Asquith nurseries

Can anyone tell me what Asquith day nursery is like in Harpenden please? What are their fees? Two boys aged 2.5 and 3.5. Many thanks

As a professional in this field of work and with years of experience. Let me assure you, sudden high staff turn over does not happen for no reason. I'd reflect on any recent changes that could encounter this. ( no point asking staff or management, they won't be aload to inform you truthfully )
Something is upsetting them staff that's for sure. The setting I worked for lost around 30-40% of staff within months. when previously has very low turn over. The underlying cause for this was understandable.

I have a child at Asquith Bromley on the whole she is very happy and has settled well. MOST of the staff are extremely dedicated and work very hard. Staff turnover has been quite high of late??

Would recommend as facilities are good.

:)

All my dc went to or are at the Caterham one and we have been perfectly happy with it. My dc thrived there and were well prepared for school. It has great outside space and the staff, in the main, are caring and professional. It has got better in the 9 years since we first started using it.

My child went to the Royal Earlswood Asquith for 2 years and I was very happy with the care he received there. Staff were fantastic and the food was cooked on site and always smelled fantastic. He's always been a talkative chap- and was always incredibly happy to go to nursery/preschool there.

My two children went to an Asquith Nursery near us in N London and thrived there. I echo what pp's say about the quality being variable though - there is another branch nearby which is nowhere near as good.

I've got dc at Caterham Asquith, dd was there only for two years in preschool, but others there from babyroom and now in preschool. V happy w them. Just goes to show that a nursery is never completely good or completely bad, it's v much about your individual experience.

Thanks grannyapple. So far so good with Battersea day nursery, we are still in the settling in stages so we'll see how we get on.

I send both of mine to the one in Bromley...I can't rate it enough actually. Staff are lovely & a lot are the same staff who looked after DS as a baby (he's now 3) are now looking after DD (9 months). Management seems fairly good at that one & they recently received an outstanding rating from ofsted.

Regarding food, all food at our local one appears homemade...& the cakes are delicious!! They quite often do taster days when there's a new menu,at ours.

But you only really know if you like a nursery or not until you go see it operating as a nursery drying working hours, I find, so go with your gut instinct.

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I'm about to send my baby to Asquith's Battersea day nursery, can anyone give me their experiences with this nursery?

As a ex staff member and parent I would not recommend.
Granted there are some great nurseries amongst this very large chain. However, head office is disgracefull and when serious incident occurre, even when they know they are at fault they will do everything in their power to protect their setting. They have a very expensive law firm that represents them and complaints from parents are usually stopped quickly from coming to publics attention. I alone know of 2stories that have been blocked from going to the paper because Asquith threatened legal action.
As a parent I made many complaints some of which very seriouse- nothing happened. I whistle blowed on staff on a few occasions- nothing happened.
My children were withdrawn promptly and I moved on to another place of work.

It is a shame as some staff are outstanding as are a few of the nurseries.

However good point are.

• nice nutriouse meals
• extra educational learning ie linking sounds and letters phase 1 booklet
• language lessons, sports clubs, cooking lessons etc etc
• planning its done the same thought out the settings do very tidy and uniformed.
• adquith have a lot of money to throw around and making a good impression to parents and children

My DS is at an Asquith (in Herts) and we are extremely happy with it - it's rated Outstanding by Ofsted and he's had brilliant care. There also seems to be very little staff turnover.
I don't think you can make a judgment without visiting an individual nursery to see what it has to offer.

My son attends an asquiths nursery in south-west London and there is no way I would recommend it. There are no staff there from when he started - they have all left because the management is so bad. I'm glad he is leaving to go to school. If he wasn't leaving, i would take him out. Morale is terrible and you can tell as soon as you walk in through the door.

Awful place, just took my son out. High level of apathy. Bad communication and staff that are disillusioned and bored. Could also do with a good clean.

I worked as a temp ten years ago at this chain and some others in South West London and I was quite shocked by the attitudes of the staff. Many of the seemed to truly have little interest in children and considered it a 'doss job'. I did issue a formal complaint to ofsted which led to a full investigation in one nursery (not Asquith actually).

Some of the staff I can across were exceptional, really caring and had been at the nursery for years. Unfortunately, many more had just finished school and didn't know what else to do with their lives, were completely unqualified and unsuitable to work in the industry.Some had learning difficulties/low IQ's. It is a very low paid industry despite charging parents huge fees.

