Early Days Nursery

36 Palmerston Place, Edinburgh EH12 5BJ
Review Us
8.8 7 Reviews
  • Early Days Nursery, Edinburgh
With six locations across Edinburgh, Early Days Nurseries delivers high-quality early education in the West End and Stockbridge. Its award-recognised approach combines care and learning through a team of skilled practitioners.

Purpose-built gardens and sensory rooms create engaging spaces for play and exploration. Children benefit from activities such as dance, swimming, yoga, and music, alongside outdoor learning through forest school and coastal visits.

Meals are freshly prepared using guidance from a qualified nutritionist, ensuring a healthy foundation. The nursery group focuses on building confidence, creativity, and essential life skills in every child.

Funding & Fees

8am – 6pm at £83 per day


Full Time: £1798.33 per month, discounted to £1778.33 per month


Number of days per week & Cost per month
5 - £1778.33
4 - £1438.66
3 - £1079.00
2 - £719.33
1 - £359.66

The prices include:
Breakfast, lunch, tea and two snacks daily
All milk, formula milk, nappies, and wipes
Other experiences and consumables


Fee Calculation -
Fees are calculated on a 52-week year basis and are paid in advance by Standing Order, through our App
and/or Childcare Vouchers on the 1st of the month for the month ahead.


Waiting List Deposit -
A £50 deposit is required to be placed on our waiting list. This deposit will be refunded should we not be
able to offer your child a placement in your requested nursery.


Retainer Deposit -
A deposit of two week's fees is requested along with your first month’s fee note. We will retain this for the
duration of your child's attendance. This deposit will be deducted from your child's final nursery payment.

Extra Sessions -
All extra sessions should be agreed in advance with a staff member from our Head Office in 10 Walker
Street and paid for at the time of booking. These can be paid through our App or directly into our account
using your child's name as the reference.


Sibling Discount -


Early Days Nursery offer a sibling discount of 10% on the eldest siblings' nursery fees.


Early Years Funding -
Our nursery is a Partnership Nursery with the City of Edinburgh Council and as such parents will be awarded
a grant towards a proportionate number of hours for any child in the term after their third birthday. For
more information on Early Years Funding please contact our accounts department.

Contact Early Days Nursery to get a personalised quote.

Contact Early Days Nursery to get a personalised quote.

Type of Service

  • Day Nursery
  • Open all year
  • Full Day Care

Group/Owner

Person in Charge

  • Claire Allan (Manager)

Number of Childcare Staff

  • 42

Total Places for Children

  • 110

Age Range

  • from 0 years 0 months
  • to 5 years 0 months

Opening Times

  • Monday 08:00-18:00
    Tuesday 08:00-18:00
    Wednesday 08:00-18:00
    Thursday 08:00-18:00
    Friday 08:00-18:00

When Closed

  • 25th & 26th December & 1st & 2nd January
8.8

Early Days Nursery has a Review Score of 8.8 (8.780) out of 10, based on 6 reviews in the last 2 years.
Over all time Early Days Nursery has 7 reviews.

Overall Experience
  • 7
  • 0
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Date Published
  • 7
  • 6
  • 6
  • 6
  • 1
Reviewer Connection to Early Days Nursery
  • 7
Total of 7, showing 1-7
Review from Juliette P (Mother of Child) published on 17 April 2026 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our daughter attends Pre-school Early days and we have been enjoying their good organisation and communication. Our daughter seems to really like her time there and we're also very happy that she can take part into the activities offered on different days of the week. All around, we're very happy with
the staff and what she can do and learn there.
Reply from Isabel Viveiros, Operations Manager at Early Days NurseryReally appreciated this! Can't wait to keep learning more with your child and look forward to getting her ready for school.

Jose Cruz
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Review from Holly H (Mother of Child) published on 17 April 2026 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I absolutely love this nursery. We originally were going to move my son to a closer one when a space became available but it would have broken my heart as he loves the staff (as do I!) so much! They are professional, have open ended communication, super friendly and my little boy who has been going
for nearly 3 years now loves it.
Reply from Isabel Viveiros, Operations Manager at Early Days NurseryThis is lovely! What an amazing boy he is! Can't wait to have his little brother at nursery as well.
Jose Cruz
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Review from D S (Mother of Child) published on 16 April 2026 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Both my children have attended Early Days (Palmerston Place) since they were 10 months.
The staff in all the rooms have been brilliant, reassuring and caring. The facilities are great - outside space, sensory room and in house catering with lots of trips and outings. I have recommended this nursery
to friends and colleagues. It's also a lovely community that has been created as well.
Reply from Isabel Viveiros, Operations Manager at Early Days NurseryThank you so much for your lovely review. We love having both of your girls at nursery.
Jose Cruz
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Review from Jane A (Mother of Child) published on 16 April 2026 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The staff have looked after all 3 of my girls. 2 of which have gone to the nursery since they were 4 months old. I've always felt completely happy leaving my girls at the nursery. The staff are all so caring and friendly. It's also very easy to book an ad hoc extra day when needed which is great. The
admin staff are always very helpful.
Reply from Isabel Viveiros, Operations Manager at Early Days NurseryThank you very much for this. Teaching your girls has been our absolute pleasure.
Jose Cruz
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Review from Liesl W (Mother of Child) published on 16 April 2026 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I honestly cannot speak highly enough of this nursery. From the very beginning, the management team have been exceptional-professional, supportive, and truly passionate about what they do. It's clear that they set a wonderful tone that carries through to every member of staff.


The staff themselves

are absolutely incredible. They are caring, attentive, and genuinely invested in each child's development and happiness. It gives me so much peace of mind knowing my daughter is in such a nurturing and positive environment every day.


