A WEE COUNTY nursery has received £5,000 in funding after its café initiative was named as one of the winners of a new Scottish Government (SG) award.

Menstrie Nursery’s Wee Scones Café received the Early Learning and Childcare Innovation Award earlier this month.

The award aims to highlight innovative initiatives which challenge and improve children’s learning experience, and then develop them further thorough extra funding.

The Wee Scones Cafe allows children to measure ingredients, prepare food, create menus, work as a team and learn how to use real money.

It has also allowed them to develop their literacy, numeracy and social skills, and has had extra benefits such as increased parental engagement as well.

Jenny McEwan, a practitioner from the nursery, told the Advertiser: “I think winning the award is such an achievement for us.

“We didn’t really expect it to be honest.

“We were using the café to have a positive impact on our learners’ numeracy and literacy – which it has done.

“It’s also been great because it's involved parents, and it’s just been fun, challenging and engaging.”

Menstrie Nursery was one of just six institutions from across Scotland to have been chosen as one of the Innovation Award’s inaugural winners.

It has already received the £5,000 grant, which Jenny claimed has made a difference in allowing staff to develop the café initiative further.

Children’s minister Maree Todd MSP said: “Every winning nursery has gone above and beyond to give their children outstanding opportunities to learn and develop.

“Staff have come up with amazingly creative and fun ways to develop children’s understanding of the world around them, with great results already for the children, their families and staff.”