and bright, and the walls are filled with artwork by the children. At the back, doors open onto the Baby Garden, where the children can play outdoors in a safe space.
Walking out towards the stairs, you have a board with photos of all the staff and management committee so that parents can easily put names to faces. As you go up the stairs, you can see an information board.
Up the first set of stairs is the Star Room for our 3 year olds. Computers, dress-up areas, and a reading corner help define different areas of the room. All the children sit at tables for mealtimes, and play time is geared more towards a pre-school level. The large windows provide a great source of natural light, and the children’s artwork decorates the walls.
The next set of stairs leads up to the Sunshine Room, which is for children age 2. As with the Rainbow Room, the room is full of equipment for play and to facilitate learning. There are little toilets as well on this level for Sunshine Room children who are potty training, as well as it being equipped with a nappy changing area. As with the Rainbow Room, mattresses are brought out for nap times, but as the children are all older, they all sit at the tables for meal times. Again, there are large windows that look down on to the Auden Place courtyard.
The highest level of the nursery is the Roof Garden. The children from all the rooms use the roof garden, either for football lessons or for outdoor play time when it’s a bit too cold or wet to go to either Primrose Hill Park, Regents Park, or Chalcot Square playground.