Parsons Green/Fulham Nurseries - help please!

[Kingsroadie]

I am looking for next year when my daughter will be 2.5 or nearly 3 (depending on whether we start summer or autumn term).

Considering:

Pippa Popins - been to see it, LOVED it, obv pretty expensive.

Active Learning

Bobby's Playhouse (although have heard/read some not so great things about the staff)

Zebedees

Can anyone help with fees info (except Pippa Popins & Bobby's Playhouse which I have all the info on), any general info about length of sessions and most importantly - any experience of them!

Thanks a lot.

Hi Kingsroadie,

yes Pippa Poppins is expensive and what I hear is they charge a lot on top for activities etc, a bit like a business. For example the children will do Xmas decorations and then parents have to buy them if DC want to take their work home and things like that, that's what parents with DCs at Pippas told me.

Active Learning Fees are about 85 per day for under twos and about 60 per day for toddlers, so in your case it would be just 60 and cheaper than Pippas.

I am sending DD to Bobbys Playhouse starting in spring, have friends and family with DCs there and all very very happy. All the children I know there are having lots of fun and make excellent friends, I think it is less serious and more play oriented than Pippas and Active Learning.

If you want to categorise parents, I'd say Pippas is more on the posh side, Active Learning probably many aspirational internationals and Bobbys is lots of working couples, as they offer only full days popular with couples where the mother works full time. Pippas has lots of children brought there by nannies etc and also lots of children with stay at home mums who just want a couple of mornings off.

So I guess depending on your focus on play/learning/posh connections you should choose, if you want a stereotypical breakdown of the nurseries :-).

I can only speak from my personal experience, but I was unhappy with Bobbys Playhouse. I found the manager was very defensive and difficult to speak to if you had any concern about how your child was doing at the nursery. In the end, we changed nurseries and both my child and I were much happier for it. I found management at the new nursery to be much kinder and ready to discuss matters, rather than seeming to be immediately annoyed if you raised any questions. Unfortunately, my experience was shared with some other parents too. But ultimately, you may find your experience to be different.
Good luck and I hope your daughter is happy wherever she goes!

Hiya,

I investigated Peques (have a friend with a very happy LO there), Active Learning (too far, too expensive but wow, serious facilities) Treetops (lovely staff but found the building a bit clinical).

Peques is about 55 a day. They are remarkably flexible with their hour structures (you can rearrange days at short notice) and I liked the fact my DD would be mixing with lots of different nationalities - it's anglo-spanish and the nursery of choice for the Franco-spanish community in Fulham (those who don't go Pippas!). They do singalongs every morning and have Mandarin lessons (yes, seriously!) However it's a very stimulating environment and might suit a bouncy child rather than a shy one.

We ended up at Bobby's. DD adored it and the staff were charming. I was very happy with the decision and had no probs whatsoever.
That said the manager is pretty brusque. We didn't have a problem with her at all and appreciated her efficiency and sense of humour (think Barbara Woodhouse) but I can see that her manner might put people off.

I didn't bother to look at Pippa Popins as its hours and pricing structure didn't work for us, but as a PP says, it's the 'smartest' nursery in the area and all the Chelsea mummies send their kids there. Doesn't mean it's the best or has the most outside space (Peques and Active Learning probably take that crown) but it's definitely popular.

I've heard nothing but great things about Pippa Popins, my friend's daughter goes there and I understand that they only charge for Christmas cards and tea towels which the children then decorate. She pays for drama classes but doesn't do the other activities like Amanda's Action Kids and Monkey Music as she isn't in school on those days.

I'm looking for a nursery in sw6 for my 2 year old.
I have seen pippapopins. Perfect for a girl but not for my active boy.
I need balance between activities and academic teaching.

Thank you

melen have you looked at Treetops and Active Learning? Both have great outside spaces and AL is particularly strong on activities.

Thank you kenobi. I ve seen treetops and I m now talking with active learning. It sounds very very interesting and I can not wait to see it. I hope that they are strong on the academic side like pippa popins, not just activities...
Xx

Hello. Opinions on Bright Horizons nurseries?? Thank you!

Oh yes, AL will educate. We were seriously impressed but it was just too far for us.

Don't know Bright Horizons I'm afraid, but if you wouldn't mind reporting back that would be cool?

Hi, I am struggling to make a choice between Pippa Popins and Active Learning. I like Pippa P and know people attending it. I am worried though that it is not suitable for an active boy. He will be 2 when starting. The alternative is Active learning, which has great facilities and outdoor space but I didn't feel so comfortable with the staff.
Any experience at either place that you can share would be much appreciated.