What really sets this nursery apart is the range of opportunities they provide for the children. From swimming and forest school to ballet, they offer such a rich and varied experience that goes far beyond standard childcare. The regular excursions are another highlight-trips to the zoo, museums, and even the beach create such exciting and memorable experiences for the children.


I would highly recommend it to any parent.

Reply from Isabel Viveiros, Operations Manager at Early Days NurseryWhat a lovely review, thank you! We are so grateful to have both of your girls at nursery.
Jose Cruz
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Review from C L (Mother of Child) published on 16 April 2026 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
As a mum, I honestly couldn't ask for a better nursery. The staff are all so lovely and really care about the kids, which makes such a difference. It's never easy leaving your child, but I always feel relaxed knowing mine is happy and well looked after.
My daughter absolutely loves going in every day
and has come on so much since starting, more confident, chatty, and always excited to tell me about her day.
It just has such a warm, friendly feel to it, like a little family. I'd definitely recommend it to any parent.
Reply from Isabel Viveiros, Operations Manager at Early Days NurseryThank you for your lovely feedback! Your child's confidence has grown so much since she started coming to nursery. Can't wait to learn more together and get ready for school.
Jose Cruz
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Review from Fay W (Mother of Child) published on 15 September 2022 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Fantastic nursery from baby to pre-school. Huge amount of stimulus from sensory areas to trips to the Botanics to helping teach my little boy the alphabet, numbers and even basic Spanish. Completely impressed. He has left a confident and able wee boy in no short thanks to the team at Early Days.
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Current Review Score: 8.8 (8.780)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 8.8 (8.780) out of 10 for Early Days Nursery is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  1. The Average Rating is 5.0 out of 5 from 6 Reviews in the last 24 months.
  2. The score for the number of positive Reviews is 3.8 out of 5 from 6 positive Reviews in the last 24 months.

Detailed Breakdown of Review Score

The maximum Review Score for a Day Nursery is 10, which is made up from the Average Rating of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) and the Number of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) in the last 24 months:

  1. 5 Points are available for the Average Rating from all Reviews in the last 24 months. The Average Rating of 4.957 for Early Days Nursery is calculated as follows: ( (67 Excellents x 5) + (3 Goods x 4) ) ÷ 70 Ratings = 4.957
  2. 5 Points are available for the number of Positive Reviews in the last 24 months. A Positive Review is defined as any Review with an 'Overall Experience' of '4' or '5' (out of a max rating '5'). The 3.823 Points relating to the number of positive Reviews for Early Days Nursery is based on 6 positive Reviews in the last 24 months and is calculated as per below:

    The 5 points available are broken down as follows:

    1. 4 points are available for the first 20 Positive Reviews in the last 24 months; 3 points for the first Positive Review, 0.125 Points for each of the next four Positive Reviews, 0.05 Points for the next five Positive Reviews, and finally 0.025 Points for the next ten Positive Reviews. (1st = 3.000, 2nd = 0.125, 3rd = 0.125, 4th = 0.125, 5th = 0.125, 6th = 0.050, 7th = 0.050, 8th = 0.050, 9th = 0.050, 10th = 0.050, 11th = 0.025, 12th = 0.025, 13th = 0.025, 14th = 0.025, 15th = 0.025, 16th = 0.025, 17th = 0.025, 18th = 0.025, 19th = 0.025, 20th = 0.025) 3 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.05 = 3.55
    2. 1 point is available for the number of Positive Reviews reaching 20% of the number of registered child places in the last 24 months. If this number is partially reached, then that proportion of 1 point is given. eg a Day Nursery registered for a maximum of 50 child places has to reach 10 Positive Reviews to receive 1 point, if it has 7 reviews it will receive 0.7 points. 20% of the 110 number of registered child places is 22. 6 Positive Reviews ÷ 22 = 0.273
  3. When a Review is submitted by someone who has previously submitted a Review, only the latest Review will count towards the Review Score.
  4. If a Day Nursery does not have a review in the last 24 months, then it will not have a Review Score.

Child Vacancies

Please contact us for latest vacancies.

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Awards / Recognitions (0)

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Meet the Team (1)

Claire

Claire Allan

Job Title: Manager Joined: 2000

Hi, I am Claire, and I have been part of Early Days Nurseries for over 25 years. My passion, drive, and deep commitment to early years education have remained constant throughout my career.
I value the strong, trusting relationships I build with children and love getting to know each of their unique personalities. Creating a warm, nurturing and stimulating environment, where children feel safe, confident and excited to explore is something I care about deeply and it is a privilege to play a role in such an important stage of their lives.
Since joining in 2000, I have progressed through a variety of roles and have earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Childhood Practice from the University of Glasgow. Now, as Nursery Manager, I am dedicated to supporting my team in delivering the highest quality care and education. I am passionate about fostering an inclusive, nurturing setting where every child feels valued, supported, and inspired to reach their full potential.

Frequently Asked Questions about Early Days Nursery

What is the Age Range of Children that Early Days Nursery accepts?

Early Days Nursery accepts Children aged from 0 years 0 months to 5 years 0 months.

What Days & Hours is Early Days Nursery Open?

Early Days Nursery is open: Monday 08:00-18:00, Tuesday 08:00-18:00, Wednesday 08:00-18:00, Thursday 08:00-18:00, Friday 08:00-18:00.

How many Children does Early Days Nursery have capacity for?

Early Days Nursery has capacity for a total of 110 Children.

How far is Early Days Nursery to the centre of Edinburgh?

1.1 mile(s) as the crow flies, distance by road may be significantly further.

Information on this page is displayed without responsibility for its accuracy on the part of daynurseries.co.uk. Please contact Early Days Nursery to verify any information. View our terms and conditions. Early Days Nursery has an Enhanced Service - more info.