Nurseries in Rotherhithe, London Bridge or Canary Wharf

[Initio]

Hi All,

I'm 36 weeks pregnant, and I haven't put my son's name down for a nursery place yet, and I'm planning on going back to work in July/August.

We live in Rotherhithe near Greenland Dock, so any recommended nurseries in that area would be great, but I could get the boat over to Canary Wharf (Little Unicorn looks good from the website but £££) or I could consider something on my route to work, which is in Pimlico, but takes me through London Bridge/Borough and Waterloo.

Sorry I know that's a massive area to consider, but I really have no idea. All suggestions will be warmly received.

Hello

I can't help with Rotherhithe or London Bridge but my DD goes to Little Unicorn and it is brilliant. She is very happy there and I am very pleased with the care she gets. I am also happy to answer any questions you might have about it! I know lots of parents come from your side of the river as well but think they mostly work in Canary Wharf. Might be worth looking around Pimlico as well so drop off/pick up times are not too strenuous work-wise.

Good luck!

Thanks Skimummy - may I ask which branch she goes to please - the large one, or the smaller house type ones?

I think Pimlico might also be a good idea, as hopefully I'd be able to drop in at lunch times (do nurseries allow that?)

I would recommend looking close to home rather than close to work. It's miserable for a small child to commute, and it's exhausting for the parents too, unless you drive anyway. It would also be handy to be close to the nursery if you needed to work from home or take a child-free day off work.

Little Unicorns is good (and, as you say, expensive). Most of the people I know who sent their children there were very happy with it, although I do know some who moved their children elsewhere. I looked at it for DS but I thought it was a bit sedate for him so he went somewhere else.

Thanks Bran, good points. I'd be getting the bus, and I do work from home a lot. DP definitely thinks closer to home is the way to go but it looks like the closest places are in Deptford and I don't know too much about that neck of the woods. Hmm.

Ah, agree that closer to home is better if you plan on working from home! DD goes to the larger Little Unicorn nursery. I don't think being bigger is worse though - all the workers and management know my DD's name and interact with all the children. I know some people think Little Unicorn is a bit 'corporate' but that has not been my experience at all.

Hello, am finding it so hard finding a good nursery in Rotherhithe, don't think there are any! I currentyl have my son in Batterse Asquiths nursery but have to move him soon as im pregnant and carry him to nursery as there are no lifts and loads of stairs either side. Does anyone know of a good childminder in the rotherhithe area? or have a good nanny that actually loves kids that wants to share? My son is 20 weeks now and at such an innocent stage I want him to be happy during the day.

Hi Louihall and Initio

Not sure this helps but I also found it really hard to find a childminder in the Rotherhithe area (they all seemed to be based in South Bermondsey!) - however, I know lots of local parents who are really happy with both Skallywags (near Bermodsey station and affordable) and Arc (London Bridge and a bit pricey) and at one point I looked at the Coin Street community nursery in Waterloo which looked great. The down side of course is that they all have long-ish waiting lists, but you never know, you might get lucky!

Thanks Kitstelsmum, I'll definitely check them out.

There's a new place opening in Aragon Towers, Deptford near Rotherhithe (not far from Greenland Dock) in March called Zeeba Daycare, which sounds promising. They have two branches in East London at the moment, with satisfactory Ofsteds, so it might be worth paying them a visit...

There is also Rotherhithe Primary School Early Years and Parents Centre which has a waiting list, and an Outstanding Ofsted.

louihall - did you call Southwark council for the list of childminders? I know they don't offer recommendations, but it could be worth ringing round and visiting them to get a feel (which is a full time job in itself!).

Thanks Initio for the info about Zeeba - we are planning baby no 2 at the moment and I want to get on the waiting lists asap (with my first baby i left it far too late for all the local-ish nurseries and ended up in one which is a 20 minute bus ride away - on a good day!)

Sorry to revive such an old thread but does anyone currently have any recommendations for nurseries in rotherhithe? Or even experience with the zeeba daycare mentioned above?
Need to find somewhere quick and starting to panic but also want to make the correct choice!
Thanks in advance!

I would say Zeeba is satisfactory, have one friend sending her boy there. She finds it ok but would change but does not want to unsettle her child as they just had another baby.

There is also Canada Tots that has opened recently. I haven't been there myself but friends send kids there. Don't think they have any outdoor space, probably more suitable for younger babies.

Trinity is from 2 years up and I felt it was really chaotic. They do have outdoor space to run around in.

We ended up choosing Scallywags in Bermondsey and have been happy with them - lots of space for the kids to run around and not too pricey. They also have an outdoor area although it's asphalt rather than grass but it's much bigger than the terrace outside Zeeba. They are a bit lacking with paperwork and daily reports in writing but I don't mind this too much as they are more than willing to chat about your child's day and progress at every pick up time.

Feel free to pm me.

Thanks emmie. Have pm'd you with qu re scallywags and zeeba. Decisions decisions