Julia Durbin Day Nursery (Oxford)

Old Road, Roosevelt Drive, Headington, Oxford OX3 7JU
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9.9 215 Reviews
  • Julia Durbin Day Nursery (Oxford), Oxford
Julia Durbin Day Nursery is located within the grounds of Churchill Hospital and caters for children both in the local community and the Oxford Radcliffe Hospital Trust.

Homely surroundings and a thoroughly resourced facility allows the nursery's highly trained practitioners to achieve high standards of early years education across the age ranges.

Parent partnerships are promoted and developed whilst long opening hours and a fully inclusive package offer a convenient service to busy families.
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Type of Service

  • Day Nursery
  • Open all year
  • Full Day Care
  • Sessional Day Care

Group/Owner

Person in Charge

  • Emma Wallbridge (Manager)

Number of Childcare Staff

  • 54

Total Places for Children

  • 164

Age Range

  • from 0 years 2 months
  • to 5 years 0 months

Opening Times

  • Monday 07:00-18:30
    Tuesday 07:00-18:30
    Wednesday 07:00-18:30
    Thursday 07:00-18:30
    Friday 07:00-18:30

When Closed

  • Bank Holidays & Inset Days

Parking

  • Free parking is available onsite.

Julia Durbin Day Nursery (Oxford) Reviews (215)

9.9

Julia Durbin Day Nursery (Oxford) has a Review Score of 9.9 (9.927) out of 10, based on 46 reviews in the last 2 years.
Over all time Julia Durbin Day Nursery (Oxford) has 215 reviews.

Overall Experience
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Date Published
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Reviewer Connection to Julia Durbin Day Nursery (Oxford)
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Total of 215, showing 141-160
Review from Caroline (Mother of Child) published on 15 February 2019 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Since our son started in the nursery at one year old, he has continued to develop well. Having the warm input from the enthusiastic and caring staff in Ladybird Room has been great and there are always so many activities on offer every day. The food is healthy and varied and I have felt very comfortable
and reassured when dropping him off in the morning knowing they will meet his needs and know him well. The room is always in order, neat and tidy. The nursery manager is always friendly, attentive and caring. I would highly recommend Julia Durbin Nursery.
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Review from Idoia A (Mother of Child) published on 5 February 2019 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Julia Durbin is an excellent nursery, with both great facilities and big outdoor areas top up by the excellent teams in the rooms! Both my kids love going to Julia Durbin, so much that sometimes they cry when I pick them up before the usual schedule! My experience with all the different age-rooms has
been fantastic and the staff is really committed and allow us to do other jobs for society. They do go beyond their duties very often and they certainly know how to create and keep the connection they make with the children. Keep it up!
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Review from Craig S (Father of Child) published on 5 February 2019 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
It is tough entrusting your child to anyone, particularly when they seem so young. But Julia Durbin could not but make both my wife and I feel at ease that our little one is safe, secure and having a great time.


The facilities are fantastic- particularly the garden which was the biggest selling

point for us. They constantly have new and creative activities, all resourced with no expense spared. We love the online updates we receive - you get your own individual (secure) profile where they post pictures and summaries of activities.


However, it is the people that make this place exceptional, our child’s keyworker (in both rooms she has been in so far) have been so caring and approachable. All the other practitioners are attentive and very sociable.


Food (aka kitchen staff) is great and reception team are incredibly friendly and couldn’t do enough to be more helpful.

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Review from Jacqueline S (Mother of Child) published on 5 February 2019 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our 7-month-old son has just spent his first month at Julia Durbin. Every day we drop him off or pick him up we can very clearly see how much he loves it there. All the staff in the baby room are very warm and they take very good care of him. I’ve been in at quite different times and the atmosphere
is always very nice; there is always a very good ratio of carers to babies in the room. They put out different toys for the babies to explore every day and activities like finger painting or exploring ice. Julia Durbin has an online system where the key person every so often uploads pictures and short descriptions of what they have been up to which is wonderful for giving us a glimpse of what our baby has been up to. Recently when there was snow chaos the nursery was nevertheless open which we were very grateful for as well.
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Review from Yann S (Father of Child) published on 25 January 2019 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
We moved from Belgium to Oxford in July 2018 and we stayed until January 2019. We have a 3-year old daughter who did not speak English when we arrived. The Julia Day Durbin Nursery has been superb in taking care of her and making sure she settled in well. As part of our review, we'd like to attach the
goodbye e-mail we sent to the entire team:


We just wanted to thank the entire Julia Durbin team for taking such great care of our daughter during our stay in the UK.


Our daughter's English is really sticking with her; whenever she plays games or reads a book, she automatically switches from Dutch to English. We’ll try our best to make sure she can keep practising her English.


