Buds, Dulwich

[sglanzer]

Hi

I'd love to hear some views about the pros and (if any) cons of Buds pre-school and how it might compare with local state school nurseries. I can find a couple of enthusiastic comments on the forum, which is encouraging, but it would be great to hear from some other people with experience of it too,

Thanks very much!

[Dodo1]

Hi

Our son goes there and loves it. On Friday I had to ask a neighbour to go and pick him up as I got the time wrong for them closing on Fridays. The lady who runs it rung me to say that they wouldn't give him to somone they hadn't met and would wait for me to get home- which is very reassuring.

[nymom]

I was going to make a similar post about Buds - my son is down to start in Sept. I havent looked at that many nurseries but found some good posts on here. Any other opinions?

[prdarling]

You have probably seen my enthusiastic posts! My elder son has been there for 2 years (he is now 4) and my younger one since January. They both absolutely love it.

In a nutshell

POSITIVES:

Fabulous green space for children to play

Caring loving staff (esp the manager Ida whom the children flock to)

Lovely activities - outings to Horniman/Dulwich Library etc

You can use your 15 free hours from the government

They are open longer hours than school nurseries 9-1 Mon & Fri/ 9-3.30 Tues, Wed, Thurs

Extra activities like coffee mornings so the mums can meet up and you can look at what the children have been doing

Not vastly expensive approx ?24 for am session ?16 for pm (not exactly sure)

They take children in nappies and assist with potty training

Very flexible, I have put my sons in for an ad hoc day every now and then when i needed to

NEGATIVES:

Not very good on admin

Not open till 3.30 every day!

Some of the toys have seen better days

You have to take packed lunch

PM me of you want more details but to be honest the negatives are not things that are of primary importance to me when looking at who I am going to leave my children with day in day out!

Make an appointment to view and you will know if it's somewhere you can leave your child. In 2 years I have never heard of anyone removing their child from Buds (as I did with mine from another horrible establishment) and all the other mums i have spoken to are really pleased with it

Good luck with your search

[nymom]

Thanks prdarling. I have been for a visit and really liked it - but just wanted to hear firsthand of any "hidden" negatives - if there even were any!. I am not too concerned with the admin part and the opening times and packed lunch arent too much of an issue either as I only wanted to send my son until 1 anyway as he is just 2, and he probably is used to the food I have been making him everyday anyway. I did think some toys looked worn but assumed that this is the case with most nurseries and my son wouldnt be phased either way. The staff I met were so friendly and the kids looked like they were having a lot of fun. I am really just looking for a place where my son will enjoy himself and make some friends in a caring environment. I am happy with my choice of Buds and your post has just reaffirmed that for me. Thanks again.

[sglanzer]

Indeed encouraging! My son is a bit older and has just a year to go before school, so as well as having fun, I'm hoping it will prepare him for school a bit. Do people think it serves this purpose too and do many children seem to stay on right up to school age? (We just moved into the area and have probably missed the state school nursery boat, so may not have much choice).

[prdarling]

sglanzer Loads of kids stay on until school age. My elder son is 4 and will stay there until he starts school next January (he'll be 5 in March) and that is the plan for all of his peers to my knowledge. In fact when children start proper school and the first few weeks are only half days for settling in purposes, most children come to Buds for the afternoon session as they and their parents are used to full days!

As far as preparing for school I think you will find that unless you send your child to Oakfields nursery or similar, no pre school does too much in the way of academia. At Buds they focus on letters and numbers and the children are encouraged to learn to write their own name (but only with a lot of home input). It certainly isn't anything like school - not sure about state school nurseries but I believe they are very much about playing as well.

My friend's child has done a year at Oakfield (he will be 5 in September) and he can already read - they have a much more formal approach. However when he starts Reception class (at a state school) and they will be starting from scratch I think he'll get a bit bored.

[LeilahB]

I looked at Buds recently and also at the Dulwich Pre-School for my daughter (she's 2 and I'm thinking of putting her in for a couple of mornings a week from next Spring) - they seemed quite similar to me but I'd be really interested to hear from anyone who had views on which was better/which they preferred. Thanks, L