Little Diamonds in London (E11)

Hannah Terry

5 months ago

We have been so happy with Little Diamonds as our chosen nursey for our son, Rowan, who absolutely loves it there. We were first struck with the beautiful building and large garden with lots of different play areas with great equipment and toys. Inside the building it has such a lovely warm and friendly feel. It's very well cared for and can't be cheap to run a big Victorian building like that with energy costs. This was strikingly different from a couple of fairly popular nurseries we visited which felt a bit drab and quite uncared for in comparison. When we first looked we were focused on the baby room...which is actually 3 rooms and a door to the wonderful outside space. A couple of the other local nurseries had just one room for the babies - leaving Rowan there for what became the standard full 10 hour day, I really didn't want to leave him in one room. But Little Diamonds felt ideal - the lovely building and garden, lots of well maintained and cheery/cosy spaces inside full of toys and books, but also the staff. All the babies adore Amber in the baby room and no wonder, she's so warm and sweet. Obviously it's a big deal leaving a baby for that long and Rowan settled perfectly despite being a bit of clingy baby. It's not that we didn't ever have tears at drop-off over the years, but only for small periods after being with me on holidays or if he was a bit under the weather and the staff were brilliant at dealing with it. And with dealing with my emotions too! If Rowan had not wanted to leave mummy one morning I usually got a reassuring phonecall afterwards. I remember looking around in the beginning and being struck by the care of Sophie, the manager filling up a rack of about 30 trays each one containing items on a theme like the seaside or the forest, for inspiration for playtime/storytime. Upstairs the spaces for toddlers and pre-schoolers were also more spacious and much more beautifully maintained than others we saw. They do a lot of great activities with the children and I loved seeing photos of Rowan engrossed in all the inventive things like messy play with dinosaurs and trains and all sorts.... Rowan is now fulltime about to turn 4 and has really flourished in the Pre-School room here. A lot of his development with phonics, numbers, toileting, social skills, life skills etc comes from the staff at Little Diamonds and for that I'm really, really grateful. It's an amazing feeling (of gratitude and enjoyment) to have your little toddler inform you or correct you of something that you hadn't yet got around to teaching him....and realising it comes from other people teaching and nurturing him. Thank you to all the wonderful staff at Little Diamonds including the management who also really care and strive to maintain such a lovely space. My best memories from Little Diamonds are drop-offs when the staff were always so cheery - that alone boosted my morning commuter mood. Most especially that staff members such as Amber, Marsha, Liza and Ola who often looked so happy to see my son and gave him really loving welcome hugs and words. I really feel like that they have genuine love for him. Rowan will miss this place and its staff immensely and I really will as well in September when we leave. But I'm so thankful.

Kabir Ali

7 months ago

My daughter attended Little Diamonds in the 2024/25 academic year. She was 3.5 yo when she started. It was her first nursery and the staff were great at making her feel settled and going at her pace. She loved the cosy feel of the nursery with the different rooms to play and the garden and play area outside. I always felt my daughter was safe and well looked after. It was a great environment for her to grow and flourish. Even now she's at primary school we will often drop by to say hello to her old teachers.

Stevie Greenleaf

a year ago

Our son has been attending this nursery for almost a year and I am so happy we chose Little Diamonds. Obviously it’s so hard as parents to leave our children at first and it can be really challenging, but the staff made sure that he settled in really well and they were very good at providing updates to let me know how he was doing. Now, my son absolutely loves attending nursery and he’s often coming home with something he’s made that day or some food that he has baked and he’s always very excited to show me! He has really thrived here - especially with his speech - and he’s made some lovely little friends. They also update the app with pictures of the activities he has got up to which are always so nice to receive. The staff are always so welcoming and friendly and I know that my son has made some really strong bonds with them. He has recently transitioned from the baby room to the toddler room and that went really smoothly too. Not only this, they put on events for the parents to attend throughout the year which is a lovely touch. They had a cheese and wine event in the garden in the summer which was a particular highlight. They’ve got a beautiful garden with some really lovely resources and toys for the children to play in, and the building itself is very warm, welcoming and homely. They also have a decent sized car park which makes drop-offs and pick-ups so much easier for us! The staff are really easy to get in touch with via phone or email and I’ve always appreciated when we’ve had a difficult drop off (especially in those early days) that they’ve given me a reassurance phone call to let me know that my son is happily playing now. I would happily recommend this nursery to any parents in the area.

Sophia Freitag

7 months ago

Our daughter was with Little Diamonds from age 1 until age 4 and a bit when she went to school. Little Diamonds helped give her a fantastic start in life and has prepared her really well for school. You really get the sense that the nursery is a “family owned” business (2 nurseries) and they really care about the children and want to provide the best for them. The staff are fantastic, especially the shift supervisors/senior leaders. A special shout out to Sophie who our daughter adored!! The nursery is constantly investing in their facilities, for example improving the sandpit, building outdoor playhouses, climbing frames and other activities. The nursery has a wonderful wraparound garden and a lot of their ethos is about spending as much time as possible outside in the garden. This is especially good in the summer months as when you are doing pick-up you get to see all of the little ones playing and having fun together! I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Little Diamonds to anyone!

Tori Bristol

8 months ago

My son has been at Little Diamonds for 4months, his really enjoying every minute of his time there. My son has developed so much with his communication learning new words every day. The staff are amazing, friendly, polite, welcoming, and make me feel at ease. The staff set out creative and interesting actives, which is updated on the app daily.