Grove Hall nursery - Ofsted 4 Inadequate Post Reply

[Jasmine]

Hi all,

To all parents who have their children there or are thinking of signing up with them, please note that this nursery latest Ofsted rates 4 Inadequate

Full report:
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-rep ... E/EY416962

Also my personal experience at this nursery has been poor with my child getting sick way too frequently, occasionally with NO nappy change all day and getting home thirsty and hungry.

Please look at better childcare options in the area for your little ones

[Mrs Contractor Mum]

Shocking

[audrey]

Terrible report!

It was "Good" two years before that. What happened?!

[Mum2boys1girl]

I sent my little boy here for 6 months in 2010 and was happy with it then, what's gone wrong?

[Katrina13]

Hi all,
My child is currently registered at Grove Hall and seems very happy. I blame the management for this poor OFSTED report! I have seen with my own eyes how devoted the staff is with the children!
If there is a poor staffing ratio of course it will cause problems!
I have no intention of removing my child from the nursery I'm waiting for the next inspection report to come through and I would also like to point out that there has been improvements regarding the staff ratio and more toys have been bought and my child is very happy there and the staff has always been very nice!!

[kiwimummy]

Really? I have never seen such a damning report. Children go home hungry is just one of the issues! I have never been to the nursery but that report is shocking.

[annamike]

My eldest son was at Grovehall for 2 years back in 2010. I have never been happy about the management (both the owner and the manager are extremely rude) but my son was happy with the staff. Deputy manager was in charge of the babies room and she is a lovely person... not sure she is still there. Room upstairs was too small for toddlers in my opinion but kids were taken to the park on a regular basis. not too bad.
I agree that the awful Osfted report is probably due to poor management. It happened the same to the Ecole des Benjamins back in 2010 (Grovehall nursery's sister nursery). It was managed by Grovehall's owner cousin. Probably the worst manager I have met in my life. They survived a few years on families willing to have bilingual French-English education and then Ofsted report destroyed them. They closed down and people (like us) who paid their deposit to join them lost their money...

[kiwimummy]

I always wondered what happened to that school! You have cleared up the mystery for me.

[Wimbledon]

I totally agree with the above. The management at Grove Hall was better than Ecole des Benjamins but only marginally. Having said that some of the carers at Grove Hall were absolutely lovely and long term employees.

Communication at Ecole was appalling and although many of us lost deposits and were never refunded our grants, several parents never actually paid their fees in the first place!!! Can you imagine any business lasting long if they can't manage their cashflow whether or not they get a good Ofsted report?

However bad the management was, I also believe there must have been some level of conspiracy behind the scenes to sell the site to developers. It wasn't long after they closed the nursery that they put up plans to build new flats. I'm now dreading the effect it will have on parking in my area as they have failed to add any underground carpark to deal with the additional residents shortly due to move in. Ahhhhhhh!

[Katrina13]

I have to agree that the manager is very arrogant!!
I blame the owner of the setting and the manager for delivering a poor service!!
I'm very disappointed !! Parents are paying huge sums of money !!! !
Lack of staff to cover the ratio !!! Shame on them!!!
I am waiting for the next inspection!!

[twice_as_nice]

wow.

shocking. thanks for sharing.

[Familycompleted]

My son has been attending the nursery since July 2011 and is now in the toddler room upstairs. I must say I was very shocked to see the latest report. I agree that the manager is quite terse and rude when approached in English but actually not that bad in French. We have never had issues with them and our son is still extremely happy there and has always been very well taken care of.

Of course there must be some truth to the ofsted report but I felt I had to share my experience too. I only know of one parent who is unhappy with the nursery.

