University nursery in Cambridge

[Poofus]

Does anyone have any experience of the university nurseries? Just wondering if anyone with children there has any feedback. Thanks in advance!

No experience of the care, but I did spend 18 months on the waiting list (and therefore found another nursery to use), after applying when I was 20 weeks pregnant. Apply at your 12 week scan if you want a place for 12 months old I think! Unless things have improved since 2010 of course.

Hopefully someone who has a child there will be along to advise you further soon

I have two dd's at one of the nurseries (don't want to specify as will out myself!) and they both love it to bits. The staff are really caring, there's a very low turnover, and they genuinely seem to love the kids.

Re the waiting list, unfortunately it's not a case of how long you've been on the list. You get assigned points for various things - returning from mat leave, being a single carer, having a sibling etc - and then if there's a draw it comes down to your length of service with the Uni. HOWEVER there is lots and lots of movement - I was about 40th on the waiting list in the summer with DD1, then a month before I was due back at work in October they called to say they had a place. This seems to be the case quite often from talking to other parents.

Mine two go to the West Cambridge uni nursery. It is just excellent! Both for babies and for toddlers. Loving and qualified staff, good manager, good facilities, no complaints.

Of course, there is turnover. But this happens not because the atmosphere in the nursery is bad. Rather it is due to the high cost of living in Cambridge. As a result most staff have to commute and understandably often leave to take up jobs closer to home. There seems to be no way around this fact.

The waiting list might seem intimidating, but persevere with it. We got in because there was a spot for a toddler (those are easier to come by) and, since siblings have an advantage, the baby got a spot a few weeks later. It was well worth the wait!

"Apply at your 12 week scan if you want a place for 12 months old I think!"

We did this and we're still on the waiting list - and DS is nearly 2. Unless you are a student or single parent, or given priority for some other reason, I wouldn't bother.

We've been at Wolfson Court, which is one of the college nurseries but run by Kinds Unlimited. Suffice it to say we are are moving soon - they have had four managers or acting managers in the less than 12 month we've been there, and DS has had three different key workers in the time he's been there - they keep leaving. There's a massive turnover of staff and children, and I wouldn't recommend it.

(and DH has been full-time academic staff since 1990, so long service doesn't seem to count for much)