Jimbo's Community Nursery

Leeds Mencap run Jimbo’s Community Nursery, a purpose-built nursery in east Leeds. We offer high quality care and early education for children aged 0 to 11 years, including after school and holiday childcare.

Jimbo’s Community Nursery is unique in Leeds, as the mainstream nursery includes a specialist playroom for children with a range of learning disabilities/additional needs. The nursery is bright, airy and well-resourced throughout including access to soft play and sensory rooms.

We believe that children learn best when they feel safe, happy and stimulated. Our aim is to help all children to develop a wide range of skills through play. We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) which sets the standard for the learning, development and care of young children – from birth to 5 years. The EYFS helps us to explore 7 important learning areas with your child, whilst taking into account their individual abilities, interests and needs. We recognise that each child will learn in different ways and develop at their own unique pace.

We want all our children to start their early years with the best inclusive learning and development experience, which also gives them the specialist support they may need to get the best start possible to move into the next stage of their education.

All families whose children with learning disabilities attend the nursery, whether the specialist playroom or 1 of the other mainstream playrooms, will be able to access support from both the SENCo and a Family Support worker. This enables children with additional needs to get the best of both specialist support, within a mainstream setting. Children have a ‘base’ place in either the specialist playroom or the mainstream nursery. They will spend most of their time in their ‘base’ but will also spend time in other rooms in the nursery to take part in particular activities, be with other children the same age, which helps with transitions to other nurseries, primary schools or specialist schools and provisions (SILCS).

Mealtimes

Mealtimes at Jimbo’s are very important. We are committed to providing well-balanced and nutritious meals and snacks. We make mealtimes enjoyable and encourage children to learn how to be sociable, well-mannered and independent. Our nursery cook prepares fresh and healthy meals and snacks every day, on site at Jimbo’s. Our 3 weekly rotating menus have been carefully planned, so that your child will enjoy our tasty home cooking for both lunch and tea.

Our menu sometimes changes, as we receive a weekly food delivery from FareShare on Mondays and making changes to our menu cuts down on food waste and costs. If there is anything nursery cannot use from the FareShare delivery, we put this out for our families to take home and use.

We can cater to any specific dietary requirements that your child may have, please feel free to discuss this with us at any time. Parents must let us know if there are any changes to their child’s dietary requirements or their child has developed an allergy. To promote good oral hygiene, we only offer children water or milk to drink throughout the day.

Download our nursery menu (PDF)

Outdoor play

The children access outdoor play all year round at nursery, therefore, provided it is safe to do so, we play outside in most weather conditions. Please make sure that your child is appropriately dressed for nursery, for example, when the weather is cold, please make sure that they have a warm coat, hat and gloves. When the weather is warmer. please remember to send your child to nursery with a sun hat. During the summer months, parents must apply sun cream to their child before they leave them at nursery. If your child is here for a full day, you will also need to provide additional sun cream to be used at regular intervals during the day.
Pushchairs and bikes

We have very limited space in the nursery corridor, therefore, only young children under the age of two years and children with additional needs should be bringing and leaving their pushchairs at nursery. If parents leave pushchairs and children’s bikes outside the nursery entrance or in the pram store, they do so at their own risk and we accept no liability for loss or damage.
Messy and creative play

While at nursery, the children take part in lots of sensory, messy and creative play. Please send your child to nursery in clothes that you are happy to get dirty or covered in paint for example.
Nappies, wipes and spare clothes

If your child wears nappies, you will need to provide nappies and wipes for them while they are at nursery. Please bring your child with a bag (not a carrier bag) and spare clothes, so that we can change them if they have an accident.