We especially would like to mention how important two of the caretakers, in particular, have been to her. Our daughter really developed a strong relationship with both of them. These two caretakers did an excellent job and we absolutely wanted to mention this.

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Review from N M (Father of Child) published on 26 October 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 3.0 out of 5
On the whole, nursery is good, my son has learned a lot of new stuff and experienced new things.


Although some of the teachers are spending more time with children than others still it is satisfying. Nursery has a great space for children to play outdoors and also good facilities for indoor activities,

although I'm a little bit concerned about the hygiene conditions in the toilets. I hope they have extra supervision of children when they use it and ask the children to wash their hands thoroughly and check the toilets regularly to make sure they are clean enough. On the whole I'm more happy about the teachers than the reception crew, I think a warm welcoming reception team can make a great impact on the whole team but sometimes you get to see otherwise.
Reply from Emma Wallbridge at Julia Durbin Day Nursery (Oxford)
We thank you for your positive comments and are pleased that you appreciate the wonderful facilities and care that Julia Durbin has to offer. We apologise that you have found the toilets not up to our…read more
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Review from Lamiese (Mother of Child) published on 18 October 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
My son always seems happy to go to nursery. On the occasional day that he’s slightly under the weather or out of sorts, the caring staff there give him cuddles, which almost instantly seem to make him better and restore his smiley self.


Staff are pleasant and genuinely caring. He is always greeted

when he enters the room. It makes me happy to know that he is having fun, learning and being well looked after when I’m at work.
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Review from Rhiannon R (Mother of Child) published on 18 October 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The staff at Julia Durbin have been brilliant, accommodating our childcare needs where they can. Our son has had a great start, and we are already impressed with the care, attention and kindness shown to our little one by the staff in Caterpillars. Thank you!
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Review from Stephanie A (Mother of Child) published on 18 October 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our daughter has been at the Julia Durbin Nursery since she was 7 months old (she is now 2). She absolutely loves her time at nursery every day and it has been wonderful for us to see her grow and develop into a happy, chatty little girl. She has made lots of friends and she looks forward to seeing
them every day!


She loves the big garden and playing outside and I love that the children are outside every day, in all sorts of weather.


I cannot rate this nursery highly enough. The staff are caring, thoughtful and friendly. They know all the children's names (even if they are not in the same room) and there is always a smile from reception in the morning. Our daughter has had the same key worker throughout her time at nursery, which has really helped develop her confidence.


We are so glad we chose Julia Durbin nursery and are grateful for the care and attention they give all the children.

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Review from Eppie (Mother of Child) published on 18 October 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Both of our sons have been extremely happy at Julia Durbin. Recently my younger son has had to spend time in hospital, and the PreSchool Team's help in preparing him for the experience was invaluable and so wonderfully done. As parents, we also received lots of support, and it is this sense of emotional
connection which makes Julia Durbin a very special place.
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Review from Marian K (Mother of Child) published on 3 September 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter was in Julia Durbin for 10 months and we were extremely satisfied with all aspects of care, and my daughter loved going to the nursery every morning.
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Review from Christelle (Mother of Child) published on 3 September 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Thank you to the whole Julia Durbin team for taking amazing care of my son over the last 6 months. The staff is amazing and friendly. The baby room is very well suited to the children's needs. The outdoor space is fantastic. I have really enjoyed the use of Parent Zone as well so we get to see what
the children get up to in pictures :) We will definitely miss the team.
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Review from Jo C (Mother of Child) published on 18 July 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I have always been very happy with the care at Julia Durbin Nursery. The staff are very friendly and helpful. They are also very supportive of the children as individuals and quick to resolve any issues that may arise.
As far as the facilities go, the outdoor space is amazing. Indoors, the staff are
always finding interesting things for the children to do. In the pre-school room, they manage to tie this in with learning opportunities in a way that the children can engage with.
I would definitely recommend this nursery to anyone.
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Review from Emily L (Mother of Child) published on 11 July 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Julia Durbin is literally my life-saver! As a working mum I can confidently drop my children off knowing they will be happy, safe, loved and inspired. The garden is an absolute asset - different to all the nurseries I visited.


The teachers are caring and informative. The management team are personable

and know you, your situation and your kids.


We will miss JD!

