Day Nurseries Owned by YMCA Fairthorne Group

My twin girls have been attending nursery at YMCA, Whale Island for two years and have absolutely thrived there. The staff put so much effort into fun and engaging activities which my children love. There is a large outdoor area for play and the children regularly get taken on little walks or to watch interesting things that are happening nearby.

Alot of care and attention is taken to develop my girls individually (e.g. regulating emotions, encouraging interest in letters) and I get regular updates through reports and parent evenings.

They are given lunch and tea and the food is varied and balanced. It takes a lot of pressure out of having to make a pack lunch and snack.

The staff are fantastic with my girls and so patient, I will genuinely be upset when we have to leave for School this September.

I only wish my daughter could have experienced fairthorne in the same way my son did. I hope that they can turn things around before yet another childcare setting is lost.

Our son has been at this nursery for nearly 3 years now and has thrived here. The baby room is caring and does lots of sensory exploring. In the toddler room they have plenty of space indoors but an amazing outdoor space with so much for them to do, they spend a large proportion of each day outdoors. They encourage children to be independent and I feel they have really helped get my son ready for school. My only criticism would be that communication regarding things like closure days should be better and the app isn't great. However overall a very good experience and the staff that look after the children are wonderful.

I can't recommend YMCA Whale Island nursery enough. It is a wonderful place for your child to learn and grow. The location is fantastic and your child will have more opportunity to be around nature and learn about nature than any other nursery around. My daughter has attended this nursery for 5 months and she loves it! She has excelled! The staff are so lovely and friendly and my husband and I trust them wholeheartedly. Thank you YMCA Whale Island Nursery.

The staff that have looked after my children genuinely care and are such kind people. I've noticed this even more in Rabbits the baby room. Liv, Kat, Heather, Esme especially.

The staff at this nursery are second to none. I know they truly care about the wellbeing of my child. They are supportive and approachable and will always help where they can. I know I can trust them to meet my daughter needs and keep her safe whilst encouraging her to learn and grow.

The children spend lots of time outdoors playing and in any given day do a list of fun activities. I'm always amazed by how much they do and the ideas they come up with.

I am thankful to have found such a wonderful nursery that has helped my daughter thrive since she was a baby. I would highly recommend YMCA Andover to anyone.

I have experienced nothing but positive things during my daughter's time at YMCA Andover. She started at 9 months old, very attached to us as parents and it was a difficult transition but staff really eased us all through.

Daughter is now in toddlers, thriving, chatty and extremely active, beyond her age. I can attribute this to the influence of staff on her development and would not hesitate to recommend to other prospective parents. The staff are not just carers to my daughter, she considers them family.

Absolutely adore this nursery and the staff. Both my children attend here and even though they are very different children the nursery is perfect for them. Every day my children come home happy and thriving. All the staff know the name of every child not just their key children, they all chat and interact with everyone. Even when we went on holiday my children wanted to buy presents for all the staff in their rooms. We love this nursery and their staff.

Can't speak highly enough of the staff and care given to our daughter at the YMCA Eastleigh. The learning style and focus on letting kids explore and interact with the indoor and outdoor world has given our daughter the confidence to navigate her environment and has massively helped in her early development. She comes home from nursery using words we haven't taught her, singing nursery songs we don't at home and is a very happy child.

All of the staff we've had the pleasure of dealing with are polite and go out of their way to make sure our daughter enjoys nursery. The only negative I can flag is that the staff move around quite a lot and onto other roles, not a complaint against the staff themselves as career progression is natural but there is frequent change.

Most concerning of all was the impact it had on our daughter emotionally. She regularly came out distressed, traumatised, and would cry for hours afterwards. Despite raising concerns, we did not feel listened to or reassured by management.

My Grandaughter always came home from Nursery unhappy, frustrated, sometimes dehydrated, I feel that she wasn't treated as an individual with specific needs and her care wasn't always met. It wasn't the most supportive environment for her, when her parents raised valid concerns they didn't feel listened to.

Overall, we lost confidence in the nursery's safeguarding processes, professionalism, and ability to appropriately support children with additional needs. Based on our experience, we would not recommend this setting to other parents.

We moved our son here, from another nursery, in January 2025 and we couldn't be happier with the move. He was in the toddler room last year and has moved into pre-school this year. He loves going and the staff are caring and provide fun and enriching activities for the children.

My little boy has been attending YMCA Newport Isle of Wight since he was just over 10 months old. He has learned so much in the time he has been there, his confidence has grown, his social skills, and he is learning new skills academically as well! He has a great time every day he goes, he especially loves the big outside space that they have, often spending most of his time in the garden every day! He always comes home happy and the staff always hand over what a great time he has! 100% reccomend YMCA Newport!

I've used YMCA Whale Island nursery for all three of my children now. The staff are fantastic. They're friendly, passionate and my children have all thrived here. My youngest has been with the nursery for a year and absolutely loves it! The facilities are second to none and the outdoor nature of the nursery is its biggest appeal. Can't recommend this nursery enough.

My son has attended since he was 17 months old and I can't fault them. He has additional needs, and they've gone over and above to understand his needs and accommodate for them. The outdoor space, especially the grasshoppers garden, is huge and such a great place to play. The staff are friendly and warm, and develop genuine relationships with the children. My son has been so happy there and I wish he didn't have to leave to start school in September!

Our daughter went to YMCA Eastleigh first in Toddlers and then in Preschool. The staff were fantastic from the start, helping to ease her in gently as she was very nervous at first. She soon made really good connections with the staff, who clearly put in time and effort to get to know her. The staff were very helpful and communicative, letting us know what our girl had been up to, and giving detailed feedback at parent's evenings and via the app. The resources and activities were great - she received a lot of stimulation, and in particular, was helped with a speech impediment, and became much more chatty over time. The meals were good, too, and it's a lovely, new, purpose-made, small-and-cosy setting: just three rooms - babies, toddlers, preschool, with a shared garden full of toys and adventure equipment. To top it all, they put on a lovely 'graduation' ceremony for the leavers. Such an excellent nursery, we wholeheartedly recommend it!

I really can't thank the team enough for the hard work they put in to make the children happy!

Excellent staff, they all do incredible work at the nursery. They have helped my son transition and manage him perfectly from babies to the toddler group. I have seen him grow and develop amazingly and forever thankful to the staff.

Although we are incredibly happy with the Nursery and the staff are lovely. My Grandson loves going to Nursery. The thing that is most frustrating to nearly all parents I meet waiting is the time it takes to drop off and pick up. 1 child taken and brought out at a time is ridiculous. Each time I have picked my Grandson up I have waited for on average 20 to 25mins. Parents get frustrated especially when a child is brought out then the staff stand and chat with the parent for several minutes before going for another. Can this please be looked into? Many Thanks.