Anyone use Noddys in Putney?

[Wiggler]

Hubby and I are looking at nurseries for our 2 year old in the Putney/Southfields area and so we are obviously aware of the eye wateringly high prices but needs must, at least for the next year or so.

We are slap bang between the two Noddys nursery schools and have been round both as well as others, but got a good feeling about Noddys, particularly the one near West Hill Road (by the church).

All we really need are some real 'testimonials' from other parents who have children there as the walk around from the head teacher was very professional but felt a bit too rehearsed and we didn't get much chance to poke around ourselves.

If you've sent your children to a Noddys we'd really appreciate any feedback you have so we can feel we've made an educated decision :)

[ProfessorLaytonIsMyLoveSlave]

We haven't (although live v near to the Putney one) but I know several families who have used or do use it and they have been / are all very happy. It's a little more "formal" than some of the other options (which is partly why we went for one of those other options ourselves) but that will presumably have already come across from the walk around. Certainly the children we know have all been happy and well-settled.

If you don't have any takers and would like to email me at [email protected] I could pass your details onto one Putney Noddys mother I know and ask her to give you her impressions.

[nicola1234]

Noddy's is more a creche than a proper school- which is good in that its open all year, but bad in that it's used more like a drop-off/day-care center. We looked around last year but the building work/noise/staff put us off.

[KiwiPanda]

Hello, I realise this thread is really old but in case anyone happened to find it and want more info on Noddys, I just thought I'd add my tuppence hapenny.

Utterly confused by your comment, Nicola1234 - Noddy's isn't anything like a creche, it's a nursery school taking children from around 6 months (though mostly 1 year or so) through to school, and most of the parents I know use it for full days. It's not remotely a creche!

For what it's worth more generally, my daughter actually started at the one in West Hill Road and moved to Gwendolen Avenue (where she still is) and has been extremely happy. It's a lovely nursery, yes they have been doing some building work at the Putney site but it's resulted in really lovely rooms and never troubled DD in the slightest (or us). The staff are sweet, and all the kids seem really happy. Cannot recommend it highly enough - though god knows it is pricey!

[hotmamajama1]

This is a old thread, but like the last lady I would like to comment in case someone else is interested. My son has been attending Noddy's in West Hill for 1 1/2 years. I am now looking to move him. The reason I haven't done it sooner is because he has little friends that he has bonded with and it breaks my heart to do it. But he is not thriving at all. The staff seem overwhelmed with work, the turnover of staff is really high and there are lots of temporary workers and most of the time they don't know what they are doing. Some of the staff is really good but they are in the minority.
The management is appalling as they don't even address formal complaints addressed to them.
They had building works going on for a very long time and they keep pushing forward the completion date. The running of Noddy's seems highly disorganised and fragmented.
Emphasis is not being put on teaching, but rather a lot of free

[hotmamajama1]

....(sorry didn't finish) free play.

It would be interesting to hear from other mums and dads that have their kids in Noddy's and what their experience is like.

[llima]

It's wierd to reply to a 2 year old message in a 5 year old thread but there you go. My son has been at Noddy's in West Hill since he was 5 months old. While I have to agree that management of the business side of the nursery could be better (staff churn and the never ending building works are an issue) our experience has been very good overall. The staff are caring, the rooms are always clean and the food is cooked fresh. There are plenty of toys around and other activities as well such as music, painting and sports. My son is very sociable, which probably part of his own personality but surely helped by Noddy's. We also found that the price is reasonable for the area, although in the higher end of the spectrum. Speaking of price, what we have found is that while prices vary by, say, 20%, quality can vary by much more. When we were looking for nurseries we found some which were £100 cheaper but looked dirty, children were not looked after etc. Others were £100 more expensive but we could see no obvious reason for that. All in all we're very happy and would recommend Noddy's to friends.

[dinorah]

Hi from 2023! I can't believe I found the thread from 13 years ago and we happen to be in the same situation.

So we are live about the same (driving) distance from either site of Noddy's and have just been offered a place at Gwendolen, but our nursery run would be a little bit easier with Trinity Church (just about to avoid the Putney school run traffic I believe). I'm wondering if any mums have any experience with either branch recently? Should we switch Trinity Church? We visited both and I had a really good first impression to Gwendolen, and we were told "everything is exactly the same" at Trinity Church hall so we didn't check it out too closely. Any insights and experiences would be helpful, thank you!

[Gabby100]

We sent our son to Noddy's and had an awful experience. The day to day staff are fine (many of them great, although there's a high turnover) but the management is not good. It's very much commercial, and they'll say what they need to say to keep parents happy but then do as they wish/cookie cutter it. There's a total lottery between children that move up a class and stay put (without explanation), and if your child needs extra help they're unlikely to get it. Above all, they'll do everything they possibly can to defend the nursery whether they were right or wrong.

[Putney25]

@ I was wondering if you could provide more information, my child is struggling as well at Noddys and want to understand exactly what drove the awful experience

[Gabby100]

We are bit reluctant to share all the details on a public forum but if you send a private message with your experience I will happily compare it to ours and let you know. Our main issue related to how management dealt with concerns and our son is now much happier at another nursery.