Partou Bourne Explorers Day Nursery & Pre-School

Caroline Rockley

2 months ago

My daughter has attended Bourne Explorers since July 2024 and the nursery has a wonderful homely feel in what is an intimate setting - which felt really important when transitioning to nursery for the first time. The nursery has excellent outdoor space and I love how they encourage being outdoors as much as possible. My daughter loves going into nursery and the staff are a big part of that - they’re positive, engaging and empathetic, wanting to provide the best and most enriching experience for her. Having said that, we have been unimpressed with Partou’s management and it feels as though they’ve prioritised increasing capacity in the baby room at the expense of fostering an environment suitable for the children. Around the time my daughter enrolled, the rooms were shuffled around and capacity in the baby room went from 9 to 15 babies, and the result of this meant that there was not capacity in the 2-3’s room to accommodate her or the rest of the children when they turned 2. As a result, it wasn’t until my daughter turned 2.5 that she moved into the 2-3’s room - a 6 month delay, which held her back and was evident in her behaviour. Gladly, she’s now flourishing in the 2-3’s, learning from older children who are appropriate role models - which she should’ve had the exposure to months earlier. The latest communication states that the baby room is now permanently up to the age of 2.5 which continues to make the 2-3’s a 6 month stepping stone to pre school. My personal opinion is that this isn’t suitable (I’ve not heard of a nursery whose baby room goes up to age 2.5 - the needs and learning ability of a 1 year old are very different to a 2.5 year old). If Partou adjusted the space within the nursery appropriately I’d give a higher score - which is a shame given that the staff within the nursery are brilliant and appear to be let down by upper management. It’s frustrating as a parent to see the staff work so hard to create the most enriching experience for the children but are so clearly let down by what I believe is a desire to prioritise the balance sheet by Partou management. Overall, brilliant staff but let down by Partou with room divides stunting development at this critical stage for young children.

Gus Quigley

a year ago

My daughter has just left Bourne End as she's leaving to go to school. During her 2 years at the nursery, I could not be happier with the care she has had. All of the staff are friendly and welcoming and they have really looked after her during her time there. If I could give more than 5 stars I would. Brilliant setting, lovely people looking after the children. She has developed so well under their care.

Nicci Pitt

2 years ago

My little boy absolutely loves it here. He started off in nursery and then moved up to over 2s. He loves his teachers and his friends.

Br1

2 years ago

Poor service, we have been there for an open day, since then they never replied to any of the emails we sent and did not call us back when we left a voicemail message.