Hi
Anyone know of any decent nurseries or child minders in the Sydenham/ Forest Hill/ Dulwich areas?
Childcare
Personally, we use Little Stars Nursery on Peak Hill road, SE23, 020 8291 3322.
They've been very good for us. I suspect some others are better but many are also more expensive. Other than that, here's I whole bunch of addresses to aid your search, retrieved from my notes when I was looking. I can't comment on the quality of any of them though and addresses may be out of date but you can easily update from the links.
Lewisham Gov http://tinyurl.com/a7y63 site had:
CORNERSTONE DAY NURSERY {ep}
2 Jews Walk
Sydenham
SE26 6PL
(020) 8676 0478
For children aged 2-5 years
COTTAGE DAY NURSERY {ep}
St Hilda's Church
Courtrai Road
Forest Hill
SE23 1PL
(020) 8291 7117
For children aged 15 months - 5 years
LITTLE CHERUBS{ep}
Bell Green Lane
Lower Sydenham
SE26 5TB
(020) 8778 3232
For children aged 3 months - 5 years
LITTLE ONES{ep}
80 High Level Drive
Sydenham
SE26
(020) 8659 2652
For children aged 18 months - 5 years
PUZZLE HOUSE PRE-SCHOOL {ep}
Trinity Path, Sydenham Park
Sydenham
SE26 4EA
(020) 8291 9844
For children aged 2 - 5 years
From http://www.earlyyearsonline.co.uk/home.asp
* Crystal Day Nursery, Sydenham, Kent (0208) 659 6417
* Puzzle House Nursery, Lewisham, London (0208) 291 9844
* Sydenham Hill Kindergarten, Lewisham, London (0208) 693 6880
Families online directories includes SE London Independent nurseries (not looked through all)
Touch Local
Kelvin Grove Nursery School
Kelvin Grove
London SE26 6BB
T: 02086994692
Crystal Day Nursery
202 Venner Road
London SE26 5HT
T: 02086596417
Fairlawn Annexe
Waldenshaw Road
London SE23 3XP
T: 02086991529
They've been very good for us. I suspect some others are better but many are also more expensive. Other than that, here's I whole bunch of addresses to aid your search, retrieved from my notes when I was looking. I can't comment on the quality of any of them though and addresses may be out of date but you can easily update from the links.
Lewisham Gov http://tinyurl.com/a7y63 site had:
CORNERSTONE DAY NURSERY {ep}
2 Jews Walk
Sydenham
SE26 6PL
(020) 8676 0478
For children aged 2-5 years
COTTAGE DAY NURSERY {ep}
St Hilda's Church
Courtrai Road
Forest Hill
SE23 1PL
(020) 8291 7117
For children aged 15 months - 5 years
LITTLE CHERUBS{ep}
Bell Green Lane
Lower Sydenham
SE26 5TB
(020) 8778 3232
For children aged 3 months - 5 years
LITTLE ONES{ep}
80 High Level Drive
Sydenham
SE26
(020) 8659 2652
For children aged 18 months - 5 years
PUZZLE HOUSE PRE-SCHOOL {ep}
Trinity Path, Sydenham Park
Sydenham
SE26 4EA
(020) 8291 9844
For children aged 2 - 5 years
From http://www.earlyyearsonline.co.uk/home.asp
* Crystal Day Nursery, Sydenham, Kent (0208) 659 6417
* Puzzle House Nursery, Lewisham, London (0208) 291 9844
* Sydenham Hill Kindergarten, Lewisham, London (0208) 693 6880
Families online directories includes SE London Independent nurseries (not looked through all)
Touch Local
Kelvin Grove Nursery School
Kelvin Grove
London SE26 6BB
T: 02086994692
Crystal Day Nursery
202 Venner Road
London SE26 5HT
T: 02086596417
Fairlawn Annexe
Waldenshaw Road
London SE23 3XP
T: 02086991529
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chelsea123
- Posts: 6
- Joined: 19 Oct 2005 20:26
- Location: sydenham
Am about to start looking at nurseries and will probably just plough through the list Oin supplied (thank you!) as it's much more helpful than anything else I've looked at - including the booklets Lewisham Council supply.
Many people have simply suggested looking at as many nurseries as possible and going with gut instinct as regards choosing one - if you don't feel right leaving your son/ daughter there for any reason whatsoever, even if you can't explain your reasoning, then don't! There are obviously other factors to account for like cost and ease of getting there to drop off/ pick up in the mornings/ evenings.
Will let you know if I spot any particularly good places, Chelsea, but I'm going at a fairly leisurely pace as the baby is not due until May and I won't be returning to work until November of this year.
Hope you find somewhere!
