Hi

I am looking for a really good nursery school for a 2 1/2 year old to attend from August.

Can anyone recommend one - we will be living in the City Centre so one which is preferably not more than about 15 mins away, with a good OFSTED report.

You could try doing a search on here and seeing what comes up. I'm sure you'll find what you are looking for.

Hope that helps :)

P.S Welcome to the Sheffield Forum!

I would recommend this website (http://www.childrenfirst.org.uk/cis/cis_scf/cis.htm)

:thumbsup:

Both my children go to Darnall Community Nursery. They love it. The building is not very elegant outside, but they are due to move to new building soon. Excellent quality of care. Brilliant OFSTED results, (currently and previously.) Staff happy to answer any questions. Check to see if places are available though.:thumbsup:

Thank you everyone - you have given me something to go on - I know I shouldn't be asking this but are there any I should definitely avoid? You know how it is in the parenting world - word gets round?!

ofsted reports (http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/index.cfm?fuseaction=listByLea&lea=373&type=primary)

My daughter goes to Children First @ Breedon House on Scotland Street in the town centre. My son also went there so we've been using them since 2001 and I can't recommend them highly enough.

I don't have the number to hand at the mo but check www.yell.com for it. When you call you'll need to speak to the manager, Deborah. Arrange to have a look around and you'll soon understand why I rate it so highly.

Good luck and let me know how you get on.

We have just been choosing nurseries. I work in the city centre so I either wanted a nursery near to where I live or in the city centre. We trawled through loads of Ofsted reports and did loads of visits, planned and surprise and eventually picked the one we thought was perfect - The Workstation Nursery next to the Showroom, opposite the station (I work at the Uni so dead convenient).

We did visit one absolute nightmare and I couldn't for the life of me understand who in their right mind would leave their children there. I'm not naming names (just think of your alphabet) for fear of libel, but this particular nursery was filthy, pushchairs were stored in the cots on the sheets the children were expected to sleep on. Supposedly nutritious food consisted of beans on toast, spaghetti hoops on toast, crumpets, fairy cakes and "occasionally" some fruit!!!!:loopy: I saw children given food that the carers had picked up of the filthy floor after been trodden on by outdoor shoes. The curriculum included "Fingar" painting. When I mentioned that the Ofsted report noted a lack of cultural role models I was told that they were planning to give the babies curries, teach them about people "not from England" and that there was a special needs girl upstairs - this from the deputy manager.. God I could rant on about this. I hesitate to mention what they said about discipline and constructive play...

You could try the Merlin Kindergarten at Netheredge. It is open 9am to 1pm everyday. Children can attend there until about the age of 7. There may be a waiting list though.

Elmore kindergarten has three nurseries in Sheffield the one in Broomhill is excellant

Thanks for all the information - it has been a great help

Originally posted by Sara
picked the one we thought was perfect - The Workstation Nursery next to the Showroom, opposite the station.


Hi Sara thanks for the information - I worked out which one to avoid - sounds totally horrendous and insanitary to boot!

Do you have a contact number for The Workstation? Tried an internet search, but not coming up

Don't worry! Got The Workstation number and am awaiting info in the post.

This Sheffield Forum is great - there is always an answer to a problem!

Have you seen it yet - what did you think? My only disappoiuntment was the roof top garden, but I decided I was happy to start some fundraising initiatives to buy plants when Nick starts in September

No haven't seen it yet - driven past. I shall be looking at it including a couple of others, but I take it the roof garden is in sore need of some greenery?

My son's last nursery was in London and they had a big beautiful garden to play in with bikes and climbing frames.... I am just hoping I can find something as good in Sheffield.

Does anyone have any information about any of the Montessori nurseries in Sheffield? - Good or bad.

Originally posted by Juicyb125
No haven't seen it yet - driven past. I shall be looking at it including a couple of others, but I take it the roof garden is in sore need of some greenery?

My son's last nursery was in London and they had a big beautiful garden to play in with bikes and climbing frames.... I am just hoping I can find something as good in Sheffield.

Does anyone have any information about any of the Montessori nurseries in Sheffield? - Good or bad.

no but suggest you try one of the elmore kindergarten nursery's - 2684866

Originally posted by Juicyb125
No haven't seen it yet - driven past. I shall be looking at it including a couple of others, but I take it the roof garden is in sore need of some greenery?

My son's last nursery was in London and they had a big beautiful garden to play in with bikes and climbing frames.... I am just hoping I can find something as good in Sheffield.

Does anyone have any information about any of the Montessori nurseries in Sheffield? - Good or bad.

there is a Montessori one in Sheffield:

Montessori Nursery School 0114-255 2626 137 Psalter La Sheffield, South Yorkshire

I'm going there soon to do some observations so will let you know.

Can I be nosey and ask why you have a preference for the Montessori education system?

My daughter goes to the Montessori Nursery on Psalter Lane. It's absolutely fantastic - the staff are really caring and she loves going. They do lots of different activities throughout the day so they can't get bored. Also there's a brilliant play area outside.

They only take children from the age of two. Before she reached this age, she attended a nursery that turned out to be shockingingly bad. I won't name names because I'm afraid of libel. But the staff weren't interested in the children and didn't do anything with them. It was just glorified babysitting. My brother-in-law's partner worked there for a year and told me that the staff were all fed-up because of poor management and now all of them have left over a period of a year!

So my advice for when looking for a nursery is to pay less attention to the building and to really focus on the staff - is there a high staff turnover? Do the staff seem mature/capable and do they actually bother to interact with the children?

I hope this helps in your search.