I vowed to never send my children to a day nursery if I could help it. Of course I know there is little choice for some parents and I am sure some nurseries are fine and children thrive. I would always urge my friends to use childminders or nannies if finances allowed, especially for very young children.

Hello twinkletoescare, is that 'feeding behaviour' and the food quality the case with all asquith nurseries or just that one? And all of you, do you believe that an independent nursery is better than a chain?

Hello lechatnoir, i live in tunbridge wells and i consider to to give my unborn child to the asquith woodlands (ofsted rating good) or the asquith sprinfields (ofsted rating outstanding) in southborough as these are closest to us. Have u or anyone else ever heard about these? Are u happy to leave ur children there and what is the staff turnover like?
Thanks

If what you say is true twinkletoescare you have a duty as a caring person to report this to ofsted. There is a whistle blower part on the ofsted website, so take action, don't just tell worried mums about it, tell ofsted! Or tell me what brach it was and I will.

I'm a former nursery nurse and spent some time working in an Asquith nursery.
Not long as I couldn't bare it!
I worked in the baby room where children were fed instant mash EVERY DAY!
Parents were told it was "potato and vegetable pie" or "cottage pie" "potatoes and vegetables"
In 2 months I only ever saw the baby room being served cooked grated carrot and instant mash.
I was also left caring for 13babies on my own on many occasions.

Of course the parents thought that everything was fantastic as they will be lied too!

Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear

I have to say I moved my DC from the Caterham Asquith recently as I felt staff left my DC to wander around in the toddler room. DC was not engaged by staff which was heart ranching for me to see, so felt this wasn't the loving caring environment which would be right for us, which resulted in our move.
I also know, since leaving, as parents talk that they had quite a major incident with staff neglecting/abusing a child in the baby room which resulted in staff being reshuffled/asked to leave!
A complaint letter about this should have been in their complaint file, but this was hidden from me when I asked to see it before joining my child.
The staff are quite tight, so it can be difficult to get the truth where an incident occurs and as they don't file all their complaints for parents to see, as directed by Ofsted, I do wonder the extent to which parents are unhappy.

I would avoid this nursery at all cost..... Not worth taking the chance with our precious little ones!!!

There are 2 Asquiths near me - one has a great reputation the other doesn't so I'd agree look at the individual nursery rather than the brand. I'm in Kent so pm me if you want specifics.

With regards the Ofsted comment about children needing privacy for toileting it really depends what this refers to - of course toilets in full view of everyone isn't great but if it means staff don't leave them alone then I would disagree as the last thing I want is a toddler left to their own devices on the toilet. Ask to discuss the report at your initial meeting & see how they respond.

Hi, I just wanted to say that my older son went to an Asquith in raynes park, and although I know some of the parents weren't happy with it, I personally have nothing but praise for them!
It was a lovely safe, warm environment for him, and he learned lots. He is incredibly bright and I do think the nursery had its part to play. He was there from 11mnths to 4 yrs.

I haven't done a full investigation but there doesn't seem to be any cause for alarm - they own many of their properties and have recently opened a purpose-built facility so I would imagine they are less keen on keeping leased operations going unless they are highly profitable, and if the landlord wants to bump up the rent they are not going to be highly profitable.

The story about redevelopment also sounds credible - the landlord presumably believes he can get planning consent.

I wonder how secure Asquith Nurseries as a company is - anyone got any knowledge?

We were told that the Asquith Nursery we have been using at 50 Groveway Stockwell SW9 (Lambeth) is closing at the end of October 2012 - we got six weeks notice of this and the reason given is that they havent been able to come to an agreement with the landlord over rent for the site. To me this sounds like a bit of a non-argument as they would have been in discussions with the landlord for 6+ months I would have thought about renewal of leases etc. They implied that the landlord wanted to redevelop the site but to me this is another non-argument as they would require change of use planning permission etc.

So it seems that the company is in trouble - they were able to offer us places at surrounding nurseries fairly easily indicating that they are not full and I am not sure therefore how viable these are.

As a result of having our hands burnt here we will not be using any Asquith nursery again. Other Asquith parents may want to consider this too - Buyer beware and all that!.