A highly regarded nursery with unusually well qualified staff, this is a 'Children's Oasis' in more than name. WhichSchoolAdvisor.com inspected the Umm Suqeim nursery and very much liked what it found.

Children’s Oasis Nursery has been a well-regarded feature of the Dubai nursery scene for some years. Housed in a beautiful, repurposed Umm Suqiem villa, Children’s Oasis had always received very positive feedback from parents and staff alike. 

We visited on a busy September morning to find out more.

We begin by meeting with Tracy, Director of Children’s Oasis Nursery. Tracy is from the UK, and has a wealth of Early Years teaching and management experience from both the UK and UAE.

Tracy began by introducing us to the ethos and approach of Children’s Oasis Nursery. Key facets of everyday life here are encouraging independence, communication and confidence in children. Teachers are not given set topics to follow but are empowered to follow the interests of the children in their class and to set topics which will inspire and create ‘self-activated’ learning. Sensory, messy and active play are daily experiences for children of all ages. Each class teacher sends a weekly individual newsletter to parents describing what the children have been up to.

Physical development is supported in many ways at this well-equipped nursery. Outside there is a large natural play area (with a sweet little hill and bridge – great for role play and imaginary play), a huge bikes and trikes area, a well thought out mud kitchen, a water play area, a digging and planting area, a construction zone and a slide and climbing area. Some of these areas are open to allow free flow and some gated to allow teachers to separate the younger and older children.

The very youngest classes have small specific outdoor areas which area gated for safety. Natural materials are encouraged and used wherever possible. The garden is lush well stocked with beautiful plants.

Inside there is a large gym/soft play room with a climbing wall. In addition, there is a regular programme of Music and Movement as well as a visiting football teacher (at no extra charge).

Languages are at the forefront of the curriculum here. We visit the Spanish immersion class, which was opened several years ago at the request of a Spanish parents group. Run by two Spanish speaking, Cache* qualified teachers, and available to children from 2 to 4 years old, the EYFS curriculum is delivered entirely in Spanish. On the day we visited we were greeted with a warm ‘hola!’ and saw children busy with messy play, singing and painting.

^{[*Cache qualifications are qualifications awarded by the Council for Awards in Care, Health and Education - the UK's leading provider of vocational qualifications for those working in the care and education sectors. Cache qualifications are divided into five different levels, ranging from Level 1 (entry level) to Level 5 (for leaders).]}

For the remaining children, Arabic language is taught weekly, in addition to English being used at all other times. These lessons are also fully immersed and might see children working in any of the EYFS curriculum areas whilst absorbing their new language.

As we toured the nursery we talked to Tracy about her staff. She is clearly proud of her team and speaks warmly of them all. 

There is a very low staff turnover rate in this nursery, with one teacher having worked with the nursery for an impressive 19 years, with others staying for 7+ years. Newer staff members are of a similarly high experience and skill level. 

Staff to child ratios are very good here:

This focus on well qualified staff allows an inclusive approach to children with special needs. Teachers are highly trained in the EYFS and use it to assess and benchmark the progress of children. When an additional need is identified, staff work with parents and professionals to ensure there is a unified approach between home and nursery.

One of most interesting features of Children’s Oasis Nursery is how the day is structured. Most children attend until 2pm (taking advantage of the very healthy lunch provision – see below), but options are available for morning only, afternoon only or full day provision, making Children’s Oasis a very workable option for working parents.

Unusually, the latter part of the day is staffed in just the same way as the morning, with a full and active programme and the same child: qualified teacher ratios throughout the day. The nursery is open for 51 weeks of the year.

Food is provided by local catering firm, specialising in healthy meals for young children. A typical lunch might be cauliflower macaroni cheese with mince beef or vegetarian lasagne. Desserts are usually fruits or something like a low sugar banana bread. Healthy eating is interwoven into the curriculum wherever possible.

We were able to chat to Sophia, a Mum of two children at the nursery. She tells us that she chose Children’s Oasis Nursery based upon 'reputation and longevity'. When she first visited she was impressed by the cleaniness and sense of order. Sophia has noticed that the teachers all appear to be very happy at the nursery and feels that this contributes to the strong family feel and high quality provision. Sophia feels that one small improvement might be the forming of a parents association or group.

Overall, this is a quite spectacular nursery with a great team and management who are committed to continuous improvement. The quality of this nursery was underscored by it being one of the finalists in the 'Best Nursery' category in the SchoolsCompared.com Top School Awards 2019. Facilities are superb and the staff we met enthused about their work life. Relationships between staff and children appeared relaxed and unhurried and all the children we encountered were happily engaged.

Fees

Fees range considerably depending upon the number of days and hours each child spends at school. The latest details we have below.

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