the little unicorn canary wharf

[simondie]

I first visited The Little Unicorn at Westferry Circus when my little girl was a baby. I was concerned about the etched windows, as the children cannot see outside. I was also concerned that there was a computer in one of the rooms, which, as anyone who knows about child development knows is not appropriate to the early years.
In addition, living near Canary Wharf, I have seen how their walks are conducted.
They seem to be joyless affairs where the children are lead around on leads. Yesterday I saw three members of staff out with a group, and they were chatting to eachother. If it had been me, I would have had the children on the grass searching for insects and doing things that bring them into contact with nature, especially as there is no outside space at the Westferry Circus nursery. It all leaves me very concerned about the emotional and developmental wellbeing of these children, who presumably spend most of the day inside, which is completely against their true natures.

[Skimummy]

I'm not really sure how you expect people to respond to your post.

However, I can say that my DD goes to Little Unicorn (not Westferry Circus) and has thrived - emotionally and developmentally. She does alot of activities that I don't do with her at home and has really benefited from being around other children her age. Further, the staff at LU are brilliant. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

I understand what you are saying about their walks, but their rules are to have children roped together for safety reasons which limits what they can do.

[Frasersmum123]

I am glad someone has come along with a more balanced view of this nursery, (which isnt one I know personally) TBH as Simondie has only posted twice I think it might be an ex -employee looking for a bit of revenge!

Oddly enough, the other post she agrees with not sending children to Nursery - Maybe T's should get thier stories straight?

[simondie]

It was nice to hear a reasoned and polite answer from Skimummy. Anyone who reads my message carefully will see that I am simply pointing out some concerns. I have used a nursery myself, albeit very briefly.

I have noticed that not all mothers are able to respond as politely as Skimummy on this website! Nurseries are a tricky area for debate. There is so much emotion around the whole area as it involves a lot of trust and so on. I am not an ex-employee of Little Unicorn by the way. But as a new subscriber, I wanted to point out some concerns. And I do feel that the parent/child relationship is due much more respect from Government (as I mentioned in my other message on this subject).

Thanks for reading this.

[hf128219]

What a load of toss. Looking for insects? What about health and safety?

[Frasersmum123]

ROFL at looking for insects!

[Lizipads]

I agree with skimummy. My twins had an absolute blast there for over 4 years and are well-rounded, balanced, clever children who are just finishing Y1 at school, where they are thriving.

On the etched windows point, would you prefer that everyone could see in??

On the "leads" point, they are wrist links and they are absolutely fine - easier than reins if you have more than one toddler to deal with (again I speak from experience!)

I have seen (and experienced) these walks - they often go down by the river. So maybe no insects but definitely lots of boats and other things of interest. Or else from Westferry they might be walking to another of the LU nurseries to use the indoor soft play room, which they love.

And as for "joyless", I regularly see SAHM's talking to their mates not their children occasionally - hardly a concern. And did you ask the children whether they enjoyed it?

Sorry but you have looked at something out of context, made a sweeping judgement and tried to unsettle a group of mums who need to use nurseries to survive. You couldn't be more wrong and need to pick your targets better. I'm sure there are rubbish nurseries but LU is not one of them.