Hello from Magdalen Nursery,

It feels funny resurrecting such an old post, however it seems right to do so as it is a reflection of the incredible journey we have been on over the last 4 years.

When I first tentatively approached local families about opening a community nursery on Magdalen Road in 2012, I had no idea that it would lead to such an amazing setting that is at the heart of the community there. All of our visions and ambitions have been realised and we are so proud of everything that has been achieved by the team and the families in the area. Magdalen Nursery has a fantastic reputation for delivering high quality childcare and education. I am particularly bowled over by how families are an integral part of the setting and play a key role in the setting. I really believe this is a testimony to the family values we have always tried to uphold in the nursery’s ethos.

Well, four years later it gives me great pleasure to announce that we have just opened a brand new nursery site in Earlsfield. This is a project that we have been working on for over a year after being approached by Wandsworth Council and the NHS to address a shortage of spaces in the area. St George’s Grove is our new setting located just off Burntwood Lane, SW17. Much like our first nursery at Magdalen Road, we involved families and our staff to help design what we see as the most optimum space for children to grow, develop and thrive.

After an extensive build project, our new nursery is up and running following a soft launch. It truly has to be seen to be believed – it is the perfect amalgam of contemporary design with soft nursery furnishings. Our children absolutely love it! We have three huge gardens, lots of open space to play and beautiful wooden resources.

I cannot thank local families enough for getting behind us again to get this new nursery over the line. Our new setting is a sister site of our Magdalen Road nursery, in fact, it’s less than a mile away from it! All of our values and practices have stayed the same and been implemented into the new one. Such as, small groups of children receiving more focussed and dedicated care, our incredible menu and our ultimate ambition to give young children the best start in life in a homely nurturing environment.

St George’s Grove opened quietly in the summer taking admissions from local families and the hospital. Spaces are filling fast and therefore we are now launching the nursery to the community and welcome you all for visits and show rounds.

Please contact the manager of the setting, Tara Coulson to arrange an appointment.
Tara Coulson, 020 8682 1386
Magdalen Nursery,
St George’s Grove
SW17 0PZ
grove@magdalennursery.com
www.magdalennursery.com

Once again, we thank everyone for all their love and support.
Tallat and Lucy x

I am so happy to say that we have had our first Ofsted inspection and the rating was GOOD!

The inspector who came to see us was the same person who gave us permission to open in May. At that time, she was very impressed with our facilities and therefore was very keen to see how we had progressed and developed since opening.

After spending the day observing us and inspecting our facilities and practices, she remarked that she had really enjoyed her day with us. She particularly liked the family feel of the setting and how loved and comfortable the children were.

We were very happy with the Good rating - we were told that settings normally have to show years of consistent practice before being graded Outstanding. For the next inspection we now have a great target to reach!

The inspectors report for Ofsted was glowing. It can be seen at the link below.

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/CARE/EY433435

As always, our love and thanks go out to the parents who have supported us from day 1 and got behind us to create this beautiful nursery.

Yours.

Tallat.

Dear Parents,

We have some incredibly exciting news!! This Thursday the 26th of July we have the Olympic Torch coming to the nursery!

We have been extremely fortunate that Rosie’s mum has very kindly arranged for the torch to come for a few hours to the nursery. This is not part of the Olympic Torch Relay – we have simply been exceptionally lucky to have real torch brought to us for our children. We think this will be an amazing opportunity for us to make a fuss about the Olympics with our children. We can show them the spirit of the Olympics, and engage them in the fun and sporty atmosphere.

As you all well know by now, we love to have a party here at Magdalen Nursery. So we have decided to go all out and throw a fun filled Olympic Torch Garden Party. We will have an Olympic themed party for our children and parents on Thursday 26/7/12 from 3 – 6pm. We would love you to come – the party is open to all children pre-registered and currently attending the nursery. As well as the parents of course!!

