Hi, I realise this is an old question, but maybe someone will find my experience of use...
My 3y old DD has been going to Little Unicorn Columbus Courtyard for more than 2 years, but I must say that I have had a fair number of issues with this nursery. It started off very well, staff in baby room were excellent, genuinely interested in the kids and giving them full attention. However, my luck soon ran out when DD moved to the next room, girls there were completely disinterested and often when I came to pick the little one, all the children were left on the floor with the girls sitting chatting in a corner and paying no attention.
The nursery apparently has a policy of carers having to clean the rooms where the children are as well as the breakfast room, and using no professional cleaners there. this simply doesn't work well, and the rooms are often left covered in dust/sand etc for a day or two, with the little ones crawling in all that. I personally witnessed the breakfast room being left with food all over the floor from the day before, and when I brought it to the attention of the management they simply brushed it off and nothing changed.
My take on the management is that they generally have a tendency of not being responsive to parent concerns, even though they come across all nice and friendly when speaking to them. My personal impression is that they are more interested in appearances, ticking the right boxes and their staff scheduling needs rather than the needs of the children.
Some of the carers have been very good and clearly enjoy working with the children. However, some are terrible, and in those cases management are not particularly helpful.
Another issue is the language, and general communication with the children. Most of the girls speak poor English, surprisingly the foreign ones actually have a much better grammar and vocab then the British-born. This is not much of an issue when children are very young I guess. Overall, my DD has picked up a lot of mannerisms, words and phrases that I am unhappy about (some examples are "bum", "bottom burp", "how sad!").
Finally, based on what I hear from talking to other parents with kids at other nurseries in London, it doesn't seem like the Little Unicorn environment is particularly stimulating for slightly older children, and there is a lot more scope for working with them. I guess that is also reflected in the very small number of children that tend to stay for the last year - most leave for the pre-school year.
On the positive side:
a/ I think that the children are fed much better than what I heard is the case in other nurseries, the food is varied and well prepared.
2/ the nursery lacks an outdoor space, but they have a very large indoor play area where children can run around, use the slide, even cycle. And they love it!
3/ opening times are longer than at other nurseries. This is the main reason why a lot of parents choose the Little unicorn Columbus Courtyard.
Hope this helps anyone looking for nursery in Canary Wharf.