Nursery in Redhill

Our daughter has been at Tiddlywinks since she was 1 (now 3.5) and we have been so impressed with all aspects of the nursery. Communicating with the team, be it by email, phone or in person has always been really easy and efficient. Often we have last minute requests and they are always honoured which is invaluable for us. All the staff we have met over the years have been fantastic. Everyone is engaged and clearly trained to a very high standard. When transitioning from room to room we have always had a clear plan, and met with the new team. We have always found all the rooms to be clean and have lots of appropriate stimulation for the children. Our daughter comes home with new songs, vocab and skills which is fantastic to see. It’s great to see high levels of security on the entrances to the nursery. Ultimately our daughter absolutely loves coming to nursery, and that makes it the absolute perfect one for us! Nick & Claire   |     |  

We have been fortunate to have our youngest two daughters attend Tiddlys both for 3-4 days a week all year round for the last 7 years. The elder of the two joined the baby room very soon after we moved to the area in late 2015. She had some medical problems, but Tiddlys were very receptive to any information or advice on how to build in her play therapy or physio therapy into her daily activities in the nursery. She thrived at Tiddlys and we are proud she settled into mainstream school in 2019, as a well socialised happy girl and keeping up with her peers, we owe a lot of this to Tiddlywinks. From the Autumn 2020 our youngest, joined tiddlys and is now in the pre-school room. She’s had been coming for 4 days a week since she was 6 months old. She has always had a great relationship with all the staff in each room, whether they are her key person or not. We are in the middle of potty training and it was Tiddlys that helped to reassure us that she was showing the signs of when to get ready to start potty training. By working together we went from nappies to fully dry in a matter of days. It made the whole process very straight forward and no fuss. She loves her little friends, staff and Rugby Tots and I’ll be sad when our time at Tiddlys ends next year. Last thing, Louise and Georgia naturally took it in their stride when they took over as managers. In spite of covid they kept things rolling smoothly. Communication is regular and I enjoy the monthly newsletters and sharing of a policy each month. I never would have proactively looked at them, but as they are drip fed monthly I have actually looked through a lot of them now and it’s good to know they have everything covered and under control. Calandra   |     |  

Our third child is currently in toddler room and has been at Tiddlywinks for the last year (he is almost 2) and loves it there! His two older siblings (twins - boy and girl) attended the nursery since 2018 and are now at school and also thrived in the loving and caring environment. We visited several nurseries for our twins and again for our third child and were blown away by Tiddlywinks (and reminded again last year) - the staff definitely go the extra mile for the children. They make huge efforts to create fun, interactive, learning, sensory, creative, age appropriate activities for the children and really encourage independence in a safe way - as well as respecting individual abilities and balancing structured time with free play. Our children are bilingual and the team have shown a real interest in learning and supporting this in the nursery (Jess his key worker) asking us to provide words that he says in German to help them understand him better. We’ve provided flash cards and songs that previous staff have asked for as well for fun during the day together. The team embrace diversity and inclusion and as same sex parents we really saw the difference the Tiddlywinks approach has had on the environment and how welcoming our family felt throughout all the years. This is also true of cultural diversity. They managed during Covid brilliantly, keeping adapting and informing us of changes which all made sense and have reestablished pick up and drop off indoors with no issues. This was a step above many other local providers of services and continues to be so. Security and safety are paramount and we have never had any concerns. Safeguarding is critical and sleeping babies are well looked after; daily log books always completed, accident forms explained / handed out/ recorded and real care and knowledge about each day at handover times. Food and drink options are great. The team supported toilet training for our twins; the busy daily logistical challenges of sickness and parents rushing to / from work with a calm and friendly manner every day. The teams work hard, are committed and the leadership of the nursery does a fantastic job of looking after their team and keeping us informed (significantly better than school) filling us with confidence that they plan ahead and respect both the children and the parents/ carers. We have seen other nurseries close due to lack of funding and low take up of places but Tiddlywinks is ever more popular and thriving for good reason and we hope it continues to grow and be successful and this is reflected in the inspection. Thanks for continuing to be a great team looking after Finn and all the others! Lucy and Silke   |     |  

Both of our children have attended Tiddlywinks, our son is there now. We have been delighted with the level of care they have received at all times. The nursery is warm and inviting for all the family, the staff are dedicated and caring, the activities are engaging and the food and general care is fantastic. Communication to parents is also always excellent, including throughout the complex challenges of the pandemic. Joanna and Alex   |     |  

Our daughter (currently in the preschool room) has loved nursery from her very first day when she almost ran through the door to get in . The staff have always met her all development needs (whether social, emotional, physical, communication and language or learning) and have clearly communicated through discussions and the learning book what her next steps are and how they are supporting her. They have adapted their provision to support her individual needs. I am happy that she is safe at nursery and also that she feels safe and secure with the adults there. Any accidents are reported promptly and when she has gone in with a bruise from home, staff have checked how it happened. I love the nursery ethos and their use of natural materials / their environments as well as their use of external providers for physical development activities. She and I will both be sad when she has to leave to go to big school. Cathy   |     |  

