Any thoughts on Orange Day Nursery in Turnpike Lane?

[greensuedeshoes]

Anyone send their kids here - what do you think of it? All comments good and bad welcomed - it seems expensive but we visited and seemed like a nice place. What other local choices are there?

Hi, I looked at Orange when we moved into the area, and to be honest - if we could afford the £65 a day (or whatever it was then, can't remember exactly) we would have sent DD there. As it was, she is at Eagle Nursery which is in the United Church on the corner of Allison Road and Green Lanes. It is nice (the staff are good, they have lots of space and activities, the food is nice etc.) but it is nowhere near as "polished" as Orange - this is of course reflected in the price (£38 for over 2's). I believe there are spaces, but not in all age groups.

My toddler is at woodside children centre - it is really grest but the waiting lists are over a year long....

My daughter goes to Orange. It is expensive but I think they are good - very responsive to individual children's needs in terms of sleeping, eating etc. Of course they have a routine but don't insist on enforcing a schedule on babies who aren't ready for it. It took my daughter ages to settle in and she needed a lot of one to one attention (especially when going to sleep) and they really went out of their way to do that and make her feel secure. Now she is very happy there and I am really pleased with all the activities they do, the food is really good and the staff are nice. The only downside is the staff turnover! But I don't know if that happens at every nursery, especially private ones I'm told the pay is pretty bad. Hope that helps.

Do not send your child to Orange Day Nursery!
They are under-staffed, have poor management and are not providing acceptable standards of care.
2 children were recently witnessed being sick yet were not segregated from the other children and were actually allowed to sit at a table with the other children at meal time, where one of the sick children, vomited on another child and across the food! They were so understaffed they could not cope. Other recent incidents include a child swallowing a marble-sized metal ball-bearing without the staff seeing as he was not been adequately supervised and resulting in a visit to A&E.
In fairness to ODN the care was pretty good in 2009 but has been declining steadily for the last 12 months and is now unacceptable. Most of the permanent staff have left due to poor management, and they are always short staffed. Several parents are now taking action and even withdrawing children from their care.

Latest developments this week at Orange Day Nursery include at least one parent permanently withdrawing her child due to poor standards. The parent in question has sent her child to ODN for 2 years and was deeply dissatisfied with the poor standard of care. The cause of many of the current issues seem to be from the 'part-time' manager and poor staff satisfaction causing many of the team to leave. Bank staff are being heavily used but do not know the children and do the bare minimum.

Very concerned to hear this, Norlond. My little boy is supposed to be starting at the end of March. Fizzyone, is your daughter still there? Are you still happy with it? Does anyone else have any up to date feedback on Orange? Many thanks in advance...

I had heard all these bad reports too, from two mums I know who had used it.

Things seemed to start going downhill last summer from what I recall.

Several staff all left at once and that kind of kicked off a downward spiral.

I went to have a look around when Orange was first open and none of these problems were happening - I wasn't keen on the manager who seemed very professional but not very warm and there were too many very young staff, better to have a mix of ages in my view (including some very young, before any 16 year old NNs come on and start berating me!!!).

Anyway that's as much as I know.

Just wanted to say that our little boy has now been at Orange since the end of March and we've been very happy with it. Our little boy started in the baby room and has moved to the toddler room in the last few weeks and has been very happy in both. We've either been lucky or things have settled down a bit because the staff on duty have almost always been the regular staff. We're actually moving him in October because we got a place at Woodlands Park which is closer to us, highly recommended by several friends with children there and a lot cheaper, but I think that Orange (with smaller groups with smaller age ranges) has been perfect for his introduction to nursery. I would be very happy for him to stay there if it wasn't for the various advantages offered by Woodlands Park (and actually feel a bit at the idea of taking him away!).

Oh dear. Very disappointed to hear of the Orange nurserys 'incidents' :(

My 7month daughter will be starting nursery in Feb next yr and we havent yet registered /chosen a nursery.....!? Am planning on visiting Woodside CC...Busy Bunnies (anyone know/sending their children here please let share your thoughts)...Adventureland...

Any reccomendations would be welcome. Also any updates (for 2012!) re Orange nursery would be appreciated ...