The party will consist of lots of “Olympic Sports” such as:

- 25m Crawling
- Bean Bag Toss
- Free Style Jumping
- Unsynchronised Paddling Pool Swim

There will be lots of Gold Medals and celebrations – as all our children are winners.. As always, there will be lots of lovely snacks and refreshing cold drinks for our “Olympic Party Athletes” .

We will have our camera here too, so we can take lots of piccies of the torch with the children as a memento.

Please RVSP as soon as you can so we can determine numbers for the day.

I hope you are all well and I look forward to seeing you on Thursday!

Best wishes,

Tallat Mukhtar

Fantastic news!!

Hello,

It’s been nearly one month now since our Open Day and I thought this would be a good opportunity to touch base with everyone about progress at Magdalen Nursery. The response to the Open Day was huge – as those who attended can testify. We had over 200 people come round to have a look and enjoy themselves! We were very lucky the weather was so much nicer than it has been recently as the children were able to make full use of our large garden. It must be said that the response was amazing and the feedback from parents has been fantastic.

I’m proud to say last week was our first week open! We have a lovely group of children already started – it feels so good to see little ones running around the place making good use of all our new toys and facilities. We have had a small intake of children start this month and more are joining each month going forward. Our plans to enrol only 18 children initially had to be quickly revised, as the number of applications has been massive! Parents have been signing up children to start all the way up to March 2013 – two mums have even signed up their baby bumps for start next year!!

Our staff has done such an amazing job with the place and are really bonding with the children. However, it’s pretty full on in our office processing enquiries and registrations. We have show-rounds every day and some mums are even bringing their NCT group over for play time and coffee, which is lovely to see. With regards to spaces, we do still have some available and I would advise parents to get in touch if they are seriously interested. Some parents have been contacting us this week saying they thought we were oversubscribed, however, depending on your start date, some places are available. We have a new intake starting every month so If you are still looking for a space, full time or part time it’s worth contacting us.

Our thanks go out to all the local families who have supported us since we started this project. If you do wish to visit us, please feel free to contact us at any time.

See you soon,

Tallat

OPEN DAY 14th APRIL.

Hello again!

Well, things have moved on very quickly with the nursery. After such a long journey getting the right planning permissions and quality of building work – we are finally there!!

Last week Ofsted came to inspect us and gave us a resounding approval! They had a good look around our building and thoroughly checked out our staff and procedures. The inspector mentioned that she hadn’t seen such a beautiful nursery in such a long time and couldn’t wait to see it open. It really feels good to hear that! We have put so much love and effort into this project…

We have permission for 46 children from the age of 3 months to 5 years. As we have everything in place we see no reason to delay things any further, so we have set our opening date to be [u]Monday 30th April[/u]. Therefore, we are now taking registrations for children!

Parents have already been popping by to have a look and signing up when they see our facilities. However, we are going to have an Open Day on [u]Saturday 14th April[/u], which will be a great chance for parents to come over and see for themselves what we have been building!

We really hope the weather will be good because we plan to have a garden party and make the most of our huge outdoor space! Please bring your family and little ones – we really want to meet you all and get to know you. We hope to have a very special day – there will be fun and games in the garden as well as snacks, cakes and lovely drinks. The kids can run around, enjoy themselves and parents can relax while enjoying a glass or two of Champagne - all within the safety of our gated complex. All of our rooms will be staffed and open with activities happening in each of them. I really hope local families can come and enjoy the day with us and be a part of what we have achieved.

I must say now that we plan to take only 18 children in our first month, just to take things easy. So if you are interested, the Open Day is a perfect opportunity to check us out.

If you cannot make it on the 14th, we are happy to arrange a tour and meeting by appointment.

If you wish to come on the 14th of April, or book and appointment, please contact me on my personal email address :

tallat27@gmail.com

Entry on the day will be strictly by reservation for the safety and security of the children there.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Tallat Mukhtar
Director, Magdalen Nursery.

Hello from Magdalen Nursery!

Finally!! An update on our progress.

Everyone has been so patient waiting for us to get back to them. I have been very busy with the build part of the project and recruiting staff. Now that the manager is in place, the fees and structure and principles of the nursery all being set. I think it’s a good time to start contacting you formally and give you information about who we are, what we hope to achieve and all of our details.

