Welcome To Packington Children’s Centre

Packington Children’s Centre is a Council run Nursery in the heart of Islington, just off Essex Road. The centre operates two Nursery sites based over two Council wards. Our Popham Road site next to New North Academy School. It is in St Marys and St James Ward and caters for children from 6 months to 3 years. While our Bentham site, on Eccelsbourne Road Estate, sits just inside the Canonbury Ward and caters for children aged 2-4 years. Both sites are within 5 minutes’ walk of each other and our managed by our Head of Nursery and Executive Head of Centre.

Packington Children’s Centre provides early learning and childcare for children aged 6 months to 4 years including free 15- and 30-hour places. Fees are income assessed for Islington residents and discounts given for siblings. We are open weekdays, 49 weeks per year, 8am to 6pm.

We have a team of dedicated Early Years practitioners lead by an experienced Early Years Teacher on each site and provide high quality care and education that meets the needs of the individual child.

We are also part of Bright Start Central Islington and provide support for under-5’s and their families through a wide range of services within an extensive multi-disciplinary model across both wards.

At Packington Children’s Centre we believe in supporting all children to become independent, confident learners and foster an ethos of collaboration with parents and carers. Once your child starts at the nursery, they will be allocated a ‘Key Person’ who will be the main carer for your child. Key People are responsible for building a secure attachment with you and your child. Key people get to know your child in-depth and plan activities based on their interests while monitoring their learning and development in line with the Early Years Foundation
Stage Curriculum. Regular meetings take place with key people and the parent/carer to ensure strong positive partnership working.

Both out nursery sites have been awarded Health Early Years London and the whole staff team have been trained in Trauma informed practice

Under 3’s

Our under 3’s provision is made up of two rooms that provide a safe, secure and stimulating environment for young children
Children have access to a wide range of activities based on their needs and stage of development including sensory play experiences and sand, water both indoors and outside.

Mealtimes

Mealtimes are an important time in our daily routine and children sit and eat together with staff. All food provided by the nursery is of high quality, we cater for all dietary needs and work with parents and carers to support our youngest children when they are weaning and exploring new foods.

Sleep time

For our youngest children nap and sleep time is very important and all children have their own crib or bed, lights are lowers and soft music helps children slip off to sleep under the supervision of staff

Nappytime and personal care

Staff ensure during personal care that children’s dignity is always respected and that nappy changing/potty training is fun and taken at the child pace.