kids unlimited

[AnonymousMum]

who has used kids unlimited (cambridge)? i have just been to visit their new nursery and looks v attractive but would be interested in other opinions

thanks

Spend time at the nursery, see how your child/children interact with the staff. See what activities are done - rather than just planned. Look at what resources the children have... For example do they get the same toys over and over again (this was highlighted in one of the Ofsted Reports and having been recently in a KU nursery myself - not Cambridge - it's something I noticed). Obtain and read the latest Ofsted report for the nursery, also ask them about any complaints that they have had. (If the Ofsted report is very recent, it will list complaints - example

Hi anonymousMum, my little boy started at KU (science park) when he was 9 months old, and 2 months later i moved him to a different one as I wasn't happy with it at all. The girls there took little if any interest in my son- they never wanted to enter into conversation with me about him at all, and I just had a bad feeling about the place. The staff also seemed to be of a fairly low intelligence level tbh. My ds is now very happy at Primary Steps nursery in Cambridge. How old is your child? You can CAT me if you'd prefer. HTH.

Tarka - thanks for that info. I will try to CAT you.

my friends daughter goes to KU in central london. they are happy with it, but as with all nurseries, theres tiny flaws in all of them, but overall they're all good, u just have to dismiss the tiny things sometimes.

BTW they only opened in Jan so don't have an OFSTED yet. I am putting them in the 2nd choice category at present, as htey have just asked for £200 (!!) to save a place in Sept, despite the fact that they are less than 50% capacity at present, and all nurseries in the area know that you double up on waiting lists so don't tend to charge.

I had a look at the KU nursery in Fulborn (KU do seem to have a huge presence in Cambridge) and I had a similar feeling to Tarka. Excellent facilities, but I wasn't convinced about the staff, added to which they had a high staff turnover and it was a larger nursery than my ideal. If you look at the ofsteds for the other KU nurseries I imagine they will give you a good idea what to expect: their standards seem quite uniform.

BTW, staffing seems to be a big issue in Cambridge: there is a high demand for childcare places here and a lot of nurseries do seem to struggle in finding and keeping enthusiastic, involved staff.

So in the end, DS went to the nursery attached to the Harvey Road housing association. If you're interested in recommendations for other nurseries, I would certainly rate it very highly, but be warned - it does have an extremely long waiting list.

Gizmo - thanks - Harvey Rd is not v practical for pick-up and drop offs. I had been round there a year ago and it seemed v nice. But you are right, this area is a nightmare for childcare. We are hopefully sub-letting a friend's place at a smaller nursery for 1 yr, or it is back to a nanny. Which is another story because the only ones looking want F-T jobs.