My three children have attended Tiddlywinks since my daughter started in 2018. My youngest two are currently at the nursery. I cannot speak highly enough of Tiddlywinks-the staff are fantastic and are always kind, friendly, helpful and approachable. The staff are consistent and they always seem happy to be at work. Staff know the children well and they always greet us with a smile. Whenever I drop the children off I’ve left in the knowledge that they will be well looked after. The nursery always has a positive feel, and it’s a really happy place to be. There is really good communication between the nursery and families and if there is ever any incident this is always clearly explained and recorded. My youngest son has multiple allergies and the nursery have been excellent in ensuring that these are well managed. They have been extremely accommodating and have many things in place to make sure that his allergies are managed whilst ensuring that he’s always included at mealtimes. I have always been very impressed with the nursery and am so glad that we chose Tiddlywinks. Claire   |     |  

My eldest has been in Tiddlywinks since she was 15minths old and is now currently in her final few months of pre school. From the initial settling in sessions, it was obvious this nursery was a place that truly cared about the children, hired the most wonderful staff and provided an amazingly caring atmosphere to parents during what was a covid lockdown at the time. The staff have truly made that place undeniably supportive to both parents and to the children they care for. Louise, Georgia and Petra have gone out of their way to be as flexible as they possible and are always on hand to make the impossible manageable. Both my girls attend Tiddlywinks and it will be a terribly sad day when they both no longer have those delightful people to see everyday. Outstandings all round! Corinne   |     |  

I have a 16 month old son currently in baby room and my daughter also attended the setting, leaving last August to start school. She had previously been at another nursery and we moved house and joined Tiddlywinks so I have experience of another nursery that we were happy with but I can truthfully say that TW surpasses our old nursery in every way. My daughter joined school with 10 others coming from TW and they all had a noticeable head start in terms of their reading, writing and comprehension. The material covered in the first term of reception was already familiar to these children who were therefore more confident and settled in more quickly to the school environment. TW took the time to find out where each child would be going to school and started socialising them in these groups which again really helped their adjustment. When my daughter started it was during Covid and parents were not allowed in to drop off. She was very nervous and upset going in and missed her old nursery. After a few emotional drops offs the next time we arrived the key worker came out holding a doll as she had noticed this was my daughter’s favourite thing to play with, she interacted with my daughter asking her to come in and look after the doll and my daughter absolutely loved it and went in happily! Sarah kept doing this until it wasn’t necessary and I was so impressed with the thought and genuine desire to make the children feel happy and confident as well as the attention to detail to know exactly which toy would cheer her up. My son has settled in very quickly to baby room and I am constantly impressed at the variety of activities they do, lots of things I wouldn’t think of doing with a one year old but actually he loves as I try them at home after getting feedback from nursery! He is well stimulated but also nurtured and cared for, and I am always surprised at how well they know him when they have a room full of children to look after- no matter which worker I speak to they can tell me about his day, what he has said and done and eaten and slept, what his likes and dislikes are and it is so comforting knowing he is being taken care of so well. My son’s development has really come on since starting, with more communication and confidence. The staff take time at handovers and tell me funny stories about him from the day and they are so observant, noticing a bitten lip or the start of a new word. I genuinely feel so lucky that my son (and previously my daughter) have been taken such good care of and have formed such caring relationships with adults outside the family. When my daughter comes to pick her brother up now the staff are still so excited to see her, they take time to talk to her and make her feel special. From an admin point of view the office are fantastic, quick to respond to any queries and consider all feedback- when my daughter was in preschool they changed the way they called the children to sit down, using clapping hands instead of calling out after I mentioned my daughter had said this was too loud! I thought it was brilliant that they cared enough to review and make a change when they didn’t need to. Aimee   |     |  

Really well done to you and the whole Tiddlywinks family. We couldn’t be happier for sending our two little girls to an outstanding nursery, and so delighted and proud of the whole team! Well done everyone! Ashwina   |     |  

The provision at Tiddlywinks is the perfect blend of a loving homely environment and exciting, well constructed early years learning. Both my son and daughter have attended and are attending the nursery and we are delighted to have such caring and well informed practitioners looking after our children. We are always updated on their daily activities, how well they are working with others and a personal response which could only come from them knowing our children so well. The early years progress reports are thorough and clearly discussed at regular parent meetings. We know that they are interacting with all kinds of learning, from outdoor fun to arts and crafts, role play to pattern making. We also love the time they take to put together the newsletter, keeping us informed of all of their policies and updates. The recent renovation to the Toddler room and baby room have really helped to give them a better set up too. Our daughter loves going to Tiddlywinks and we will be very sad to move on when she eventually goes to school. Amy   |     |