Bojangles / Sure&Firm / My Favourite Nursery

[srisky]

Does anyone have any recent experience of this nursery? I think the current name is My Favourite Nursery and is based in the church on Uplands Rd.

I have placed my little ones name on the waiting list but I'd be interested to know:

- if you and your child/children are happy with it

- if it's a faith-based nursery

- if it's run by the same people as Bojangles/Sure & Firm,as I believe they closed down and left a few parents out of pocket

Thanks

[Sally81]

I was going to post similar to this...

I've just signed my boy up to start in Jan next year. I visited twice and got a great feel. They paid so much attention to my son and everyone seems very happy. All the children were smiling and chatting to us every time I've been and the staff seem to be very happy there and very interactive with the kids.

The older class were having a great giggle during a group reading session with the teacher! Laughter filled the room.

Obviously as it's a converted church, there is far more space than in other nurseries I've visited, which I really liked.

It felt far more like a 'home from home' nursery than some and less like a business.

In the terms and conditions bumf I have, it does say that it is a "Christian principle based" nursery.

[whyte-o]

Hi there. Please do ensure that this nursary is not run by the same people who used to run it when it closed in 2009. Our daughter had only been there one week when it closed - we lost close to ?500 with no apology and only one weeks notice to find alternative childcare. I don't know anything about how it is run now but just wanted to make sure you do check who is running it. Good luck with childcare arrangements.

[srisky]

Thanks Whyte-o, that is concerning! Do you know who ran it back in 2009? Currently it is run by Sure & Firm and I have a feeling it may be the same company as before.

Sally81 - I agree, the children seemed very happy. The under 2s were cuddling the nursery nurse and smiling the 2+ year-olds were showing me their favourite books and the pics they'd drawn. Unfortunately, the closing time of 6pm will make getting back from work in time for pick up a big rush/stress so I don't think we'll be putting our names down. Also I'm concerned about what whyte-o said.

[Smiler]

I doubt it's the same people, as they fell out with the church.

[srisky]

Thanks, Smiler, hopefully you are correct!

[katgod]

Have you been contacted by the Administraters? We are not owed any money, but the case is still open and they contacted me again only last week. PM me if you like and I can pass therir details on. You should get some of the money back. Most unlikely that it is the same people - but you can check at Companies House to see who the Directors are. The old Bojangles also ran a nursery in Forest Hill - maybe check that the new nursery on the site is not linked to that other nursery.

[whyte-o]

Indeed the people who were running it in 2009 did fall out with the Church so I am thinking it should be different people running it. It does sound like a happy nursery and the building is well suited to that purpose - as long as its got good management! I don't want to put anybody off going if it is under new management as that would be unfair on them, just a word of caution to check. I think katgod suggestion of checking if they are linked to the nursary in forest hill is a good idea.

[MrsMa]

It is not run by the same people as indeed they did fall out with the Church! We are going to give it a try even though we were caught up in the original Bojangles liquidation (we did get all our money back as did most as far as I am aware)! It is a great space for a nursery and all the new staff and manager seem nice and all the kiddies seem happy and well cared for!

[ClareC]

There was a thread on this ages ago, the gist being they are no way linked or anything to do with Bojangles.

[rubygrace]

Hi

I know how much we worry about our childcare decisions so I just wanted to add a reply to this in case it helped to reassure anyone.

My little girl is at My Favourite Nursery (she wasn't at Bojangles so have no experience of that) and I have to say so far so good. The staff all seem really lovely and attentive. The littles ones do different activity every day including things such as messy play, sing and dance and making cards (they helped to make a Father's Day card last week) and have a really good variety of meals. At the end of the day they take the time to talk to you about what your little one has been up to. My little one didn't take long to settle in at all and they even get her to sleep!

They are not a faith based nursery and when I went to first look around they said they don't teach a faith and equally do not discriminate against any faith either.

It's just from my experience but I hope it helps.

[MrsMa]

Agree! All the staff are really nice and it is a great space for a nursery. My little one has settled in really well and waves me off every morning after only 1 week!

[Bluenose]

Hi

I too have my childs name down for my favourite nursery and really liked it on my visits. I did however see there was a complaint put in on ofsted a couple of months ago...it was investigated and all was satisfactory apart from the washing up hygiene?? Does anyone know anything about this??

