nurserires, advice please

[suecharlie]

I have a three month old baby and might be going back to work in a few months. Am thinking of a nursery two days per week... am not sure what questions to ask when I visit them, is it all based on instinct? Does anybody know of any good nurseries in the Canterbury area??

Best bit of advice I had on selecting a nursery came from a lady I met who owns two nurseries herself. She suggsted we should to look at the staff at the nursery - basically do they seem happy in the job?

Other thoughts on this vein - What's the staff turnover like? What sort of criteria is used to select staff? At DS's nursery we were told that they look for people with a real love of children. Are there any male nannies? Any older nannies? (Male nannies at DS's nursery are very popular with the kids.)

Only just saw this while I was looking for something else - might be too late for it to be of use. I can personally highly recommend the Abbeyfields Nursery in Faversham, where we have had our DS for 2 days a week since he was 3 months old. It's a drive from Canterbury I know but I have friends who lived in Whitstable who sent their children there and now they commute from Chilham as the place is sooooooo good. There is sometimes a waiting list depending on the age of the child.

There is virtually zero staff turnover, my DS (2.5) can't wait to get his coat off when we get there, ALL the carers (even the ones in different age group rooms) know his name and he is brimming with stories on the games he plays there. When you mention that your child goes there to doctors & health visitors they all nod and tell you how great a place it is.

We used to take him one day a week to a Montessori place and the contrast was unbelievable - tears and misery all the time.

I honestly cannot praise Abbeyfields enough.