Day nurseries in St Johns Wood

[sur03]

Requesting advice with choice of Day nurseries in the St Johns wood area ... Parents who have kids attending any of the nurseries around here liek Bright Horizons, Carlton Hill Comm Nursery, Abeona, or Toddlers inn, Tigerlilies, or any others ... Please help ...
Have recently moved to London and am feeling lost ...

[strangechild]

mrbrown

I'd be interested to hear why Little Sweethearts should be avoided. Thanks!

[BYOSnowman]

Dd loved toddlers inn. Not so keen on bright horizons. Have heard good things of ready steady go

[Machine123]

Fursitet, I agree Tigerlillies is grubby etc but I did end up having to send DS there when everywhere else locally was full. However, the staff were amazing and DS loved it there. The covered outdoor space was great for cold/wet days and DS loved the adventure playground. Staff were very friendly and we were lucky at that time that a student volunteer started working - all the kids loved her. I feel staff were able to give time to each child and help their personal development , my DS is a bit of a whirlwind but they managed to engage him in focused activities such as threading beads, jigsaw puzzles, counting objects, listening to a piece of music... Things I would never have imagined he would do. The downsides for me were snack time - I sat in on a couple of snack times while DS was settling in and I felt kids were not being given enough (each child usually got a quarter of a baby bell, a couple of small cubes of Apple, a dessert spoon of rice crispies, maybe a thin slice or two of cucumber. Most children were clearly hungry and wanted more. And the other downside is that a full day is only 9.15am until 2.15pm. Bright horizons has longer hours but I didn't feel the staff were 'fun' or engaging enough when I went to visit. The set up of the nursery rooms also felt a bit tight/cramped.

Just out of interest, what did you think was the safety issue with Abercorn? Is it the stairs? DS is settled there and other than the stairs I cannot see what the safety violation would be. We walk the children down the stairs at drop off and staff assist them the rest of the day. Nursery children are not left to use stairs unaccompanied. The nursery staff are brilliant with the kids and classes are limited to 12 children with four members of staff. There is good communication between parents and staff, they keep us informed on progress. With regards to snobbishness, I was worried this would be the case before DS started but I've got to know other mums and I quickly realised it was all in my head.

[Machine123]

Hi Fursitet,

Crikey, I'm ashamed to admit I hadn't even thought about any of the issues you highlighted re Abercorn. When I go in tomorrow I'm going to check out the notice boards you mentioned to see if that is still the case. Hopefully not. I'm surprised by the staff reaction to it.

The door issue, I'm thinking the door must have been left on the latch for your LO to open it. The tab to pull the door open is too high up for the nursery kids to reach. Unless this has been changed recently. I'm going to check this again tomorrow just to be sure

I know the staff supervise the children for bathroom visits so they aren't left to turn on taps by themselves but the fire safety thing about the kitchen on the premesis, I'm not sure anything will be done about that. It's an old building but I guess they wouldn't be able to operate within the building if it was deemed dangerous.

Anyway, we sent DS to Abercorn nursery purely so that he gets into the school without having to do any of the assessments to get in later. I hope I don't out myself on here . Abercorn is the 'safety net' if DS doesn't get into the other schools. Tigerlillies was just to get him used to a nursery environment and get all the crying/settling out of the way so that when he started Abercorn it would just be toilet training that we need to worry about. I don't think I could have kept him at Tigerlillies much more than that as they don't really have a very academic focus.

Education wise, I rate Abercorn's weekly timetable of structured lessons as well as the independent play and group activities. They have 2-3 French, music, PE and Yoga classes a week, all taught by specialist teachers that come in specifically. Tigerlillies and bright horizons don't have this and I'm not sure if Toddlers Inn does either. They also explore various topics eg weather, food, family, and incorporate the themes into their play/activities, story time, singing. Every week parents are updated on what the children have been doing/learning via a newsletter which I find really useful.

Downsides of Abercorn for me: uniform from a specialist stockist who charges the earth but poor quality fabric (Some days you go through two sets of uniform) and Children having to be toilet trained before they start. Not everyone is ready by 2.5 years.

[bakinka82]

Hi everyone!
I would also be grateful for more information on Little Sweethearts - we have a place there but wondering whether we should just stay with Ready Steady Go (we are in the beginners group there at the moment). Also, any feedback on Broadhurst and Hampstead Hill? Sorry, didn't mean to hijack... hopefully, my questions are still relevant to the thread

[sh77]

I have sent you a pm about Little Sweethearts. Broadhurst has a reputation for being pushy but I didn't look at it. There are plenty of threads on this if you search. I liked Hampstead Hill - lots of lovely activities, academic if you are after that sort of environment. I would stick to RSG. Have you looked at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue nursery as that has an excellent reputation.

[YFerguson]

May I ask you also sent me some information about the Little Sweethearts? I can only find limited discussion about it online. Thanks in advance.