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Review from Sara (Mother of Child) published on 10 July 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My two children both excelled at this nursery. The staff in the rooms are considerate, attentive and enthusiastic. In particular, their key person in each room was fantastic - my daughters were put at ease and enjoyed seeing them.
On a personal level management have been extremely supportive and kind.
My two children and I will greatly miss this nursery once my youngest leaves in August.
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Review from Mandy H (Mother of Child) published on 2 July 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Fantastic nursery! My children love it here. The staff are brilliant & form great relationships with the children. My eldest daughter leaves this year & is already saying she will miss certain staff....luckily she will get to see them when we drop off my younger daughter!
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Review from S T (Father of Child) published on 12 June 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our daughter has been exceptionally well looked after at the Julia Durbin nursery. Throughout her year and a half at the nursery, the amazing teams in the Caterpillar and Bumblebees rooms - supported by a great management team - have played a very significant part in her development.
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Review from Alex J (Mother of Child) published on 4 May 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I have recommended this nursery to several friends already because it has fabulous staff, great outdoor space, healthy and fresh food and a lovely atmosphere. Most importantly, my daughter loves it here! Thank you to everyone at Julia Durbin!
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Review from Helen O (Mother of Child) published on 4 May 2018 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter has flourished at Julia Durbin Day Nursery and loves all the activities it has to offer. Her key workers are brilliant at offering her guidance and support. She already feels at home!
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Review from Sam H (Father of Child) published on 13 April 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I had to post a review about the helpfulness of the staff throughout this excellent nursery after I managed to get my car stuck in the mud in the car park - their response in assembling a quick-fire team of helpers including tow rope and truck was incredible and well above and beyond the call of duty.
I appreciate this seems a random topic to comment on but it goes to show the dedication of everyone there and their willingness to do anything to help.


Our two children have collectively spent over 5 years at this nursery because of the excellence of the staff and their ever-present can-do attitude. Thanks again, everyone!

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Current Review Score: 9.9 (9.927)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.9 (9.927) out of 10 for Julia Durbin Day Nursery (Oxford) is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  1. The Average Rating is 4.9 out of 5 from 46 Reviews in the last 24 months.
  2. The score for the number of positive Reviews is 5.0 out of 5 from 46 positive Reviews in the last 24 months.

Detailed Breakdown of Review Score

The maximum Review Score for a Day Nursery is 10, which is made up from the Average Rating of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) and the Number of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) in the last 24 months:

  1. 5 Points are available for the Average Rating from all Reviews in the last 24 months. The Average Rating of 4.927 for Julia Durbin Day Nursery (Oxford) is calculated as follows: ( (511 Excellents x 5) + (38 Goods x 4) + (1 Satisfactorys x 3) ) ÷ 550 Ratings = 4.927
  2. 5 Points are available for the number of Positive Reviews in the last 24 months. A Positive Review is defined as any Review with an 'Overall Experience' of '4' or '5' (out of a max rating '5'). The 5 Points relating to the number of positive Reviews for Julia Durbin Day Nursery (Oxford) is based on 46 positive Reviews in the last 24 months and is calculated as per below:

    The 5 points available are broken down as follows:

    1. 4 points are available for the first 10 Positive Reviews in the last 24 months; 3 points for the first Positive Review, and then 0.125 Points for each of the next four Positive Reviews and then 0.1 Points for the next five Positive Reviews. (1st = 3.000, 2nd = 0.125, 3rd = 0.125, 4th = 0.125, 5th = 0.125, 6th = 0.100, 7th = 0.100, 8th = 0.100, 9th = 0.100, 10th = 0.100) 3 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 = 4
    2. 1 point is available for the number of Positive Reviews reaching 20% of the number of registered child places in the last 24 months. If this number is partially reached, then that proportion of 1 point is given. eg a Day Nursery registered for a maximum of 50 child places has to reach 10 Positive Reviews to receive 1 point, if it has 7 reviews it will receive 0.7 points. 20% of the 164 number of registered child places is 32.8, which has been reached with 46 Positive reviews. Points = 1
  3. When a Review is submitted by someone who has previously submitted a Review, only the latest Review will count towards the Review Score.
  4. If a Day Nursery does not have a review in the last 24 months, then it will not have a Review Score.

Child Vacancies

Please contact us for latest vacancies.

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Awards / Recognitions (19)

Meet the Team (1)

Emma

Emma Wallbridge

Job Title: Nursery Manager Joined: 1996

Emma is the Manager of Julia Durbin Day Nursery in Headington and has a wealth of experience, having worked in the early years sector for 24 years. Emma has numerous qualifications, including an NNEB, Management NVQ's and a Foundation Degree in Early Years. Emma has worked for Childbase Partnership since 1996.


What is your favourite feature of Julia Durbin?
Despite being on the hospital grounds we are almost secretly hidden within a lovely natural space and a huge natural garden. I also like our entrance and reception area as we get to greet all the families and visitors as they arrive.


What are you most proud of about your nursery/team?
Our ongoing recognition from Ofsted and amazing day nursery reviews from our parents. The staff have exceptional relationships with the families and each other which leaves a great morale across the nursery. The children are the heart of our Julia Durbin family.

Information on this page is displayed without responsibility for its accuracy on the part of daynurseries.co.uk. Please contact Julia Durbin Day Nursery (Oxford) to verify any information. View our terms and conditions. Julia Durbin Day Nursery (Oxford) has an Enhanced Service - more info.