Kids unlimited....

[Tiasmummy]

Hiya. Has anybody had any experience with this branch of nursery? They just rang me and said they have some sessions available. Have been to visit and it looks nice....well expensive though!!

Any opinions on it?

Cheersxx

[JennyWren]

Well, your 10 month old would be in the baby room where my DS is, and I am really happy with it. The room leader is brilliant, as are the others. There is a new girl this week that I don't really know yet, but the other three are great. My DD was in one of the toddler rooms when she started and was very happy - her keyworker left on a sabbatical but is back now and I would be delighted if DS had her when he gets to that stage. The only room I have been less keen on is the very last preschool room. The staff in there somehow seemed much less motivated. As DD only went one day a week and seemed to enjoy herself I left it, but I might have looked for somewhere else if I needed more hours - instead she went to the local preschool in the village at other times (I only needed 9-6 care one day of the week).

Why not look at both, and compare them?

[LooseyC]

Hi - yes good idea JennyWren, that's really useful.

The new Milton Park manager is coming from KU in North Cheam - if anyone has an opinion on how that nursery was run please let me know!

[chakku]

Hello any comments from mum who have kids at Cambridge Long Road KU Nursery?

My daughter has recently started going there 2 days a week. I have been assuming that she is going to get better each day but ........

I have now decided to reduce this to 1 day a week and yes like some other mums I am frustrated that I have to give a 2 months notice.

IF

[yummymummy80]

lulujane!!!
I am currently thinking about leaving KU coz I find my daughter sobbing and left alone on her induction day. We even didnt start yet and they told me that I signed contract and Im obligated to give them 2 mnts notice. I think its absolutely terrible that they make you sign the contract and pay the sign in fee before you even try they nursery. Please let me know how did you dealt with them, would really appreciate any advice. Thank you

[TiggyD]

I'm not a fan of any big chain nursery. The KU nursery I saw was tired, not greatly equipped, the staff weren't that good, and they didn't go outside at all. It did look expensive...at the front! The bits that parents would see were very nice. Try going to the back of the room and looking through their toy boxes. KU seemed to have a lot of broken or worn out bits. The art area was positively crap. No working pens, blunt pencils etc.

@Yummymummy80,
Have you tried threats?
Tell them if they insist you pay you will write a letter saying how in your opinion they're terrible and that you'll post on Mumsnet and other forums and put off as many potential customers as possible.

[StephlB]

Hello - does anyone have experience of the KU nursery in Epping? We are moving there soon & my little boy is nearly 2 and has been at a nursery in London since he was 10 months old. Would appreciate any comments.

[clazza40]

Milton Park KU has improved so much. All down to personal preference but my 2yo girl is so happy there. These places do have periods of change but I'm happy with this one so far.

[nomdeplum]

My child had his second day at KU today. I came back to collect him and watched a carer feeding yoghurt to him through the window. I went in, they told me he had a great day. I reached out to see the yoghurt box which was on the side to see what brand it was and I saw the expiry date on it was 6th May. Today is the 13th. I pointed it out. They told me it belonged to another yoghurt pot! (But somehow inside the empty yoghurt pot they've just fed to my son?!). I talked to the manager but she was being defensive and said she'd talk to her staff first. It really hurts when someone takes you for a fool. How am I supposed to trust them, I don't know.
Other than all this, my baby seems happy there!

[CJ35]

I have a 3 year old son who attends KU Milton Park nursery. I have seen from mumsnet that there has been a lot of bad press in the past regarding this nursery. I have been working in childcare for 18 years and decided to join this nursery as part of the management team as i felt that whilst it was going through a tough time it had masses of potential, some extremely dedicated staff, happy children and very supportive parents. We were reinspected in July 2010 and I am very proud to say that we achieved and OUTSTANDING ofsted grade. Now i'm sure you are asking could this just of been a one off/a good day. The nursery caters for approx 100 children per day... that amounts to 40 plus staff needing to know exactly what they are doing at all times. This doesn't happen as a one off in a day! This is confirmation that the nursery is striving every day to move forward and progress. Choosing the correct Childcare provision to suit your needs is essential. My son and I are both very happy there. :)

[diphe]

I agree with you. In my opinion these practices are appalling. Warning to all mums thinking of starting their children. Do not in any circumstances sign a contract unless you've had a trial period.
Kids unlimited do not offer any trial period. Report your concerns to trading standards. It may not help you as you have signed a contract but if it gets brought to their attention enough it may be enough to make them change their practices.

[MummyMole73]

My toddler goes to KU Wandsworth - I can not fault them - they are loving and caring and he loves it there.

[cal79]

I get the impression that even though Kids Unlimited is a chain the individual nurseries differ greatly. Ive heard many good points on here and when I went to visit my local one 3 years ago I thought it was wonderful.

Unfortunately after sending my youngest child there for a year we discovered, after reviewing other nurseries and now after sending him to an alternative nursery for the past year, that actually it was pretty bad. We never saw much interaction between staff and children, my ds's keyworker was actually the deputy manager and so never spent any time in the room with him, we were promised lots of add-ons like yoga, baby sign but then told the staff couldn't do it because they weren't trained in it. I could go on and on but ultimately I feel strongly that the staff didn't care about my child (a big no no when it comes to childcare in my book). He is now in a lovely setting where there is lots of fun, laughing and jolliness (sp?!).

