NDNA Scotland celebrates 20th anniversary with Children’s Rights Award
National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) Scotland celebrated 20 years of supporting nurseries across Scotland in a special event with members and the Minister.
Around 60 nursery managers, owners and practitioners attended the NDNATalk event in Edinburgh yesterday to announce the winner of the first ever NDNA Children’s Rights Award which celebrates exemplary rights-based practice in early learning and childcare (ELC).
The award, announced by Minister for Children, Young People and the Promise Natalie Don-Innes, marks a culmination of the extensive UNCRC support NDNA Scotland has been developing for the ELC sector since the UNCRC (Incorporation)(Scotland) Bill first made its way through parliament.
NDNA’s CEO Purnima Tanuku CBE said: “We were delighted to welcome so many to our wonderful celebration event this week. Congratulations to Wise Owls in Moffat who have impressed us so much with their work to support children’s rights in their setting. They were a very worth winner although it was a very high standard with many entrants.
“The project was designed to strengthen the already wonderful work that nurseries in Scotland do for children. Our UNCRC toolkit was developed to support nurseries to incorporate CRWIAs into their work and ensure babies and infants voices were included. We celebrated Royal Assent with an update to our toolkit, we celebrated implementation with #NDNARightsWeek on social media and finally asked our members to apply for our rights award to showcase and recognise the hard work of the sector.
“We hope these awards will inspire others who work with young children.”
Minister Don-Innes who attended the event to present the award said: “It was a pleasure to present the award to Wise Owls Nursery, who have shown that children’s rights are a genuine priority and embedded throughout their culture and to meet so many inspiring ELC professionals at the event.
“Nurseries play a vital role in delivering for children and NDNA’s UNCRC toolkit is ensuring that children’s rights are respected, protected and fulfilled from the earliest years.”
Catherine Jackson, owner and manager of Wise Owls Nursery and Out of School Club, expressed both pride and gratitude in receiving this recognition. She acknowledged the challenges the nursery has faced over the past couple of months, particularly in staffing.
“All staff have worked hard to ensure that the children’s wellbeing is prioritised throughout, and winning the award is a reflection of the quality and passion of the staff,” she said.
“Wise Owls Nursery focuses on fostering a nurturing, rights-respecting environment where children are supported to have a voice, make choices, and feel valued and this was noticed in their inspection last month, by the inspectors who commented that staff used rights-respecting language and that it was clear that children’s rights were firmly embedded in practice. The award highlights the nursery’s dedication to promoting children’s rights through staff training, child-led learning, and strong relationships with families and the community.”
NDNA Scotland praised Wise Owls Nursery for its unwavering commitment to ensuring children’s rights are at the heart of everything they do. The award recognises the nursery’s ability to maintain high standards of care and education even through periods of change.
The event was also a celebration of two decades of NDNA Scotland supporting the private, voluntary and independent nursery sector. Former national trustee Ann McEwan and current trustee Susan Hill joined the celebrations along with the NDNA Scotland team and senior members of NDNA.
In the last few years, notable achievements include successfully lobbying the Scottish Government for 100% business rates relief for nurseries; launching Millie’s Mark the gold standard for paediatric first aid and supporting members through the Covid pandemic.
In 2024 NDNA launched its UNCRC toolkit to support members to understand what the Bill required of them and to embed children’s rights into their nurseries. This included resources and training to help them engage with babies and infants. This included the Listen to Me publication which helps nurseries to engage the youngest children into rights discussions, factsheets and best practice from nurseries already engaged in rights-based practice. We will develop best practice case studies from finalists of the Children’s Rights Award.
The award and event at the Royal Scots Club in Edinburgh was sponsored by Citation. Judges for the award were:
Marie McQuade – University of Glasgow
Sarah McDermott – Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights)
Susan Hill – NDNA National Trustee and Owner of Wellside Kindergarten
- Scotland
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