Excel II Childcare Centre- Peckham Rye - advice

[mich]

Hi, just wondering if any of the mum's (or dad's) on here have any experience with the Excel II childcare services centre on Sternhall Lane, am looking for a place for my DD who is 2, we live in the Peckham/Nunhead area so am looking for something quite close to home.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated, or any input of other private childcare services.

Thanks (imposter from SE15!!) :))

[linzkg]

is that the same company as the nursery on Forest Hill Road just up from the Co-op?

[mich]

Yes, they have 2 centres, one in Forest Hill and one in Peckham Rye!!

[linzkg]

So the one on Forest Hill Road has been sold recently .. I hear they went bust .. A few of my mates went in to check it out and came out running! They were really cheap too .. But apparently still not worth it!

Sorry to put a spanner in the works - but maybe the one closer to you is run better - dunno.

[mich]

thanks for the input linzkg, I'll defo keep that in mind! The one by my certainly isn't cheap, ?215 p/w, but will hopefully be going to have a visit during the week. :))

[alibo]

I live very close to the one at forest hill, take a look at the Ofsted reports and if it is the same company I think you will make an instant decision not to use them. Unfortunately, ?215 per week is very cheap for round here.

[????]

Our little girl went there as it was local to us then and we thought it was great and she loved it. She also got a lot of support as she has some minor learning difficulties. It didn't bother us at all and may be irrelevant to you either on your own ethnicity or views but she was the ONLY white kid there. It could also do with an outside space but they do take them out loads...our boy goes to a nursery in ED now but I'm significantly less impressed with feedback/staff etc.

[Monkey]

My six-month-old daughter goes to the Excel Centre on Forest Hill Road. Actually, if you read recent Ofsted reports, you can easily make an instant decision to use them. They are rated as good, just like the other nurseries in East Dulwich. The staff is excellent and very, very, caring. My daughter loves it there and so do all the children in the baby room as far as I can tell. The nursery recently hired a new cook so all the food is cooked fresh on the premises.

[JDR]

I've used this nursery (forest hill road) for several years and have mixed feelings. Staff - brilliant. Owners - dubious. Thet have not gone bust but was probably a close run thing as they failed 4 ofsteds in a row and were temporarily withdrawn form the list the council give out due to this. Now MUCH better, but believe due to the fact that manager is lovely and patient and persistent, plus southwark early years did loads of work with them... owners good at agreeing but slow on actions. I've sent mine there for baby room only, moved after age two. This only applies to Excel NOT excel II. Good luck with your decision. Unfortunatley alibo is right ?215 is very cheap for area.

PS on costs check out childcare vouchers for yourself and partner. If your workplace supports them you can save ?160-?200/month (this is a salalry sacrifice scheme, not benefits)

[linzkg]

I just want to say again I certainly don't want to bad mouth them at all - just going completely on what I was told (firsthand)

their premises were sold back in November through auction - but I don't know what that means ..

Hopefully they make it work though!

[JDR]

I suspect the landlord went bust then as a leasehold is on the property and I can assure you, the owners of the business itself are the same as they were...

[palehound]

Moved my child out of this nursery a while back as we moved from the area. Staff were very good there but the way it was run seemed pretty dubious and there was an ever increasing turnover of staff. Some of the staff told us they were being treated badly by management and that was why they were leaving. A point to note - when you leave ensure that you are in the position of owing them money rather than the other way around. They will NOT pay back what you are owed and their accounting is awful - try and tally up what has been paid against outstanding and you'll get nowhere.

[annaloo9]

Hi there - just registered on this site. Useful forum. We've been sending our DD to Excel Child Care SERVICES (NOT center as that's another nursery) in Peckham Rye since they were on the main road- (before Sternhall Lane). Having read some of my fellow parents' views and entries, I feel compelled to respond. Many parents leave the nursery as you did due to moving areas - not because the child care was poor- we are still there and pleasantly happy with the love, attention and care our daughter has had from 9 months old. Yes there may be problems and issues, staffing in nurseries always raises issues - At the last parent's meeting one of the parents talked about staff leaving and recruitment, and the Directors said quite openly that staff are often ASKED to leave because they were not caring for the children and had poor standards of care. I know I would prefer the staff to leave than to look after my daughter if they didn't know what they were doing or they showed poor practice. There are laws out there to protect the staff - so could they really have been treated so badly by the management? Ask yourself this.

Staff leave for all sorts of reasons so for them to 'tell parents' that they are been badly treated, needs to beggar the question - why do many other staff stay and 'put up with the bad treatment'- without the authorities been called in? I have seen many staff who have been there for a few years.