It was very important for the nursery to have the correct manager in place – I wasn’t going to rush into it and choose just anyone, we have very high standards and I wanted to find someone who reflected them. That’s why it’s taken a little longer than expected. However, we now have a fantastic manager who is perfect for the role. She is a mother who has run her own nurseries before and been an accomplished manager for 25 years. She has been hiring a really good team as her staff and is busy setting the rooms right now.

I really didn’t anticipate this level of support from parents when I first planned on opening Magdalen Nursery. I was very aware of the shortage of good quality childcare in Earlsfield, it’s the main reason I wanted to start the nursery. However, it really feels good to address these issues and start being a centre in our little community. As a result, I thought it would be a good idea for me to set up a Facebook page and a Twitter account to create a platform for parents to chat with us and get to know what’s going on.

I am really committed to giving you what you want in this nursery, so I would love it if you tell me what you would like to see in place. I think the two platforms will be excellent for us and the parents to connect, swap ideas and develop this nursery together. A nursery has a very privileged part to play in families lives and I really want to involve families and parent as much as possible. Be it giving us your thoughts and ideas, or even us arranging mother and baby groups – I really want to see the nursery supporting the community.

The website is now live – http://www.magdalennursery.com

All the info you may need will be there. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Once everything is finished on site we will be organising some open days for you to have a look and get a feel of the place.

Best wishes,
Magdalen Nursery.

Have there been any updates about this nursery, such as when it will open, how registration will work, pricing, etc?

Hi there,

I am about to move to Earlsfield and looking for a nursery for my now 19 month old to start in October. I am eager to know more about the developments of this nursery as I cannot find any details on Google.
Please could you send any updates and details re registration?

To parents - any other recommendations for nurseries in the area?

Thank you very much

Just wondering if anyone had any more information on this? There's a real shortage of nurseries in Earlsfield so it would be great news if this one is definitely going to be open. I've tried to email but haven't heard anything back. Thanks in advance!

Hi -

Apologies to everyone for going quiet after our last post. We have had quite a few hurdles to overcome, but I'm pleased to say that everything is under way to get Magdalen Nursery up and running.

There were a few hiccups along the way, but it's full steam ahead now. Right now, we are going through the regulatory processes with Ofsted and Wandsworth Council. Work is scheduled to start in a few weeks time. All being well, we hope to be open late autumn (hopefully there will be no more delays!).

There have been lots of responses from parents on the forum as well as direct contacts. We have got a mailing list to keep parents informed of our progress. If you wish to join the list, let us know and we will keep in touch.

In the meantime, just to give you an update - the nursery will be located at the Gate House Lodge, which is just at the entrance to the cemetery on Magdalen Road. The building is fantastic, it has lovely big rooms, lots of light and space - and the most amazing sunny and secure garden!! The nursery itself will not be a huge one, we anticipate there will only be about 40 places. I understand from parents responses that there is a serious shortage of places for small children from 6 months onwards, so I will focus on creating as many places for them from the outset.

As soon as I have info about fees, registration, dates etc, I will let you know immediately.

Wishing you all well,

Elodie - Magdalen Nursery.

Bluebells Nursery School will be opening in September 2011. We are located in Battersea in a great location opposite Battersea Park. If this could be of interest to you please visit our website for more information or call us on 0207 720 2010. http://www.bluebellsnurseryschool.co.uk

That's very disappointing - I was kind of relying on this new nursery opening as I'm really struggling to find a place for my 2 YO in the summer! I also tried emailing but got no response... There seems to be a real shortage of nurseries in Earlsfield that will take younger babies (am expecting another later in the year)... well, ones that don't have 9 month waiting lists anyway!

If anyone hears of any changes (or any other nurseries opening in Earlsfield!) please keep us posted.

TH

I dont know 100% but think this nursery has fallen thru

I've tried emailing as well and haven't had a reply. Would be very interested to learn more if anyone has any updated information about this nursery.