good nursery to work for in London/Oxford?

[nurseryemployee]

I am moving back to the UK having worked in a nursery in Germany where I was very impressed by the ethos: pikler furniture, groups of maximum ten children with two nursery nurses, excellent food, clear structure to the day. Can anyone recommend such a nursery here?
Thank you
Mary

Childbase is very good to work for. Care a lot about the children, good investment in settings, good funding for food and staff wellbeing is important. Whatever you do steer clear from Bright Horizons (they don't pay the minimum wage once you factor in all of the unpaid overtime), high staff turnover, holiday usually declined or cancelled etc etc. Also some funny ideas about childcare and what is best for the children, usually driven by budgetary constraints.

You might be best looking for a Montessori or Reggio Nursery? Try googling for them in the areas you’re interested in.

Definitely avoid bright horizons, staff tend to be v unhappy there

Childbase is a better chain but still has elements of , and occasional terrible. Same as Kids Unlimited.
Bright Horizons next. Cheaper and you get what you pay for.
Then pause...

...still pausing...

...Busy Bees. No comment.

You'll probably want to skip chains and look for independents, but "groups of maximum ten children with two nursery nurses" - You won't find that anywhere.

You will find that ratio... given at certain ages it’s the legal requirement!
The nursery we use had 3 staff to 9 babies in 1 room,
4 -5 staff to 15-20 toddlers (18-30mth) and in another preschool room kids 30mth to leavers (for school) ratio is 1:8
This is very normal of all independent private ones round here- normal area
The chains are... not somewhere I’d send my kids with exception of a small local chain I can’t name because is identifying.
I have worked in association with BH and I’d not touch them with a barge pole let alone my kids
We are not London so can’t personally recommend one sorry

The best nursery in oxford imo is St Thomas's but the building and facilities aren't glamorous or special. It's just totally child focused and the staff stay a long time.

Willow cottage in Farmoor is supposed to be really nice - i never visited it as it was a bit far out for me.

Actually yes Willow Cottage is very good - I forgot about them. I have a very loose connection to the owners and they are very motivated to run an exceptional nursery for children and staff. I saw the menu once (which is a giant pdf) and it was outstanding. I also know a few people who have sent their children there who have been very happy and raved about the place.

Wow thanks for all the responses! Very informative. There seems to be a lot of variety out there ...