There was a period when they did hands up that they had issues with their new computer programme so fees were a bit haphazard, but that has been worked through and we've not had any problems with our fees for the past year.

For those parents who read some of the comments on here - it can be frustrating to hear some of the unfounded /negative reports when really it does appear to be a bunch of untruths and poor information/gossip. I speak as I find and I feel that in order to find good child care one needs to be honest when reporting the facts so other parents can see the wood from the trees.

LINZKG, ALIBO, PALEHOUND appear to have a vested interest in sending out untruths- maybe they want to spoil the nursery - maybe they just want to rubbish the place after they have left (do they owe money to this nursery as PALEHOUND suggests???) This is obviously not sound unbiased advice is it?

MONKEY, ???? and JDR appear more balanced and honest in their reporting - they report the good with the not so good in a frame of mind which shows me that they have no bad axe to grind. which would lead me to at least test the nurseries for myself and not make a poor value judgment and bad mouth the owners and the staff who work so hard to provide a good enough service for those of us who have to go out to work, and who feel guilty already.

Our daughter is still attending 4 years on and is doing wrap around care - they take her to school and collect her for us and she is there all school holidays and inset days. She loves it at the Peckham Rye branch - we also have friends who also have their children at the Forest Hill branch so I am speaking from a place of some knowledge.

Sorry to vent on my first entry here, but it needed to be said for all those of us who stand for honesty and fairness.

[alibo]

I have no interest in bad-mouthing this nursery, I merely read the OFSTED reports as it is at the end of my road and it would have been very convenient. It is ?600 a month cheaper than the one I use so it would have been great, I am not prepared to send my child to a nursery where the reports are so bad but you obviously are annaloo. There is nothing untrue about my post either, read the reports

[EmmaDoran]

Hi - confused...alibo are you referring to the Forest Hill nursery or the Peckham Rye one? The Peckham Rye one's OFSTED report is good! Just wondering as am currently sorting out childcare for my son.

[Monkey]

Both the Forest Hill and Peckham Rye branches are rated as "good". My baby spent six months in the Forest Hill branch last year and we were very happy with it until a lot of staff started leaving including the manager so, sadly, we left. More on a whim than anything else actually. It's now all settled down or so I hear.

On the positive side: the staff is very, very caring, parents' involvement is good, the children have lots of fun there and there is a fantastic community feel to the place. It's a very happy place.

On the not so good side, I find the premises at the Forest Hill branch a bit cramped - especially the pre fabs for the 2-3s - and that was the other reason why we left when a place came up at another nursery we loved. The whole place was also in need of a good makeover which I think has now been done. The Peckham Rye branch's premises - which I have not seen - are said to be great but don't have a garden. Having said that the Rye is just next door so not a huge problem.

Excel is not the hell hole that many people would have you believe. They did fail some Ofsted inspections a few years ago but the issues have now been addressed. It is a good little nursery which plays an important role in the community. The standards in terms of premises for example are not the same as Asquith or Bright Horizons but the monthly fees are much lower.

Hope this helps.

[annaloo9]

I do agree with Monkey's response. This is a an open, honest response - one which us parents come on this site to get and share with each other.

I think that child care is already expensive nationally - as reported on GMTV the other day, but to pay over ?1200 +/- a month, as being eluded to, is extortionate and well above average price. I'm not really here to argue with anyone, but just to give a fair and honest review and not one based on a few years ago.

I heard that the Forest Hill branch has had a total refit and is more spacious and bright. I suggest that EmmaDoran go and visit ALL the nurseries that she is considering so she gets a persona, first hand feel for the place as a whole - as we did 4 years ago when we were searching for homely, caring child care for our DD. :-)

[EmmaDoran]

Thanks for the clarification.

Annaloo, I have been to see 5 nurseries so far and would never consider sending my son to somewhere I hadn't visited on at least two different occasions. One of said nurseries was rated as 'Excellent' by OFSTED but when I visited had a dog basket as one of the beds in the babies room, so will probably give that one a miss..

[curlykaren]

annaloo9, I'm not sure that implying linzkg,alibo and palehound are liars is really doing your cause any favours and as an observer to this thread I can tell you it is yourself who seems to have an agenda? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion based upon the information they have gathered and as such what you have said is just plain rude.

[annaloo9]

EmmaDoran, Oh my goodness a dog basket?! Goes to show that "Excellent" doesn't always mean "excellent" in practice. Good luck in your search for a good nursery :)