The Blackheath Day Nursery

Marc-Antoine Antonini

7 months ago

Our family’s experience with this nursery has been mixed. While some senior practitioners are professional and caring, management practices and communication left us concerned. ▶ Opening hours: Although the nursery is listed as open until 6 pm, by 5:30 children are typically already dressed and seated in front of the TV waiting to be collected. ▶ Deposit and fees: Returning our deposit took a lot longer than expected, and meals are charged separately, which means government-funded hours do not apply to them. ▶ Accident reports: We sometimes had to ask for reports after noticing bruises or minor injuries. ▶ Staff turnover: There is a core of experienced staff but also a high number of temporary workers. ▶ Learning updates: We receive very little information about our child’s development or milestones compared with other nurseries we’ve used. On the positive side, children can play together on the field after pick-up, and the senior practitioners we’ve met have been friendly and dedicated.

Laura Thomas

9 years ago

Both of my sons attend this nursery and I can't recommend highly enough. The nursery building is lovely and while the garden is a little small they have access to the rugby fields which more than makes up for it. All of the staff are very nice and genuinely care for the children in the nursery. In particular the carers in baby room make the transition to starting nursery as easy as possible for new joiners and the staff in big stars (pre-school) are doing an excellent job in making sure that the children are ready to start in reception. To answer the previous poster's comment on the use of mobile phones - in the last four years I have never seen a member of staff on the phone - ever.

Laura Stranieri

9 years ago

My son is really happy to go to the nursery in the morning. We made the development review with the Health Visitor yesterday, and she was really pleased by the linguistic exercises my son does with the teachers. I think kids' development and well being really matter in this nursery. The garden is lovely, with a quiet and green view on a sport center; all the spaces are designed for kids, it is always tidy and clean. The diet is well balanced with a twist of exotic flavor sometimes.

Ben Brown

4 years ago

❗️EDITED 22nd May - as a result of the facts put forward in this review the nursery have instructed a solicitor to issue letters to myself and my wife threatening to sue us for 'defamation' 😳. ------------------------------------------------- We've been attending Blackheath Day Nursery for 4 years and they've taken great care of our eldest daughter and our son. We had intended for our youngest daughter to start at the nursery soon and had organised for her place to be reserved accordingly - doing so by transferring our eldest's deposit to ensure a place for the baby (we did this last year and have written correspondence to prove it). A few weeks ago the nursery informed us that due to some processing errors with childcare vouchers on their side back in 2019, they were using the original deposit we had laid down to clear those fees. Their accounting team did this without our knowledge or consent and nor did they mention that we no longer had a holding deposit for our youngest child. The aforementioned voucher issue had been discussed with us by the staff in the office at the time but was agreed that it was not our problem and that there were therefore no outstanding fees to worry about. Fast forward 3 years and the nursery has steadfastly refused to refund our deposit and is playing hardball with returning our son's deposit as well given that we've now decided to place him elsewhere due to a change in our financial circumstances. The only answer we can get from the administrators is to 'look at what the accounting system says' with a complete disregard for the actual facts of the matter. Having spoken to numerous parents and staff at the nursery, it's clear that this is not an isolated incident and the nursery owners/ directors are taking steps to prevent parents from accessing their deposits upon children leaving the nursery's care. The childcare historically has been fantastic but the clear disregard for parents and the shocking treatment of staff (just ask any one of the carers) demonstrates how ethically unsound the place is. I'll never forget how much our daughter loved it there but it leaves a very sour taste for the directors to treat parents in this way and I am delighted that our son and youngest daughter will not be attending any more. Should any parents wish to get in touch to find out more about what happened, please feel free to DM me. We are taking further steps to ensure we can get our deposits returned in full.

Nirav Shah

6 years ago

Our daughter started her about 6 weeks ago, aged 12 months. We think it’s wonderful, the staff are caring, compassionate and genuinely seem interested. The view across the fields is lovely and a rarity in the area. Can’t recommend the nursery highly enough.