What to look for in a nursery

[SherbertLemons]

Just that really.

I'm pregnant with our first and have been warned nursery spaces get booked up very quickly so I shouldn't leave this too late. Due in May 2022 and the nursery place will be for 2023 when I return to work, probably four days a week.

I am totally clueless about what makes a great nursery. I like the idea (I think) of Montessori but there are no local ones to name so I'll be looking for a more generic placement. So far I know that Ofsted rate nurseries so, should I only be looking at ones rated "outstanding"? I've seen some of the Inspection dates where years ago so I'm not sure how reliable they are.

What did you look for when choosing your child's nursery?

All advice gratefully received.

Go and see some and you’ll get a sense of what’s important to you. We got instant “no” vibes from some and really looked others.

We looked for: nice outdoor space, children who seemed happy and comfortable in the setting, staff being engaged with the children rather than admin or other tasks, good range of activities on offer (I don’t mean anything super fancy but craft, baking, free play, etc). We also looked at journey times and opening hours, because how this would fit into our lives was important.

Personally, I didn’t take much notice of OFSTED. Or rather, I didn’t care about the rating. I did read the reports and discounted one which had a safeguarding issue flagged. If the factors behind a less than perfect rating are about admin or minor one-off issues, I’d still be happy to view though others might disagree.