Hiya,
For what it's worth my daughter has been there since she was 5 and a half months old. We were going to send her to a different nursery which was much bigger, but were let down when the time came to start. We looked at every nursery in Clapham and we found this one clicked. That really is the most important thing.
Purely personally, what I liked was:
1. the rooms are light and bright - they have recently been repainted and refurbished. They are not like some we saw - long rooms with a window at one end and florescent lights down the middle to a dark space at the back. At Babyroom for the under two's, there are two large reception rooms in a beautiful building in Clapham old town with big windows at either end.
2. the arts, crafts and music they do is so much fun. I know mums (like me) who went from class to class, music or free play session day after day, and at this nursery they structure the day to include it all: some days I get a hand made card, other times she plays with flour or spaghetti for messy play (we take a change of clothes!). They have even organised book readings in foreign languages (the last one they wanted to put on was in French).
3. I find the staff happy and relaxed (and I chat with them during and after the working week so they don't have to pretend). They are able to manage a personalised daytime routine; they follow your baby's pattern until they are 12 months old, even if that means kids nap or eat at different times. There's no throwing down of a mat at a set time if they aren't used to napping in that way. Eventually by 12 months they do settle into a similar routine.
4. The outings to the park are so cute: the babies sit in a pull along carriage to the park, you may have seen them bumbling along the old town. I still take my daughter to the park all the time, and I love that she goes to the places I take her when we are together.
5. Safety: my daughter had a seizure. They occur rarely and is a condition she'll grow out of. When it happened at nursery they dealt with it incredibly well. The senior manager personally took her to A&E and waited for me. My daughter was thankfully absolutely fine when I arrived. I was so happy to have Georgina there. We had clicked from the beginning and on this day I knew why. She genuinely loves the children. Since then the nursery has done a short introduction for the staff on the condition (which affects 2-3% of kids) in case it happens to my or any other child. They have learned from our little one and know what to do. So the staff were mature about the event and treated our family with huge respect.
6. Their last Ofsted report was fantastic.
I think the string of messages from mums below - far from being disingenuous by their volume - just shows how much parents who choose it really rave about it. If you want to PM me please do. I'm a busy barrister and devoted Mummy, but would be more than happy to chat about my experience with anyone who needs advice.
Best wishes.
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