Woodberry Day Nursery (Sholing)

As of August 2023, this nursery has now been rated as "Inadequate" in all 4 areas (personal development; leadership & management, quality of education; behaviour and attitudes) by Ofsted. The Ofsted report also remarked how poor the hygiene standards were at this setting, how pre-school children were often unsupervised, and that staff were not familiar with safeguarding principles. As a parent, when I tried to point out to the staff that the setting smelled bad, they told me that they couldn't smell it. My child got sick very often during the one year she went to this pre-school, which I have no doubt is due to the poor hygiene. It's great to see that some parents are content with the services provided based on other reviews on this webpage, but I recommend you do your due diligence before enrolling your child in this (or any) childcare setting.

We are ever so grateful for the comforts, smiles, cuddles and bonds shared with our son. He will be starting his new school journey soon and surely, will miss you all. As parents, we appreciate all your hard work and we would like to express a heartfelt thank you to each one of you at Woodberry.

Woodberry is such a lovely nursery. Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do. You're wonderful.

My daughter started at such a young age and it was scary at first leaving my baby and there was definitely a month of us both (mainly me) getting used to it but at Woodberry they have been exceptional at keeping me reassured and have been amazing at communicating with me. She’s now been with them for 7 months and has excelled, she’s hitting milestones much earlier, she’s so chatty when she gets home after nursery and has often cried when she’s got to leave. Would definitely recommend. Caterpillar room team are great.

Most of the staff are lovely and they have some interesting routines (e.g. they plant veg in their growth patch; a chef cooks the meals). But I would not recommend it to other parents, largely because of the poor management and communication with parents. A few days after my daughter started at this nursery, the manager called me about a skin infection she had at the time, grilling me with questions in a very aggressive and unnecessarily rude manner. The next time I interacted with the person about cold weather clothing (the children were outdoors with no coats or shoes on in Feb), the manager was equally as confrontational. The "graduation" party for pre-schoolers was another example of poor organization and communication. The "ceremony" consisted of 10 minutes of singing and being handed a diploma. And yet we were asked to come 3 hours before the ceremony and had to wait around with no food or any organized activities on a rainy day.

My son joined this wonderful nursery in January 2022 and he has loved it all! The staff are amazing - so creative and kind and understanding. I honestly could not recommend this nursery enough, if you are looking for a place for your little one that encourages development at every turn while ensuring the children are taken care of to the highest standard, then this is the place!

My only small feedback is that sometimes the menu is far too ambitious for such small children and often my daughter goes all day eating very little.

All the staff deserve a massive round of applause for what they do. Thank you, Woodberry Sholing!

The food is amazing, he eats better than we do! Such a good varied menu, that gives children the opportunity to try new and wonderful flavours.

The updates from the rooms are fantastic and the varied menu and group eating takes away the stress of providing a varied meal at the end of the day every day and we couldn't ask for more.

My daughter and I love this nursery, the staff and management are always helpful and kind. They have loads of experience and skills in how to develop and take care of children from a very young age. We really appreciate their hard work and many thanks to them for what they're doing every day.

Our daughter has been attending Woodberry Sholing Nursery for almost a year now, she was 11-months-old when she started. Since day one, the nursery team has been supportive and professional; after a few warming-up sessions with our baby, a key worker was assigned to take care of her for the first months so that she can form a special relationship and feel secure. Through the months the team helped her develop into a confident and loving child who is excited to go to play with her friends and learn new skills. The nursery's meal plan (varied, healthy and cooked on-site) and environment (homely and clean) were the key factors to choosing that setting. The range of activities for the children is impressive and focused on exploration and natural stimulation. We are very happy with the professionalism and care of Woodberry's staff especially given the challenges related to Covid-19 and thankful to the whole team for their hard work, guidance and genuine affection towards our child.

Thank you, Woodberry.

Fantastic staff, my child is loved and cared for. He adores going every day, I would recommend to anyone. Very engaging activities each day and promotes social understanding. We will be sending our next one along too.

My son absolutely adores his time at nursery. He gets to do so many activities and he loves the staff and other children so much. He eats better than I do when he's there! We get loads of updates every time he's at nursery and that helps with him being away all day.

We feel the way Covid has been handled at the setting has been reassuring and communication around this has been very clear at all times.

Lovely place where staff go above and beyond to support children in their care. They have a lovely garden with loads of outdoor fun. As a mother, I felt listened to by the staff and my son says that they are ‘very kind’ and ‘really very happy’. They identify specific interests which the child has and encourage them to follow their interests. I’m so grateful for the observations which they make on each kid on their app, which makes us feel that they are treated as individuals. To the team at Woodberry, thank you loads for your hard work.

Thanks to the staff at Woodberry Day Nursery, we have been seeing improvements in the way that our daughter interacts with others, communicates and likes to get involved with being creative and helpful at home. The staff always give us a helpful update on our daughter's day and the use of the app keeps us informed of her nutrition. The staff take a genuine interest in our daughter's needs and likes/dislikes, which gives us great peace of mind and means she looks forward to her days here! It also makes us comfortable knowing there are clear channels to communicate with the staff and management if we ever need to speak to them.

The staff are always really helpful and lovely, could not fault them in any way.

My son has attended Woodberry since he was 7 months old and has just turned 3. He is excited to go to nursery every single day and see his friends and the staff members in the grasshopper room. He always talks to us about what he is going to play with and shares his experiences of his day when he gets home which is lovely to hear. He enjoys a wide range of different healthy balanced meals which has helped with his eating at home. The staff are brilliant and so caring and have helped his confidence grow and encouraged his learning. We can’t thank them enough for everything they do for our son.