Merrydale Day Nursery

Like many other mums, I was extremely anxious about going back to work and putting my child into nursery. This was exacerbated by having a lockdown baby when he was so used to it being just us. I was really concerned he would get easily overwhelmed or uncomfortable with new people in a new surrounding. I was therefore extremely pleased to see that in just a couple of weeks my son (who started at 12 months) went from crying at the door to practically throwing himself at the staff and beaming as soon as he saw them. That to me is the biggest reassurance a parent can get knowing that the nursery is a good one. I looked around at other nurseries in the area, including some very highly rated ones. Whilst they were all lovely, to me the more intimate nature of Merrydale stood out. The staff are amazing, engaging, friendly and truly care for the children in their care. The nursery also provide updates throughout the day via the app and photographs which is very reassuring and lovely to see.

My son has attended Merrydale for the past 3yrs and I could not have wished to have found a better nursery for him. The facilities are wonderful and the garden and forest school area are hugely popular and it's great they can spend so much time out there. Staff numbers permitting they also take the children to local parks or to feed some local horses which is a lovely added bonus. The staff have remained largely consistent throughout his time there and they are so engaged with the children in their care that they know what works to engage different children and also to manage any challenging behaviour. They have really helped nurture and develop my son's learning and also embraced his cheeky character. Now that he is starting school, it's not just him who will miss nursery, it's me too.

However, for us as a family, the standard of care and convenience of location has become more important than price. My daughter is thriving at Merrydale and so I would highly recommend it.

Having both my children at Merrydale has given them confidence and social skills that are important.

My son has been attending Merrydale for the past four years having previously attended another day nursery and our experience has been nothing but positive. We have seen him grow into a happy confident little boy while he has been there and that is a credit to the staff. The manager/SENCO has been incredibly supportive throughout my sons SEN diagnosis and has fought for the provision that he has required at every stage. His one to one has also been amazing helping him to grow and develop and form strong bonds with his peers. My son had to attend another Complete Childcare nursery during Lockdown and they were equally supportive with the organisation have a true grasp of what it means to support children with Special Needs. I cannot recommend Merrydale more strongly, it is a wonderful place for your children to attend.

Our daughter has been at Merrydale for nearly 2 years and absolutely loves it. The staff are wonderful and genuinely care for each child. The app is brilliant for keeping up to date throughout the day and we regularly get photos so we can talk to our daughter about her day in the evening. Her speech and confidence have come on so much since starting Merrydale and she looks forward to the days she's at Merrydale where she can see her friends. One member of staff, in particular, and the team are very approachable and will do whatever they can to help. The 7.30 am start time and 6 pm finish time make it really easy for working parents to manage childcare arrangements. We have recommended Merrydale to several friends who now send their children to the same nursery.

Thank you for making my daughters experience such a happy one!

Our son will be leaving Merrydale to start at a preschool closer to our home at the end of this term and we are all very sad that he will be leaving. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the staff at Merrydale for the wonderful experience our son has been given in his two years there. We could not have asked for a better or more caring nursery for him to attend. In particular, we would like to thank the amazing staff who have each had a big part to play in our son’s development and who have made a huge impression on him. We are sure that our son will continue to make lots of progress as he begins preschool in September, but we know that it is the wonderful experience he has had at Merrydale which will have laid the firm foundations for his future. Thank you to everyone at Merrydale for looking after our son so well, we could not have asked for a better nursery for him to have attended.

Our son has been attending the nursery since August last year from only 9 months old. From the beginning his care has been excellent. They were so reassuring when I was worried about leaving him. He soon settled in and loves his days at nursery. He is stimulated and his development has come on leaps and bounds! I like that they take the kids out for fresh air every day. They’ve also been excellent when he has been poorly and I completely trust that he is being looked after when he is there.

