Le Nid - nursery on East Dulwich Grove

[Amytkwy]

Hello,

I am considering sending my 10 month old son to Le Nid, the new nursery on East Dulwich Grove.

I am keen to hear from other parents on what they think and how your children's experiences have been.

Any feedback is much appreciated.

Please feel free to PM me if you prefer.

Many thanks in advance.

[leahcopleston]

Hi Amy, let me know if you hear anything. I have my daughter on the list for May/June and have been wondering the same! Thanks, Leah

[Cora]

Don't think it's opened yet has it? If so it is very recent....

[alanhj]

Hi,

Has there been any feedback on Le Nid yet....?

[sweetgirl]

As a parent whose child has been to two local nurseries I would suggest vetting nurseries very carefully.

In my experience I find SOME parents think a nursery is great & drop off & collection point for their children without really knowing what is going on.

It is a good idea to build up a good relationship with their key workers & see what feedback you get from them.

The current nursery my son is in, there's a child who bites if he doesn't get his own way. This has been going on since September. I previously made an issue about as my son got a nasty bite from this child. The then manager, who is currently on maternity leave didn't do very much other than fob me off.

Many children have been bitten in the nursery & I feel nothing practical has been done about it.

I even witnessed the same child nearly wack a baby round the head twice in a matter of seconds.

I did tell the child's parents about it.

But the biggest question I have is how does anybody really know if any of the babies are getting hurt by this child, after all they are not able to speak out!

Most recently my son had a nasty gash to his head whilst playing & they didn't even bother to take him to hospital.

When I came in to collect him I went straight to A&E.

If that's not enough their staffing levels are so low sometimes they would struggle in an emergency situation.

Yesterday morning there were 9children in the nursery with two workers. Whilst the manager was in the office with me it was one staff for 9 children which included babies!

I have to say it seems most parents are not bothered about the care their children receive. I say this because a meeting was arranged regarding the biting issue & only 5 parents turned up out of maybe 30-40 children who attend the nursery.

Thankfully my child does speak out.

[Convex]

i don't know any parents who blindly and merrily drop off with no care - we all love our kids and do the best we can.

anyway main reason I'm posting is that i don't want the OP to get spooked that nurseries are in some way bad - our 2nd nursery is lovely not to mention run very well and i am completely sure they are in good hands. id give short shrift to anyone who implied i was in some way uncaring about the care they received.

only the parent can judge whether a nursery is right for their family.

and there is no mileage in judging other parents when you only ever see a tiny snapshot of their day.

[ianr]

There is a previous short thread at http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,1621174.

[sanda]

Our son has been in Le Nid for a few months now. We've been generally impressed with the nursery and it is a million miles better than what we saw at the Bright Horizons/Sainsbury's nursery (which was really disappointing). All other nurseries in the area had ridiculous waiting lists.

Plus points:

- the children spend lots of time outside and have a great outdoor space, with lots of toys and big equipment to play on and in. They even go out on damp days, so waterproofs are important.

- the classes are a good mixed age group, so he has developed well by learning quickly from some of the older children

- the food seems very good, and a good mix. mealtimes are served properly at the table and they are taught properly to sit.

- indoor activities include lots of structured learning, so lessons in everything from sports, through to languages and music, plus the usual messy play, painting and dressing up. This is the case for any of the children who seem to be older than about 18 months up to about 3 years or so.

- facilities are generally very good, with everything new and plentiful, so lots of toys, dressing up clothes, equipment, lots of new books, puzzles and so on.

- they have an onsite maintenance guy who is always around to help and is always busy fixing things, improving things and generally making the place much better. We have seen it improve so much as the staff have settled in, not because anything was bad, but making it more homely and colourful than it was when we started.

- the staff have consistently been very warm and friendly, if anything giving such a good service that I almost worry he is getting spoilt!

- security is very good, with lots of CCTV and it is great that the buggy park is securely locked.

Downsides

- the garden isn't really a garden, so despite all the amazing equipment and huge sandpit, there isn't much greenery.

- there have been quite a few staff changes, with some staff not staying around for very long which is always disappointing. We've not noticed anything we are concerned about but the team seem organised and well led and the manager/owner and deputy manager are often around.

In all, I would rate this similarly to my son's previous nursery (a very good and large nursery in a different part of London) but I would be very interested to see what a formal Ofsted inspection makes of it. Ofsted inspections are an odd science as I've seen terrible nurseries that are 'good' and outstanding nurseries that are also 'good', but it at least gives a reference point.

[Lolamaxx]

Thanks for the detailed info, Sanda! We've got our little boy signed up for August, so that's really helpful.

Leah, have you started at Le Nid yet yourself? Any thoughts?

[GillianHG]

Our daughter has been at Le Nid for about 6 weeks now. She is 19 months old and had been attending a nursery near my husband's work, which I was really happy with, so was worried about moving her, but the rush hour commute was getting to be way too much for her, and I was impressed with what I saw at Le Nid. I am generally really happy with Le Nid, I would agree with Sanda on pretty much everything! We too have been a little disappointed with staff turnover and sometimes lack of communication about this and other things, but I'm really hopeful that that is just initial teething problems, and will soon settle down. I just make sure to ask loads of questions and make sure I always know what's going on (at the risk of being an annoying parent!). Our daughter absolutely loves nursery, she gets excited every morning when we turn down the road to get there, so that must be a good thing!