Many people have simply suggested looking at as many nurseries as possible and going with gut instinct as regards choosing one - if you don't feel right leaving your son/ daughter there for any reason whatsoever, even if you can't explain your reasoning, then don't! There are obviously other factors to account for like cost and ease of getting there to drop off/ pick up in the mornings/ evenings.
Will let you know if I spot any particularly good places, Chelsea, but I'm going at a fairly leisurely pace as the baby is not due until May and I won't be returning to work until November of this year.
Hope you find somewhere!
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chelsea123
- Posts: 6
- Joined: 19 Oct 2005 20:26
- Location: sydenham
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sydenham Don
- Posts: 19
- Joined: 2 Nov 2004 13:07
- Location: Newlands Park
I also have my daughter in at little stars - they do have the kids best interests at heart and it is good value, however, staff turnover has been high recently (the manager ,who we loved, recently left). However there is a new manager in there who seems good on first impressions.
Good luck in your search and if you have any more questions on LS let me know!
SD
Good luck in your search and if you have any more questions on LS let me know!
SD
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chelsea123
- Posts: 6
- Joined: 19 Oct 2005 20:26
- Location: sydenham
Hi Sydenham Don - I did go and have a look at Little Stars - the new manager was there and I did like her - but it was nap time so I didn't really geta feel of how the staff treat the kids as they were all asleep! The Ofsted was only 'satisfactory' though - what is it about the nursery that you liked? Did you go and see others too? Any advice would be most gratefully recieved!
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sydenham Don
- Posts: 19
- Joined: 2 Nov 2004 13:07
- Location: Newlands Park
Hi there,
I know that the ofsted report mentioned planning as an area for improvement - this is something that we were told the new manager is good at and she is very experienced by all accounts. We are 'waiting and seeing' how the next couple of months pan out. I will keep you uptodate on how we are finding it with the new manager.
As I mentioned the staff turnover has been high - this is also seen as a bad sign and the one thing that has concerned us over the last couple of months - always a good question to ask / try and get a feel for. Our daughter has had many key workers there which hasn't been ideal, however she is a happy child and likes the nursery alot.
Will keep you posted (pardon the pun)
All the best, and good luck with your investigations - I have also heard that Crystal Day Care is good.
SD
I know that the ofsted report mentioned planning as an area for improvement - this is something that we were told the new manager is good at and she is very experienced by all accounts. We are 'waiting and seeing' how the next couple of months pan out. I will keep you uptodate on how we are finding it with the new manager.
As I mentioned the staff turnover has been high - this is also seen as a bad sign and the one thing that has concerned us over the last couple of months - always a good question to ask / try and get a feel for. Our daughter has had many key workers there which hasn't been ideal, however she is a happy child and likes the nursery alot.
Will keep you posted (pardon the pun)
All the best, and good luck with your investigations - I have also heard that Crystal Day Care is good.
SD
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sydenham Don
- Posts: 19
- Joined: 2 Nov 2004 13:07
- Location: Newlands Park
Hi there,
Just to let you know that the new nursery manager has left after 2 weeks! I have subsequently gone onto ofsteds website to have a look at the latest report, and I have to say that it is horrific! I would advise that you have a look at the ofsted reports as a matter of course when looking into care - the initial report was 'satisfactory', but it really looks as if LS is going down hill fast.
I was not aware of any of this so sorry for being so positive about LS initially. We will be pulling our daughter out of the nursery asap.
you can see the latest ofsted report here....
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/index. ... &id=141468
Good luck and please let us know if you come across any good nurseries!
SD
Just to let you know that the new nursery manager has left after 2 weeks! I have subsequently gone onto ofsteds website to have a look at the latest report, and I have to say that it is horrific! I would advise that you have a look at the ofsted reports as a matter of course when looking into care - the initial report was 'satisfactory', but it really looks as if LS is going down hill fast.
I was not aware of any of this so sorry for being so positive about LS initially. We will be pulling our daughter out of the nursery asap.
you can see the latest ofsted report here....
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/index. ... &id=141468
Good luck and please let us know if you come across any good nurseries!
SD
Hello Again,
I've just been catching up with this thread and I think Don has covered most of what I would have said.
Yes, Little Stars is the one just off Dartmouth Zozo. TBH My wife selected it rather than me although I believe it was a good choice at that time. There didn't seem to be that many to chose from at the time, as our son was only 6 months old and a lot of nurseries won't accept them until 2. This seems to have changed a bit since then. It was a friendly place with lots of trustworthy staff but many of these were lost in the turnovers and the strain can show on those who are left. It's a very hard thing to decide as you can only get a good feel for a place when you've been going a while. I would agree with the importance of gut instinct.
