Nursery in Upper Norwood/West Norwood/Crystal Palace?

[Dublady]

Hi, I'm a mum of 5 month old twins, due to rtw part time in April 2010. Can anyone offer some advice about local nurseries? I've had a look on the Ofsted website and Googled a bit, but its frustrating as information is scarce and/or out of date..

We decided on the Norwood Manor Nursery in Chapel Rd in West Norwood. We looked at Teddies in Gipsy Hill and the Little Starz children's centre in West Norwood too but discounted them for various reasons. Have you narrowed it down to a shortlist?

Mrs zuko- what do u make of recent news that somene working at the nursery was on sex offenders reg? I'm seeing it on Monday and googled it last night. Obv very concerned but more about general management of nursery rather than the individual who was instantly dismissed (chances of it happening twice also extremely rare imo).

Thanks for yr feedback

Hi, thanks.

Well those you've mentioned plus Little Steps on Harold Road, off Beulah Hill which is the closest to me.

I guess you realise that Norwood Manor aren't so hot on their CRB checks, right? (re. nursery cook who was recently revealed as a registered sex offender). This revelation now probably makes Norwood Manor the safest nursery in London!

Can I ask why you chose this nursery over the others? Have you heard of Bright Horizons?

..oops, AnnetteTwitcher beat me to it!

That's what I think - lightening not striking twice etc...

But if they can be slack about CRB checks what else are they slack about??!

Can I ask why you chose Norwood Manor? We are there but only because we can't get in anywhere else.

I chose this nursery simply on my gut reaction - the staff seemed the happiest and the nursery had a good feel to it. It's run by a charitable organisation so is not-for-profit and the size of the nursery meant that it didn't feel claustrophobic (which a lot of other nurseries seemed to do - far too many kids packed into one space). Also they've got really big grounds. My ds has been there since August and I've had no grounds for complaint so far.

Except, obviously for the incident with the CRB checks. The nursery cook was temporary and had come from an employment agency - they'd not done a CRB check, the nursery manager on this occasion didn't check and the police, who knew the offender was working in the area didn't check where he was working. I'm convinced it was a one off and like others have mentioned, it will now be the safest nursery in London. Although it was very frightening at the time, I think it's a positive thing for the nursery - it will instigate some beneficial changes.