Under the Willow Nursery

Our son has attended UTW since he was 11 months old (in preschool now) and we have been so grateful for the experience.mThe staff really care for the kids and he runs in every morning to tell them and his friends his updates. There is very little staff turnover and he has built a strong relationship with all the key people. The Montessori ethos is woven through teaching and has made a huge difference to our son. We have regular opportunities for feedback and discussion in the parent teaching meetings and the staff are always available for a chat. Weekly visits to forest school are a great addition though missed at times due to weather. Overall and amazing experience and we'll be sad to leave next year when our son goes to big school.

Our daughter has been attending UTW since she was about 10 mths old. She has absolutely loved it from her first day and is now heading into the pre-school room in September. The staff are fantastic and with the many languages spoken, our daughter has been exposed to different cultures, countries and languages which has been brilliant.

There are plenty of activities on offer, such as baking, football, music and trips to the park, forest school and local museums. The nursery also offers other social activities such as meeting with a dog who regularly comes into to see the children so they know how to be safe around dogs, as well as meeting more exotic animals such as spiders and snakes when an animal handling workshop came into visit.

Our daughter has a severe egg allergy and the staff have been great at the management plan we have in place for her and responding quickly if there are any incidents.

We have been so happy to be part of the UTW community!

My twins have attended UTW since they were ~18 months old; my older child attended from 8 months. The nursery is professionally run, clean and tidy with healthy homecooked meals and has an app for regular communication and photos to see the kids enjoying themselves. Staff are caring and friendly - many of the team have been there for a long time. The mix of activities the kids get up to is great, and the focus on learning the world around them through play, songs and daily activities is lovely; trips to Forest school will always be a favourite. The nursery team are supportive with educational needs and ready and able to offer advice when needed. It's a lovely place, with nice outside space too.

I enrolled my daughter at Under the Willow having been impressed by the reivews and thought it looked nice on the tour. However, when I attended the first settling in hour in the baby room, I found the baby room to have hardly any toys. I understand a lack of toys may be a Monetessori ethos thing but alongside this I found that the staff did not interact with the babies in thier play. The staff seemed over stretched and disconnected from the children. There was one slide in the outdoor area that was closed off. When my daughter showed an interest in it - the slide was opened up but I ended up helping out with keeping the babies safe on it. The other staff members did not help. It was very concerning to me that staff were like this while a parent was present as I wondered what it was like when they were unobserved. There was also an incident where it appeared to me that a crying child was pacified using one of the staff ipads. I would not reccomend this nursery for under 2s

The team has a great understanding of child development, and they engage the children in incredible activities. My little boy loves going to nursery and sometimes even refuses to leave. I can breathe easy knowing he is in kind, nurturing hands with Marta leading the team! We highly recommend this nursery!

Our youngest is currently in the pre-school room and has extra needs. The staff are always so inclusive and really delight in seeing him progress. He always comes out happy after each day and I am reassured in the day with updates and photos through the app. The food is freshly prepared on site, visits are made to forest school regularly and the garden has a lovely atmosphere with many activities for the children. Indoor learning is fun and informative. My son loves to come home with his baking and artwork to show us. We highly recommend this nursery to any new parent!

We've been so happy with our experience at Under the Willow. The staff at this nursery are incredibly caring, with very low turnover, which makes a big difference. The range of activities they offer is amazing - always fun, creative, and often things I'd never think to try at home. The staff truly go the extra mile to make everything feel special, not just for the children but for the parents too, with thoughtful touches like handmade cards for Mother's Day that create lasting memories. The food is freshly prepared on site every day, which gives us real peace of mind. The outdoor space is fantastic, with everything a child could wish for - sandpit, slides, swings, even a little botanical garden. We're constantly impressed by how much effort the staff put in and how much our child learns and grows while having so much fun.

It's been a total pleasure to have Under The Willow be such a positive and lasting part of my son's early years education and we will miss them all dearly.

Between our two boys, we have been coming to the nursery for 5 years now, both of them started in the baby room at under a year old and have stayed in the preschool room. It has been a lovely nurturing environment for them to grow up in, and having some of the key members of staff there for the entirety has been key in making them feel safe and secure. We have been really pleased with their development and the way their confidence has grown, the communication from the staff has been good and the extra activities of forest school, football, baking and trips to the park have been great. They have also made some wonderful friends which helped our eldest transition well into school and I hope will be the same for our youngest in September. We would definitely recommend our experience to others.

Our daughter loved her time at Under the Willow, formed great relationships with the staff, developed her enthusiasm for learning, and left feeling ready and well-prepared for school. They were great with us as parents, and I would certainly recommend them.

Overall I'm happy with my child's education and care. My only issues are around staff churn (too many new people in less than a year), although my child's key person has not changed yet. We also feel that the potty training support could have been better. The inset days when the whole nursery is closed is also an issue for working parents - hoping these will be changed for shorter period of time (couple of hours) across multiple days. Otherwise, good set of activities (sports, baking, music, arts and crafts, sensory play), plenty of pictures of the activities (through a mobile app), forest school trips, park trips and even a museum one. There are also plenty of project celebrations and parent events.

