Northcote House Nursery Post Reply

[Pauline]

Honestly have you ever received a thank you letter for dropping some money in a waiting list... I think that I have been on at least 20 to 50 waiting lists for different kids stuff since they are born and don't remember getting that many!!
I have done 4 different nurseries for my girls in the past, so I think I am starting to have a strong opinion of what is a good nursery and what is not and when I arrived in Clapham, lovely Shellie made me visit the nursery a couple of days after I asked for a visit I really like it as soon as I visited and wasn't disappointed at all hen my girls came in + my experience with the registration process wasn't at all as bad as what you describe it.
Have you ever had to deal with nurseries or schools admin before ? Because if not this might be the reason why you are shocked... It is always long and often complicated.
As for me, my girls have been very happy at the nursery, we have had a try at every room and have been enjoying it a lot. My last one is in the middle room, she is going everyday, she has fun and loves the staff so this is the most important to me.
You should call them and tell them in person, maybe your file didn't arrive at the right moment, unfortunately it happens (change of staff or bad timing...) I am sure they will be very happy to help.

[Hollamumma]

First a common point - none of the schools or nurseries that we have contacted and registered at in the past four years ever got back to us without us chasing them up except Northcote House. Not one. Despite them all accepting funds to cover admin fees. The system at Northcote House was the most logical, actually: every so often they sent out an email requesting that all parents who were still interested, reply. Disaster hit when we were away when one of these emails arrived and I missed it. But after I contacted Anna, she not only reinstated us on the wait list, she found us a place earlier than expected, for more days than we had initially been promised. She called immediately and talked me through the entire thing until it was settled. It is not true the they have had a history of accidents or anything like it. There was one accident that required an ambulance for a girl who was treated without sustaining any lasting injuries eighteen months ago. I raised a concern after this, and in response, the owner and the manager spent over an hour with me just to talk things through. This was a candid, free-ranging discussion about all aspects of the nursery. I have felt blessed and immensely grateful every time I picked up my little one or dropped him off for almost three years now. I think you may have caught some bad luck or one individual on a bad day, but remember the nursery employs thirty people, and unlike almost all the others out there, none of them are temping - they are all permanent staff who only join the team after a three month trial- that is more thorough vetting than any other school or nursery I know.

[LP73]

Actually both Marmalade Cat, The Kindergartens and Newton Prep all acknowledged receipt of monies and invited us to an open day or private showing.

We paid our monies when our little one was only a couple of weeks old as to not miss a place so up until that point we had not even visited any of the nurseries.

It was nice for the three mentioned above to communicate. I mean it's just good manners if nothing else to say you for giving me £50 that we use for admin even though you may not even take a nursery place!! Admin that often doesn't exist .......

Anyway enough time has been wasted on this now and we've made our decision based on many things.

[Hollamumma]

Ok, maybe you feel "enough time has been wasted," since you've decided to go with another school, but I'm sure you'll appreciate that now your comments are in the public domain, you've gone on record trashing a place that many of us consider vital to the process of raising our children. Moreover, this is a local business that doesn't deserve bad word of mouth simply because you've decided they deserve it because you had a bad time. It is courteous to acknowledge receipt of funds but I think across the board it is up to the parents to verify their child's enrolment in wait lists, in admissions reviews, etc. The fee is in place mainly as a practical measure to set a hurdle high enough on new entrants to ensure all applications are genuine - not just someone's understandable but ultimately counterproductive effort to blitz all nurseries in the postcode with their child's name in a mad unfocused rush to get a place somewhere. I'm not suggesting that's what you did, at all; just that the reason the fee is in place, is to make sure all applications are serious. To set the record straight, I've read and re-read the contracts from Northcote House and I've never seen an error of logic in them so glaring as the following:
"Thanks - the school did drop me a direct message but... I'm disgusted that we have still had no contact from the nursery directly."
To which I can only say: "?????"
You may have had a bad experience. But it strikes me as laughably high-handed to declare the topic closed simply because you've accomplished the online equivalent of egging their door. You raised some serious accusations, about child safety, you called out people by name, and you suggested - inanely - that a family-run business is a priori "unprofessional." I can point you to a dozen articles in the "Economist" describing the professional achievements of family-run concerns, but the point is, that is exactly what makes Northcote House unique and precious. It is a family business, and from what I can tell, they've done everything possible to address your concerns. They didn't opt to exploit your public shaming to make some CYA-inspired boilerplate PR release, they actually reached out to you (as you admit) directly and privately. What I suspect they did not do, is succumb to public blackmail by caving and offering you a space in exchange for your holding fire. On both counts, they get my kudos.