Its a difficult one because even after the settling in period with Kids Unlimited I felt fine. I guess the trick is to visit on a number of occassions, ideally with others (maybe grandparents) and compare them against the competition. Also, if they make statements about what they offer ask how they can back these up (eg, how ofter do you do baby yoga).

Sorry for the length but its something that really bugs me.

[LouLou23]

Hi
Does anyone have any experience of the Mackintosh branch in Manchester City Centre. I've been for a look around, it looks impressive, lots of good displays, photo's etc lots of talk of yoga, music, singing, dancing etc My only criticism is the extortionate fee. Having read this thread, first impressions can be misleading ! Any comments welcome.

[KidsUnlimitedMacintosh]

I think looking for a nursery place is more important than buying a house and no harm will come from extra show rounds, come and see the nursery at different times of the day. Each parent will want something different out of childcare, the nursery is their to meet your needs, any worry is worth asking the staff team about. The fees are all inclusive of nappies, formula feed, breakfast, dinner and an afternoon snack also fruit throughout the day. That's a few less things to worry about.

[Mummy2Bookie]

Lotster
Wh are you against male carers changing nappies? Not every man is a molester. I'm not a man, but I find that very offensive.

[Mummy2Bookie]

Beggers belief that somebody believes that male carers should not change nappies when the recent highly publicised case of abuse in a nursery involved a woman.
I'm not trying to upset anybody, I just cannot believe what I have just read. It's made me so angry. Would love to read the opinions of other parents on this.

[Lotster]

Mummy2bookie - I've been pointed back in the direction of this thread by a fellow MN'er, who felt you were being defamatory about me (you may not have noticed but my comments on this thread are over two years old).

I would like to take issue with your attempts to put words in my mouth.

Let me be clear, I have made no suggestion that male nursery workers are molesters.

I have not said that I am against male nursery workers changing nappies.

I simply pointed out the KU policy at the time in my branch. I agreed with it.
You didn't seem outraged at the nursery's policy, just my agreeing with it?
You have no idea why I agree with it yet you are 'angry'.

Maybe it's because of my religion. Perhaps my culture. Maybe my personal history and resulting feelings. Or for the same reasons as the nursery, to protect their male staff from accusations from narrow minded people. Possibly because the male carers were like gold dust at the time and I wanted the maximum play time for my son with the only person who played footy with him instead of that person being stuck inside changing nappies all day. Maybe none of those - definitely NOT because I think male nursery workers are molesters.

I had a great relationship with that nursery and all of it's workers when my child attended, I came on here to make positive comments about it.

As for TiggyD, I wouldn't want you anywhere near my children in a professional capacity - not because you are a man but because you are foul mouthed and aggressive. I think your employers would be horrified and I'm glad to see MN has deleted your vile comment.

[Mummy2Bookie]

Sorry lobster, you just come across as very 'anti male' in nurseries.
If that's your nurseries policy I hope they get sued for discrimination.

[Lotster]

Well I certainly am not. You read in to it what you wanted to there. I also stated how happy it made my son to have men there.

If I could have persuaded the male carer to have been our babysitter I would have. He wasn't interested in the many offers he had for extra work. Or in changing nappies, so it suited him just fine!

[Alibobbob]

I have read all the posts (currently having a battle with KidsUnlimited and wanted to read about other peoples experiences) I can't see anything in Lotster's post that suggests she is anti-male! it's a ridiculous suggestion, even after she has recently explained her two year old post!

I think it's Kidsunlimited who had the problem allowing male members of staff to change nappies but that was two years ago, hopefully things have changed at that nursery.

[TiggyD]

Lotster said "There are male carers too which my son loves, and they don't change nappies - which IMO is good."

Don't try to re-write what you said. You said in your opinion it's good that men don't change nappies. You are sexist. You tried to 'change what you said' in your later post saying you were only agreeing with their policy. (Trying to change what you said is quite common in internet forum. It doesn't work) If it is/was their policy then it is/was sexist and by agreeing with it you are sexist.

I do not tolerate any group being picked on by anybody. I will not tolerate your comments. To not speak out against abuse is to help that abuse continue.

[Lotster]

Actually I did not try to change what I said at all. I just pointed out that I did not qualify my reasons for saying it. I still didn't have to.

You drew conclusions as to what I meant, incorrectly, and in a nasty abusive manner.

Even if I did feel the way you interpreted (which I don't, again), do you stand up in a doctors waiting room and scream at someone who is asking to see a doctor of any particular sex, calling them a c**t because they are simply more comfortable with it? No of course not. How dare you.

Please don't try to make my post about you and the chip on your shoulder.


And Ali, thankyou.

[Alibobbob]

The nursery my little ones go to (yes it's a kidsunlimited nursery) had one male member of staff upto about 6 months ago, when he changed a nappy or took a child the toilet he had to leave the door open. I think this is more of an issue to be honest.

When I raised the issue they moved the changing table out of the toilet into the pre-school toilets. Don't ask me why!

to be honest I don't care who changes my child's nappy, male or female, I just want my children to be happy and clean!

So back to my question (yes, it's really all about me), has anyone been taken to court over non-payment of the two month notice period?

[hermioneweasley]

my son went to the KU nursery in leeds and it was brilliant. I have to say i think it's down to the staff though as opposed to KU. What really struck me when we visited was the manager showed us around and she knew every child and hte older ones were running up and cuddling her. my DS was incredibly happy there (and several friends send their kids too).