[minder]

That's great Gillian.

Shame the OP hasn't added any comments after their post last year.

[Serena2012]

Thank you Sanda and Gillian for taking the time to write reviews. They are extremely helpful. Our little boy is due to start in September. If anyone else has feedback, I would love to see it.

[tomo]

I'm also considering this nursery for my son who's 16 months. Have had a look around but wondered if anyone had any more experience of this nursery. Thanks

[kaz@263]

Hi all - my little boy (14mths) is due to start for 2 afternoons a week in early July so I'll let you know how he settles in. x

[BLT]

My daughter has been at Le Nid for the last 6 weeks or so and so far its been a really positive experience. The nursery is relatively new so there are some teething issues to iron out around the admin / invoicing side of things but its a very warm and welcoming environment. The staff are extremely kind and make an effort to know all of the kids, even those that are not in their room. Being a new nursery the facilities are also very good, the outside space in particular is lovely with plenty of room for them to run around. The management team are also regularly around so its very easy to iron out any concerns you have quickly.

Overall I would definitely recommend it. My little girl has settled in wonderfully and its made the transition back to work for me much easier.

[tomo]

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated.

[[email protected]]

Hi my twins start here in a couple of weeks time. Does anybody have any further feedback or tips for breaking them in?

Many thanks

Kirsty

[kaz@263]

Hi Kirsty

My little boy started in early July - he's taken a while to settle & still sometimes cries when I leave him but he loves it. We're really happy with them - lovely staff, great activities and the outside space is brilliant, my little one would play out there all day long if he could!

Good luck!

[SophieXxx]

If your looking for a nursery to send your children Lenid is highly not recommended. Don't get me wrong there great with children but the MANAGEMENT is terrible! what managers swear at there staff and tell them there not good at what they do that is what you call bulling! staff come and go within a month time if you are sending your children to a nursery make sure you make the right choice!! Recommendation for this nursery would be new manager someone with more experience as this is awful I have never heard of staff leaving so quickly from a setting Mothers and Fathees please re think your choice.

[[email protected]]

Hello Sophie, sorry to hear of your experience. Can I ask if you're a former employee or a parent? My twins have attended since October and their key workers and most of the team haven't changed. I agree that management are a little disorganised from an admin perspective but my girls love their time there, love the carers and I am very grateful for the care and attention they're given.

Best

Kirsty

[Jellybeanse15]

For anyone thinking of Le Nid I've just tried to get my son a place and the waiting list is 1-1.5 yrs!

[SophieXxx]

Hey Kirsty.

A parent perspective if you haven't noticed a number of staff have left within a month sometimes within the first few weeks which shows a lot up till this day staff are leaving It is far from what you think it is. But everyone has there own opinion and this is mine.

[sanda]

Don't assume a waiting list means it is good, it just means there isn't enough nursery provision in East Dulwich.

It is increasingly chaotic at Le Nid. Staff are still leaving at a worrying rate, and without notice. I've lost count of the number of departures we have seen in the past 10 months, or have heard about. Several just recently in nursery rooms and pre-school room. We know multiple parents from Dulwich who are looking to pull their children out once alternative provision has been found. It is incredibly disruptive to the children who settle and then suddenly find that someone has gone. I don't know the reasons for any of the departures, but they are always sudden, and various rumours are swirling around. We also doubt some of the official reasons, which wouldn't explain the sudden departures. There have been too many now for there not to be fundamental problems somewhere, so I could believe it if the management is poor.

The admin is certainly still a joke, emails go unanswered and I don't know of a parent that doesn't get the comedy erroneous bill each month that they have to query. This can't be explained on them having just opened.

[ianr]

> The admin is certainly still a joke, emails go unanswered and I don't know of a

> parent that doesn't get the comedy erroneous bill each month that they have to query.

I suppose you could take this up with a director. One of the two is actually a local accountant, as is the company secretary. :) He also, from the latest AR01 submitted, seems to be the current sole owner. https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/09180733/officers

[BunMum]

Hi,

I just wanted to add my concerns to this thread. My son has been at Le Nid for just over 6 months now, in the nursery room. There have been at least 4 staff members leave in his classroom alone since he started and unfortunately 2 of those have been his key workers so he is about to start with his 3rd key worker in just over 6 months making it very hard for us to formulate any kind of relationship with them and also very confusing for him. It is a real shame because apart from a few small issues we have been pretty happy with this nursery (our first nursery experience). I can also confirm that communication between between admin/management and parents is not great. There have been incorrect bills and many times I haven't received emails and news letters that have been sent in mass mailings. I am reluctant to move him as I have no guarantees things would be better elsewhere but I would really like to know the reason for all the staff turnover!!! He has just been offered a place at Piplings though so I am tempted- anyone have any thoughts on how that compares? There are lots of mixed reviews on here for that as well!