Dicky Birds Day Nursery and Preschool Wimbledon, Queens Road

Our daughter was 2 years old, the settling in process was highly respectful and the team were truly open and flexible to accommodate our request for a few extra days when we realised they were necessary to make the process smoother. Our daughter loves the team and her classmates and consistently comes back home cheerful and telling us all sort of stories! She particularly enjoys playing in their lovely garden. The team are loving and attentive and we can see how our daughter likes them all. Their approach counts with a great balance between free time and guided activities, and our daughter’s development during this past year was clear. The community of parents is also excellent and we delight in some playdates over the weekend. I adore Dicky Birds open and honest updates through the daily reports but also through the weekly newsletter (which I look forward to every Friday!). I couldn’t suggest Dicky Birds enough. Our journey with Dicky Birds has been excellent since we’ve joined.

He enjoys the activities, the food and has made great friends. I am highly pleased with how the childcare centre is run, we receive daily handovers and management is in frequent contact with us on my son’s development. The refurbishment has made a difference as there is more outdoor and indoor space for the kids to playtime. My son has been at Dicky Birds Queens Road for three years – he has been well looked after and cared for.

However, the way the management team handled our concerns was outstanding. We felt they were truly listening, providing details of our kid’s day and what the team is doing to resolve any issues we had. The team in the room were so attentive and consistently told us with so much excitement about our daughter’s day and what she achieved. The adore and care for our daughter felt genuine. She was consistently cheerful to go to childcare centre. The settling in period wasn’t managed highly well by the key person.

This is a big chain of a childcare centre where profits come above care – rooms are at capacity and team numbers are filled with agency workers with whom kids cannot form any attachment to. Management is weak, parents are given the bare minimum in terms of feedback, the settling-in period for us (Sep 22) was completely chaotic, with no system in place to assistance new parents. Complaints to head office and to the area manager were not addressed properly – there are so many issues with this childcare centre and I believe now, after Ofsted intervention, they are finally taking some action having ignored so many parents before now. My kid is now at another local childcare centre, small and privately owned and absolutely thriving, a stark contrast to his time here. I sense my family were utterly let down by Dicky Birds and would advise all parents to avoid this setting at all costs. I, alongside many other parents as of late, made the decision to pull my son out of Dicky Birds Queen’s Road in November 2022.

Our little one loves her family there and makes outstanding development. The management are attentive and well‑informed about the kids and their families and specific needs. The level of care at Dicky Birds Queens Road is outstanding – they are diligent, committed and full of warmth for the kids.