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How to choose the right nursery?

18 replies

Ade70493 · 06/05/2024 20:56

Hi All,

im a first time mother to a 3 month old.

im at the stage of looking for nurseries. I wanted to ask two questions.

which of these are most important when choosing a nursery?

  1. location
  2. look and feel (good interior design and architecture). High quality faculties.
  3. Nice outdoor and garden space.
  4. Price.
  5. reputation - online reviews and word of mouth recommendations.
  6. ofsted rating.
  7. availability of spaces.
  8. safety and hygiene.

It would be great to know what other parents are looking for in choosing a nursery.

Secondly, would anyone recommend any nurseries in south London?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
BusyCM · 06/05/2024 21:00

It will depend on what you as a parent prioritise. I've had parents who visit ask only about cost and availability and contractual terms, others want to know about food and routine and others want to know how much we go out and what activities I do.... it varies hugely on you and more so what type of personality your child has. Obviously practical issues such as cost and location might be deal breakers.

CelesteCunningham · 06/05/2024 21:03

I would consider 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8. Price to a certain extent.

Calpol policy. Some will allow them attend if they're well in themselves with a dose, others won't.

Location - do they get out for walks etc.

But mostly trust your gut when you visit. We chose the shabbiest of the few we viewed but the owner knew all the children's names and was pitching in - brought us from the baby room to the garden and took a baby with her to help the staff who were bringing the babies down. Things like that.

FlabMonsterIsDietingAgain · 06/05/2024 21:07

Look at the kids and how the workers interact with them.

Practicalities are obviously hugely important you need to be able to get there on time, without running late due to traffic everyday, they need to be open the hours you need and you need to be able to afford it.

But in terms of facilities you can have happy kids in a one room village hall setup and miserable kids in a multi room expensive bright light award winningly designed space.

We picked our nursery because they didn't insist on us booking in advance to look round so couldn't pre-prep for it, the kids were all comfortable going up to the staff and getting cuddles, the staff allowed the kids to take chances and give things a try before intervening, they encouraged them to play with each other and stepped in when they saw things were not going well. The kids were a bit messy, red faced and giggling in the main so were clearly having fun and allowed to have fun.

MidnightPatrol · 06/05/2024 21:10

If you’re in South London, you need to get a move on! Waiting lists can be long for the best nurseries.

Trust your gut.

You may find you are limited to which has availability anyway.

My nursery does not have the best facilities. It is not the most widely recommended. It doesn’t have an ‘outstanding’ ofsted rating.

But… the people are lovely, and the children are happy. The price is more affordable than others, and it’s extremely conveniently located which makes my life much easier.

Redlocks28 · 06/05/2024 21:14

Round here the waiting lists for nurseries are so long as so many have closed, it’s just a case of signing up to one that has a space! Maybe there’s more choice where you are though.

QueenOfWeeds · 06/05/2024 21:18

Which bit of South London? It’s a big area! I am in love with our nursery but it has an 18 month waiting list so probably not much use for you.

Think about what sort of communication you want - are you happy with one photo a week (what our friend’s toddler gets) or do you expect daily photo updates/app messages etc? It doesn’t necessarily matter either way, but it needs to feel right for you and your family.

Ade70493 · 06/05/2024 21:28

18months!! Wow
Which nursery is that?

OP posts:
CantSeeTheDifference · 06/05/2024 21:45

I don't have children so you may not want to take my advice on board, but as a nursery worker of 20 years, can I tell you what I would look for in a nursery for my hypothetical child?

From your list, I would say a good outdoor area is important. Children need to let off a lot of steam during the day. It's also important for social skills, risk assessment, confidence building, etc. Even babies need some outdoor time, so I'd check what sort of outdoor play is available for that age group.

Health and hygiene, of course, is very important too. When you're viewing the nursery, does it look clean? Does it smell reasonably fresh? (Obviously not going to smell great when the staff are in the middle of a nappy run, but you get what I mean, I'm sure) ask about how often staff clean the toys, their cross infection policy, are the staff wearing gloves during nappy changes etc. Also, make sure the nappy changing area is open, not behind closed doors and in full or near full view of other staff.

Something to look for would be if the staff and children look generally happy? Are the staff engaging with the children? Are they getting stuck into artwork, stories, songs, etc? Do the staff acknowledge you as a potential new parent? I always make sure to chat to new parents who are having a viewing to make an effort with them, and this hopefully makes them feel welcome and invited.

