Any recommendation on The Villa nursery

[ukdealguide]

We are looking at nurseries around East Dulwich/Peckham. I came across The Villa which looks really nice, but does anybody know if it's any good?

[Piaf]

It's fabulous... My eldest leaving for big school in September after almost two very happy years there and my younger daughter will (hopefully) join next year when she is two. Very long waiting list though - 2yrs+!

[ukdealguide]

Thanks :-) We are going to view it in a weeks time, really exited as I have a good feeling about it.

[BellendenBear]

It's great, I highly recommend it. My 3 year old has been there since November and absolutely loves it. When she's not there she and her sister play 'villas' at home. It's quite big but it still manages to have a really friendly close feel to it. The staff are all great and very proactive about things like potty training.

[se15mum]

We've been and looked rounds its lovely BUT has a huge waiting list (as most nurseries round here) and doesn't except them till they are two. I'm waiting to see if we get a place in September - if not were guaranteed a space for sept 2015!

[Digbina]

Places have been allocated for this Sept - we missed out. Fingers crossed for next year.

[ukdealguide]

Yes i talked to the and my son would be guaranteed a place Sep. 2016. We are not desperate as I'm a stay at home mom.

The good thing is once they are in they have first priority for pre prep. School. :-)

[alaska721]

My daughter attended the Villa and absolutely thrived there. It's a fantastic setting with caring staff and a great manager. As your child approaches two years old it's worth contacting them to remind them you are on the waiting list and are still interested in taking up a place should one arise. My daughter got a place sooner than expected which I suspect was due to the several telephone calls made and emails I sent in the months before she turned two.

[Digbina]

Interesting! I made several phone calls, wrote a letter and had a long email exchange with the manager expressing my keen interest etc, and still no place. Even now I've been told a place for 2015 is not guaranteed. By then my son will have been on the waiting list for nearly 2 and a half years.

Ukdealguide and se15mum did they actually say your son was guaranteed a place because I am getting a very different message.

[nancyse15]

It's brilliant - hence long wait list.

[minder]

Ukdeal, Sept 2016 is a long way off but which pre-prep school are you talking about?

[srisky]

Minder - the Villa is both a nursery and pre-prep school. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I would think that children already in attendance at their nursery will have first refusal for a place in the pre-prep school (which starts at reception age). Children not at the nursery will be assessed for entry at reception. Being a pre-prep, I assume it goes up to age 7y.

[Digbina]

Yes, that's right. It means you avoid having to do the 4+.

I'm still keen to know how some people are given guarantees of a place and some of us are told just to be very patient and take our chances. This doesn't seem fair or transparent.

[ukdealguide]

That's right srisky, that's why I'm really keen to get my son in :-)

Digbina we are not guaranteed a place yet have not put down dep. or anything I thing what she meant was that if he was to get in he would get in Sep 2016, just to give me an idea how long we would wait.

Digbina Wy don't you just call them and have a chat with them?

[ukdealguide]

Digbina how long have you been on the waiting list? :-) 2 years seam to be the standard time to wait. :-)

[Digbina]

It will be 2.5 years for my eldest and 2 years for my youngest IF they get in in 2015. What was bugging me was the 'I have a guaranteed place' posts as whenever I speak to them I'm told there are no guarantees even if you have waited that long.

I was also a bit miffed by the claims to be able to bypass the waiting list by contacting the management. There are quite a few of those claims on this forum plus mums at playgrounds have told me the same thing (although there the favoured tactic seems to be to write a letter to the owner). Now I get that that is a sharp-elbowed technique but it seems that my elbows are somewhat blunt.

If I ring again they will probably block my number!

[ukdealguide]

Oh god I feel for you, Is this the only nursery you have put down a dep on?

We are going to see gumboots as well, have an apoinment next month. I know that the waiting list is long there too but we are going to give it a shot.

[iclaudia]

Thoroughly recommend it, my twins have been there for 18 months.

I know it's exasperating re. people telling you to call up, but I had resigned myself to probably not getting a place at all after the manager told me she was reluctant to even take my deposit when we landed back in the country and wanted them to attend ASAP. A few months later I was prompted by someone in the playground to call and remind them, just to see, and I did - half-heartedly. I was shocked to be told that something had just come up and she called me back offering me places to start the following month.

People move around a lot in London, I really don't think the wait list is as long as they say once time progresses and the original crew have started. Don't be embarrassed or think it makes you a sharp-elbowed supremo to get in touch every now and then just for an update.

[Digbina]

No, I've spread my bets so they will get in somewhere. But the Villa is my definite first preference. I've learnt my lesson though - I registered the youngest for a school place when he was a few weeks' old!

[ukdealguide]

So i think i probably have an explanation for why iclaudia came in so fast, this is what the manager said to me.

2 years ago they extended the building and suddenly had room for 40 more kids that they did not expect. The manager said they are very fair and that it all dep on age group and timing. She still told me 2.5 years start sep 2016 not guaranteed. I guess there is nothing else to do than wait, and maybe call ever 6 month and ask where you are on tge waiting list.