Little Gems Private Day Nursery

1 Dunlady Road, Dundonald, Belfast BT16 1TT
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9.9 136 Reviews
  • Little Gems Private Day Nursery, Belfast
Little Gems Private Day Nursery offers a loving homely environment for your child, having been part of the community for over 12 years with long established management and staff. Little Gems offers full day care for children aged 3months to 10years old. Each room is equipped with age appropriate resources and has a full programme of activities for a fun and stimulating day. Under 3s enjoy a weekly visit from Jo Jingles for music and dancing while Pre-school enjoy Spanish lessons and Debut Tots as part of the Pre-school curriculum. A large garden offers plenty of opportunity for exploring outside, gardening and outdoor toys. After-school care is available all year with a summer scheme and breakfast club. The nursery collects from Dundonald Primary and Brooklands Primary. Everyday carers strive to meet the individual needs of every child in their care, encouraging learning through play, covering all the areas of learning to develop independent and confident children.
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Funding & Fees

Full Week - £314
Full Day - £75
Half Day - £52
Two children – Full time - £531.50
Afterschool - £35
Morning & Afterschool - £36.00

Fees applicable from April 1st 2025.

Contact Little Gems Private Day Nursery to get a personalised quote.

Contact Little Gems Private Day Nursery to get a personalised quote.

Type of Service

  • Day Nursery
  • Open all year
  • Full Day Care
  • Sessional Day Care

Group/Owner

Person in Charge

  • Leah Morrow (Nursery Manager)

Number of Childcare Staff

  • 38

Total Places for Children

  • 103

Age Range

  • from 0 years 3 months
  • to 5 years 0 months

Opening Times

  • Monday 07:30-18:00
    Tuesday 07:30-18:00
    Wednesday 07:30-18:00
    Thursday 07:30-18:00
    Friday 07:30-18:00

When Closed

  • Public Holidays

Little Gems Private Day Nursery Reviews (136)

9.9

Little Gems Private Day Nursery has a Review Score of 9.9 (9.913) out of 10, based on 26 reviews in the last 2 years.
Over all time Little Gems Private Day Nursery has 136 reviews.

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Date Published
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Reviewer Connection to Little Gems Private Day Nursery
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Total of 136, showing 21-40
Review from Hazel A (Mother of Child) published on 25 October 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Little Gems are a fantastic nursery, and I can't thank the staff enough for how helpful and gracious they've been to me and my family. They unhesitatingly accepted my son who has additional needs into their preschool and have been nothing but accommodating towards him and our family. They have bent
over backwards to help him every step of the way. The staff are always friendly, polite and professional and go out of their way to help. I can't praise this nursery highly enough, they have made our transition to a new town so much easier than I ever thought it would be.
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Review from A A (Mother of Child) published on 11 October 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter has been attending this nursery for nearly a year and she could not be happier. We love the atmosphere and environment in the classrooms (babies and wobblers so far) and appreciate all the updates via the app, including the cute photographs! She gets to develop her creativity and social
skills while having fun. I believe this experience is making her a very confident and social child. We are very grateful for all the excellent staff and have nothing but good words for everyone.
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Review from Steffi S (Mother of Child) published on 11 October 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our son has attended Little Gems since he was 9 months old and has loved every minute of it. The team have been amazing through both the baby and wobbler rooms. He has come on leaps and bounds with the help of the team's patience and kindness. They provide a variety of activities to progress my son
which allow him to develop his emotional, intellectual and social skills. I can't wait to see what the future holds for my son as he continues his journey through little gems!
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Review from L G (Mother of Child) published on 11 October 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Both my children have had a brilliant time here. They are so well looked after. The staff are excellent, so encouraging and enthusiastic. There is a wide range of toys and lots of opportunities for messy play and outside play.
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Review from James G (Father of Child) published on 11 October 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My two little ones have been attending Little Gems since they were tiny, all the way from Baby Room up to Preschool.
The staff have, without exception, been wonderful. I really feel like my kids are in safe hands, and that the team really care about their feelings and their wellbeing. They love nursery
and have been learning good habits and good manners there. Really can't recommend Little Gems enough. Thanks for everything.
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Review from C C (Father of Child) published on 19 August 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son has been going to Little Gems since October last year, he was in the JPS room called cubs. The staff were great, patient with him settling in. The support and hard work of the girls potty training was excellent! He has now recently moved into the preschool room for the summer to get used to the
new environment for starting in September where he will be going for preschool before his big move to p.1 next year, the girls are really good with children downstairs! Little gems I highly recommend! Loving, caring, supportive environment for young children.
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Review from Hayley N (Mother of Child) published on 5 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter is currently in the baby room. The team were so patient with her when she was settling in and it gives me peace of mind to know how well looked after she was during the day. They do so many different activities and toy rotations which is amazing. The best staff and set up. Thank you to all
the girls in the baby room. They do a fabulous job!
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Review from C M (Father of Child) published on 5 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter is currently in the cub's room, at the start she would have been upset going into the room but now she is fully settled and enjoys going in to see her wee friends. The staff really helped with the settling-in process. She seems to enjoy all the activities that they do and it's nice to get
pictures of how she is doing on the app.
Little Gem's outdoor space looks very good and my daughter loves playing outside.
All the staff are always very welcoming and friendly and my daughter interacts well with them.
I would highly recommend it.
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Review from A T (Mother of Child) published on 5 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our son has been attending since he was 9 months old. He loves going each day and lights up when he sees the staff who are kind and supportive. We love to see the photos of what he has been doing during the day. Great range of activities from arts and crafts to sensory activities and plenty of age-appropriate
toys for play. Very happy with the service from Little Gems!
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Review from A A (Mother of Child) published on 26 February 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My child has been attending for 6 months now, the transition was very smooth. The activities are always fun and the staff are amazing. The various options of cover are very helpful and easy to add days at late notice.
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Review from L R (Mother of Child) published on 22 February 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son attends here, he absolutely loves it!
The staff are amazing with him and cater to his every need. I have seen a massive change in my son ever since attending here in August of 2023.
The outdoor play area and activities that is provided is great, along with the friendly staff, the overall
experience is excellent.
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Review from Jordan H (Mother of Child) published on 22 February 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
An absolutely amazing preschool. Makes such a difference when your child runs in and enjoys every minute and that’s down to the staff and the efforts they go to, to ensure your child is happy and enjoying themselves. Cannot recommend it enough, amazing!
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Review from Nikki A (Mother of Child) published on 6 February 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My two children have been going to Little Gems for 3 years and they both love it. The staff are friendly and helpful and take time to get to know the children and what works for each individual child to ensure their needs are met. The summer scheme was great and my children loved the activity programme.
Little Gems is part of their lives and they always get excited when we drive past and have made great memories, friends and relationships with staff there.
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Review from J M (Father of Child) published on 25 January 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I have found my experience with this nursery top-notch. They provide a caring atmosphere for my child (and wrap around for other child who was also enrolled). They both attended full time 5 days a week, with discount when both were enrolled. Level-headed when comes to sickness and personal phone calls
promptly when issues arise. Highly recommend and happy to continue sending my child there!
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Review from Jamie M (Father of Child) published on 25 January 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son attends preschool at Little Gems, the staff have been more than helpful settling him into nursery life. He enjoys going each morning and comes home talking about all the fun activities he's done throughout the day. The communication between staff and ourselves has been great with handovers at
the drop-off and pick up, pictures and updates through the app and monthly newsletters. Great nursery all around!
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Review from M S (Mother of Child) published on 31 July 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 2.0 out of 5
We had a disappointing experience here. Our daughter attended from age 2.5-4. We were told initially that they would have tv for about 15-20 min a day whilst staff cleared up from lunch. We discovered indirectly that this isn’t true - they keep the tv on for an hour. When we expressed concern that we
weren’t told this, they said they make other toys available during screen time. A couple of visits revealed that while toys may be available, the curtains are drawn and lights are out whilst the tv is on. Upon entering the after-school program, my four-year-old was playing video games and watching movies for well over an hour every day - we were never even informed that she would be introduced to video games in her daycare setting. The content is not educational - lots of trolls and videos of racing games.


