Find a Nursery

How Do I Find the Right Nursery for My Child?

There are many different factors that play into finding the right children’s nursery setting for your little one. These can include:

• Your location
• The type of care required
• The nursery’s philosophy
• The types of activities the nursery offers
• The nutrition that the nursery offers with their provided meals
• The nursery’s fees
• The nursery’s operating hours
• Ofsted or other inspection reports
• The physical spaces utilised by the nursery e.g. indoor and outdoor areas.

It’s also important to check whether there are waiting lists at prospective day nurseries you’re interested in to ensure that there is space available when you child is ready to start.

Choosing Between Children’s Nurseries

If you have a shortlist of day nurseries that seem to fit your main criteria and have availability for your child when needed, it can be quite a difficult task to choose between them.

Visiting potential day nurseries in person can be really useful in helping you to get a feel for the environment and how the staff and children interact together. It can also give you a good idea of the types of activities that the nursery offers and why these are beneficial to the children’s learning and development, as well as the facilities and spaces used inside and outside.

Asking questions on a nursery open day can help parents and carers to assess how well a particular setting might fit with their specific child and their needs. Understanding how the daily routine works at the nursery for various age groups can also help you make up your mind.

Having your questions for day nurseries written down to take with you when you visit in person can help ensure you don’t forget to ask anything important.

What to look for in great day nurseries

The daily activities, environment and interactions with staff and other children are all integral parts of nursery life for little ones. In addition to this, finding a nursery that has a really useful website, several points of contact and that communicates openly with parents and carers is also important. You can ask yourself these questions about a prospective nursery:

• Do they support families with information about funded childcare or tax-free childcare and how to apply or access this?
• Do they provide regular feedback on children and their development or progress e.g. parents evenings?
• Do they have easily accessible information about their SEND provision and the support available?
• What information do they have about the food offered in the nursery, such as nutritional info and how they handle any food allergies or intolerances?
• Do they have an app or online portal where parents and carers can find out about their child’s day at nursery from wherever they are?
• Do they have FAQs for parents on their website to answer common questions quickly?

Finding the right nursery for your child can sometimes feel like a daunting prospect, but we hope our advice has been useful in helping you decide on the best option for your specific circumstances.

For more tips, take a look at our guide to choosing the right day nursery.