Nursery and Preschool Bromley | Fennies Nursery

My daughter has been going to Fennies Blyth Road for almost 2 years. She loves it there and I would definitely recommend this nursery. We had very high standards when choosing a nursery, and Fennies won over of the others on the cleanliness, modern facilities and good standards. The garden wasn’t as big as a neighbouring nursery, but it’s perfect outdoor area for the kids: riding bikes around, obstacle courses, mud play etc. The settling in wasn’t as long or as ”hand holding” as expected, but it was fine in the end as my daughter settled very quickly. There have been management changes in the last year or so, and it has improved it so much. The current staff currently are fantastic. There are at least 4 staff members that my daughter regularly talks about, they really make an impact on her. Often there are Tapestry updates where they are doing one-on-one teaching. In the toddler room, and now the preschool room, the staff engagement and communication with the children is outstanding. Their online sharing platform, Tapestry, is great. We get regularly (at least weekly) updates. Its amazing seeing what she’s up to. I can upload and add comments on here too. There is also a handover in the morning and afternoon (outside now re Coronovirus), and I never feel rushed, can ask as many questions as I want. When she was a toddler there were daily handover notes that told me what she ate / slept / nappies etc. They were proactive and very supportive with toilet training my daughter. When she was in the toddler room I wanted my daughter not to have any refined sugar. They were supportive of this, even though it was only a parental preference. They do give the kids ice cream, custard etc which originally I didn’t support, but recently they’ve sent out a very helpful information sheet from their nutritionist which opened my eyes on a few things. I was more than impressed with the communication from Fennies in relation to Coronavirus. Speaking to fellow mums they got very little info from their nursery’s, even after the date that nursery’s were allowed to open again. I felt so reassured that Fennies was reading the guidelines, making changes, and being so proactive during that difficult time. Then to communicate that regularly to the parents was fantastic! The only negatives I can think of, was when my daughter was in the toddler room, when I picked her up sometimes the kids would be watching tv on a tablet in a group. But they did this at her previous nursery too. I just thought I’m paying lots of money to sit them in front of the tele. But it was only ever really late in the day (5pm onwards) when the poor toddlers are exhausted. I’m not sure they still do this. Also last year management were unable to succeed in the mothers day afternoon tea and fathers day breakfast. Both cancelled at the last minute. And the Christmas party had room for improvement. But really if anything needs improvement in a nursery, I’m fine for it to be those kind of things.

Please ignore the 1 star reviews of Fennies. I don't believe they are genuine reviews. (that person has left over 90 reviews, a bit dubious to me) I can speak from personal experience, my son has been there for nearly a year. He started there from 1 years old and from the very beginning I have been so impressed and reassured by the professional and caring service I have received. Having your little one start nursery and trusting them in the care of others is a worrying step for any parent. But the exceptional and thoughtful care I have received at Fennies deserves to be heard. The baby room is an excellent space, with their own astro turfed roof terrace. Each age group has age specific outdoor space. The rooms are large, clean and full of engaging, fun and educational toys/play areas. Every day they update with pictures and videos a private journal/website for parents to see what they are up to. They give you handover sheets detailing exactly what your baby has eaten, drunk, nappies changed, nap times and activities. They give you a verbal handover too. Nursery has been so beneficial for my little one, his development has come on leaps and bounds. The interaction with other littles ones is so good for him too. During Coronavirus they have kept up with communication with the parents and the safety measures in place are adequate. I wouldn't be put off by the fact some of the staff are in their 20's I think it's prejudice to suggest they can't do a good job because of this. My son loves his key worker and all of the staff are polite and professional. They were even featured on the BBC due to their exceptional work! We looked at all of the Nurseries with waiting lists and Fennies are head and shoulders above the rest of them honestly. I think it's just because they have been around longer than Fennies that they have a good reputation. Book your visit today and make up your own mind. I would rate them 9.5 out of 10! I'm only taking away 0.05 because they could be a bit cheaper! Keep up the good work Fennies. I have no doubt you will.

My son joined Fennies Bromley at the beginning of the month and I couldn’t be happier with the nursery. We thought this would be a very unsettling time for him however I was amazed at how easy the transition was. The nursery Manager was great and made the whole process very easy for us and the whole team were extremely supportive. My son always talks about his teachers at home and can’t wait to go to nursery every morning! I would highly recommend this nursery to parents and I’m extremely impressed with the standard of childcare and support my family has received from the staff who are always willing to go the extra mile.

Don't risk it with your baby! We had a tour and weren't 100% sure mainly due to extremely young staff members and crowded rooms. We also had concerns about the complaints by parents about this nursery published on the Ofsted website. The head of education called me and explained what these complaints were. She was very sincere and reassuring. Since other nurseries in the area recommended by friends all have a long waiting time and our career plan suddenly changed, we put our trust in her and signed up our 8-month old son. 3 days prior to the start, I went into the nursery to provide detailed information about my baby boy, like dietary requirements and his development progress, etc. I was surprised by the unexpected one after another. During a short 10 minutes time span, everything I heard or saw was not what we were told during the tour. First off, our 8-month old son will be put together with toddlers well over 14 months old, who can already walk and jump around. We were told during the tour babies under 12 months old will be in their own group. Including my son, there would be only 2 under 1 year old babies. I guess for that reason, they decided to put babies with toddlers to save costs. But how could I feel comfortable to let my son who can only sit not yet crawl to be surrounded by toddlers who can just run and jump around him. Secondly, they were serving children sliced bananas directly on the table instead of putting them in plates. God knows what were on the table previously, whether the table was cleaned or any cleaning detergent could still be on the table. Lastly, we were told to take our shoes off for the under-18-month area for crawling babies' health and safety. However, their own members of staff including the branch manager herself were wearing outside shoes in and out of the area. When I pointed this out to the branch manager, she immediately took her shoes off. However, she later said she didn't take the shoes off due to safety concerns in case of fire emergency. Then how come we should left our shoes at the entrance of the area both during the tour and the induction day? Just a lame excuse. When I raised my concerns by calling the head of education later that day, she even agreed with the branch manager's excuse unfortunately. I think she just tried to look less bad, however, it's totally lack of principle in my opinion. We are talking about babies. Putting the nursery's reputation over the welfare of babies is just unacceptable. As mentioned at the beginning of the review, most of the carers are very young in their early 20's. My initial concerns were right. How can you let someone who never had their own children to look after your baby? Therefore, in less than 10 minutes of sitting down there filling out the forms, I could already see so many problems. Why should they worry about hygiene, why should they bother taking off their shoes for your crawling babies. As a chain of nusery, Fennies definitely has all kinds of procedures and policies in place for the carers. However, this branch definitely is still at the stage of making sure these rules are properly followed and building up experience among its young staff members. We decided not to send our son there and I hope you won't take the risk either.