Under the Willow Nursery

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!

My son started at UTW in October at the age of 22 months. It never took long for him to settle in even though he was the youngest in his class. The team at UTW are very helpful and I get a report every day on how he is doing and what we should work on at home. The activities are fantastic and he is allergic to eggs but still manages to bake (without eggs) every Monday and bring his cooking home. Massive thank you to the whole team for looking after our boy. His speech is coming along nicely and he eats every single meal. He now runs inside and looks forward to going every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

My daughter has been attending Under the Willow for over two years and she started when she was 8 months old. My daughter was incredibly well taken care of as a baby and now receives bespoke attention from teachers as a toddler. The nursery (much like a lot of other nurseries) has had some significant shifts in staff and management, which has led to brief periods of uncertainty but the nursery has righted itself and children are always well taken care of. The food is fantastic (I wouldn't mind being given lunch boxes from the nursery, myself) and the nursery uses fresh and varied food so children are exposed to variety. The nursery also offers music classes (great music teacher), does baking/cooking and makes short trips to a forest school, nearby, that they have an arrangement with. My daughter is comfortable in her own skin, is confident, and eats well; all of which the nursery has certainly contributed to.

Very happy with everything about Under the Willow. The staff have shown great levels of diligence and professionalism at all times, from when we first paid a visit through to now, when our daughter has been full-time at the nursery for four months. We particularly love getting updates and photographs of all the activities they get up to.

My daughter has attended school outdoors since it opened. I cannot speak highly enough of the service given. My daughter is given the freedom to learn and explore nature whilst being looked after to a high quality. The food given is tailored to her needs which so very important. My son attended the summer camp and was taught such incredible skills that could simply not been given at another childcare setting. Highly recommend.

Our son has been attending Under the Willow from the age of ten months through to when he was three. The nursery was very supportive of first-time parents and made us feel at ease. Our son has flourished in the Montessori environment. They have a broad range of activities for the children, a great outdoor space and a healthy menu with a wide range of foods for the children to try and develop their taste buds. We received regular updates through a phone application on our son’s daily routine, with the lovely bonus of photo observations. The staff are all very friendly and supportive. I would thoroughly recommend the nursery.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Under The Willow nursery.

I’d highly recommend this nursery.

Warm and caring staff. A commitment to dealing responsibly with allergies. Food cooked on site is basically like home-cooked food. Promotion of independence and a Montessori-lite approach. Light and airy rooms, with outdoor space divided by age range. A link to Forest School locally. Highly recommended.

Lovely middle-class nursery in Dulwich. I sent both my children there. I felt my children were in a safe and nurturing environment. The owner is very caring and understanding. There is also a chef there who makes fresh nutritious meals daily, I highly recommend it.

I would definitely recommend UtW to friends and family.