Nurseries in Oxford, urgent help needed!

[whatdoesitallmean]

Dh and I just landed jobs in Oxford, and we need to start by October. We currently live nowhere near Oxford so commuting is out of question so we need to find a place to rent and nursery for dd(2) asap.

Been told by several people that nurseries are ridiculously difficult to get into, long waiting lists etc. We can barely afford nursery, so other childcare options are really not on the table, unless cheaper!

Anyone have experiences of good nurseries? Any nurseries to steer clear from? How long did it take to settle in child? Anyone done this recently and can give me a glimmer of hope that it can be done in a month? ANY and ALL help appreciated.

Anything from anyone?

It depends where you move to! We live just outside Oxford and DD goes to a lovely nursery just outside Oxford here.

I take it neither of you are at Oxford University? They have heavily subsidised places...

I work for the university, but I don't have any personal experience of using nurseries there as I use a childminder closer to home. The Uni website has lots of info about local nurseries, this might be helpful for you to look at even if you are not going to be working there. Places are not subsidised for Uni staff btw but they do have various salary sacrifice schemes you can use,
I also know that the co op nursery at the JR hospital has spaces as they have a big sign up at the hospital entrance!

Thank you! We're trying to find a place that's relatively central. Also looking in summertown, cowley, botley but within the ring road.

Actually DH is at the university but no such subsidised place exists, the most you can do is fight for a priority place on the waiting list which we will do but doesn't look promising.

Sorry to ask that hazelnut but how much does your cm cost ph? All cms I found were more expensive than nursery.

Our childminder is £4 per hour - we find it cheaper than nursery as we don't pay them for their holidays (6 weeks a year) and we just take our holidays at the same time as the childminder does. Nursery would charge for holidays as they are open all year.
Childminders might be more expensive in Oxford though - we are in Cheltenham

Thank you. I guess they are, even where I am at the moment cms are at least 5ph and some ask for paid holidays. I suppose it might get easier once we find a place to look for local cms.

Just another thought - do you need to live in Oxford itself? Oxford is so expensive that nearly all of my colleagues who have children commute from elsewhere.

It depends in the nursery, the neighbourhood, the hours needed, etc etc. Childminders are like hens' teeth here but you could get lucky. Do you have an idea where in the city/nearby you'll be living?

Thanks hazelnut, actually we have no clue what we're doing it's all happened so quickly and we're just trying to make do with the little knowledge we've got.

Thing is, we don't have a car and will probably be using buses/walking/cycling everywhere so we didn't want to make our morning commute a nightmare. We're also renting till we find a place to buy, obviously we won't be buying in the city as you've said it's ridiculously expensive!

I'm just terrified I won't find good affordable childcare after finally finding a job, myself, and was hoping to get some tips.

Thanks zimbolino, we're trying to find a place somewhere centrall if that makes any difference. I realise it's all very dependent on specific circumstances and luck! I've just heard over and over from people in Oxford, who are actually financially better off than us, that nursery waiting lists are ridiculously long and we have no hope of finding a place within the next month.
Just hoping to get a different perspective.

My daughter (also 2) is at the Roundabout Centre in Barton; it's a lovely nursery and significantly... I believe they have places!

It's just outside the ring road which might be problematic - though Barton does have good public transport links - but if you want more info, send me a message.

We've had similar experience and just moved last week to Oxford. I have a job at the uni but the waiting list for uni nursery spaces is huge, though worth putting the name down in the long run maybe. Short term the only nursery vaguely near where we're living in East Oxford that had spaces for our son on the needed days was kidsunlimited at Oxford business park. We've done 2 settling in sessions so far and so far so good!

Thanks a lot twinkly, I'll keep the name in mind if we move to Barton.

Thank you alison, so glad to know it's doable! How long were you on the waiting list for kidsunlimited? We are going to put our name down for the place either way, but I don't have much hope and what you said confirms that.

I hope you don't mind me asking, are you renting atm? If so, was it hard to get a rental place with a child? Lots of horror stories, from friends and mn about landlords rejecting couples with children!

Wolfson College nursery is lovely - small space but really friendly. They prioritise Wolfson members but sometimes have places for others. We got a place quite last minute. This was for dd2. Dd2 previously went to the cooperative nursery in Rose Hill which was also nice. Area is not great but the nursery was fine and had places and areas not so far from there ok and cheaper than central. A few other colleges have their nurseries too but not sure which ones.

Thanks a lot amachori, I didn't know we could apply to other college nurseries. Will definitely try them too!

We're in West Oxford and the two nurseries here - St Thomas (put your child down before you even get pregnant or forget about it) and the Co-Op. The Co-op is also v popular, but places exist. Rent is high around here - £1400 for a 2 bed is not uncommon, but you are a 10 minute walk from the city centre, we have an Aldi and we're getting a Waitrose next year. :)

It's a lovely community in West Oxford/Osney Island and very child-friendly. The local school (which has nursery from 3) is lovely.

mummycat0, Roundabout Centre is not only for Barton. It's easily accessible from Headington and kind of easily from Risinghurst. And only 13 min by feet from Thornhill Park and ride (nobody walks there everybody prefer waiting local bus for 15-20 min but next to the nursery.

Anyway, the same building is occupied by family centre: www.facebook.com/roundabout.centre that runs stah-n-play sessions (free but you supervise your child). You could come and see how it is and maybe become a regular. And while you there ask for a tour.

Thanks a lot naan and zanuda, I've managed to narrow it down to a few nurseries near my workplace. Now the hardest part, making a decision!

We use Julia durbin day nursery in headington. Highly highly recommend, but there is a waiting list. Probably not that helpful. Waterways also good. Would suggest just visiting and contacting all with spaces. Remember you can always change later if needed :) good luck