What I look for in a Nursery compared to what you might look for.

As parents, we all value different things. As parents, we all have different expectations when it comes to the nurseries that we choose for our children. I speak to so many parents therefore I have heard so many different comments about what parents are looking for when they are looking for nurseries for their children to attend.

First of all, it’s vital that you understand that there is no right or wrong here. There is only ever what is ‘right’ for your child. Who decides that? You do.

I thought it would be interesting to share with you what I personally look for in a Nursery. Because I personally worked in Nursery settings since I was 18, I have an excellent inside knowledge and understanding about how nurseries work and what goes on inside a nursery.

When I was choosing the Nursery for my son (when he was 9 months old), I chose three nurseries to look at. For me personally, location was key. I did not want to spend more than 15 minutes reaching my son’s Nursery. I wanted a Nursery that was close to my home. Mainly just in case anything happened and I needed to collect him but also because I would need to be home to work on my businesses for as many hours as I could.

Next, I was looking at pricing. I do not equate a higher priced nursery to better quality care as I know a lot of you do. I wanted pricing to be fair and to reflect the care that my son would be receiving. Let me give you an example of the pricing points that I looked at.

Nursery 1 Twisty Tails Colindale - (my son’s current Nursery) £55 per half day.

Nursery 2 - Bright Horizons Colindale £214.80 per full day (they do not offer half day options)

Nursery 3 - Fountain Montessori Colindale I don’t have these to hand but it was similar pricing to Nursery 2.

So there was a huge pricing difference. We are not eligible for any childcare support at age 2 and I will need to see what we are eligible from age 3.

Twisty Tails seemed a fair price to me. I also liked that they offered half days which is what I was looking for personally.

Please note that I never look at pricing for the sak

e of saving money. I look at pricing that I believe to be fair for the service that I am receiving. My son deserves the best of the best and I will always provide the best of the best for him.

The most important factor in my decision was the quality of care provided. When I visited the three nurseries, I was looking very closely at how the teachers interacted with their students. I wasn’t that interested in the facilities as I know many of you are. A nice garden is lovely to look at sure but I’d rather have a less nicer garden and a higher quality of interaction between the practitioners and my son.

Twisty Tails was the nursery that I believe showed me the highest quality of care. I loved the way the teachers interacted with their students. I loved their energy and enthusiasm. I loved that they were on the floor fully engaged with all of their students. I loved that when I saw one of the children crying that one of the teachers was over immediately to care for him.

Many of you tell me that you value cleanliness but at the end of the day we are sending our children into small rooms filled with a lot of other children! How clean do you expect it to be?

And just because you are paying a higher price point, does not mean that the nursery will be cleaner than one with a lower price point. That all depends on the time allocated for staff to clean the Nursery. Germs are germs and they will spread in any setting!

I do look at the curriculum but it’s not that important to me because I cover the curriculum with my son. What I want is the highest quality of care whilst he is there. What I want is to collect a happy boy who wants to tell me all about his day. What I want is no tears when I drop him off or collect him. This is a huge red flag flag for me. If he doesn’t want to go in, I want to know why.

Choosing a nursery for our children is a very important decision. We only want the best of the best for our children. Think about what is important to you and look for that. Don’t take notice of what others tell you. This is your child.