There is always a warm welcome/goodbye at the start/end of day and all the staff have a good knowledge of my son - including their amazing chef (who provides a varied and healthy diet). They are a very caring bunch! My son is very happy at the nursery and can name all the staff and other children. He is stimulated in many ways and I know he spends lots of time outside. The nursery manager runs a tight ship and is very on the ball. We get regular updates on what's coming up and there are regular reminder notices in the reception area. Any queries by email are quickly responded to. I love the app which I can check for regular updates on how my son is getting on in the day and look forward to the Observation updates. It will be a very sad day for our family when our son starts school and we have to say goodbye. Thank you Merrydale for everything - you rock!

Both my children have attended Merrydale since they were 9 months old - they've both enjoyed their time with the team who do a fantastic job! Activities are varied, meals are well planned and nutritious but most importantly, the children are happy to be there and as a parent, there's nothing more reassuring than that. Massive thanks to the entire team for providing such a wonderfully nurturing environment!

Keep up the good work all.

My 2 year old has been at Merrydale since Jan 2017 and I've only just got round to writing a review! But I am over the moon at how well my son is developing under their care. The staff have been excellent throughout and are always on hand to help with any queries if needed. You can tell they really care about the children which is ultimately the overriding factor for me above all else.

My son is extremely happy there and it's nice to drop him off knowing he'll have a fun day and be well looked after. They have a wide range of activities for the children and logging onto to ParentZone to see what they're up to is nice. If I had one minor criticism, it would be that they probably need a little bit more space but I know they are about to start an extension so I'm sure that will help.

All in all, I can't fault them - the staff there do a fantastic job.

Our daughter is just about to leave Merrydale to go to a pre-school linked to our intended Primary school. We wanted to share our our gratitude towards the staff at Merrydale for an excellent 2.5 years. We have been amazed by how much she has grown and developed during this time and we love the personality she is developing and are very grateful for how the staff have support, encouraged and nurtured this. She has developed some wonderful relationships with children and staff and this is testament to the friendly and warm environment created at Merrydale.

Merrydale is a vibrant and warm community and we have been impressed by the caring nature of the staff. Since she started at Merrydale at ten months old, our daughter has come to consider Merrydale as an extension to her home. She is now eighteen months old and I have no doubt that her development in terms of her eating, confidence, communicating and walking has been influenced by her wonderful nursery.

The staff are highly professional and communication is always easy. Parents are sent updates and photographs throughout the day via the ParentZone App. We have also been most impressed by the nutritious food.

On the creative side, our little one has produced works of art, decorated cupcakes, adorned many fancy dress costumes, and she has grown in confidence when interacting with other children. During the summer months, the Merrydale garden is especially fabulous with plenty of space, a large sandpit, toys and excellent facilities. We cannot recommend Merrydale highly enough.

Our daughter started at Merrydale in February at the age of 1 and clearly enjoys her time there.

The food is all freshly prepared on site, the staff are all very friendly and welcome her in every day with a cheery smile. Merrydale are great at organising events for the children and parents (including the annual family fun day!), communicating to parents via emails and newsletters and should you have any questions and email the nursery, the manager is very quick to respond.

In the recent hot weather, they have been great at keeping the kids cool with indoor water play, which our daughter loves and is reassuring given the recent temperature and humidity.

All of the staff are very friendly and clearly enjoy their work - I would recommend Merrydale to anyone looking at nurseries in this area.

My son has been attending for almost a year now. He's come on so much, shy at first but now happy to go to nursery and see his friends and the staff. He's built good relationships with his carers and they all seem to genuinely care. The food always sounds amazing! Over all we're extremely please with Merrydale.

My little girl has been coming to Merrydale for 18 months and I cannot fault the nursery. The change I've seen in her development is completely down to these 3 days a week she has been here. Interaction with the other children is amazing. All of the nursery teachers are smiley and lovely, my little girl always talks about the nursery and how much she loves it. Every penny spent on this part of her upbringing is completely worth it. Thank you Merrydale!

One area that we couldn't live without is the Parentzone app. This allows us to review what's going on with our son when we are at work and the pictures the team load up really make us smile.

The team at Merrydale are fantastic - my son only attended one day a week so we expected it to take him a while to acclimatise but my sons key worker made nursery such a fun and safe environment, he soon looked forward to his time there. Had no bad experiences, the facilities, food and communications from Merrydale are all excellent and I have no hesitation in recommending!!