Elms Montessori School and Day Nursery

"I wrote a review of their sister branch (Eilmar Montessori) and thought I should post it here for the benefit of the parents currently looking at this nursery. ____ There's a lot to be said about this nursery, both positively and negatively, my children had been at this nursery for a number of years. We had built a good rapport with the carers while also having an amicable relationship with the management. From a carer perspective our children were always looked after well. However from a management perspective, they are incompetent, from miscalculating fees on a regular basis for a number of parents to now having a number of legal cases against them due to due to fee and contractual issues. It's also laughable when when looking at the reviews for this Montessori, you simply have to look at their Reading branch to see that the same person is putting favourable comments about the management in both locations. Why would you put fake reviews on a nursery when the key aspect for a percent is to find a safe nurturing environment for their child? During the COVID outbreak we also learnt that the carer were put on unpaid leave while we parents were made to pay our fees. God only know if this nursery claimed furlough And other grants from the government. As for being a Montessori nursery, there is only one qualified Montessori teacher who is their on a regular basis. This teacher floats between 3 different rooms. Please consider your options before selecting this nursery. __________ In relation to your comments about my review. Tina you own both nurseries. which is why you have put the same fake reviews on both. Your comments about our review are complete and utter lies. RE - Late Payment: We always pay on time by direct debit with no late payments. This comment is nonsense and can show statements to prove every month going back to when our children first started. I repeat direct debit payments come out at the same time every month so are you indicating that HSBC are not transferring the money to you? RE - Threatening behavior, when on earth have I, my wife or my father (the 3 peoples that do pickup and drop offs) ever had any threatening behavior towards you or any staff? that is such a pathetic attempt at trying to undermine an clear and honest review of the current status of Eilmar Montessori. RE - Why did we keep our kids there: Miss Tricia, Miss Lai, Miss Lucy, Mr Ben and the rest of a carers do a brilliant job, that combined with our children making and having friend at the nursery meant that we chose not to move them. Interestingly enough at no point in your inflammatory comments did you respond to the concerns raised in the review. Your lies in your comments simply highlight the mindset of the management."

"I read some poor reviews, I decided to visit the nursery anyway, I have visited many nurseries prior to this one. At Elms, I found the staff was caring and attentive to the children when visited. The children I saw, seemed calm and relaxed, at ease with the adults, socialising well and playing kindly. It seemed a quiet place, no shouting from anyone, some nurseries have more space but very many children too. I was looking for a Montessori method, accordingly they have wooden toys and give children the freedom to explore life through playing using their own initiative as well as having group activities. Today, it was my daughter's ever first day away from us at 2.4 years of age and she didn't cry, she was happy to go and stay this morning. My husband picked her up, she was sitting listening to a story, she was extremely happy and excited afterwards. She obviously had a great time. I like that children learn to eat more vegetables too while there. I felt I was dealt promptly and efficiently with regards to the administration, I was given plenty of information over the phone and by email and they have been very kind and accomodating with a query I had. In this place, I didn't feel like a "number". Based on my overall experience and observations, it seems like a good nurturing place for my daughter and she has shown to love spending time there, this is important to me. Hence, I rate Elms 5 stars."

"My experience with this nursery is very poor and frustrating and I do not recommend anyone to send their kid to Elms Montessori. We noticed many issues in terms of childcare, staff behaviour and their terms and conditions. They don't deserve even a single STAR as a feedback. We found couple of times my kid comes very hungry even when they confirm that my kid ate properly, which clearly was not true. They will say something and give in written something else. And I have heard from other parents that they don't return deposit money of 250£ which they say they will give and even while we as parents qualify to get it back they just snatch hard earned money and talk very rudely. The staff does not have any professional ethics to talk and they handle my kid very roughly. And most of the time they don't reply to any emails what so ever, even when you remind them to. Here are few of the issues we faced: 1. Every time we see the same report (which always says that my kid ate banana) and staff tells he ate something else/nothing at all, so this report is clearly a box ticking exercise. 2. There is absolutely very tiny outdoor space for kids , considering you are sending your kid to explore the outside world , it’s really not the right place to send your kid to. 3. Above all most frustrating thing is the poor communication from their staff. They will say anything you want to hear on phone or in person but will never give you in written in terms of agreement and terms, so please make sure you read the agreement line by line and take a snapshot of what you are signing. I can see one review from another user SMD couple of months back and can clearly relate to it. Overall, I would not recommend this nursery to anyone. Please have a look at Ofsted's recent report, you will not find even a even a single good/outstanding area in the official report."

"Our son has been at Elms for around 18 months. He has grown in confidence immensely during his time there. All the staff are really friendly and helpful and have made an extremely positive influence to our son's development. I would definitely recommend this nursery."

"I was concerned about the nursery to a degree because going with something new with few reviews (some very strange and negative) when it comes to child care is a difficult decision. Our choice was simple. We looked at a couple of other nurseries nearby and although well rated by ofsted, we found that one was too crowded and a little chaotic -this would be hard for my son who is an only child in a spacious minimal home. Another had children sharing snacks in the corridor and I was dissatisfied with this because of allergies. They did have a strict 'no snacks from home' policy but this clearly isn't adhered to and was missed by the staff. Elms was a breath of fresh air. For my now 15 month old who joined aged 1: -The separate rooms for different age grops are adequate. The children do mix at certain points which we also like as they get to develop well with a bit of mingling now and then. -The staff are absolutely lovely! My son loves them all and reaches out for them the second we walk through the door! I've had to pop in and collect my son half way through the day and seen them serve lunch in the way I would, allowing the children to feed themselves and correcting them when they are making a mess - They provide plain simple drawstring bags for spare clothes and necessities. (No personal rucksacks with snacks!) - They keep you updated even if pick ups/drop offs are hectic. -Have a Spanish lessons/sing alongs -Accommodate additional time whenever they are adequately staffed. -Promote independence as we do; allow the child to do as much as possible themselves. Some of the food isn't what we'd feed our son at home but no nursery will be 100% to anyone's liking and we are happy with Elms as it works well for us for the most part. My son absolutely loves it here and the bad reviews are a little pathetic. I have addressed a few of them below: 1. If people were loitering on the premises, I'd be concerned the staff had not observed the strangers. If the weather was an issue, there is a bus stop both before and after the nursery which would have been a more appropriate choice!? 2. Yes they can at times be a little slow to respond but they are new, finding their feet and learning where they need to give a little more attention. The response rate has gotten quicker in just a few months of my son attending and primarily, they are childcare, not customer service. They handle the child care and child related communication well and that's what counts. 3. As a parent of a child already attending, I don't think I'd be pleased if my son and his peers were lacking attention because someone rocked up half an hour early. I'm sorry but resources need to be considered and leaving a bad review influencing parents is unfair. We try hard to make the best choice for our children, this is not helpful! I hope this review was helpful. It is extensive but hopefully this will help with decision making. We do wish there were better and more informative reviews when we were making our decision!"