Advice on Oxford nurseries, please!

[ubwlondon]

Hello

we are moving to Oxford in two months, and have been trying to find a nursery for our daughter, who will be 3 in November. We need four full days childcare, so nursery schools are not really suitable.

The only two nurseries that seem to have places available in/near the centre are the nursery near the station and the one on Marston Ferry Road in Summertown. We have visited both but are a bit undecided - liked the staff better in one, but the location/size better in the other.

Has anybody got experience of one/both of these nurseries and would like to share their experience? We are also on the waiting list for some university/college nurseries, but the waiting lists are so long our daughter will be at secondary school before we get a place!

Many thanks in advance
ubwlondon

I don't know anything about the one on Marston Ferry Road but one of mny colleagues moved his daughter to the one near the station - TT? and she absolutely loves it - the staff are very dedicated and she is very happy.

Hi

Try Grandpont Nursery and Children's Centre. The have a daycare facility at the Mulberry Room, that also provides care before or after nursery sessions.

www.grandpontnurseryschool.co.uk/daycare/aboutus.asp

It's a very caring and lovely place.

Good luck!

Many thanks for the advice. I did get in touch with Grandpont, but unfortunately they cannot even consider us for a place before we have moved to Oxford. We've only got a week between moving and starting new jobs, so really need to get a place sorted before then.

I think we might go for the Summertown one - smaller, and I like the fact that there is a lot of greenery around (that's the reason why we are moving away from southeast London after all!)

Many thanks for your post. That sounds great, how would we go about organising the recommend a friend thing? Every little helps ;-)

Have been told not to publish email address on notice board so I think you might have to request to be put in touch with me?

Hello - many thanks for getting in touch again. We have now decided to go with a different nursery altogether, I visited the Marston Ferry Road one last week (my partner had visited previously) and was not convinced that it would be the right environment for our daughter. So I won't take you up on the referral offer this time if that's okay. Will still look at how to enable the contact function though...

Hi there

We are also looking to move to Oxford from London and thought the Summertown one looked good (the website) particularly because of the new longer hours..I haven't visited it so I am wondering why you changed your mind re it's suitability and also which nursery you decided on in the end and why. My DD is one. I am going to be working in East Oxford area and my husband commuting to London from Oxford so were thinking of living in Jericho.

Catebabe,

Just to say that if your dh is commuting and you are working in East Ox, I'd actually recommend East Ox as a place to live (both train station and Ox Tube are accessible). I have a 3 y o and find it a great place for families with young children. My dd is at Comper, which is attached to SS Mary and John - it's a really good nursery, (although no good for ubw needing 4 full days)

As for the Uni ones ubw, you're right, the waiting lists are only useful if you enroll before you actually give birth, and I am not convinced that the quality is consistent, tbh.

Hello - we decided to go for the Wolvercote Montessori nursery in the end, the staff and setup seemed lovely and they offer after-school and holiday care unlike many other pre-schools. They only take them from 2 years upwards though so not suitable for babies. It's hard to describe why I did not take to the Marston Ferry Road nursery, it looked a little unkempt inside and out and I just didn't get a feeling of "yes, this is where I can imagine my daughter to spend her days". Which is important if you work full days like me.

Oh, to add a twist to the story: I just had a phonecall from one of the university nurseries offering me a place - Mansion House. Very surprised, and quite unsure what to do now - we haven't really got time to go and visit yet another nursery before we move house, and really liked the nursery we enrolled our daughter at. But this one offers wraparound care all year long, should we go for the flexibility this offers? Ofsted report is decent.

Wow - I'm surprised too, ubw! If Mansion House is the one on Apsley Road, it seems lovely - I lived in the married grad accommodation next door while pregnant, and it seemed like a really happy nursery.

Does anyone know of any parent with a child at Sumemrtown Nursery in Martson Ferry Road?? Just about to sign my daughter up and, as well as wanting to double-check with a first-hand account, they do quite a generous recommend-a-friend deal for both parties so it would be good to make the most of this if I go ahead.
Thanks, x

Hi! Just seen your message! Am looking for someone with a tot at Summertown to make the most of the deal! Is yours still there? X
L (07711332705)