Nurseries in Guildford

[Sorcsd]

We are relocating to Guildford from Dublin in the next couple of weeks and I need to find a nursery for our 3 year old son. We are also expecting our 2nd child in May so I will also need a baby place early next year. I have been in contact with Castle Nursery & Pre-school already and the manager there seems very nice and helpful. I was just wondering if any of you know this nursery or any others in the area that they would recommend?

Depending on where you are going to be living in Guildford, my DD's nursery in Godalming (about 4 miles south of G'ford) might be a possibility. It is called Major Minors and is great, although not the cheapest ever. Sorry don't know about any in Guildford itself.

I met someone recently who has their child at the Castle nursery and they seemed happy with it. If you're anything to do with the University they've got one onsite, which sounds good.

Agree it depends on where in or around Guildford you're going to be living - you don't want to be battling the traffic if you don't have to.

I'd second the vote for Major Minors in Godalming though - not cheap, but my DS adores it there. Long wait for places anywhere locally though unless it's a Friday!

DD is at castle nursery and she loves it. The manager is lovely, I love the small size and the staff are all great. I have no complaints at all. They are very pragmatic, e.g they don't call me to collect DD everytime she has a loose nappy, like some do. They are also flexible.and really make the effort to get to know kids and families. PM me if you want more info.

We are moving to Guildford in June and I'm back to work in July so am going down on a recce soon. We are going to visit the Asquith nursery, but aren't sure where else to look. I'll check out Castle and Major Minors as well.

OP, have your kids started at nusery in Guildford yet? Which did you go with and why? Which other nurseries did you visit? Any feedback? Thanks!

When i temped in nurseries (this was about 7-8 years ago, so things may have changed), I liked Starfish (merrow side of Guildford). I did not like MajorMinors, the location -busy road, lack of parking - staff ratio esp at lunchtime. Staffing may have been improved but have they changed location? Visit it at the time you would drop off/collcect, see what the traffic is like and consider access to carpark, size of carpark etc.

Just bumping as we're moving to Guildford as well and need to find a nursery for ds & dd who'll be 2yr & 8 months respectfully when go back to work. Besides the ones mentioned above anyone have any experience of the Christopher robin Montessori nursery in wood street or any close to the stoughton area?

We visited Fitzsimmons, castle, positive steps, guildford day nursery, Montessori. And we called Child's play, they had no space and ofsted wasnt too impressive anyway!
I would never send my child to Fitzsimmons or Castle.
Positive steps and Guildford day nursery looked clean, organized, healty and happy kids, healty lunch, snacks, awesome and loved everything but full day (7:30-6pm) only which I didn't need !

The Montessori was our winner and my DD is still there last 3 months but I am still in research of a better nursery/ preschool!

Hi

We are currently trying to choose between fitzsimmons and positive steps . Any views?

Thanks

When I did some agency temp work at fitzsimmons I did not like it at all and felt very uncomfortable. I was meant to be there for a week and they wanted to extend it to a month (there were three other agency staff there at the time as well) but after two days I had to speak to my agency because I just could not got back there.

Hygiene is a big problem there and staff morale was low. Many of the staff told me how they wanted to leave and couldn't wait to find a new nursery and others were in the process of leaving. They told me that the manager was a bully and I did get this vibe from her too.

The staff turn over was very high (hence the need for so much agency staff) and the ratio of child to practitioner were not as they should be.

I must add that this was quite a while ago now (possibly 5-6yrs ago) so things may have changed.

I do not know of the positive steps nursery.
Good luck.

If anyone is looking at a pre-school for 2-5yr olds. My son has just started at knaphill pre-school and they also have a sister pre-school which was opened first in Stoughton. They have outstanding ofsted. Send the parents text messages to update how their child is, especially when settling in and upset. They also have a very hands on approach and will give cuddles to the children if needed.

The knaphill pre-school opened June 2013 and the Stoughton pre-school has been open a lot longer (although I do not know how long). Dawn the manager/opener is very welcoming, understanding and extremely kind.

I barely recognise AngelNanny's description of Fitzsimmons and can only assume that the last 5-6 years has seen a lot of change. My daughter started there last summer. I can't praise them enough. The staff have been excellent with her: really good at settling her in the early days and genuinely seem to take joy in her development. She similarly has a wonderful bond with many of the staff there (many of whom are long-termers with bags of experience).
I've found the staff to be hugely consistent over the past year, far better than I would expect. We've seen very few departures and those that have left did so in a way that was well transitioned and seemed to cause minimal disruption to the children. Everyone else seems happy.
On the hygiene front, who knows? Everything seems pretty clean to me and there's been no D&V outbreak in my daughter's room since she's been there. I can't say the same for a number of other local nurseries that I know of...

Thanks for your comments both. Emandem - did you find that you met other mums through the nursery too? Did they do any social events or childrens events where parents meet. Positive steps seem to do this but she didn't mention it at fitzsimmons

Thanks

Hi we are planning to buy a property in Guildford. I read various reviews here and found that Park Barn and Bellfields are the places to avoid. Any suggestions what other places we should avoid. We have got a young daughter of nearly 2 years. In couple of years time we will need a good infant school for her. It seems Burpham and Merrow are the best places in that sense with lot of good schools.

Hi all,
Just wanted to revive this thread, to see if there's anything new you can add or if anything has changed... We'll be moving to Guildford in a couple of months, my son will be 2,5 at that time. We want to pick the preschool/nursery before we rent a house, so we can find somewhere near the nursery.

By the way, I still don't understand the difference between nursery and preschool :) My son doesn't know English, so does it matter, preschool or nursery?

Hi