Another thing I'd take into great consideration is the nutritional values of the food served. A nursery I once worked at served up junk food for lunch almost every dsy such as fish fingers and beans, chicken nuggets and potato pops etc. And the afternoon snack was no better, sometimes they got cake, custard, and a biscuit. Just awful. I'd not mind the odd treat, but I'd want my child to be mostly having nutritious home cooked meals and not freezer crap. This would personally be a deal breaker for me.

Things to ask about would be:

1- staff turnover. To me, this would be a massive deciding factor. As a nursery worker myself, I know that a nursery that has a very high staff turnover is generally usually not a very happy nursery. I'd not send my child to a nursery that keeps losing staff. It's also very disruptive to the children. Also, this is going to sound odd, but I'd look to see if there were a good mix of older and younger staff. A nursery full of lots of younger workers usually = high staff turnover. Nothing wrong with younger staff of course, I was once one myself. But you want to make sure there are experienced staff too.

2- check the sickness policies. Having worked in several nurseries, some of them allowed the children to come in with a temperature, colds, etc, and some didn't. Presumably, as a working parent, you want to make sure your child would still be allowed in with a slight temperature or a sniffle. Obviously, tummy bugs are different, and no nursery would (or should) allow in children with vomiting and diarrhoea.

3- daily diaries and observations. Check if these are uploaded daily. The daily diaries should definitely be, however the observations differ from setting to setting. In one of my settings, the observations were done on paper, and the parents never got to see them. In an another setting, observations were uploaded daily and included a picture. If this is something that's important to you, make sure you ask about it.

4- staff ratios- just check they are maintained at all times. I'd try and choose a nursery with the old.1:4 ratio for over 2s, instead of the 1:5 that was implemented in recent years. This may not be possible, but some settings do still use the 1:4. If I was otherise satisfied when viewing the nursery, it wouldn't be a deal breaker, just something to ask about.

5- check if they use screens. Some nurseries do let the children watch occasional preschool cartoon. Most parents are OK with it, if you are not just make sure you let them know.

Hope this was helpful, OP. And I'm so sorry about the length of my post 🙈 good luck in choosing a nursery for your little one, it's an emotional time.

QueenOfWeeds · 06/05/2024 21:47

@Ade70493 one of the Monkey Puzzle chain.

Mummyyellow · 06/05/2024 21:51

I think for us reputation is extremely important (from word of mouth reviews or post in your local Facebook mums group for comments). Usually anything “good” or above is fine.

Having said that, we did visit a nursery which we really liked but sadly they don’t have space until Sept 2025 (this was in Dec 23) so availability is equally important in a way as there are huge waiting lists so you might want to get on more than one list.

Also we tended to avoid the “chain” nurseries as turnover of staff can be high. You should ask how long the staff have been around for - we find the good nurseries the staff tend to stick around.

definitely make a couple of visits to the nurseries - go and visit the good and “not as good” ones to compare, preferably when the children are around, to see whether they look happy, the staff look caring etc. as someone said above, it is a gut feel. What you like mightn’t be what other parents like and vice versa.

In our area, the prices are all pretty similar so not really a factor unless affordability is an issue.

food is also important - we prefer places with cooked food on site - some places have frozen food microwaves which we discounted

QueenOfWeeds · 06/05/2024 21:56

We also walked past our shortlist at different times of day, and in different weather, to see if the children really were free flowing (for the older rooms) or being taken outside. Obviously you can’t see in, but you can hear and get a sense of how meaningful the outdoor spaces are.

QueSyrahSyrah · 06/05/2024 22:02

Ours was partly based on location and recommendation, but when we visited we got a very warm vibe from the manager, the children all seemed happy and we particularly liked a few things such as they've hardly any plastic toys at all, everything is focused on imagination and creative play, they have a big outside area with a UV cover so the toddlers can have their naps outdoors in warm weather, and their location means they get out for country and seafront walks often.

I'm agog that you're looking with a 3 month old though, unless you're looking for them to start a bit older than ours. We had the deposit down a month ago and I'm not due until June Shock

Jackiebrambles · 06/05/2024 22:06

Yes I think depending on when you want your child to start you might need to just find one that is likely to have vacancies! We got on waiting lists when pregnant and we still didn’t get the one we wanted until he was 16 months.