Little Stars has definitely had it's issues. I've been talking to Caroline (the director) this morning and she is still talking about turning it around and making it better but feels they've done a lot already. Ofsted are due to access them again in a month but I find it hard to communicate with the current manager. Apparently she is better with the staff than the previous manager who I, like Don, also found good. I wouldn't say it was an awful place but I do think you could do better than there and we have started looking again, if only to compare.
A search on your postcode on the Ofsted site gets a good list as well as access to all the reports: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/
The orange booklet available in the library that also has a decent list, with the benefit of maps.
I'd be very interested to hear what anyone thinks of any nurseries they visit. Thanks for your comment on Cornerstone, Chelsea. It was one we intended to look at given the Ofsted report but that's given us food for thought.
Owen.
I've just been catching up with this thread and I think Don has covered most of what I would have said.
Yes, Little Stars is the one just off Dartmouth Zozo. TBH My wife selected it rather than me although I believe it was a good choice at that time. There didn't seem to be that many to chose from at the time, as our son was only 6 months old and a lot of nurseries won't accept them until 2. This seems to have changed a bit since then. It was a friendly place with lots of trustworthy staff but many of these were lost in the turnovers and the strain can show on those who are left. It's a very hard thing to decide as you can only get a good feel for a place when you've been going a while. I would agree with the importance of gut instinct.
Little Stars has definitely had it's issues. I've been talking to Caroline (the director) this morning and she is still talking about turning it around and making it better but feels they've done a lot already. Ofsted are due to access them again in a month but I find it hard to communicate with the current manager. Apparently she is better with the staff than the previous manager who I, like Don, also found good. I wouldn't say it was an awful place but I do think you could do better than there and we have started looking again, if only to compare.
A search on your postcode on the Ofsted site gets a good list as well as access to all the reports: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/
The orange booklet available in the library that also has a decent list, with the benefit of maps.
I'd be very interested to hear what anyone thinks of any nurseries they visit. Thanks for your comment on Cornerstone, Chelsea. It was one we intended to look at given the Ofsted report but that's given us food for thought.
Owen.
When I did that at the end of 2004 I came up with the list here: http://www.sydenham.org.uk/schools_nursery.htmloin wrote:A search on your postcode on the Ofsted site gets a good list as well as access to all the reports: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/
I guess you are telling me this is now out of date. If you could post or send a list of what should be there I will promise to add them.
Admin
That's a great page. The only one I encountered that had a picture of the nursery in question. I wasn't meaning to imply that page was out of date, merely that a more personalised list can be had from each individual's postcode. For example, most of my nearest nurseries are in Forest Hill rather than Sydenham istelf.
As it happens, the list may be out of date. I have been unable to contact Puzzle nursery on that number or to find any alternative number. I couldn't see any sign of it when I went by the other day. So I don't know if it's still open.
I'd be happy to provide any list I end up with if it would be of use.
As it happens, the list may be out of date. I have been unable to contact Puzzle nursery on that number or to find any alternative number. I couldn't see any sign of it when I went by the other day. So I don't know if it's still open.
I'd be happy to provide any list I end up with if it would be of use.
I've been meaning to post an update on this.
I have to admit that my feelings expressed on Little Stars were affected by timing and circumstances. They had deteriorated and they knew it. Then there was a particular issue coinciding with the latest Ofsted report. All of which greatly coloured my response to this thread.
Since then, they have employed some good new staff and really tried to implement some change. Also, we have been off looking at some of the other local nurseries and while there are contenders, the exercise resulted in us feeling much happier about where he is. (There's a couple that are a comparitive shock!)
We've come to the conclusion that he is in a good place and are happy. YMMV. I would recommend to anyone that they view all available options as there aren't that many and it means when you do make the choice, you can be comfortable knowing that you have selected the best option on your own judgement.
I'd be happy to offer more opinions to anyone via PM, but I'd rather not be too off-the-cuff "on the record"
.
I have to admit that my feelings expressed on Little Stars were affected by timing and circumstances. They had deteriorated and they knew it. Then there was a particular issue coinciding with the latest Ofsted report. All of which greatly coloured my response to this thread.
Since then, they have employed some good new staff and really tried to implement some change. Also, we have been off looking at some of the other local nurseries and while there are contenders, the exercise resulted in us feeling much happier about where he is. (There's a couple that are a comparitive shock!)
We've come to the conclusion that he is in a good place and are happy. YMMV. I would recommend to anyone that they view all available options as there aren't that many and it means when you do make the choice, you can be comfortable knowing that you have selected the best option on your own judgement.
I'd be happy to offer more opinions to anyone via PM, but I'd rather not be too off-the-cuff "on the record"
.