Other than this think the nursery seems great :)

[emza78]

Hi,

We've just been to visit this nursery too, it seems lovely although was wondering if charging a months fees as a holding deposit followed by another months fees on the first day the child starts is standard practice? Seems a lot of money upfront..

[Sol]

Hi,

I also saw the nursery and think the staff was nice, the children were all happy and relaxed; the nursery was organised and cleaned. Didn't find any complaint when I try to google it nor read anything about the washing up either.

[nylonmeals]

They only opened in Jan of this year and I think that there were teething problems at the start. I know quite a few mums who ended up moving their babies out of the nursery but that might have been a bit of a wake up call and it sounds like they have more than sorted out issues.

[Annie80]

Hello Mums,

I am looking for some feedback regarding my favourite nursery. I am about to register my baby there and when visiting the overall impression I got was really good. But I wonder whether there is a reason why there are still places available when all the other nurseries seem to be so overbooked that most of them don't even let you register. I'd really appreciate some feedback from a parent that has their child their. My little ones is most likely going to start there in March.

Thanks so much!

[StraferJack]

Our 9 month started there a couple of weeks ago and is loving it so far

Staff are friendly and very good at logging meals, activities and so on and when I've picked the little one up and spoken to the other parents they all seem happy. The kids I've met in there are all very well behaved too

I think they have spaces because they are fairly new, on the site of an older nursery where people had problems, so some people might have reservations if they think they are connected.

[jennyh]

My nearly 9 month old started there recently too and so far have had a good experience. We had childminder dramas and the staff went to great lengths to make me feel secure and happy about our choice. My daughter is quite a sociable baby anyway but she has really warmed to the staff and they seem to make a big fuss over her. They have given me lots of time to discuss my thoughts over the last few weeks and have dealt with my first-time parent paranoias and little things that I thought they might scoff at. They are reassuringly caring and attentive and the children seem happy.

Food is quite basic but good, they really push her to develop new skills that I wouldnt do like getting her to feed herself sandwiches. They do rock her to sleep which I dont really like but understand why they do this.

Toys all seem in good condition, plenty of things for them to do, lots of variety in playtime.

Negatives- my daughter hasnt been able to go for 2 weeks because of a tummy bug followed by a horrendous cold and cough/lost voice etc etc. This is to be expected though, is not just because its nursery and is obviously going to happen as we go into winter...has been very frustrating though as I couldnt go back to work!

Also she has ended up with a few bumps and grazes but I really dont see any cause of alarm, she is quite an energetic child and can easily get into scrapes. She did get sat on by one of the other children but I think it is all character building!

[Sally81]

My son is due to start in a couple of weeks and I'm really looking forward to it. I've found the staff to be really warm and friendly and very keen to help with any of my concerns/queries. On all of my visits and having to pop in and out for paperwork reasons etc the kids have been happy and engaged and the staff have seemed very attentive.

We're all really anxious as parents about the whole nursery/childcare thing so any negatives are likely to nag at you. I think it's worth remembering that babies will get scrapes and bumps in any environment (Mine has had two at home today) so I wouldn't see anything like that as a negative towards the nursery. I think that goes for bugs and illness too! They pick up stuff everywhere as we all know and all nurseries will have their fair share.

Totally agree with StraferJack too that the reason for them having spaces is probably because they are so new and people might be associating them with the old nursery on that site.

Good luck and feel free to PM me in a couple of weeks after we've started there if you would like to know anymore. I know that the whole childcare thing is stressful.

[StraferJack]

As part of the "getting her ready for doing this alone" we had to spend time in with our daughter for a couple of days.

So it was good to observe the staff dealing with the day to day stuff, and I was more than happy. Early days so I don't want to jinx anything but she seems very happy there and spends the whole journey home nattering away to me about her day

I have no idea what she's talking about obviously but I can tell its all good.

[Annie80]

Hello again!

Thanks so very, very much for your responses! That seconds exactly what my impression was and I now look forward to getting my boy into this nursery even more. Or better to say, I'm not totally frightened about having to leave him for a whole day while I am working in the city:-) We will start mid of March which is when he will be a year old. I look forward to meeting you all then and hope your experience stays a positive one!

@Sally, I would love to hear how it is going once you son has been there for a while!

Thanks so much,

Annie