The West Finchley Day Nursery

We sent our first child to West Finchley Preschool so, like many parents, didn’t really know what to expect and were a little nervous about our daughter being cared for by other people and not us. We had nothing to worry about. The communication we have experienced with the team has been really great – they constantly update us on our daughter’s progress throughout the day. She has a healthy, varied diet at nursery and she seems to have already built great relationships with the staff in the baby and toddler room (who are really great.) We feel she is totally secure and she seems really happy there.

My boy is very happy here. He has made a lot of friends and learns a lot here. The nursery provide very good and active music and a multimedia learning channel. The staff are very caring for the children.

After viewing many nurseries in the area and surrounding areas, I visited The West Finchley Preschool prior to their official opening. The principal was exceptionally warm and welcoming, and spent over an hour showing us around the nursery. No other visit I had was as reassuring and detailed. She provided a great amount of insight into the nursery’s ethos and day to day routines. My daughter settled exceptionally quickly, transitioned to the toddler class, and I have seen her progress week by week. I am amazed by what she learns and how much she is able to tell me about her day. She enjoys the activities, food and her nursery teachers. All the staff have been exceptionally friendly, and have created a safe and nurturing environment. The nursery maintain constant communication with parents, especially over email, and are very easy to speak with in person. They were very reassuring during lockdown. I have no worries when I drop my daughter in the morning.

After viewing lots of nurseries in the area, we fell in love with the West Finchley Preschool. But when the opening was delayed, we opted for another nursery nearer our house. Even though my daughter “settled” at the second nursery and it was very convenient to get to, we made the tricky decision to go with our initial gut feeling and resettle her at the West Finchley. Best decision we’ve ever made and we haven’t looked back! She’s been in the baby room and now the walkers’ room. She’s made so many friends and loves the room mentors. She talks about them constantly at home! Her appetite and love of food has grown so much in the time she’s been there too – I’m often envious of the recipes listed on the app! A fellow mum once told me you need to find a nursery where you feel happy dropping them off and you can completely focus on your work while they’re there. I can confidently say West Finchley has done that for us and I did not feel the same with the previous nursery.

Caught a pregnant teacher saying strong swear words in the corridor right after we dropped our son at the nursery. Very disappointed, we decided to stop our child from attending nursery after three weeks. Teacher seen as impatient and not caring. Email apology received from nursery but no official action plan seen in regards to the incident.

My daughter has been attending West Finchley Pre-school full time since she was 16 months old to now nearly 3. She has had outstanding care during this time from all her key workers and built strong relationships with them and other children. Particular strengths of the nursery for us have been the nurturing environment, attention to reading, new skills like toilet training and outdoor play. As we are both working parents, we have also really found the nursery supportive with tasks like potty training and teaching our daughter to share and take turns. Our daughter has progressed amazingly in her time at the nursery in speech, physical skills and social skills. The quality of food at the nursery is very good and the staff work extremely hard. The fact my daughter talks about wanting to show her key workers things when she is at home is a testament to their strong bond. We have been and remain extremely happy with West Finchley Pre-school.

My daughter has attended West Finchley pre-school since April 2022. She has really been supported by her key person and has really developed. She has mastered potty training and she has really shown an interest in art as the nursery do so many beautiful activities with her. She loves the Spanish teacher and the fact she can speak Spanish at the age of 2.5 is amazing. Her key person has really shown her love and compassion and I know her needs are met when she is with them. She is flourishing and this is because the nursery are showing her so much attention.

We’ve been with West Finchley Preschool since it opened in September 2021. We have had 2 kids attending, youngest is still there, oldest onto primary school. We cannot fault the warmth and care given by the staff, they are amazing, they really make an effort to get to know each individual child and we always found the nursery’s approach very personable to us as parents. Our daughter received a good foundation in phonics before she left for primary school which she is benefitting from now. Thank you to everyone at West Finchley Preschool for the great care you continue to give.

I found the setting to be a warm, friendly and welcoming place for both of my children. They both enjoyed their time there very much and the genuine care and affection the staff and management showed them were very apparent. It was very reassuring as a parent to know that not only were they well looked after but they were loved too.
The range of activities was great for little ones: from yoga classes to Spanish lessons to football coaching to art classes! The approach to encouraging and fostering the children’s independence (such as doing things for themselves) was also one we liked as it aligned closely with what we wanted to encourage at home too.
Overall, we have nothing but positive things to say about the setting.