I would like to say that I set up Orange Day Nursery a few years back. I am no longer the manager there and am sad to see that it has gone down hill so much. I am running my own little nursery in the heart of Central London instead. Thanks, Eileen

I know the area well. I know some parents that are very happy with Orange but it does seem to have very, very high staff turnover.

My friends recommend Little Jewels in Harringay and Noah's Ark in Wood Green. Little Jewels apparently has lovely staff and great activities; it's pretty small though. Noah's Ark is family run so virtually no staff turnover, and kids can have the same staff caring for them for years, but less gorgeous premises than Orange.

But that is just my friends' experience of the area's private nurseries.

A child was taken out recently as the parents were so unhappy with the level of care and the child was not happy there.

I have been a Nursery Nurse at Orange for two and a half years. I am also the Nursery SENCo so I work closely with children who have additional needs. There have been a number of changes to management, however this has never affected how me or my colleagues work. We frequently attend training at Haringey PDC, and have in-house training lead by other professionals. We are all of different ages and different ethnic backgrounds and we all have different qualifications which makes us the fun, energetic, knowledgeable, caring, and hardworking team we are. Every staff member is aware of the fundamental aspects of safeguarding children, and would never put a child in danger. We work very closely with parents and form positive relationships with all parents and carers in the Setting. I'm sure all parents have had their children put something other than food in their mouths during early childhood, its a natural thing for children to explore his/her senses. I'm sure all children experience a small bump or a fall in their early years too...This is not down to poor standards of care, simply part of growing up and learning boundries! Since joining ODN, I have built on my existing knowledge and understanding of the Early Years, and I have also gained a new family of colleagues and children who I extremely enjoy working with!

I thought so...till I checked ofsted report from January 2013:(....

vicky1212 I am a first time mum currently settling my baby in at Orange.. the Ofsted INADEQUATE report is so upsetting, I cant believe what I read..the staff seem lovely but if their quality of care is in question to the level of inadequate then this is v v worrying! :( As parents, we cannot take the risk of having our chidlrens safety in question----even if they are going to sort themselves out that will take time. To continue to pay above average fees, whilst knowing my childs education and well being is not 100% looked after is simply not acceptable.

Parents of kids currently attending, would love to have your thoughts?

Nim33,check your mailbox please..I would be more than happy to talk to you about this problem.

We too are devastated by the ofsted report. Our boy has been there since January 2011 as a 7 month old (now just over 2.5years) and and he's been happy there. But things have been on the slide in the recent year and we have felt that he needs more structure (a key criticism of the report). Staff are only as good as the management team, and the provider/owner has obviously not been keeping on top of things either. I know they are bringing back the previous manager (who was very good) on an interim basis but then who??? I guess we should go to the meeting next Thursday but we're seriously thinking about pulling him out and finding somewhere else!

We've had a daughter at orange for 2 years and it's definitely declined. I've lost count of the amount of times I've had to tell a member of staff that a baby is awake and wondering around. On many occasions I've had to ask them to see to a crying child that was being ignored. I recently asked them to see to a toddler that was crying covered in old and new snot. I found that quite distressing and knew the mother would be appalled had she seen. My daughter goes for a maximum of 12 hours a week which is why we've put up with it but We've decided the new ofsted report is the final straw and are looking elsewhere.

The mother who took her child out per my earlier post above now feels vindicated. She is very relieved that Ofsted have finally reported it for what it is - inadequate staff, manager, and owner.

The place is a complete shambles! We enrolled our little boy in January (unfortunate timing I know!) and the disorganization and lack of trained staff are unbelievable.
The main problem is lack of personnel and resources. Sometimes there is only 1 nurse taking care of up to 8 babies!
The nurses do what they can in this overcrowded conditions but most of the times are very tired and can't take proper care of all babies.
After the Ofsted report things are not improving, as now the nursery has a part-time interim manager as opposed to a full time manager, and generally there is huge turnover in staff.
The place should be shut and the owners should not be allowed to be in childcare business ever again.

Hi all, I wonder if there are any new reviews (post-inadequate Ofsted report in Feb 13)???

I really recommend this nursery. My boy is happy to go at “Orange”. They have improved a lot I think, the staff is friendly, the menagment is very helpful. The staff always shows care to the children,they are helping my boy to develop so well. I’m happy that I did the right choice about the nursery.