[maccawozzagod]

My wife works in childcare and as such knows many people in and around the other nurseries. Most have said that Oscar Bears is crap to work for and they wouldn't send their kids there. We use Victoria Nursery as my wife works elsewhere and can't take her own to that nursery, but we only use it it for convenience and because we know that our child is getting the right sort of education at home. In all the time we have used that nursery I personally have never seen any kind of report of what the child has done during the day or what she has learnt or anything. We once got a folder containing some of the stuff done over the 'year' but it all looked like recent ability stuff to me. Also the reports written by staff (that are supposed to be written daily to monitor progress as per OFSTED regulations) were basic, inaccurate and again looked like they had been done over the weekend. We only got this cos we requested it and it wasn't available at the time. These things should be kept on the premises and updated regularly as the child progresses. It is form these reports that assessments are made by primary schools.

First Class are that in some respects but the premises aren't the best or biggest and some other nurseries such as Fairfield and Thorneyholme have far better outdoor facilities if the weather is suitable (when??).

It all depends what you want from your childs care. If you view childcare as 'day care' then most nurseries will provide a good standard of care for your child. If you value childcare as pre-school education then I would pick First Class Dill Hall because they are one of the very few that insist on education through play and your child will enjoy it just as much as playing all day. If you think your child should be going just for some social interaction with other kids then I'd go for one of the large gardened varieties.

Hope that helps