Partou Stepping Stones Day Nursery & Pre-school

I would definitely highly recommend to other parents

My daughter has been at Stepping Stones since she was one, moving through babies, toddlers and now preschool. Her key workers, one in babies and one in toddlers have been amazing. They have helped her development and ensured that she has a positive and safe environment in which she can thrive. My daughter has built strong friendships facilitated and encouraged by the staff which has been so lovely to watch develop. As a small nursery, my daughter has been able to build a real sense of community and looks at the nursery as a home away from home.

Very good.

The staff are really lovely and care about the children. My child loves going and enjoys her time there. All the children seem to be happy at the nursery and seem to get on well with the staff. I do love seeing the updates, but find that they can be sporadic, sometimes with only 1 or 2 updates that day. I wouldn't normally mind but it would be useful to know if she hasn't had a nap or hasn't eaten much tea at the end of the day. A couple of times my child has been sent home with a soiled nappy and a few times with a wet nappy. Also, I picked up my child once and the staff had an audiobook playing on a CD player and a member of staff turning the pages of the book. I feel like the staff should be actually reading the book for all the children and especially for any children that rely on lip reading to understand.

Our son has been at Stepping Stones Speedwell for around eighteen months and he really enjoys it. The staff are great, build good rapport with the children and are always cheerful.

Our daughter has been with Stepping Stones since 12 months and has just left for school. This time has included the pandemic, which was a difficult time for all. Our daughter has always enjoyed going and the staff have always been attentive. There were a few bumpy months with staff, but that was down to coming out of the pandemic which all businesses had. In 2023 there has been no issues and the new manager has been great for the nursery. I would not hesitate to recommend Stepping Stones, the staff are caring, friendly, positive and professional. You get updated regularly through the online journal app and when picking your child up, a handover of what has been going on that day.

My son has been attending Stepping Stones for well over a year now. The teachers are amazing and engage with my son and other kids with such heart and a caring manner. The management down really make an effort with my son's development, while making it fun and safe at the same time. I'd like to thank the whole team at Stepping Stones.

My son has had visible developments since he joined the nursery almost a year ago. The staff are friendly and they don't hesitate to provide feedback of my child's daily experience in the nursery. My son enjoys going to the nursery, he looks forward to it. It would be good if the kids have the opportunity to borrow some of their favourite storybooks from the school to read at home as well. Overall I have had a good experience with the nursery.

My daughter has been at Stepping Stones since she was 11 months and is now 2 and a half years. She is always so happy to go and has made some close bonds with the other children. Her key worker always listens to any requests we have for her care and works with us. The children spend lots of time in the garden and doing messy play activities.

It's been two years now with Stepping Stones Speedwell and we are so happy with how this nursery has been to us and all of its employees. Our son loves it and can't wait to go see his friends and carers every day.

We have been using Stepping Stones Day Nursery Speedwell for the last six years for both my children. Over that time, we've seen quite a few changes and gone through all the difficulties of 2020 and 2021. My children have always loved going to nursery there, and I feel the staff genuinely care about their wellbeing. Even though my eldest is now at school, the staff who worked with her remember her and greet her warmly when we're at the morning drop-off for my youngest. I am always impressed by how the staff know all the children's names, even those of the children that are not in their "rooms" or the staff that are only there a few days a week. The facilities are a bit tired and dated, but since the new manager started, there have been some new initiatives introduced, such as the time for stories book bags, which my son absolutely loves. It would be good if the Learning Book was updated more regularly, but appreciate it takes time out of focusing on the children.

The staff is nice and there was an improvement since the manager joined this nursery. My daughter loves the staff and she seems happy here, but here is where the good part ends.

There have been several cases where they didn’t change my daughter’s nappy in time and didn’t wipe her properly. Also when I pick her up I always wait around 20 minutes (not great when is raining and windy outside).

I feel the cost of the carers is reasonable, and we have been generally happy with our experiences over the last three years. I can recommend this nursery to those considering it as an option.

Lovely nursery which has improved greatly over the past few months with the new manager coming on board. Great staff. Bright, welcoming nursery with a lovely outdoor space. My son always comes out happy.

Lately, there have been a few changes in staff, and the email communication has become quite poor when you email any queries; this previously was extremely quick and helpful. Additionally, the app they use to record activities that your child has done used to be updated weekly with photos and notes; now, you maybe receive an update once a month, if that. Overall, I am extremely happy with this nursery and its facilities and the lovely staff.

My child generally loves the nursery. The staff seem caring and competent, accidents are infrequent. She eats a good variety of food, has a fair bit of outside time and there's lots of toys to play with, she's made some friends there too.

My daughter has been attending Stepping Stones Day Nursery Speedwell for just over a year now. Starting in the baby room and now in the toddler room. Since the first day, she’s so happy to go and so happy after such a fun and entertaining day. The care and attention she receives is second to none. She has learnt so much and is thriving there. She comes home with the cutest artwork. The communication with the staff is amazing. She is so happy and confident and I know this is down to the professional, experienced and loving staff.

My son came to this nursery when he was two years old, he has now just turned five and is thriving. He came to the nursery with educational needs and speech delay! The nursery were absolutely brilliant with him. They did everything to help him thrive. They were kind, loving, caring and he just loved going there to see the staff and his friends. They never, ever treated him any differently to the other children and always made an effort to try and understand what he would be trying to say to them. I honestly cannot thank this nursery enough for everything they did for him. I will always be forever grateful to them. Thank you.

My daughter has been attending this nursery for almost two years and joined when she was 11 months old. My daughter first joined the baby room upstairs which is bright (windows front and back) has nice toys and some of the most loving and caring staff that provided such brilliant support for my daughter as she went from being full time at home with me to three days a week. During that time my daughter learned to walk and talk much more, learning new words and songs. The baby room has its own outside garden space which was specially adapted for little crawlers and small explorers. After 13 months in the baby room, my daughter moved to the toddler room. We were sad to not see as much of the baby room staff, however, we weren’t prepared for how amazing the toddler staff were going to be. Going to great lengths to support and provide interesting educational sessions. They even made robots one day just because my daughter was into them! I was blown away.

There is so much I could say about the wonderful staff. They are caring, nurturing and empathetic. They are incredibly engaging with the children and make the difficult and rushed mornings so much easier. The leadership of the nursery is just as amazing and takes a holistic approach to the care of the children. Settling back in after the spring and summer lockdown was made easier by the interest being taken in the health and well-being of the entire household and my son's development since he had been away. Although the nursery is owned by a larger company, it doesn’t feel like it. The leadership are responsive and compassionate as are the staff. My son adores the setting and always has a varied day of activities to keep him engaged. They are very child-led and I don’t feel rushed or pressured to “potty train” or distress him to bring him to an unrealistic expectation I have seen at other settings. I can’t express enough how great this nursery is.