Dicky Birds Day Nursery and Preschool Surbiton, Maple Road

My child has been at this nursery for almost 2 years now, going through the different classes and every single one has been even better than the previous one. The staff are very thoughtful and I am fully confident that they are providing great care for my child and broadening their horizons.
In addition, from a very practical standpoint, 3 meals a day and nappies are provided which makes our life as parents much easier during the week.

My son previously attended many years ago. My daughter currently attends and is in the Starlings room. She started her journey in the Ducks and has worked her way up the rooms. She is very excited to go in every day and see her friends and the team in the room. I can not fault the care that we have received and you can see how hard all the staff work in the nursery. She comes home happy which is what my main hope is. The nursery displays as you enter the nursery are fantastic and very appealing! As a family, we cannot find a fault with the nursery.

Staff go above and beyond to make sure your little one is safe, cared for and happy. We can speak to them about issues we are having regarding difficulties with getting our child to sleep, potty training etc and despite being super busy they give you that time and advice which is really helpful. We attended a lovely Christmas event that the nursery put on which was fab, my daughter had lots of fun and it was a chance for the parents to meet too. Food and drink were great and once again staff really went that extra mile, on a Friday evening I might add- which we all know is precious time to unwind at the end of the week. Really appreciate their efforts.

I will split my review into the child development and overall nursery management categories. Regarding development, I think that the practitioners are doing a fabulous job. Our daughter adores the nursery and knows the names of a decent number of practitioners she had interacted with and also the names of the children in her room. We are receiving regular updates on her progress. Management-wise, there used to be quite a few issues with the staffing shortages that negatively affected parents in the mornings as we had to wait for staff replacements and had been given at short notice. I assume that this had also been putting a high stress load on the practitioners (who had been handling it amazingly well) and consequently children. However, the situation seems to have improved. On the food note, the meals that they serve for lunch and tea seem varied and healthy, but the breakfast is not nutritious enough (no eggs), at least from what I’ve seen.

My youngest has been with this nursery for 7 months since she was 7 months old. We had the most awful case of bottle rejection when we started and she is such a mama’s girl she even cries when daddy picks her up. The staff have been so understanding and compassionate, working with me trying all kinds of different bottles and cups, even spoon-feeding her milk to get her the liquids and nutrition she needs. She’s now happy and thriving and absolutely loves going to nursery. It’s a priceless feeling that my precious little one is getting the best care and enrichment she possibly could under the care of the Flamingo room staff. She especially adores all the messy play they organise for the class, which is impressive considering it must be no small feat to clean up after. I certainly would not want to give her that experience at home myself! We also need to be talking about the food, because the cuisine at this place is 5 baby Michelin stars. I know because I’ve tried it myself.

Amazing nursery, my son loves it here and skips in most days. The staff are incredible! He’s always learning and out and about in the outdoors which is great. He’s learning lots of sports which I think is so important and one of his favourite parts.

We’ve been generally happy with the staff across the multiple classes our child has now been through. They get to know your child and provide personalised care. They’re often able to answer questions about the day or latest behaviour and are supportive through phases and transitions. We’ve been impressed with the diverse activities and curriculum. Economies of scale ensure that your child gets to experience things they might not when at home. The facility is well organised and equipped.

Sincerely appreciate the atmosphere of fun and learning that the caring staff at Dicky Birds encourage. My daughter has been attending since she was eleven months old and she enjoys it immensely, has made so many lovely friends and is confident, creative and curious as a result of the curriculum.

We couldn’t be happier sending our son to Dicky Birds. The staff are all so kind and caring and make a huge effort to make each day fun and engaging for the children through the wide range of activities that they offer. We love to see the pictures and weekly round ups every Friday of what the children got up to and their smiling faces say it all!

The nursery is poor; recently audited by Ofsted as ‘Requires improvement’ across all measurable areas. When we joined for our child the Ofsted reports were ‘Good’, prior to that ‘Outstanding’.
The turnover of staff, continuity of staff, staff levels, staff consistency and capacity to focus on the development of your child just isn’t there. We’re immensely disappointed with this nursery, particularly the management who seem to be wholly ineffective and functionally useless.
There’s little attention to the learning pathway, maturity, shortfalls and needs of an individual child, yes they can look after your child but they seem to be unable to meaningfully develop their learning.
For the higher than local pricing they charge and the onerous terms and conditions they rigidly mandate on parents it just isn’t worth considering as an option.
We would recommend you look to another nursery, not the Dicky Birds/Grandir/Kidi Caru group (who have several locations nationally).