Some examples of good things they have done for us are:

-They give us packed take away lunch or tea if we have to head to the airport straight from nursery (the meals were not only tasty but of more than enough quantity). And many occasions the food smells so good that I have wondered if they made food for parents to buy! (This is in stark contrast to an "outstanding nursery" nearby that my son attended before when every friday he got either fish and chips or baked potato and beans)
-They allow flexibility when dropping him off and taking him in and out during the day if he has a baby check or dental appointment or is just going on a short outing with us.
-They call us if he spikes a fever and offer to administer calpol whilst they wait for me to collect him and keeps him separated from other kids if I cant get him immediately (unlike the other which just said come NOW and sent my son home even when he clearly had loose stools due to teething and nothing else)
-I have very erratic hours and have walked in on the nursery unannounced several occasions during which I have never seen anything I would be worried about. In fact, I have seen the teachers cuddle and hug the children and some sit on their laps during story time, the nap beds are laid out and children wait calmly for everyone to finish brushing their teeth and until nap time starts. My son always talks about his teachers and asks when he will see them when we are away on holiday.
-Even when he was in the baby room, he was very well taken care of (but this may have changed recently - he moved to the toddler room over a year ago now) and as one other mom says, the deputy manager is lovely and very caring.
-They organise a lot of fun outings and nursery events. I cannot understand how they think the children are "bored" - my son constantly tells me about his days and they definitely sound busy.
-As for learning, I don't feel my son is behind on any skill at all. (Perhaps slower at speaking fluently compared to his female counterparts but not versus any other child in another place). He can hold a pen properly, can cut straight lines with normal scissors, count sufficiently, knows his alphabet and sings a few songs that we never taught him ourselves (we try not to speak English at home)
-Potty training was great too, the staff was so supportive and always made sure he was able to go when needed. In fact he has only had one accident.

So make what you will of the latest report but the parents have been called to a meeting in a couple of weeks so we'll keep you updated with what they say. Hope this post (despite being so long) was of some help.

My son wouldn't want to change his nursery and it would break my heart to force this on him. Surely if he is happy, that's the best sign?

[Balham10]

I was really sad to read the report and had to join in this discussion because i feel strongly that my kids really loved, and thrived at, grove hall. I cant argue about the facts - there is no excuse for poor ratios but there are so many good things about it that i cant believe they deserve such a scathing report. It must have been a seriously bad day.

I remember the feeling of relief when i saw the nursery for the first time back in 2009 - all the other nurseries i'd viewed were grubby and chaotic, poor baby rooms, ill thought out menus, vacant staff and grove hall stood out with their light and airy space, great food, fun activities, and most importantly absolutely lovely staff and happy children. To me the manager's "bluntness" (and admittedly sometimes rudeness) didn't matter - the ladies that actually look after the children are lovely, attentive and caring.

Grove hall kids have regular trips to the zoo, local mosque, market, parks library they take part in festivals and cultural celebrations, dressing up and incorporating the themes in daily activities, they regularly hold parents evenings, french breakfasts for parents to join in, have music teachers, librarian story sessions, dancing classes, lots of arts and crafts.....

I haven't seen any neglect in terms of children having to wait for food, irregular nappy changes, lack of water - in fact quite the opposite. (no nappy rash to indicate not changing them enough, not particularly hungry when they got home, no signs of dehydration or thirst). My two children were luckily early talkers and could easily communicate details about their day while in the toddler room. Settling in periods were very smooth and i was quickly confident that it was a great nursery. In fact when i was upset at leaving my baby there the staff were kind enough to call me on my way to work to reassure me that my daughter was fine and enjoying herself.

Most of the negative comments here are from people who dont actually have any children at the nursery . By the way, we've moved away from the area now and my daughter goes to another nursery, it's rated outstanding but i dont rate it nearly as high as grove hall and neither does my two year old.

[frazzledworkingmum]

I am shocked to read the comments here and the posted report. I would observe that the ofsted report is confusing (a cut and paste in places from 4 years ago - there is no local French school that exists now that children go onto). It almost makes me think that the inspector read the report of 4 users ago, forgetting the improvements of 2 years ago, and went in to find fault.

My 2 children were there for 5 years, always under the new management. Who personally I. Never had a problem with.

The French and English of the school is a selling point of the nursery - madness that this is turned into a criticism.

I agree upstairs is a bit small but under the care of Sarah and panna my children have thrived. I also have great memory of olive from the baby room though that was a while ago.

I agree the food and activities and excursions are great. I was extremely sad and emotional when we left - I always felt safe knowing they were being well looked after.

So like many others I am confused by this report. Not my experience at all.

[mastop]

The same rating has been given to St Peters Nursery in their temporary accomodation following their flood. In particular it states that there was no first aider and the acting manager had no childcare qualifications.

I understand they have now shut but are planning to reopen in the future.

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-rep ... E/EY460096