Hi all, I'm thinking of Pippa Popins (Tiddly Pops) for my very sociable and inquisitive 12 month old. I'm a protective first-time mum and want an environment where she'll be nurtured and stimulated just as if she was spending the day with her grandparents me at home. Any views? I know children who've been there from 2 years onwards, but none at 12 months.

Bobby's Playhouse is a fantastic nursery. I am so happy with it and so is my daughter. To what I believe Bobby's have been open for 15yrs thus allowing them to gain the knowledge of what really works. It is a nice size, not to big and not too small. Very sociable for the children, safe and clean. They cook all there meals fresh on the day and enjoy numerous activities! All the nappies are also provided and included in the price. There are no harsh deposit's of ridiculous rules regarding picking up your child the minute they sneeze! Of course there are very strict guidelines if children are ill, enabling to keep infection an illness to a minimum. I've heard some horror stories of nurseries calling parents the minute there child's temperature hits the over 37.4 mark (or whatever it is) and not allowing them back for days. Very disruptive for a working family. I know people have commented on the past regarding the owners to be a little off Standish, but I can honestly say hand on heart that whatever you many think of them, the bottom line is they provide excellent childcare to which ticks all the boxes at a very reasonable price, a rarity in London!

Yes I agree. My mother says very much the same thing as I am an ex-pupil of Bobby's looking to send my daughter there. Has anyone else got some more updated comments on the care there? The owner is a little mad but I think after 28 years of childcare, so would we all be! That's dedication!

It's a good place for working families. The kids and parents there are very nice and so are most carers. It's very sociable and the price is reasonable. I had one child there but i didn't think it was perfect - I know lots of parents were very happy but I think if you are a very caring or overprotective parents it's not perfect. Some carers seem a bit stressed (maybe also bc of the owner) and very often the nicest of them leave for other nursery schools. I was unhappy with the food, it's cooked "fresh" on site but is a lot o maccaroni with cheese / fish fingers / tuna bake type food, certainly not fresh in the sense of healthy vegetarian meals. There's very little outdoor space and they NEVER go to nearby parks, unlike almost all the other nurseries. I was very happy with the baby room and heard the preschool classes (3-4 year olds) are very nice, but I wasn't happy with the care for 1-2 year olds, which is where your child would join.

I heard good things about Millie's House (just opened next to Pippa Poppins) and also Tugboats (closer to Munster Village).

One nursery that has not been mentioned is wraparound, which is off new kings road...not far from pippa poppins. My daughter loved it there and we were happy with it. She adjusted well and learned a lot while going there. She was always happy to be dropped off. She went there from 13 to 19 months. We found the staff friendly and accommodating. We would have kept her there if it were not too far for us and the fact I had another baby. It was a 20 mins walk (close to parsons green tube...so was fine while i was walking bc had to go there anyway)...but after baby came no longer needed to walk to the tube so 20 mins there and back was a lot to do w a newborn baby! Wraparound is 54 pounds a day from 7:30am-6:30pm. So good pricing and hours. Plus the meals are healthy. I really liked how in the summer, they did a lot of out door activities and took the kids to south park. It is important for me that my daughter is outside and gets fresh air etc. We were sad to take her out. I asked the staff to take some photos on the last day of my daughter there and it was so nice to see what she was up to through out the day and her time there.

Anyway, we now send our daughter to montessori neighborhood school, which is 5 mins walk from us, and im happy with them as well :) A little more expensive and little more serious. They seem to focus more on learning and living in an adult world. Playing with wooden toys.

Mamabear, which Montessori school do your kids attend now if you can share?

Montessori neighbourhood nursery school. It's just one of my kids now :) she is 20 months. Second one is just over a week old. It is on towns mead rd.

Ah, that's actually the name of the place? Sorry, i thought you just meant it was a neighbourhood montessori school! I heard good things about wraparound too!

Lol. Yes, that's the name :) we are happy w it. But also were happy w wraparound :)

Yes, at Bobbys they do not have much outdoor space, but they do have a 120ft hall that they can run around in, especially when it is raining! This is not counted as classroom space and therefore the nursery never looks too crowded. Also the door at the end of the hall opens out completely allowing the children to run between the indoors and outdoors. This also means the place is very well ventilated as there is an opening roof too.

As I have worked for the police force, I have to say I wouldn't recommend taking a group of young children to many of the local parks, however safe you think it may be. Keeping an eye on one is more than a handful!

Looking at nurseries for my 2.5 yr old boy and have a place at pippa pop ins and also at Sinclair house nursery - I'm torn as pippa pop ins has had good ofstead and looked very sweet but Sinclair house is closer to our home and parents seemed happy with it but ofstead was not good. Also if looking at thomas Fulham afterwards where is it best to send him??? So confused by it all - any advice welcome

any opinion on madisson nursery on fulham road please?