Kids Unlimited Nursery Wandsworth: feedback and fees? Post Reply

[Lotta_1]

Hi there,

Does anyone has feedback on the Kids Unlimited Nursery in Wandsworth? Any information on the fees would be welcome as well.

Thanks!

[Just_T]

I can't help with fees but I'll just say I know a number of people whose children went and the parents subsequently took them out because they didn't like it. It was all for various reasons but when I myself toured it to potentially send my daughter just one or two days a week, I thought it was horrible. Really disinterested caregivers (I actually cried in the little baby room because they seemed like lonely orphans - mind you, I was pregnant at the time). There was one lazy woman in there only (sitting down, holding one child but not actually engaging with it) and 8 small babies who could sit but not really move. They were all in their nappies only because it was hot that day (?) and each one was sitting by themselves and playing with nothing and no one. It was truly horrible. When I asked why the ratio of babies to caregivers was so high, she said the other nursery nurse must be on a break (she never came back the whole time I was touring). I have to say, I'm not a fan of nurseries in general but this one was lowest on my list.

[MGMidget]

My only experience was doing a tour there (about 3 years ago so it could have changed since then) and didn't get a good impression. A baby boy was sitting on his own crying (I think he did have a toy in front of him). The lady giving me a tour explained that he was 'settling in' and only coming one day a week. So understandable to some extent that he would be crying but I didn't like the fact that they just left him there, noone went to comfort him. Also, I remember the room being very noisy (again, maybe its changed) but I thought it was a big room with some older toddlers in there too and the noise seemed rather oppressive to me. I thought it might be difficult for babies/toddlers to sleep with all that noise but perhaps they get used to it! Other nurseries may be just the same though.

[Loveday]

I visited last August and the descriptions above don't seem like the same nursery. I went to a few and this one stood out as the best (of the ones that didn't have ridiculous waiting lists). The children all seemed very happy and the staff very friendly. I would recommend visiting and seeing for yourself, as I think they may have changed!?

[secondtimer]

My son went to this nursery a couple of days a week from age 14 months to 2 years. (At which point he transferred to regular morning nursery)

Plus points... purpose built building, light, spacious, lots of toys and nappy changing areas closed off from main play areas. Outside playground that is fully enclosed and secure. Good food and snacks. All nappies etc supplied. Adhoc monkey music and tumble tot style classes (at least at my time of using)

Downsides.... carers are hit and miss. The toddler rooms are much better than the baby room which I got a bad feeling about on my visit and didnt use. The playground gets very hot in the summer - lack of shade. The walk to the nursery is also not that pleasant due to the very busy road. No external visits (at my time of using)


In summary, I prefer The Gardens on Northcote (It wasnt open when I used KU and the only alternative was the Baby Rooms which I really hated!) KU was okay for a couple of days a week but I would have been reluctant to use it all the time due to its size and lack of personal feel /affection from the care givers. That said, after some initial settling in hiccups my son seemed to really enjoy the variety of activities on offer there and gained lots of confidence as a result.

[Senior Manager KU]

The nursery has gone through a challenging period recently and we recognise that the standards were not as high as one would expect them to be. We appreciate the feedback given in forums such as this and hope that the improvements that we have made since these parents visited the nursery will demonstrate the importance we place on quality of care.
We have made significant changes recently including recruiting a new management team led by a Senior Manager wih considerable child care and training experience. We are also investing heavily in staff training and development and frequent support visits from our early years manager and Regional Director to ensure that the changes that we are making at the nursery are the right ones and we are continuing with the programme of improvements that we devised in the autumn 2010.
We would like to invite anyone who is interested to visit the nursery, meet the management team and see the improvements.
Please feel free to call 0845 365 2964 or email the nursery on wandsworth@kidunlimited.co.uk alternatively you can contact me personally on diane.cummings@kidsunlimited.co.uk

[TomThomas]

Hi,

Just wanted to add my view... My son has been at KU in Wandsworth for just over a year (he's two) and absolutely loves it. His key carers have always been great and he's very well socialised - he gets on well with the other kids and is very happy going in each day.
There have been some changes of manager recently but it hasn't affected the way he's been looked after. He has a couple of allergies and they've always been dealt with carefully. The management have always responded quickly if I have contacted them about any minor issues or problems.
We are likely to be moving house soon a few miles away, and one of the drawbacks will be having to take him out of KU! I hope I will find somewhere else as good for him.

[junior1]

We had a very similar experience to the first two posters. We looked round in the summer and were happy enough with it although possibly swayed by the new building and facilities etc. Our daughter had a settling in week before she was due to start. I sat with her for the first session and was very disappointed by the staff in the baby room. They were all just sitting around looking totally disinterested and not engaging with the children at all unless the children were crying. I was trying to explain my daughter's medical condition to her keyworker as felt it was important she fully understood but she was not interested at all and just told me to 'write it all down'. It did not seem the babies were being stimulated at all and I left very upset as although my daughter was fine I just couldn't imagine leaving her there for 3 days a week in that kind of environment. We had a meeting with the manager who was incredibly understanding and acknowledged they were having problems with the staff in the baby room at that time and filled us in on the steps they were taking to rectify this. We decided against this nursery in the end but were very pleasantly surprised with the management's honesty and I genuinely believe that they were taking steps to improve matters and took our concerns seriously. I think it might not be worth writing it off altogether but serious changes need to be evident before we would consider leaving our child there in future,