What did you need to see from a nursery to decide where your child will go??
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Honestly, I describe the nursery my LG is going to as 'feral in the best way'. The nursery owner described it as a 'true 70s nursery' and is truly involved in the care of the children (and child came to her upset and wanted comfort and she gave the child a 'Disney hug'). The kids had freedom to explore and play and opportunities to really develop as well rounded individuals. The kids had clearly built positive connections with staff and peers and you could see them supporting each other, which is amazing for little ones. The trips out they offer are both amazing experiences but also every-day experiences (rinding the bus into the city, getting fish and chips). It's a forest school nursery too and they've just bought a new forest area close by, once they're stable on their feet they will join the group that spend most of the day there while the littler ones get more focused attention at the main site (which still has a forest-y feel and a wildlife park on its doorstep). It just felt right.
They also get the majority of their children through recommendations and word of mouth, they don't advertise and they're not in an obvious location where people will see them.
@Laura thank you. I have reservations on the nurseries I visited. I did not love any! 🥲
@Carys this sounds so nice
Similar things to what Laura has said and staff to child ratios in the rooms was big for me and then it was just the one that gave me the right feels if that makes sense … something I also looked for was size, some nurseries I looked at had over 100 children and although were staffed appropriately I didn’t love that the one I went with was smaller with 10-15 in each age range so more around 50 across the whole nursery from baby to preschool xx
Couple things we looked at- the ratio of babies to staff being low (1 to 3), the way the babies interacted with the staff, the ofsted report (we went with outstanding as it really pushes the children developmentally!) and the general feel of the nursery and how they communicate with the parents. I have heard many horror stories from my friends so I’m hoping we made the right decision (she will be starting next year when she is 1 years old!)
As an aside - please don't take Ofsted as a big deciding factor! While there are some brilliant inspectors, as a whole they are not fit for purpose. Inspectors who go into SEN schools but have zero knowledge of SEN for example. Obviously if they are flagged for big things like safeguarding take notice, but they really don't give a picture of the place. My secondary school consistently got outstanding despite falling apart at the seams with students having real mental health crisises due to pressure (grammar school) - we even made a joke of it in our final leavers assembly, because when the new head came in it definitely wasn't outstanding yet they came in and said 'yep, still outstanding'.
@Hollie yes this is so true about numbers. I'll need to double check that. Thank you
@Carys do agree with this but anything red flagged you can at least ask about. Particularly safeguarding imo
Things I asked about - feeding (what food they offer), sleeping (own sleep spaces), routines, safer recruitment practices (I.e. how do they make sure they’re hiring safe people), and went off general feel about the staff. I also looked at ofsted reports and questioned on improvements/continuations of things that may have been mentioned. What’s important will be down to you though.