Wimbledon nursery - Wimbledon Day/Eveline/Bishop Gilpin nursery/Montessori

[newmummyAS]

Hi,
My son is 13 month old and we have recently moved to Wimbledon so really looking for some advice on local nurseries. He is with a childminder for now but we are thinking to move him to a nursery when he is 2-3 yrs old to give him more variety of activities.

He is on the waiting list for Wimbledon Days and Eveline which are the two outstanding ones nearby. Fingers crossed if they can offer him a space sometime next year. I am also thinking about Bishop nursery which if we are lucky enough, could get a space. However, it is term time only so the arrangement during term break will be tricky as both of us are working. There is also a Butterfly Montessori school nearby and their teaching seems very impressive. However this one is not only term time only but also finishes at mid afternoon, so feel like we must have a nanny, which gets quite expensive.

Could people share their experience with Wimbledon Days/Eveline/Bishop nursery/Butterfly Montessori pls?
I hear Bishop as a school nursery, potentially is more structured and offers better teaching than a day nursery, is it really so, and how would people cope with the term breaks?

In addition, does the Montessori school really makes much a difference at this young age and worth the costs of supplementing it with a nanny?

Many thanks

I'll be honest, these posts never really get much response. You're much better posting in a local page on Facebook or asking friends if they know anyone.

@newmummyAS our daughter is in the Butterfly Preschool and the teaching is excellent. It’s run more like a school - she’s 3 and they’re already learning letters, writing numbers etc. They even give them a bit of homework in the upper preschool (which is a bit mad… but it’s light and she actually likes doing it 🤣). They do ballet, music, cooking on different days and you can do half days until 12:15pm or full days until 3:15pm. The hours only work if you’re not both working full time or have some nanny help as it’s term-time only.

The Iris classroom is where the younger kids are (2-3 yr olds) and that’s lovely and bright and open. The upper school has two smaller classrooms (3-4 yo) which are a bit darker - but the big garden area is communal across all classes and lovely.

Our daughter won’t be doing any assessments but they seem to prepare kids well for those and people go on to a mix of schools - Squirrels, Wimbledon High, The Study, Putney High, Rokeby, Donhead - and some state schools (though for whatever reason most kids there seem to be going private… we are considering both options).

Have you been to visit them yet? Outstanding doesn't necessarily mean they will be the right fit for your child. We went to visit an Outstanding primary school for our DD starting reception in Sept and frankly, I was quite unimpressed. Once you've visited, you might be able to narrow down your preferences. I also recommend posting on the Wimbledon Mummy fb group.

@lpsw19 thank you for sharing, much appreciated.