A new nursery opening at Moriah Jewish Day School in Pinner in September will offer parents greater choice.

Whereas the school’s current nursery accepts children from three and runs only during term, the independent Mini Moriah will take children from two and provide care all round the year.

It will be led by a team already responsible for three nurseries in the London area, including Gan Kinneret in Edgware, which is rated outstanding by Ofsted.

“We are extremely excited to be opening our fourth nursery at Moriah,” said Lucy Sampson, joint head of Gan Kinneret for 14 years, who will take on a similar role at Mini Moriah. “We believe we can offer young children within the local area the very best start to their education as they take their first tentative steps into the big wide world.
Moriah is a beautiful school with outstanding facilities.”

The nursery will be open from 7.45 in the morning till six at night with the option of holiday camps outside term. Children will be offered three meals a day including a meat lunch.

Gan Kinneret was opened nearly 40 years ago by Mrs Sampson’s mother-in-law Dina and her friend Julie Davis, followed by Noah’s Arkley in Arkley. The team, which now includes the pair’s four daughters and daughters-in-law, last year opened a third nursery, Mini Learners, in Radlett.

“We discovered when we opened Mini Learners there is a definite need for flexibility for working parents,” Lucy Sampson said. “There is the option of choosing term time and not being tied down to full day care also.”

But the availability of full wrap-around care made it “different from what most other school-based nurseries offer,” she explained. 

Kirsten Jowett, Moriah’s executive headteacher, said the new facility was “a fantastic opportunity for our school”.