Mon–Fri 7:30am – 5:00pmPlan a visit →
Alderney Children's CentreNursery, Forest School & Farm
Alderney's nursery, forest school & working farm

Where children grow up outdoors

We are a charity nursery, forest school and working children's farm on Alderney. Little ones here learn in the open air, care for real animals, grow their own food and build confidence that lasts a lifetime.

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Loved by Alderney families
Nursery World Awards 2026 Finalist Finalist — Business Development AwardNursery World Awards 2026
A young child in a sun hat exploring outdoors at the centre
Forest SchoolOutdoors, every day
Our own farmAnimals & growing
5Years rooted in Alderney
2.5Acres of working farm
50+Families supported each year
30+Animals to care for
Why families choose us

Real Farm, Real World

Plenty of settings say they go outside. We go the extra mile. Our Forest School sits within our very own 2.5-acre working farm, where children are free to explore, grow their own food and help care for real animals every single day.

Our Forest School Zone

An expansive space for adventure, with a mud kitchen, sand pit, playground, campfire and willow domes, and trained Forest School leaders alongside. Child-led play in all weathers, through every season.

A working farm to tend

Children help in our grow zones, including three commercial polytunnels, an agricultural field, a wildflower meadow and an orchard. They also care for our ever-growing flock of hens and quail, with more animals to come.

The whole family, supported

We're more than childcare. Parenting groups, stay-and-play, and one-to-one family support mean no one on Alderney has to raise their children alone.

Read our story
Children cooking over an open campfire at forest school Around the campfire
Our approach

Learning with mud on their boots

Forest School isn't a weekly novelty for us. It's how we work. Children return to the same outdoor spaces through every season, watching them change, taking small safe risks, and discovering what they're capable of.

  • Trained Forest School leaders holding nationally recognised qualifications.
  • Real tools, real fire, real risk, all carefully managed so children learn to manage it too.
  • All weathers, all year. There's no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong waterproofs.
  • Rooted in the Channel Islands. Alderney's coast, hedgerows and history are part of every term.
See our sessions
Children gathered around the incubator, watching chicks hatch Watching the chicks hatch
Life on the farm

Small hands, real responsibility

Our working farm is the heart of the centre. Every morning there are animals to feed, eggs to collect and beds to water, and these jobs belong to the children. They learn to be gentle with a nervous animal and patient with a slow-growing seed, and they take real pride in a job that matters.

🐔 Hens & quail 🥚 Fresh eggs 🌱 Polytunnels & growing 🍎 Orchard & meadow
More about our farm
A gentle daily rhythm

A day in the open air

No two days are ever quite the same, but the shape of the day gives children the security to settle in, explore and rest.

7:30–8:00

Arrivals & morning jobs

Drop-offs are staggered between 7.30 and 8.00. Children settle at their own pace, then head out to feed the hens and check the garden.

9:00

Forest School session

Out to the Forest School Zone for child-led exploration, den-building, bug-hunting and seasonal projects with our leaders.

10:30

Snack from the garden

Fresh air builds an appetite. Snack often includes produce the children have grown and harvested themselves.

11:15

Farm care & discovery

Cleaning out the coop, planting and tending: hands-on learning about life cycles, weather and where food comes from.

12:30

Lunch & rest

A warm meal, a story by the fire pit or under cover, and quiet time for younger children to nap.

2:00

Community & creativity

Stay-and-play groups, music, mud kitchen, and visits across Alderney that connect children to their island.

A look around

Life at the centre

A few moments from our days: mud, water, growing things and a great deal of fun.

Newly hatched quail chicks and eggs in the incubator
Quail chicks, just hatched
A toddler walking through a green willow tunnel
Through the willow tunnel
Children playing at the outdoor mud kitchen
At the mud kitchen
A child in a yellow coat meeting a hen by the run
Meeting the hens
Children planting seed trays on the grass
Planting day
A child resting in a hammock in the polytunnel
Rest time in the polytunnel
A child pouring water at the mud kitchen
Pouring and mixing
Children exploring sand and containers outdoors
Sand & scoops
A child at the chicken run filling the feeder
Down at the hen run
A child pouring water during water play
Water play
Children scrambling on a pile of logs
Scrambling on the logs
Children cooking up mud and water in metal pots
Outdoor kitchen
A child relaxing in a striped hammock
A quiet swing
A child splashing in water play
Splashing about
Two children playing at the mud kitchen bench
Tea at the mud kitchen
A child pouring water at a tree-stump table
Pouring practice
A child relaxing on a blanket outdoors
Time on the blanket
A child playing with pots and pans outdoors
Pots and pans
A child playing in the sand pit with a water channel
Sand & water channels
A child digging in a raised vegetable bed
In the veg beds
A child playing with metal bowls on the grass
Mucky hands
An adult sharing a story with a baby
Story time
A child busy at an outdoor workbench
Tinkering outdoors
Children playing in the nursery room
Inside the nursery
A child enjoying colourful sensory play
Sensory play
A child playing outside on the grass
Out to play
What's on

Regular family events

Our free weekly playgroup and family events bring island families together, plus visits that connect our children with the wider community.

Poster for the Music and Sensory Group at Alderney Children's Centre

Baby Music

Thursdays, 10.30–11.30am · ages 0–2

Singing, dancing, parachute games and bubbles. A fun, sensory music session for babies and their grown-ups.

Poster for Nature Tots stay and play

Nature Tots

Wednesdays in term time, 2.30–4pm

A stay-and-play afternoon at our Forest School field, full of crafts, music and stories.

Children playing in the soft play ball pit

Soft Play Sessions

Day & time to confirm

A safe, squishy space for babies and toddlers to climb, bounce and explore at their own pace.

Children visiting residents at Connaught Care Home

Care Home Visits

Regular visits to Connaught

Our children visit residents at Connaught Care Home to share songs, stories and smiles, spending time together across the generations.

My daughter arrived shy and unsure. A year of forest school and farm mornings later, she's the one showing visitors how to hold a chick. This place changed her.
A parent of a 4-year-oldAlderney

Come and see it for yourself

Want to understand more about what we do? You'd have to see it to believe it! Book a family visit: you bring your wellies and we'll bring the fun.

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