Partou Bumpkins Day Nursery & Forest School in Royston (SG8 5RR)

Gentiana Restelica

a year ago

I love, love, love Bumpkins. We had such a great experience when we had our daughter here. She learnt so much from being there and I cannot thank the staff enough! They cared for our daughter so well and she still mentions them now! Thank you to all the lovely staff at Bumpkins. I have to also add that whilst I feel terrible for the people with the reviews below, and I agree they are in a horrible situation to be in but this has no reflection on the staff and the running of the nursery. This industry (from my own knowledge) is usually more female dominated and in my time alone at Bumpkins they have had many staff go on maternity at the same time. They can’t control or change that!

Benoît Mars

a year ago

We are extremely disappointed with how Bumpkins handled our son's place at nursery. We booked his place at the nursery 14 months in advance (before he was even born) and everything was confirmed. However, just 2 months prior to the start date, we were informed that his place was being cancelled due to recent staffing issues. We were informed that 17 other parents were also told that they had lost their place due to Bumpkins recently losing 5 or 6 members of staff. Looking at past reviews on here, it looks like this has previously happened, which highlights how poor their staffing planning and management is. Given this is not the first time this has happened to families registered with Partou Bumpkins, it is highly likely to happen again in the future. This is completely unacceptable, families plan their childcare well in advance, and to have this taken away at such short notice is both unprofessional and incredibly stressful for parents. The nursery left us scrambling to find alternative childcare in an already challenging market 2 months before our agreed return to work date. This level of unreliability, poor communication and lack of offering any alternative solutions is shocking. I would strongly advise other parents to think twice before considering this nursery if they’re looking for a dependable and organised childcare provider.

Beccy Foster

a year ago

AVOID if you don't want to be let down at the last minute. 2 months before our child was due to be starting we received a phone call informing us that they we cancelling her place despite booking her in 10 months previously, stating last minute staff shortages and recruitment issues as the reason. But looking further into this they have been having staffing issues for well over 6 months but decided not to inform us, their MD even acknowledged they needs to "improving our communication". I'd say that’s an understatement! We are now left with the almost impossible task of finding an alternative place. As acknowledge by the Pumpkins staff, there is a 12 month waiting list for nursery's in our area. When we asked Bumpkins what they could do to help us, they responded with "Nothing"! It would appear they are happy to take a deposit and booking even when they know they don’t have the capacity to take children on.

Rachael Martin

a year ago

If you have reserved a place at this nursery I strongly suggest reserving an alternative too. Our son has been registered to start when 1 since before he was born and they’ve just withdrawn our place leaving us less than 3 months to find an alternative. They claim the issues are industry wide, but as far as I’m aware they’re the only nursery in the area that have done this to multiple families (18 families this month alone). We were registered for 5 full days, and were told they could offer us nothing and had no information on when a spot may become available.

Benoit et Anne-Cécile Labbe

5 years ago

My daughter joined Bumpkins nursery when she was 7 months and settled from day 1. 18 months later, she still enjoys going to nursery every morning. Her key workers take great care to monitor her progress daily and we have seen the positive impact nursery has had on her development. The staff and management team are very competent, friendly and reliable. I would highly recommend Bumpkins nursery.