Julia Durbin Day Nursery (Oxford)

I've never once worried about her when dropping off, and she is always so happy there. Now, with the youngest one starting in the baby room, it's a delight to go through the journey again!

JD will forever hold a special place in our heart.

We are really going to miss Julia Durbin, and are incredibly grateful to all the staff for giving our son the best start to his education. Our son started at 10 months old and stayed until the end of pre-school, everything has been perfect, and he could not be better prepared going into primary school. I can't think of a single fault. The staff go above and beyond, the variety of activities and excursions is great and management are always available to help, they even helped us prepare our son for moving house and got some specific books to help him with the move. The food is great, the chefs are always interacting with the kids, it's just a really great environment. The receptionist is incredibly helpful and welcoming, it has been great communication throughout. I'm very impressed with how the staff find the time to update the app, it is so nice seeing pictures of your kid having fun and learning whilst you're at work.

Our experience of the Ladybirds room (age 1-2) was really positive and we found it to be a very caring and loving environment. Our relationship with her key person, Trudy, as well as the wider classroom staff, was excellent and we were regularly kept informed of her progress throughout the day via the App, as well as in end of day handovers which were very thorough.

Our daughter's learning and development was really encouraged and stimulated in Ladybirds via engaging and varied activities throughout the day, and the staff made a real effort to provide the best possible environment for our child. We felt really happy with the care and attention she was given and the room staff are all extremely passionate and dedicated.

I cannot recommend Julia Durbin highly enough. Our son attended for nearly three years, starting when he was just one year old, and he truly thrived throughout his time there.

Every member of the team-from the leadership and nursery staff to the chefs-consistently went above and beyond to ensure he felt safe, happy, and well cared for. Their dedication, kindness, and genuine commitment to his wellbeing made all the difference.

During his time at the nursery, he has learned so much, grown in confidence, and built wonderful friendships with his peers. We are excited for him to begin his preschool journey, but we are also incredibly sad that his time at Julia Durbin has come to an end. We will always be grateful for the care, support, and positive experiences the entire team has given him.

Great care for my little one. He enjoys his experience and looks forward to seeing his carers and friends. The communication is good. My only complaint would be the cost, however I do understand the costs

As parents we always feel welcome and included and free to ask for feedback or advice about our child.

Just the most fantastic nursery - have looked after both my kids and I'm so sad that we will be leaving Julia Durbin this summer for big school. Each member of staff genuinely cares about the children and are so creative with the activities and experiences - from Miguel who is a music teacher teaching them all Spanish songs, or others growing vegetables in the allotment, looking after animals, learning to cycle. The outdoor space is brilliant and the preschool room is set up for learning/ creative play. The food is good quality, there is aircon (no hot day closures!). Cant recommend JD more highly - worth every penny.

Excellent nursery. Diverse daily activities & caring staff. Caring for young chicks, woodworking, growing caterpillars into butterflies, and various other intuitive activities the kids were talking about for weeks

Our daughter has been at Julia Durbin since she was 9 months old and has just graduated from pre-school. The staff is all very caring, loving and competent. They have been really good at supporting our daughter's development and curiosity. She knows all the staff by name and talks very fondly about all of them. Her special favourites get daily cuddles. The facilities are also great and there are many toys, activities (including extracurricular) and fun to be had. I also love the fact that there is so much outside green space for kids to play. That also gives her the chance to play with smaller kids. In the vast majority of time the nursery is calm well-organised and clean space and stuff keeps us well informed both about our daughter and what happens at Julia Durbin more generally. In the very rare case where we had concerns we were listens to and issues were were resolved promptly. We are extremely happy and can recommend it wholeheartedly.

Recently, our child's key person left, which made us very sad. Our child still misses her and asks about her before bedtime. However, we have great trust in the team and believe that the new key person and the other wonderful staff will continue to take great care of him.

The whole Ladybirds team, including the Room Leader, creates a warm, safe, and stimulating environment full of learning opportunities. You can truly see the passion and dedication they put into caring for and supporting the

Our little boy has been at Julia Durbin since nursery, and is now in preschool. The staff are uniformly wonderful - very calm and caring and much loved by our son. We are kept well informed of progress and occasional incidents, and the nursery is very well run with activities, and engaging - our boy always comes home having had a good day. Would strongly recommend to anyone, and I'm very grateful to the team at JD.

We moved to Oxford just over a year ago and our child has been thriving at Julia Durbin! We love everything about the nursery and couldn't be more pleased. Such a happy place. Grateful for all the care and education that is given.

The facilities are excellent, the food is great, all members of the staff are fantastic with great attention to detail! It is just a great nursery! Both my son and my daughter love it! We would choose it over and over again!

The nursery itself is very clean, well-organised, and thoughtfully set up to create a welcoming environment. Thank you very much to all of the lovely staff.

The room nurses are very caring, a lot of stimulating activities, and management finds a good balance between ensuring a very well run place for the children, but also it seems staff enjoy it there too.

We are so grateful for the care, support, and encouragement you give our daughters. It's lovely to see how happy and confident they are when they come home, and we really appreciate all the effort you put into helping them learn and grow. Thank you for creating such a nurturing and positive environment for them.

Our daughter attended Julia Durbin for two and a half years, and we truly enjoyed our experience. The staff are always caring, supportive, and always make her feel safe and happy. We saw her grow in confidence and skills, and we're very grateful for the nurturing environment they provided. Thank you for being such an important part of her early years. We highly recommend Julia Durbin.

We truly couldn't imagine a better place for our daughter to grow, learn, and thrive. We are incredibly grateful for the amazing care she receives at Caterpillars and feel very lucky to be part of this nursery community.