Looking for a nursery in Canary Wharf

[familyvz]

Hi,

we are currently looking for a nursery for our 8 months old daughter in Canary Wharf.

While we have seen a few places, they all seem nice from the "outside" but reading so many bad reviews, we are sceptical whether there actually is a decent nursery out there, where the staff genuinely cares for the babies/children.
It also seems that the staff doesn't hold any proper qualifcations, nor that they have kids or have a clue about kids.

Any recommendations of a decent nursery?

Places we have seen:

1. Bright Horizon Heron Quays - too big, run down, staff not really friendly, an outdoor area that is open to the public and anybody could just grab a child. Definitely no from us.

2. Bright Horizon Bank Street - as with all nurseries, it seemed nice from the "outside" but our daughter had a horrible settling in phase, to the extent that she was throwing up when she came there because she was so afraid. She also didn't sleep anymore, didn't eat and was even scared of the aunt as she thought it is someone from the nursery. Definitely no from us.

3. Lantern Nursery - looks nice but the tour and conversation with the owner seem extremely staged and it simply just has bad reviews online. Any thoughts on this one?

4. Bright Horizon Canada Square - No daylight and same as the other BH.

We are about to see Bright Horizon Columbus Courtyard. Any thoughts on this one?

Mudchute seems to be the ONLY one with a waiting list. Is it really that great and worth a wait?

Any feedback would be genuinely appreciated. Also if you have thoughts on other nurseries that are in Canary Wharf (e.g. Barkentine) would be very helpful.

Thank you in advance!

My DD attended Columbia Courtyard when it was Little Unicorns. She also went to the Montessori at Crossharbour. I wish we had waited for Mudchute (if you go in and chat with the guys in the office upstairs you may make more progress). Mudchute better as not for profit- huge outdoor space and some more mature and patient staff IMO.
But I think you may find it run down and it offers less formal teaching. Depends what you prioritise tbf. Worth a visit I reckon.
Good luck.

Just seen your child is 8mo. Maybe a nanny? Or there are some nice child minders on the IoD? Worth asking on the Canary Wharf and IoD FB page?

We’re also looking for a nursery in CW area, and it’s harder than we thought. Few thoughts:

• BH Canada Square: people are nice there, but the place is small and has no daylight, so not that great for a toddler. I think for babies it’s just fine.
• BH Heron Quays: i seriously considered it until ofsted came out with Inadequate report. I liked the outside space, but overall feels cramped, though staff seem nice
• BH Columbus Courtyard: nice facilities, but heard there are 18 kids in one tiny room. Doesn’t sound like a good idea. Still considering though.
• Lanterns: really nice facilities, but not sure about staff. From what i saw they seem a bit sedentary and quite tough on kids. Still thinking, but i guess my likely conclusion will be no. Quite a shame though, as the facilities deserve a great nursery.
• Montessori CH: great outdoor space, but again not sure about staff. Ofsted recent review marks it as Required Improvement.
• Headstart: still due to see it. Anyone has seen it and has a view?
• Mudchute: they don’t even open up the waitlist. How do i get in?

Would be great to hear any one else’s opinion.

My son has been in Mudchute (Muddy Boots) nursery since he was 2 yrs old and will finish this Sept when we move out of CW. I think amongst all the nurseries we visited, we chose Mudchute only for the outdoor space and it was a blessing! The staff in the nursery are excellent and some of them have been working there for 10-14 years! Its more of a playschool so they dont teach children anything more than manners and good behaviour but thats something we consciously prefered as we believed that children need to learn to play together when they are this young. The social skills are definitely enhanced here.

How did you manage to get a place at Muddy Boots? It seems impossible to even get on a waiting list

To be honest we got lucky. When we first called, the administrator told me that the waiting time is around 2 years so we started looking at other options. But I didnt find any other nursery with so much outside space anywhere else in CW so I started calling them once every 2 weeks to find out if we can sign up fpr the waiting list :) And finally after 3 weeks of keeping in touch, I was asked to sign up for the nursery. We did everything needed and we got extremely lucky and in another 2 week's time they got in touch to say that a child was going to leave the nursery very shortly and I had a day to decide. We decided on the spot and thus he has been there over a year.

Hi @familyvz and @Mikey13482

One year later and I'm in the same boat as you. Where did you end up going in the end? I've visited BH Columbus Courtyard, Lanterns, and everywhere else seems to be an endless waitlist. Please share how it went with your LOs, feeling a bit anxious here!