The Battersea Nursery Pre-School

My 3 year old took a while to settle in but she loves it now. She's been going there for over a year. The staff have been great with her and I'm not sure what other people are referring to, as there are a lot of regular faces. I like the fact that there aren't (any) agency staff unlike in some nurseries. I think there was a period of change but I think they're through it now. All the staff speak English proficienctly and even teach a few words in other languages like Spanish and French (I hear my child singing at home). Despite it being spread across 2 floors all the staff know each child's name. Even the kitchen staff! (They offer halal food which is a bonus for me) They used to do proper language classes with a really lovely external company but since Corona the staff who speak spanish/French have taken it on themselves to teach the kids which is awesome! My child has grown so much from being very shy quiet and unconfident in to such a confident energetic child and I put it down to the nursery mostly.

My son was at The Battersea Nursery Pre-school from January to December of last year, when he was 2 – 3 years old - he had a fantastic time in the toddler room. He learned how to speak English a lot as my son’s first language is Spanish, always doing creative and fun activities. Key workers were really good at supporting when I had any concern about the development of my son and also about the language which was a bit of a problem in his previous nursery. Another good point to note is the high level of cleanliness. The nursery has in place a good system to keep the areas free of Covid. To be honest this is something to value in this uncertain times where you need to be very careful to stay safe. Eating healthy and fresh food, being looked after by professional and caring staff. There is take away dinner which is very helpful too and from my experience it is the first nursery doing this as far as I know, my son was in another nursery before (Little angels). I would highly recommend this nursery.

I’m very happy with this nursery in these hard times, the staff are working very hard following all the COVID secure procedures to keep all the children safe and following all the safeguarding policies. The staff are always smiling and welcoming

My son was only in this nursery for about a month despite having to take time off work to get him out urgently. I have serious safeguarding concerns regarding the safety and wellbeing of the children here, and not only about the COVID-19 precautions which are woeful. I have written to Ofsted and the CEO of the nursery chain to express my concern. The manager has no interest in anything except protecting her staff and the culture in this nursery is toxic.

Our little girl (age 3) has been going for 2 months now. We've found all of the staff lovely and caring, couldn't be happier. The facilities are also great. Yes there are agency staff, and people do leave but that's part of people finding better opportunities in life.

The facilities are great but the management team is inefficient in addressing ongoing concerns that parents have had since the nursery openned in August 2017. The staff turnover is extremely high as a result, 5 managers in 20 months of operation, and most liked staff members tend to leave within a year of joining. This is creating great instability for the children and their development. It is such a shame as the nursery has a strong community of involved parents to support its needed improvements and great services on offer - extended opening hours, take away dinner, French and Mandarin lessons, dance classes, outdoor space, indoor pram parking ...

I am not a parent however I attend this setting on a regular basis for pick up and dropp off (relative). From my experience I have noticed that rooms are generally understaffed, the ratio is not what my sister was sold when she initially signed her son up. I have noticed that after 4/5pm there are no management in the setting to actually speak to as they usually leave the setting with no member of management. This week I noticed a member of staff (pregnant) in great distress... to my concern the member of staff was not cared for and the manager who was actually Available as the manager decided that handover to parents was more important than attending to the member of staff in pain/distress (not normal) and we wonder why there is such a staff high turnover rate. It is beyond clear that there is a lack of empathy and concern to members of staff is probably the reason to why good members leave. PAINT - apron drop off I noticed that children and staff were placed in a room with STRONG paint fumes. This is not okay but nothing is done about it management are not reassuring what's so ever we leave children in their care but situations like this are just reckless. This nursery will see a great decline in children as the community that keeps this nursery going are slowly leaving - in groups at a time. Not to mention that management has changed at least 5 times since starting here... current management team are the worst yet. Dinah is missed as she actually cared and made decent decisions nor did you find her outside the nursery everytime you leave the concierge on the phone chatting away (personal calls NOT work related) about 5 times a day! Shocking and again we wonder why this place is going down hill so fast. So disappointed in their professionalism - 0 respect for this type of behaviour as the price we pay is not cheap. Think again...

This is the worst Nursery ever, my son started in January and there has been 4 or 5 I have lost count different managers as they tend to just leave within the space of 6 months that speaks volumes. To add to this staff have also left in the 6 months his been there and yes it could be because of better opportunities but it doesn’t really look good if it’s a constant reoccurrence. The administration team do not respond to queries and questions you have to constantly chase them up and they don’t do their job properly Kim in particular who god knows what her position is, very quick to email about money even when it’s a fault on their part. The staff although some are good probably about 2 Shivani and Alex that I can name the rest have no idea what is going on with your child every time we pick him up and I ask for a report of the day I constantly get told ‘ oh I don’t know I’m Not sure as I wasn’t in his room in the afternoon’ which is absolutely ridiculous sometimes I don’t know if my sons had tea or what he ate. I was once practically told off for dropping my son off without giving a report to the staff of how he has been during the morning, bearing in mind I have never been asked except by one staff member (Alex) who is not always in his class and I thought she was just being polite I had no idea that this is their supposed protocol as they don’t even carry it out.They are also supposed to be using a online portal to update you on your child's progress throughout the day or for the day which you can access anytime from your phone but this is rarely used. I can honestly say I have had about 6 reports in the 6 months my son has been attending this nursery. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND FINDING A DIFFERENT NURSRY FOR YOUR CHILD.The staff are completely incompetent and you just get this lazy vibe from them even in basic things like keeping your child clean or changing the diaper properly it’s always loosely put on and my son is not yet potty trained so a few accidents on the way home because of this. They also assign a key worker to your child which is absolutely pointless as they don’t tell you anything about your child’s progress and probably don’t even monitor it. Yes the facility is nice and they have outdoor playing space but most nursery’s do. Also the lift hardly ever works and once you do actually join be prepared to wait 2 months for a Key Thobe to get into the building as this was the case and the buzzer wasn’t not sure if this has been resolved or not but we always had to call the number provided to get into the building and sometimes there was no one in the office particularly in the evening so you will be stuck waiting until another parent comes and then to get into the main floor there is another door locked so you can use the lift but that doesn’t work either so again your stuck you can’t even make this stuff up I should have really know when I was supposed to view their other busy bee branch in Victoria and came across the rudest manager which I made a complaint about and no response. I wouldn’t even give it a one start honestly I’m not even exaggerating stay away at all costs!!!!