Katrina Mankani serves as the Managing Director of Jumeirah International Nurseries alongside her role as Director of Positive Education at Fortes Education. Established over four decades ago in 1981, Jumeirah Nurseries stands as the most enduring early childhood education provider in the UAE. The organisation supports families across Dubai and Sharjah, operating ten distinct branches that provide dedicated care and education for children aged from 45 days up to six years.
In this article, she provides essential guidance for families on how to choose a nursery. Choosing where a child will spend their days is one of the tenderest decisions a young family makes, and she outlines exactly what to look for.
She has sat on both sides of this decision throughout her career. Having spent a lifetime inside early years settings, she has also been the parent standing in a doorway, trying to work out whether a warm, smiling place was the right one for her own child.
Therefore, she understands exactly how it feels. The nursery tours all blur together. Everyone promises warmth, wonder, and world-class care. The walls are freshly painted, the staff are lovely, and families often walk back to the car with no real idea how to tell one centre from the next. It is, for most families, the very first big education decision and easily the most daunting. She says,
“You are not choosing a building or a brand. You are choosing the people and the philosophy that will shape some of the most precious years of your child’s life.”
Notably, the things that truly matter are not on the brochure. They are in the room, in the people, and in the questions parents are brave enough to ask out loud.
Essential Questions When You Choose a Nursery
Some of the points that Katrina feels that should be kept in mind while choosing the right nursery are, first, ask what the philosophy actually looks like on a Tuesday morning. Almost every nursery has a lovely word on its website, such as Reggio, Montessori, or play-based. However, far fewer can walk you into a real room and show you that word in action. Families should ask gently to see what this looks like with the children on the day of the visit. Furthermore, ask to see how they record a child’s learning. A nursery living its philosophy will light up at the question, while one that only wears it will reach for the mission statement.
Second, ask about the staff-to-child ratios, especially in the baby and toddler rooms. This is the question that nobody should skip. In the earliest years, individual attention is everything because it shapes language, confidence, and that deep sense of being safe. The fewer children each adult is responsible for in the youngest rooms, the more genuine, unhurried care your little one will receive. A confident organisation will tell you its ratios without hesitation.
Third, ask how they will settle your child in. Look for a thoughtful, paced settling-in plan rather than a single drop-off on day one. If a quick drop-off is expected, it tells you almost everything about how a nursery thinks about a child’s feelings. If they talk about easing your child in gently at their own pace with one familiar person to anchor them, you are in caring hands.
Communication and Environment
Fourth, ask how they will keep you in the loop. Parents should never feel they are posting their child through a letterbox each morning and hoping for the best. Look for somewhere that shares real, regular updates through an ongoing conversation between you and the people who know your child, not a single report at the end of term.
Finally, just stand still and feel the room. Walk in and ask one honest question about whether the space invites curiosity, or if it simply contains children. Natural materials, calm corners, and real things to explore at a child’s height are quiet signs of a place designed with thought and love, rather than just filled with furniture.
Gentle Warning Signs to Watch For
Trust your instincts on the gentle warning signs too. Be a little wary of a nursery that cannot clearly tell you its ratios, or that would rather you did not pop in unannounced.
Additionally, look closely at how the children are actually spending their day. For a three-year-old, that should mean hands, sand, water, and play, not screens and worksheets. An older child in a Year 1 programme will rightly be doing some more structured work, and that is exactly as it should be. The question is always whether what is in front of a child genuinely fits their age and stage. A nursery that is proud of what it does will welcome that question and throw open its doors. The very best ones almost want to be checked. Katrina says,
“I’d far rather a parent ask the hard questions and choose with real confidence than fall for a beautiful brochure.”
Trusting Your Parental Instincts
Ultimately, none of this is about finding the best nursery in some league-table sense. It is about finding the right one for your child and your family. The goal is finding the place where, when you finally do walk back to the car, you feel lighter rather than unsure.
That feeling is real information, so do not talk yourself out of it. Take the tour slowly and ask the awkward question. Watch how the staff are with the children when they think no one important is looking.
In conclusion, trust yourself. Parents know their child better than any brochure ever could, and that knowing is the most reliable thing brought to this whole decision.
To learn more about Jumeirah International Nurseries, click here
Further Reading
- Jumeirah International Nurseries Joins Eid Al Etihad National Day Celebrations at Ibn Battuta Mall
- Jumeirah International Nurseries Opens Flagship Preschool in Al Mamsha, Sharjah
- From the First Steps to the First School: How Jumeirah International Nurseries Nurtures Lifelong Learners