[Hollamumma]

You may want to hear in mind that there are many factors that influence a child's admission that are not under the nursery's control: Ofsted sets student-teacher ratios so they are limited in the number of places they can offer; they have to give preference to siblings for all open spaces; and then they try and preserve an even male:female ratio. All of these factors may limit the number of places they can offer. This does not mean they are slighting you in particular; why would they? The same person who processed your application processed everyone else's. I have recommended this nursery to people, and lived to regret it, as they were so taken with the place, they became incensed when they could not get additional days or desired days for a sibling. Essentially I think the problem is that demand far outstrips supply. But they don't owe anyone a place, and it's not fair to say you're entitled to one. They do the best they can. That isn't always what people hoped for. But I know one mum who pulled her child out only to regret it. Essentially you're very lucky to get in, and that is exactly the thought I have every time I walk in the door. I have never taken them for granted. Every time something went wrong, from my point of view, which was rare, they listened with patience and genuine concern and explained why they operate as they do. They are absolutely accessible to talk to you. But consider the fact that £50 covers about one half-say of a full-day session. My son attends 3 days a week and the monthly bill is around £1,000 after the Council grant of £250 or so. It may seem like a lot of money to get your name on a list, but it's a small sum compared to their monthly operating budget. And as someone else mentioned, their accountant and their admissions director are two different people. I'm sorry you had a bad experience but I get the impression that they also had a bad experience with you.

[Hollamumma]

Finally, FWIW, if you think £50 is steep, wait till you get to school applications: we paid £500 to register for the wait list at our first choice primary with no guarantee of admission, and if and when your child is offered a place, it can only be secured with an instalment equal to the first term's fees, usually around £5,000. This can be as early as a year before you start. We received an offer last spring for a place in September 2016, eighteen months in advance. But the money isn't really the issue, if it's within your budget to opt for a private school: what is more valuable? Even if you were to do a regression analysis, you'd be seeing higher returns to capital invested in early-years education than any other asset class available. I say that as a former banker.

[Hollamumma]

And since it's late and my husband's asleep but I'm not tired let me regale you with a tale about some other places: we applied to l'Ecole de Battersea when my son was one. We were told that applications could only be submitted after the parents completed a school tour. Happily, we offered to come by whenever was convenient. We were given two options: November and March. That is all. As it happens, I was sick on the day in November when we were booked in, so rescheduled ...for March. I submitted all the paperwork they requested with the application after the tour, including medical records that no other school asked for, and an extended essay - in French - about why we would opt for a French school as opposed to a local British one. I attended two interviews on the day I saw the school, one with the director of admissions and one with the director of the language programme. We received a form letter a year later informing us that we were on the wait list. I wrote back eagerly confirming our interest and asking when they would be making final decisions. I heard rien. I waited. Nothing for two weeks. Tentatively I wrote again, a short note. Nothing. We never heard from them again. This is after having paid the admin fee, needless to say. So it isn't a guarantee of anything like promptness or reciprocity, much less a place. Unfortunately. There was another school we toured when my son was a few weeks old and he was in the Bjorn. I assumed this would be OK. As soon as we arrived an imperious headmistress informed us, in front of a room full of other parents, that they didn't have any facilities for babies and parents weren't invited to bring babies along. They hadn't thought to mention that on the phone when I booked the appointment. This did earn some spontaneous sympathy from the other parents present but I made a mental vow not to contact them ever again. I didn't want to be so rude as to leave, on the spot, so as long as my son was sleeping, we stayed with the tour. At some point he woke up, needed a change, and starred crying. The headmistress gave me a look of mock-anguish -- the kind that feigns empathy while revealing just the opposite. We smiled, thanked her, and left. We never wrote them a cheque, fortunately! I know this feels awful now, but later, parts of it will be really funny.

[LP73]

Linked to school comes to mind!