Anyone know any good nurseries in Greenwich, SE London?

[ManhattanMama]

Hi all!

Am in the happy position of having a job offer back in the UK, and am hoping to move to West Greenwich, near the park. Can anyone recommend any nurseries in the area?

I know there'll probably be long waiting lists for the good ones, but my Mum has offered to look after DS in the meantime. Cost not really an issue (not that I have any idea of pricing of childcare in London!).

Thanks!

There were quite a few Greenwich children at my ds's old nursery on the Isle of Dogs, it would mean getting on the DLR or walking through the tunnel and then another 20 mins walk. Some were there because their parents worked at Canary Wharf but I know at least 2 were there because they couldn't get a place at a nursery that the parents liked in Greenwich.

Bran - I'll be working in Canary Wharf so that would be an option - what was the name of your DSs nursery?

Thanks!

MM - I think "Little Unicorns" is the best known (and probably pricy, waiting list option) for CW workers - don't know anyone who has sent their child there so can't personally vouch for it.

www.mycanarywharf.com/stores/store-detail.php?id=112

also - and I have no idea how much time you've spent in London, you may want to consider Blackheath as well as Greenwich. I say that only because everyone I've known who moved to Greenwich at the baby stage, has ended up either moving to Blackheath (better primary schools) or moving out of London (better primary schools). If you pick the right spot in Blackheath it's still a fairly quick commute to CW(stroll down hill to Lewisham DLR) and you're still fairly close to Greenwich Park.

(but you may have considered that already)

Little Unicorns have 4 branches in different parts of Canary Wharf. My ds was in 3 of them at different times over 3 years and we were very pleased with it. Only issue would perhaps be that in the larger ones there is some turnover of staff, but I think that's true everywhere. And at least because they're larger, a few staff is still only a small proportion, so you still have some consistency. Also in the larger ones there is a bigger management team, so in a way more oversight.

CAT me if you have any specific questions - but I'd definitely recommend going in to have a look.

PS Being in Canary Wharf, they don't have any allocated outside space. Instead they have a big shared indoor play area with outdoor-type activities, a small soft play/ball pool, plus a reasonable amount of going out for walks.

My ds's old nursery is Lanterns (020 7363 0951), which is near South Quay station and about 10 mins walk from CW. I looked at Little Unicorns as well (the one behind Waitrose) and was impressed with it, but chose Lanterns because it was a bit more active and messy for my outgoing rough-and-tumble child. My friend's ds, who is a much quieter child who likes to sit and concentrate on a toy, goes to Unicorns and she's very happy with it. He has hearing problems and the smaller groups suit him, plus they have workers there who can use Makaton.

Unicorns is a much flasher, slicker operation with more academic focus (even at 2 yrs). Lanterns is scruffier with paint on the floor and lots of focus on art and craft and music and dance (the owner is an ex-ballerina), and they go out to parks and playgrounds a lot. It really depends on what sort of child you have. Lanterns has quite a low staff turnover, while ds was there one worker retired, one went on maternity leave and one left to travel around the world, otherwise there was very little change in his room.

How old is your ds? I ask because the couple who live above us chose Unicorns over Lanterns (they liked both) and were extremely unhappy with the baby room at Unicorns. They moved their dd after only 2 weeks and put her into Lanterns instead and she settled there very well.

Thanks for all the tips - I'll take a look.

Unicorns doesn't open till 9am according to the website - is that the case with most nurseries? I need to start work by 8 so might have to look into childminders or nannies as well.

Unicorns is definitely open at 8am, most nurseries are. Lanterns is 8am to 6pm. Possibly the website means that the office opens at 9am, ie they don't take calls before that time.

If you have to actually start at 8am sharp then a nanny might be better because it takes at least 10 mins to settle a child when you drop off, plus the walk from nursery to the office.

Unicorns is open from 7.30 to 6.30 in my experience.

My DD currently goes to Little Unicorn. All their branches operate from 7.30am - 6.30pm.

I stand corrected. That obviously didn't stick in my mind when I was looking around it. I'm pretty sure that Lanterns is from 8am, but I could be wrong there too. That being the case Unicorns would probably suit your timings a bit better.

Hi, you are missing loads of information here.
There are a few nice nurseries in the West Greenwich area, all with long long waiting lists.
One is Teddies (Bupa)
Another community one is Robert Owen, which is meant to be very good and a very very nice one is Kids & co (from 2yrs to 5)
There are virtually no nurseries in the Blackheath area but
Blackheath day nursery (OK, but getting better as new owners have taken over)
Lingfield

and in Hither Green, Zoom and Genesis, both good.

Good luck
Paola