Located at Mangrove Village, Al Maqta, Abu Dhabi, Orange Seeds Nursery is a Montessori-inspired EYFS curriculum nursery for children from six months to 4 years.

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Orange Seeds Nursery (OSN), formally known as Kidz Venture Nursery, offers a Montessori inspired Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS/English) Curriculum for children between the ages of 6 months to 4 years – up to FS1.

The nursery was set up 3 years ago in 2016 in Mangrove Village, Al Maqta, Abu Dhabi and occupies a dedicated area within the spacious, light filled clubhouse at Mangrove Village. Children have access to bespoke, wooden, playhouse classrooms, impressive educational resources and facilities and gorgeous sea views.

Currently the nursery cares for some 95 children with an equal split between Emiratis and expatriates, with 26 being the total number of nationalities represented in the nursery. Teachers are recruited from around the world and all have a minimum qualification of a Teaching degree and/or CACHE Level 3. They receive a minimum of 30 hours CPD training per year. The majority of staff have been at the nursery since it opened. The nursery aims to be inclusive and does not exclude any child provided it can support their needs. An SEN coordinator can assess learning difficulties and recommend individualized programmes of care.

The nursery is led by Laura Willing, the Nursery Director, and owned by Shifa Yusuffali. Orange Seeds Nursery is part of her group of educational facilities, Ideacrate, which includes both the Orange Wheels and Orange Hub children’s play areas.  Ideacrate was born from Shifa's longing to find a special place for her own children to play, discover, develop and have fun. The aim of the nursery is to provide a unique, purpose built, space where little seeds are nurtured to become capable, confident and happy children in their formative years.

Shifa informs us that “In this dynamic world where everything is evolving, proper education along with enriching and engaging entertainment is, in my opinion more important than ever. Becoming a mother gave me a new perspective on childcare and development and producing enriching environments for young ones became my passion”.

The curriculum at Orange Seeds Nursery is based on the seven areas of learning of the Early Years Foundation Stage which is the first stage of the English National Curriculum. These include Communication and language development, Physical development, Personal, social, and emotional development, Literacy development, Mathematics, Understanding the world and Expressive arts and design. 

The curriculum at OSN also includes mindfulness, yoga (inspired by Montessori), French, Arabic and Music Monkeys. Orange Seeds is the first nursery in Abu Dhabi with a licence to teach the Baby Arabia French & Arabic programme. Older children can look forward to Field trips to places such as Al Rahba Organic Farm, Emirates Zoo, Orange Wheels, and Saadiyat Beach among others.

The nursery also plans to offer afternoon classes in hiphop, African drumming, ballet and ball skills. There are additional fees for afternoon classes and camps, but otherwise fees cover all activities during the normal day.

Children are split into different age groups, with Toddlers to one year olds (one class), one to two year olds (two classes), two to three year olds (two classes) and three to four year olds (one class) making up age-appropriate groups.  There is an equal balance of boys to girls. Currently Orange Seeds has six teachers and a further 9 teaching assistants. The teacher:student ratios are generous with 6 – 18 months olds being supported by 1 teacher to 3 children, a ratio for 1-2 years olds of 1:5, 2-3 year olds of 1:8, and 3-4 year olds  of 1:10. The average class size is 16, with a maximum of 23 permitted in the older age group based on the appropriate teacher to student ratio.

Facilities at the nursery, in addition to dedicated classroom areas, include Indoor and outdoor play areas, a roof top library, a slide, trampoline and soft play area, nurse's clinic and dedicated sleep room, whilst purpose built wooden huts provide views of the sea.

Fees vary based on the number of days and hours spent at the nursery, but range from AED 8,000 per term for 3 days from 8am to 12.30pm and AED 9,000 for an extended day from 8am to 3pm.  The fees range from  AED 9,900 to AED 11,000 respectively  for 4 days.  Five full days ranges from AED 12,800 for the shorter day to AED 13,500 for the extended day.  An early bird drop off at 6.45am is also available for a fee of AED 25 per day. 

There is a registration fee of AED 1,000.  The nursery also offers additional weekly options outside of term time, provided there is a minimum number of participants.

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