to want to send my child to a good nursery?

[BoJanglez]

Me and DP have different ideas about nurseries....

He thinks oftsted 'good' is fine plus bonus because it's cheaper.

I think ofsted 'outstanding' is what we should aim for if we can and whilst we will have less money, we can still afford it! It'll be tough for a while and will become easier when childcare costs come down with free childcare. I also get an amazing scheme through my work and will be dropping a few hours to reduce costs.

What would/did you do? And what were your criteria when looking?

It's so hard and I just want what is best for my baby...

We looked at an Outstanding and two Goods. One of the Goods stood out to us immediately as the best. The Outstanding nursery got outstanding because it's quite academic - I didn't want that for my child, she can do academic stuff once she's of school age. But some people do want that.

The other Good, IMO, should have failed their Ofsted. They didn't have basic security procedures in place. Yet I know people who send their kids there and rave about it.

P.S. I now work as an Ofsted Registered childminder so run a small EYFS setting in my own home. I am very passionate about providing fantastic early years care. Smaller ratios than a nursery, lots of outings, regular time in bigger groups like music classes and playgroups, etc. Home cooked food that is the same I feed my own family (balanced diet, good quality ingredients, lots of fruit and veg, etc).

I much prefer running my own little setting as when I worked in the nursery I mentioned above which was ran very poorly it made me feel so cross for everyone involved (kids, parents and staff)!

As a childminder I encourage parents to visit a few nurseries and a few childminders in their local area to get a feel for them all as all settings are so different.

I think you need to consider what your child needs. Mine needed a small group with less noise and lots of love. She didn’t need academic. We looked at a few places and price was a consideration for me in choosing. We looked at 4, one I chose to look at because it was cheaper. As it was we got a bad vibe from the cheap one and ended up with a small place, medium priced, ofstead “good”. We turned down an ofstead excellent as we didn’t like the last running it.

Thanks everyone. I guess I just want the best nursery possible and DP wants the cheapest and I guess we need to meet in the middle somewhere.

Absolutely taking on board what you're saying about ofsted! I thought people really used that as an influencing factor but seems it's not as relevant as I thought. Thank you!

I would never choose an Inadequate provider, but the diff between Good and Outstanding is fairly minimal! A Good nursery might be much better for your child than an Outstanding one.

Personally I would pick a good, affordable nursery over a 'perfect' expensive one.

I hated our local outstanding nursery, and chose one that was "only" good, and it was hands down the best parenting decision I've ever made.

Yes, it's a bonus it was also cheaper, but honestly, the "feel" of a nursery is so important. The one we chose was the warmest, friendliest place I've ever known, but wasn't as "slick" as the outstanding one. The toys and decor is older, the facilities weren't as good - but I think my daughter was as happy and cared for as she could have possibly been there.

Wouldn't go for less than good, maybe safety or quality of care issues, but feel of place and staff more important. Read the report, find out why. Make a list of what is important, include ofsted and price but don't give them priority. Bright happy children staff and parents are important.

Some of the worst settings and schools I have visited were graded outstanding and the best one I've ever seen was a good- graded so because they stuck to their guns about what was right for their children- disagreed with the Ofsted inspector. They're absolutely outstanding in reality. It's also the cheaper of the ones around here (children's centre). So it may be that the cheapest one actually suits you best.

It's a bit like hotels, 5 will have lots of facilities, maybe pool, bar but dreadful food and couldn't care less staff. 1 may be basic but friendly with lovely fresh eggs from rescue chickens and home made cake. Depends what is important to you, sometimes it's good to go top dollar, but often a personal touch is better. Don't skimp on basics, like clean and safe

I don't think they even had ofsted visits to nurseries when mine were there (1994). I chose based on opening hours, closeness to home, the feel of the place, the staff, the facilities and yes the cost.

DS went full time for four years and DD full then part time for four years. They both survived without the rating. It was a lovely nursery.

Cheapest nursery we found had an outstanding Ofsted rating!

It isn't correlated like you seem to suggest, I suspect it's coincidence that the ones that charge more gave better Ofsted.

Pick the nursery you like and then look at Ofsted. Good or outstanding is absolutely fine as long as you like it

I would suggest looking round lots of nurseries and childminders, you will get a feel for them and you'll know which you could happily leave your child in.
I wouldn't pay too much attention to the Ofsted rating, and go with your gut instinct which is much more reliable.

also, I've not heard of somewhere charging more because of their outstanding rating, I mean what if they were to lose that, would they reduce their fee's?

My SIL has worked in lots of different nurseries for over a decade (now nursery manager).
Her tip to us was to look around but ask about staff more questions about when was the last vacancy, when did the last member of staff leave etc. Generally regardless of ofsted if they have a high staff turnover its a good indication that the staff are not happy and potential for them to be stretched etc. Happy staff = happy nursery experience as if they want to be there they are more engaging.

