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Testimonials
NurseryNook has been running as a company since 2018, however it wasn't until March 2025 that Mel came onboard. Below you can find a range of testimonials from James' work in NurseryNook and a section at the bottom of some of Mel's work before she started working at NurseryNook.
We're keen to ensure you make the right choice when picking us. If you would like to talk to one of our previous clients about us we're happy to arrange this for an honest, critical review.
Video testimonials
Written testimonials
James has been my critical friend and has helped us move our provision from just areas of learning that offer children play opportunities to areas of continuous provision that offer open-ended resources and play experiences which allow children that really deep level of engagement. One of the things that we like has been the approach to zones, thinking about exploration and making connections.
It's had such an impact! Every child is now making progress within provision regardless of their starting points. Staff and senior leaders now understand the importance of play – it really makes you think about why we do what we do! It’s moved us from thinking we’re child-led to BEING child-led.
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James really is an expert in all things Purposeful Provision and is a pleasure to work with.
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Laurie Kidd, Director of Early Years at One Excellence Academy Trust​
James came into my setting at a time where I felt a lack of confidence in my ability to lead and educate my team.
My nursery had only been open for a year and I was very much still finding my feet as I’d never owned or ran a nursery/setting of this size before.
James spent the first visit observing my practitioners and looking at the setting and its resources.
His feedback at the end of the session was fair and constructive giving us plenty to build on.
I decided to dedicate 6 months into really delving deep into my provision and how it ran in order to deliver the very best to our wonderful children every day.
I asked James to come in fortnightly to start with so we could gain momentum and make necessary changes.
James reignited my passion for loose parts and schema play and in time he really helped build my confidence again.
In a few short months he had helped us understand our setting and how best to make it run smoothly everyday by making everything easy, yet providing rich and deep invitations and provocations.
James has been a breath of fresh air for me, making me believe in myself and my abilities again.
He’s caring, kind but gets the job done.
Having access to James via WhatsApp was invaluable for our team, he was a part of us for a while and he is really invested.
Having someone I can talk to on a deep level about child development was amazing for me.
I can’t recommend James highly enough, his knowledge and expertise have helped me completely rewrite our curriculum and I now feel confident to showcase how amazing our nursery is when the time comes.
Mienna Jones, Owner and Manager of Happy Crew Childcare, St Albans
"I have worked with Mel for a number of years, and Mel is Amazing!! She is kind, caring and so passionate about Early Years. Mel has helped me grow from an Early Years Practitioner to becoming a confident Room Leader. Mel has always made me feel at ease and is extremely approachable, especially with quality audits. She makes you feel at ease, feel confident and there to support you every step of the way. When we talked about what we need to work on as a room to improve, Mel chatted about ideas to suit the children's needs and how as practitioners we can implement these in every day practice. Mel provided great support when as leadership I needed support with my team, and she spent extra time in the room to help implement the changes,. Mel always has the children and the team at the front of her mind. Mel is always at the end of the phone or an email, when I needed any advice or support, and could not recommend her more highly!
Becky - Room Leader