New park Montessori Nursery, SW18 Post Reply

[fireball20]

Hi there, we will be moving to the area and are looking for a nursery for our little boy who will be 1 yo in July this year. Any recommendations? And any feedback on Newpark Montessori in particular? Many thanks!

[Anne123]

Hello,

My childe attended the setting recently.  I do not recommend it for the following reasons:

1. While it has a beautiful upstairs skylighted room and a small outside space the children are never taken out of the setting to a nearby park etc. - so they come back home with so much energy

2. They only have 3 'rooms' babies (up to 1 year), toddlers (1-3 years), preschool (3+) so my child almost 3 was in the toddler room was babies and coming home biting us on a regular basis and  language skills (only speak English at home) regressed noticeably from care with our nanny to the nursery setting.

3. They manage the entire setting off one clipboard (no portal) which means you have to wait on a long line while they individually give feedback on toiletting, eating, activities etc (often repeating the same message to 10 parents about activities).  

4. You have to provide your own nappies (never heard of any other nursery doing this).

5. 3 month notice period (most are 1 month). They try to imply it is 3 calendar months which is not legal with variable notice period times depending on when in the month you give notice.

6. No written progress reports, illness forms etc.

7. Procedures are not written out (ie the child has to stay home for 24 hours after high temperature reading - this is actually not 24 hours from reading that day (even if temp taken at 9am).  It is that day and the next day. Rearranging meetings was a nightmare. They only take temperatures of kids they 'feel' are exhibited symptoms so children that are happily running around with high fevers are fine.

8. They have a we 'know best' attitude so do not partner with parents on care (I told them at least 12 times that I did not want them to put nappy cream on my child - always came home with it anyway) and more worryingly the bottom was so sore it bled sometimes so not sure they were properly cleaning and drying.

9. Only a Friday evening email (at 6pm) about the instances of COVID, measles, and chicken pox so parents were not even given the choice of whether to expose their kids as only notified afterward a week.

Hope that helps.

Best,
Anne

[Poppy0750]

Hello Anne,

Would you remember how soon after changing the nurseries your child stopped biting?

My son does the same and keeps saying he does not want to go to the nursery and wants to got to a different nursery.
 

[Anne123]

Hi Poppy,

The change was almost immediate after joining the new nursery and having time with kids 3-4 years of age.  S

They have also been amasing with potty training. The prior setting did not encourage it and within 2 weeks at the new nursery that is also all sorted out.

Follow your instincts - I know it can be unsettling to move places but I can say it is so worth it in the long run if you are not happy!

Good luck.
 

[Poppy0750]

Thank you very much Anne!

[Blindspot8]

We have been at Newpark Wandsworth for many years and have been very happy. Obviously all childcare solutions have their pros and cons, and personal preference/priorities also need to be considered. That said, from my perspective, Newpark has provided a warm and nurturing environment, which allows children room to be themselves but also provides plenty of stimulation, and prepares children very well for the transition to primary school. They have sports and gardening lessons every week, and they do take trips outside of the nursery setting, especially if the weather is nice. You are invited to periodic development meetings with your child’s key worker and the nursery manager as well as parents evenings which allow you a chance to see where your child eats/plays/does Montessori activities.

The pick up process can take rather a long time on a bad day but I quite like the personal touch and the opportunity to speak to a human at the end of every day. We have never had any issues with biting, and my kids have bonded extremely well with both the staff and their peers.

[Wanmum]

We have been very happy with Newpark Montessori nursery. My first child was there from when he was 1 until he started school (couple of years ago) and my second child is currently in the toddler room.

We find the environment lovely and nurturing and both my children have thrived there.

In terms of staff, they are very approachable and work closely with parents for example when it comes to potty training. They give regular updates on the children’s development and are always happy to have a chat or set up a more formal meeting if parents have any questions.

Most important for us, the kids have always been happy to go in the morning. They have made great long term friends and have become very independent from an early age e.g dressing themselves. The preparation for the transition to primary school was also very good. Neither of my children have ever had issues with biting.

[flowermead]

We've been at Newpark for 5+ years over two children now.  I think it's brilliant, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.  
Looking at the first reply, I'd disagree with some of the points on there - the children do outings to the local park, as well as the community gardens near there, they go to visit the shops, at Christmas they visit the church multiple times to practice their nativity.  Last week the children designed cards for the queen and went on an outing to find a postbox (not much for us, but daughter loved it!!).  There's also sports and gardening as others have mentioned.
The split of 'rooms' isn't the same as other nurseries - it follows a more montessori approach.  The "nursery" and the "school".  They move to the school around 2.5, and it's a great way to mix with older children - the younger ones observe and learn, the older ones get to present activities and show the younger children how to do things.
The staff are wonderful, particularly in the school - and most school staff are the same staff from when we first joined which says a lot.
I agree that pickup can take a while, but as others have said, it's nice to have feedback from an actual person rather than via an app.  You do get weekly written reports in their book, and when you leave you get all of these to keep which is lovely - I know a lot of places do this via an app, but having the physical books when they leave is worth it I think!
There are two parents evenings a year and these include written reports.
I do disagree with a number of the points in that first reply, but don't want to just list them out! It's a shame that poster had a bad experience as I think it's a genuinely lovely place.  The kids are happy, and so, so ready for primary school when the time comes!
 

[Anne123]

I am glad that some people view their experiences as positive here.  Having spent time at Bright Horizons for my son and having friends whose toddlers go to nearby nurseries Newpark just doesn't meet some basic expectations. 

- I am glad that your children went on outings (though not sure walking the group down the road to find a postbox quite qualifies) my child never left the nursery in about 6 months. 
- There is a nativity play that parents are expected to take their children to (so pick them up at 2pm and take them to the nearby church and then collect them) with not very much notice given for parents to make work arrangements so not sure you can count this as a nursery outing since the nursery do not actually to the 'outing' part.
- In the time that my child was there was only one 'artwork' sent home though for my son I would regularly get the usual pasta necklaces, cards (Christmas, Valentines day, mothers day, fathers day etc.), odd shaped clay 'things' that I still have.
- There is a thick A5 paper book that gets sent home every week with random observations in different handwriting (some completely illegible) and then the parents are expected to share similarly (so you spend Sunday printing a picture and writing up a note).  We are in 2022 when you can use portals and internet - this is so cumbersome and awkward.
- I'd much rather find out that my child ate and pooped on an app than have to discuss on a long line and also hear about the other kids pooping and things I do not care about while I wait for upwards of 20 minutes.  I always just asked for my child so that the parents behind me could make it home for dinner/bath-time rather than hear that my child liked some of the couscous but not the toast and other trivialities.
- Also I'd like to point out that the one person at the end of the day given the task of managing the one clipboard for the nursery and speaking to parents sometimes didn't know the child or had had limited interactions over that day to really do much but read somebody's writing to parents - not sure this is the personal touch that people are expecting
- Carers came and went - though the school part does have better teachers and retention.  The board inside the nursery that parents are invited to look at to see the rota of carers was constantly changing over that short period of time with new faces on a very regular basis. I was always asking for names at drop-offs and collections.
- I attended one parent evening but received no formal report and with my son we were invited 4 times a year to these sessions and an initial one at 6 weeks to understand how the settling in was going and to raise any concerns and share best practice from the beginning of the relationship.

I do not think that my experience was an outlier but I do think that some parents are just happy with what they perceive as a 'friendly' environment which for me is not valuable against the benchmark that should be better organisation and development of our children.