For her own daughter she fell out with my MIL because she refused to put her in the outstanding nursery (she had asked the same questions) and instead went for good because of the environment. My MIL couldn't understand why....

DP and I visited three nurseries and opted for the good rated one over the two outstanding ones. Our DD has just left that nursery after 4 years and she absolutely loved every day.

This nursery just felt right to us as a family and it seemed a lot more flexible than either of the two outstanding ones. Cost wasn’t a consideration for us we just wanted the right ‘vibe’.

You have to go and get a feel of the nurseries and then make a decision. I’d also visit them twice if you aren’t quite sure.

I went to visit 3 nurseries, two outstanding and one good. I much preferred the nursery rated good, it had a much more 'homely' feel which is what I was looking for. The people who worked there were lovely and you could tell they really cared about the kids they were looking after, whereas the outstanding nurseries were a little too sterile for me.

Don't judge a nursery by its rating, visit first and see how you feel. My DD could not be happier in the nursery she is in and I am so glad I sent her there!

Well I wouldn't just go on cost unless the higher one was unaffordable. But as for Offstead ratings, we chose a Good nursery over an Outstanding, it was much friendlier and just seemed right for ds and he absolutely loved it there and has absolutely thrived. ( has just left after 3 and a half years).
If you are still concerned about Ofstead I would read the report and see if the reasons why the nursery didn't get Outstanding are important to you. Also some are easily fixed and you may find the nursery has already put measures in place to change things
I would make a list of questions that are important to you, base final decision on a mixture of answers to those and gut feeling.

Fees really don't vary depending in the rating. I looked at loads where we used to live and chose one which didn't even have a rating. Its sister nursey was oustanding but it had only been open about a year. It was rated good at its first inspection. I viewed some oustanding ones and they were not right for us.

If you are unsure, visit again.

DD goes to a 'good' nursery where the alternatives are 'outstanding'. Picked it initially for location, so had a a wobble, but actually having visited the others I'm glad (considering DD's temperament) that she's somewhere small where she knows all the staff.

The way they work funding means it isn't the cheapest but I'll take the hit for somewhere that she's happy.

DS's first nursery didn't have an Ofsted rating, yet. It was close to work and offered term time only contracts, though. The baby room was also quite small and the staff were quite matter of fact when they showed us around. One of the little ones was crying and the lady showing us round just picked him up and carried him around with us for the rest of the time.
It convinced me to go for this nursery instead of the more posh looking ones a little further away.
At one I was proudly told that they were enlarging their baby room to take 39 children (yeah...not what I was looking for for my eight-month-old) and the lady at the other one told me that I should have come prepared with questions (ahem...no...I wanted to have a look and get a feel for the place...and I had asked everything I had wanted to know about...which meant DS would have had to fit into their naptime schedule and not had free flow access to the garden once he'd been a bit older).

His current nursery wouldn't rate well with Ofsted. We're abroad now. The idea is to give children lots of opportunities for independent play. There are no adult-led activities. However, DS loves going outdoors a lot and the fact that he's got lots of climbing equipment in his actual base indoors. For me, it's my workplace nursery, so just convenient and subsidised. (However, state nursery is free here from age 3 anyway.)

I work in nurseries and i have worked in 1 outstanding nursery and 3 good nurseries. The outstanding nursery had fees double of what the good nurseries charge. If im completely honest i didnt really feel a difference between outstanding and good nurseries, as long as the nursery is doing everything they should be doing then whats the prob. Outstanding nurseries get inspected again after about 5 years and alot can change in that time.. staff change, management changes so although its got the grade it couldve got that grade upto 5years ago depending on when last inspection was. I wouldnt base your decision too much on what grade a nursery is as long as its nothing below 'good' then youre fine. Just view the nurseries and go off whichever one you get the best overall feel from.

I think with everything, you need to consider value for money. So if Nursery A costs £8 more, is it worth paying the £8 over Nursery B?

Also bear in mind that nurseries may offer different things for the money. You need to compare whether nurseries include things like nappies, milk, food as part of their basic fee. How does the price change as your child gets older? How do they manage the fees when your child is eligible for free hours?

In my experience it is absolutely worth paying for the best childcare you can find (within sensible limits of affordability).

You get to define what 'best' means for your child though. What's best for one might not be for another.

i personally feel that while an ofsted rating is ofcouse important, its more about the feel of the nursery. are they welcoming and do you feel that you would be happy to leave your child there? It will be different for every family. there are other things to consider too. like does the pricing include food, nappies, wipes etc, or do yo have to provide your own? all the best x

BoJanglez