SpoonyFish · 06/05/2024 22:11
  1. Location is a massive factor for us to be honest as it becomes part of your daily routine so needs to be fairly accessible. Plus we are a one car family so it was handy for it to be within walking distance.
  1. Ease of contact - when I was making enquiries, the closest one to us were awful at getting back to us/ picking up the phone which put me completely off.
  1. How happy do the staff look to be working there? If you can find out what the staff turnover is like from someone else. Some of the girls in my sons nursery have been there since he started 2 years ago and they have an incredible bond (one I refer to as his 3rd parent as she also now babysitting for us!) It's reassuring for us as parents to be able to get to know and trust the staff.
  1. Consider catchment area for future schools as you may need them for drop-off/pick-ups/wraparound care.
H0ghedge · 06/05/2024 22:11

As a mother of a 3 month old, you don't know what your child will be like when they are ready for nursery. The most important thing in my view is will the nursery work to your child's needs, or will your child have to adapt to the nursery's schedule? For example, will the nursery let your child keep to the nap schedule they naturally want, or will they tell you that there's only 1 nap time a day.

The next most important things in my opinion are quality of food and happy staff who have been there for years.

I can recommend a nursery near me in south London but it's a big area so you'll need to narrow it down a bit! Ask on your local Facebook group for recommendations. You don't want to be travelling too far for a nursery.

NewName24 · 06/05/2024 22:39

Well, obviously 7 is crucial, but this far ahead, they might not know.

4 is incredibly important for most families, who will be on a budget, however much people like to say about their child being worth it - if you don't have the money for fancy extras (Nursery paying companies to come in and provide Yoga / French / Football / Music), then you don't have it

8 Safety and hygiene are obviously very important, but, except in those cases where it is dire (and yes, I have seen some), then you probably won't know

1 Location is more important than you think. When you are traveling in to work, or home after work, the journey to Nursery (and the availability of parking if that is how you commute) can be really tight, time wise. You don't want to be adding another 20mins on by choosing a Nursery that is 10mins in the wrong direction. Also, good for a Nursery to be close to home for when you are off sick, or even AL, or if you move jobs.

5 Reputation ought to be helpful, but actually, unless something terrible has happened, most parents tend to say their Nursery is good. Most don't have anything to compare it with, and we therefore use a sort of natural justifying to self / convincing self.

3 Outdoor space would be a real plus, but it wouldn't swing it for me if other things didn't feel right

6 OFSTED rating not worth the paper it is written on. Worth reading the report (taking note of how old it is) and looking at the detail of the text.

2 'Good Interior design and architecture' Not a consideration. However, I would rule out those nurseries in rooms without windows / natural light.

Things you might also want to think about -

Food: Do they take packed lunch or is food provided. Can they show you the menu? Who cooks the food - is there a 'cook' or are room staff expected to do it? (Difficult for you to imagine when your LO is so little, but it becomes important by the time they start)

Ask the staff (everyone you meet) how long they have been there - says a lot about a place if there is high staff turnover

Ask how many staff there are / who supports the room staff when there are challenging children in the room?

mnahmnah · 06/05/2024 22:41

Honestly? The price and convenience mainly, but trust your gut. If it feels a good place, trust that feeling.

Deardear17 · 07/05/2024 08:35

We didn’t really know what we were looking for until we found it. We both left feeling ‘ that’s the one’.

we had initially picked one the was closer and cheaper, then decided as LO was going to be there 4 years to look around and found the one.
we went for small family run, home from home…
happy staff with lovely managers. Low turnover of staff, most have been there since it opened, all different ages.
its small, with and outdoor classroom and lots of lovely places nearby they frequently walk to (parks, gallery, museum, library etc)
the owners treat the staff well ensuring they get proper breaks.
they mix the rooms for a session each day so the children and staff all know each other across the nursery.
they mentioned that they don’t max out the staff child ratio which means they don’t have ratio issues if a staff member is off sick or on holiday etc.

they close 2 weeks in summer and 2 weeks over Christmas so all staff get proper breaks but they also have leave on top of that.
we really liked how well the treat their staff, (regularly bringing them treats/breakfast/coffee) who seemed so happy and relaxed around the children and spoke of them so fondly.
they are more expensive than the one we had initially settled on, but they don’t charge for bank holidays or summer and Christmas closures, so it kind of evened out over the year.
they are very transparent about fee increases including paying staff properly and increasing bills etc, so they don’t add on any extras, but do regular review and increase fees if need be but at least we are always clear on what we are paying. They share with ways in which they are cutting costs etc.
we provide nappies and lunch for LO which which us fine. I like organising lunch box, but they do provide substantial morning and after noon snacks which are basically like a second breakfast and lunch lol.
so while our previous choice of nursery was cheaper, closer and provided nappies and lunch etc and also bigger with different experiences, after looking at this one we realised the small homey, nursery was a better fit for us all and LO is thriving and grown in confidence.
I have a friend whose child is at the other one, who is thriving there. The big space suits him. They have a separate hall as a gym. They have their own chef who caters to allergies.
id say you can’t know for sure until you visit and see what you get a feel for. X

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