Wimbledon nurseries

[MiniLlace]

I am just starting to look at whether to get a nanny or put my yet to be born daugheter into a nursery 3 days a week when I return to work. I was wondering if any of you could recommend a good nursery in Wimbledon - the only one I have heard of to date is Playdays - is it any good? .. if not what others do you recommend? .. many thanks in advance for any help!

[ivy30]

My daughter was in Playdays on Wimbledon Hill since she was 1.5 (she is now 4.5). After initial settling period she loved it and have been very happy there since. She absolutely adored her key worker when she was in toddlers, and was also very attached to the keyworker in preschool. The nursery has a huge garden and they usually spend lots of time outside, even have tea there if the weather is ok. From 3 y.o. they take them swimming (my dd loved the lessons and made really good progress), and have other activities - go up to the common, french lessons, dance, etc. The food is cooked on site. So my experience was very positive, but may not be very relevant to you as you are probably looking at younger age. Overall, I would send my child there again if she had the same girls looking after her (though I am not sure if I would use babyroom there). Other nurseries around: Dicky birds (I know people who use it and are quite happy), Building blocks, Oaktree (near St.Mary's church).

[Trampoline]

Hi there - I am looking at both Playdays on Wimbledon Hill Rd, and Dicky Birds on Queen's Rd. I visited both and thought they both looked great - I am just deciding whic one to choose. Any further info on Playdays would be good - someone questioned the baby room - why was this? My baby will be 9 months old when she starts this autumn, so she will be in the baby room.

[MiniLlace]

Hi there Trampoline - yes these are the two im thinking of - one question have you seen the OFSTED report for Dicky Birds - I cannot find it online and would be interested in seeing what it says as Ive already read the one for Playdays. My main issue with Playdays is you cannot drop off until 8am and pick up I think is 6.30p - is this the same with DB or are there days slightly longer? .. ideally i would like to be at work from 8.30-5.30 ie needing to drop off around 7.30 - if not possible it looks like the nanny option may be what i will need to go with - but would prefer DD gets the social interaction of a nursary - look forward to any more advise you can give

[ivy30]

Hi, I since my daughter started Playdays at around 1.5 I just do not have any experience with baby room. The thing that put me off was regularly seeing the babyroom staff standing outside the nursery and smoking. I never saw staff from other rooms doing that. Maybe they are wonderful and caring (though most of them are younger than staff from other rooms), but for me that picture does spoil the overall impression. I am happy to answer any questions if you have them.

[MiniLlace]

Ivy30 i do agree it isnt a great impression! one thing can i just check the hours are 8.00 - 6.30?

[ivy30]

It's 8.00-18.00. But they are open the whole year apart from one week over Christmas holidays.

[MiniLlace]

thanks!

[Trampoline]

Hi MiniLace and ivy30 - many thanks for getting back to me.

Having recently visited PD for the second time, I was less impressed than when I visited last year. Their recent Ofsted report shows some significant issues, versus the previous report in 2006 which was good. They scored 'satisfactory' versus 'good' or 'outstanding', which isn't great. However the Queen's Rd Playdays got an even worse report of 'Inadequate' overall.

I have also seen staff smoking outside - I had no idea these were girls from the baby room - so thank you for this info. And you're right - having seen these girls, they do look very young.

Regarding DB - their last Ofsted inspections were in 06 and 07 (for Queen's Rd and Dundonald), so they are due new inspections soon. These reports are both on the Ofsted website - they both scored 'Good'. If you're looking to use DB, my advice is to get onto the waiting list as soon as you can - I joined 10 months ago, and I have no chance of a place for 12 months later...there are 40 people on the list ahead of me......

Most nurseries seem to open at 8am from what I can tell.

Thanks again for your help - my search continues!

[ivy30]

I was not interested in the report before, because I felt that my dd was very happy there, but after the latest post I've just read the new one for Playdays on wimbledon hill. I am quite surprised with the satisfactory score, because there were very few points for improvement highlighted in the report itself. From my experience children are happy there, we never had any days when dd did not want to go (maybe one or two, but that was an exception). Dd made very good progress, especially considering that English is not her first language, but she can now read simple words, counts very well for her age and was very attached to her carers. She loved montessori activities, swimming and also playing in their big garden. So for me it feels a bit unfair (but again, I am talking only about experience in pre-school).

[TeamSouthfields]

There's also Co-operative nursery in the Wimbledon Park area

[Charu123]

Hi ! I have just moved to Wimbledon SW19 and am looking for preschool for my younger daughter . Any suggestions ? I have Playday in mind.

[Charu123]

Also I have received a confirmation for a place for my daughter in Hall School in Yr 4. Would appreciate if you can share your experiences.
Thanks in advance