About Castlegate

Our Ethos

We are influenced by a range of play theories, including those of Friedrich Froebel and the Reggio Emilia Approach. Froebel promoted child led learning approaches, including ideas that shaped what is known as free flow play. He valued the importance of outdoor play, using natural materials in the environment, and the importance of parental involvement in their child’s education.

The Reggio Emilia Approach originated in Reggio Emilia in Italy, where the community strongly influenced the development of a child led learning approach. The environment is classed as the ‘third teacher’ and children are given the freedom to delve into their own interests, supported by their peers and adults around them.

Both of these are reflective of our provision at Castlegate – a family and community based setting, where children and their learning interests and needs at at the forefront, and where our beautiful natural environment is used as a valued teacher and resource for learning.

What The Parents Say

“Great nursery, close to our home easy to access by walking but also great parking. Availability to wrap funded sessions into a full day to cover work and lack of family members to drop/collect if using one of the schools. Brilliant outdoor facilities, secure and safe gardens.”

Mother of child in Toddler Room

“My little boy is one and has been in the baby room for about 4 months and seems to have settled in well. I pay for lunches as they get lots of different foods, also cater to kids with food allergies which is a massive help. The staff are all amazing here I never worry about leaving them.”

Mother of child in Baby Room

“I put my children into Castlegate as good reputation also the hours I needed for childcare was perfect here. My daughter just moved into Tweed Room and loves being outside, or anything which involves making a mess. She loves coming to the nursery to play with her friends and have fun.”

Mother of child in Tweed Room

“Lovely friendly staff who bond and grow as your child moves through the classes. Still can’t believe how attached my daughter is to all the girls.”

Mother of child in Tweed Room

“Outdoor play, trips to the woods looking for animals and flowers! Baking – she enjoyed a tasty pizza for tea tonight that she had made, I had a wee taste it really was delicious! Lovely meals at lunchtimes and a great choice and selection. My daughter loved the sand pit as a baby and my son too, so much we got one at home too and they enjoy almost every day.”

Mother of children in Castlegate Nursery

Your Facebook Page is excellent! So informative and great pics etc. Great for other family and parents to see what’s going on.

Mother of child in Tweed Room

“Prize draws for money off a good idea too and switching to digital payments is fab! Like the breakdown of fees too.”

Mother of children in Castlegate Nursery

“Going back to work is always hard, and with my son at 8 months old – Castlegate was the best choice for me in terms of childcare as they could deliver what I needed in a safe and trusting environment. The girls in the baby room made me feel so relaxed about leaving my son all day. They are amazing at their jobs, he has such an adventure every day learning new things and interacting with other kids. I love that he gets to have fun outside in all weathers!”

Mother of child in Baby Room

“I am so glad we have Castlegate as somewhere where my son can go and have fun. It’s not just about childcare there, it’s about learning and enjoying themselves – he loves it.“

Mother of child in Baby Room

“I use Castlegate as I know that my children will receive the best of care from the dedicated staff. It also suits my needs in that Castlegate is only closed for the 2 weeks during the year which means I can use the services pretty much all year round. I like that I can drop my children off early in the morning and they are taken to school meaning I can start work earlier.”

Mother of children in Castlegate Nursery

“My children love being outdoors and trying new things which Castlegate offers in abundance. They find all the staff very approachable. In a nutshell, I would describe Castlegate as one big family where I can have the confidence to leave my children and know that they will be nurtured and cared for.”

Mother of children in Castlegate Nursery

Our History (Family)

Castlegate was established in January 1993, starting on day one with 3 children and 2 members of staff. At the time there was no other day care in the local area and only one school nursery out of town. Seonaid had recently qualified as a Nursery Nurse and wanted to create a space for children to learn and to have fun, and for local parents to have a reliable service available to them that would let them go to work or study. 29 years on and we have around 150 children attending on a regular basis and over 20 members of staff!

Our name Castlegate comes from our original location on Roxburgh Street, in view of Floors Castle’s gates. Simple as that, and very easy for directing people to find us! We moved to Spylaw Road in 2007 where we had fabulous outdoor spaces and room to grow inside, but we brought our name along with us as we loved it, and very importantly for us it reminds us of our roots.

Christine, Seonaid’s daughter, joined Castlegate in 2008 after spending the best part of a year helping to renovate our Spylaw Road premises, and all the time seeing the opportunities to grow Castlegate, and also to grow and develop professionally herself. While they brought very different personalities and skills to Castlegate, love and family values have always been at the core of Seonaid and Christine’s passion for early learning and childcare, and is what they worked together to nurture at Castlegate.

In late 2021 Castlegate changed ownership, and Tom and Lesley look forward to supporting Castlegate to grow and flourish in the same ethos started all those years ago.

Care Inspectorate

We are regulated by the Care Inspectorate and work closely with them to ensure
that we continue to provide a high quality service for all our families.

Download our latest report.

Our past inspection reports are available here.