Are BIG nursery's always a bad thing?

[tryingtobemarrypoppins2]

Looking at an Outstanding (ofsted) Sure Start nursery which takes up to 156 children in the Foundation Stage and has a further 20 places for children under 3 years of age.

Amazing facilities but it is very open plan and Big!

Thoughts??

I am teacher ofstead means v little it is how it performed on a single day. I think your own insticts are the best things to go on. Once you have visited a few nursery's you v quickly get a feel for what you like and dislike.

Also remember the child to staff ratio is same everywhere set in law - so even though big your dc will still get same attention.

Just look around and trust ur instincts also remember in many case u do get what u pay for. My child's nursery costs a fortune but it is worth it not to have dc happy and i can go to work knowing i am condident about the care he is getting.

I really liked the over 3's area but was a bit concerned about 6months-3years being in one open plan space.....little crawlers with big toddlers etc.

My son goes to a big open plan nursery. I am not sure how many children it takes but it may well be as big as the one you describe.

Its very easy going and the children wander about doing their thing. Its very different from the little nursery my much older children went to, all the children napped, played, went outside etc at the same time.

My DS loves it there. It suits him and he is not bothered by the amount of children coming and going. I do not think it would suit everyone though. I think my DS2 wouldve struggled with the set up.

the Staff are very affectionate and the atmosphere is one of organised [not quite] chaos.

You know you DC best.

Trouble is he will only be 7 months and its only 1 day a week....not ideal I know

My DD3 is at a SureStart Children's Centre preschool (DD2 went there, and DD3 was at the nursery there too) and it is large - I think they have provision for 140 part time places as well as allocated places for children with SN.

When I first visited I thought it was huge and hectic but on a second visit understood better the layout and how the children's groups worked. Even with say 70 children in a morning session because it is split into family areas of about 7 children and the place is so big it never feels crowded. There are so many staff and so many activity areas (huge garden, creative studio, music and movement area, quiet places, home area etc) the children are never all in the same place. Remember that even though they have provision for say 150 places they won't all be attending at once.

I would have another visit or two and see how you feel; are the children engaged, happy, creative or occupied or are they just milling around? I absolutely love my DDs nursery and it thoroughly deserves it's Outstanding Ofsted report IMO!

mine are set to go back to their nursery (when I go back to work in Sept after mat leave) which is also Outstanding and has 86 in open plan. The 2 littlest will go (ds2 2yrs and ds3 16 months) and I chose it completely to do with gut feeling, we looked at one that was a similar number with lots of little rooms and lovely but I liked the sense of space and the constant access to the outside. I also found that both ds's (ds1 and ds2 at time) slept really well even though nap/cot area was open to main room.

Look at how the nursery uses the space, do they seperate the littler ones at times to do different activities? use room dividers? fwiw I have 2 within 3 yrs and not had a problem with toddlers and crawling baby, the children at the nursery will be used to the mix and are usually very caring towards one another - have another look and watch how they interact.

Its completely down to the environment that suits you and your lo. ds1 went to a childminder until he was 2yrs who was ofsted 'satisfactory' but we thought she was great and he loved it.

Hi everyone very new to this site so bear with me
I am looking to see if any mums can give me some information
My family and I are currently in the process of moving to the uk from Ireland as my husband is English and has just got a job at old Trafford
We have a 9 month old girl and 6 year old boy
And are looking to live in Cheshire
Can anyone tell me how exactly I go about getting my little one into a sure start nursery we have been looking online and sued start seems the most ideal place for her to go as our little boy was also in a place like sure start in Ireland
Also does anyone know how much it costs at sure start ???
Also can anyone recommend any good school within Cheshire ??
Any information any of you ladies can give me would be greatly appreciated
Sami