Our son started attending the pre-school at Under the Willow Nursery when he turned two. The staff are friendly, enthusiastic, caring and provide a lovely environment for the children to learn, explore and thrive! We particularly liked the incorporation of Forest School trips into the nursery week which gives a fantastic opportunity for the children to be immersed in nature and gain independence. Since attending the nursery, our son has grown in confidence and really enjoys learning. Every day has a different focus and our son has taken part in baking, football, gardening and yoga. The food menu is healthy and nutritious and is cooked on site by the nursery chef. All of the children sit down to eat together and it is lovely to see them all enjoying their food! We have had a great experience with Under the Willow and are very thankful to the staff members who have supported our son over the years in preparing him for primary school. Would highly recommend this nursery.

The staff are wonderful, my little boy has excellent care and rushes into nursery every day so he clearly loves it. There is a nice garden area and it is set far back from the main road. We are very pleased so far.

Our daughter never had a day when she didn't want to go to nursery and we were all so happy with our experience with Under The Willow. During our time there, staff turnover seemed low, and morale very high - we were impressed with the management and communication. Food was wonderful (better than at home!), healthy and warming. Her keyworker really took the time to find what made our daughter tick and there was always a happy, upbeat energy at drop-off and pick up. We miss it.

We had a lovely experience at Under the Willow with both our children. Our daughter was appropriately stretched and cared for, with great activities and lovely staff and our son, who has severe special needs, was brilliantly supported. The nursery applied for an EHCP on our behalf and the chef cooked special food for his dietary needs. Highly recommended.

My daughter has been at Under The Willow nursery for over a year and a half now, having started when she was just over a year old. She loves it and is visibly very happy to go in each morning. We have found the team at the nursery very engaged - they clearly have an excellent knowledge and understanding of each individual child and their needs and are very good at communicating with parents about this regularly, both formally and informally. It’s also clear that a lot of thought goes into providing a variety of activities and exercises for the children, to make nursery fun as well as meeting objectives for early years learning and development. We chose Under The Willow nursery partly for the nursery environment which is great, with a garden and plenty of outdoor space set well back from the road, and indoor areas all on one level. The menus are also good and certainly meet with my daughter’s approval! We’re very happy with our choice, and we’ve now signed up our new baby to start in autumn 2022.

Unlike many parents, I had no worries leaving my five-month-old baby at Under the Willow, even in a pandemic. As my oldest had attended from six months, I knew how well he would be cared for and looked after and how he would thrive in such a nurturing environment. My oldest went there till just over two when he transferred to the Outdoor School (which we love!) and my youngest has now been there for three months and both are loving it. They have helped wean him and even getting him to nap - something that is mission impossible. Importantly, I value the ethos of the nursery and the emphasis on learning through play and can see the benefits of this in my eldest child with his imagination and vocabulary and social skill. Additionally, I value the staff there, particularly because of how hard they have worked through the pandemic and the regular communication they provided. This nursery has been amazing and I would totally recommend it to anyone.

Our daughter has been attending UTW full time since she was 7 months old. We found everyone to be extremely helpful and accommodating from the outset, allowing us to view the nursery on two separate occasions before we signed up. The team are down to earth, professional, always smiling and extremely approachable. As our baby was quite young when she joined, we felt a bit apprehensive but she absolutely loved it from day 1. In fact, she likes it so much that she brings us her coat and shoes in the morning when she is 'ready' to leave. We love the Montessori approach, especially the promotion of independence, wooden toys, amazing healthy freshly prepared meals and the fact that the kids spend a lot of their time playing outdoors and gardening. Parents are kept well informed about their child's progress via an app with regular updates and pictures and are encouraged to share observations at home also. We are extremely happy and cannot recommend this nursery highly enough!

We’ve been very happy with this nursery for our children - it has a calm, friendly and fun feel. The building is modern and purpose-built. The outdoor space isn’t huge but they have made really good use of it, with gardening opportunities and fun play equipment and the weekly forest school mornings are also great. The staff are excellent and everything about the nursery feels well organised, there are lots of activities going on each week - gardening, cooking, music etc. Would definitely recommend it- our children are really happy there.

My 3-year-old son has been at UTW since he was 10 months old and my youngest is about to join. I would highly recommend the nursery. The staff are caring, patient, hard-working and enthusiastic. They receive and give daily feedback in a consultative way tailoring their approach accordingly. I recently asked what they are doing to ensure the children will be school ready and I can see a shift in their teaching with my child since. I have seen some turnover in permanent staff over the years which is to be expected. The recruitment happened quickly though with a good brief explanation of the changes and backgrounds of new staff who were then introduced successfully with little disruption. There doesn’t appear to be a reliance on agency staff or too high a turnover. I have been very impressed with my child’s key workers. Each having their own style but each ensuring my child is developing and learning new skills. My child runs into nursery each day so I take that as a very good sign!