I wish I had full visibility of their policies on screens and video games. The upside of Little Gems is the in room staff are very friendly and kind.

Reply from Audrey McCracken, Nursery Director at Little Gems Private Day NurseryWe apologise for any miscommunication regarding our screen time policies. All of our policies are provided to our parents on induction but we are happy to address any concerns regarding these policies with parents. Television time is not a regular part of our timetable in the nurseries and is used for downtime to help give our staff time to tidy and allow for breaks – this TV time would never go on as long as an hour. Thank you for taking the time to provide us with feedback, as it helps us continually improve our services and better meet the expectations of our parents and children.
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Review from J B (Mother of Child) published on 24 March 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The staff are absolutely fantastic. So welcoming to parents and it makes such a difference when your child runs into little gems. It makes being a working parent.
There is a great variety of activities for the children
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Review from Jenna C (Mother of Child) published on 24 March 2023 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
We have been very impressed with Little Gems, having sent our eldest son and now our daughter. The staff are friendly and really go the extra mile to help our daughter meet her full potential. We are always greeted with a smile each day and as parents, we couldn't ask for more. It is clear they really
care for the children throughout the various stages of the nursery. The introduction of the app has been a lovely new addition as it enables us to see the fun daily activities and also tracks our daughter's development through observations.
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Review from Claire J (Mother of Child) published on 20 March 2023 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Both my son and daughter attend Little Gems and love it. Our son moved from the baby room to the toddler recently, and the move was smooth - he loves the activities, and we enjoy seeing the photos of what he gets up to. Similarly, with our older daughter - she really enjoys all the fun and learning
new things. Attending Littel Gems has definitely helped with both their development in terms of speech and conversations. Both my son and daughter have had food allergies, and not only were Little Gems great about alternative meals but snacks and food in activities such as king buns and making top hats were separate, so we had no concerns or worries.
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Review from Lee N (Mother of Child) published on 20 March 2023 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Both my girls have attended Little Gems Private Day Nursery since they were 9 months and they are now in Afterschool and about to move to Pre-School. Through the ups and downs as they have grown up, the staff have always supported them and provided a warm and caring environment which has made any transitions
easier for the girls to make. The staff are all very friendly to both us as parents and most importantly to the kids, and with the activities they put on to teach and entertain - they make it a fun place to go!
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Current Review Score: 9.9 (9.913)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.9 (9.913) out of 10 for Little Gems Private Day Nursery is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  1. The Average Rating is 4.9 out of 5 from 26 Reviews in the last 24 months.
  2. The score for the number of positive Reviews is 5.0 out of 5 from 26 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 4.913 for Little Gems Private Day Nursery is calculated as follows: ( (286 Excellents x 5) + (22 Goods x 4) + (1 Satisfactorys x 3) + (1 Poors x 2) ) ÷ 310 Ratings = 4.913
  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 5 Points relating to the number of positive Reviews for Little Gems Private Day Nursery is based on 26 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 + 0.05 + 0.05 + 0.05 + 0.05 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 = 4
    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 103 number of registered child places is 20.6, which has been reached with 26 Positive reviews. Points = 1
  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 (17)

Meet the Team (1)

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Leah Morrow

Job Title: Nursery Manager Joined: 2008

Leah Morrow has been our manager at Little Gems since July 2022 and previously held the manager position in our Greendale nursery.

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