“Our son Theo started at Jolly’s just a few weeks ago. He was 11months. Despite having a big sister who is excellent at playing with him, he, like so many other ‘lockdown’ babies, had not had the opportunity to mix with lots of other people so sending him to nursery was a really anxious time for us. However as soon as I spoke to Tracey on the phone to enquire about availability I just got a great feeling, she sounded so friendly, and you could tell she was so proud of her nursery and staff that it made me curious to get to experience it for myself. Pre-covid my advice to parents would have been to see the nursery as you will just get a feel for it, and you will know if it’s right, but given the current situation that is not possible. However jolly’s still made it so you felt like you were actually there as Tracey took me on my own personal virtual tour (in fact she came in on her day off to do it) All the staff were very friendly the rooms were full of fun and mischief and everyone, staff and kids, look like they were having a great time. One room had kids playing hide and seek with the staff, you could hear them giggling as they were finding a place, another was outside on an inflatable pirate ship, while the babies were listening to a story. Kirstan spoke to me about the possums room (where Theo would start) and showed me around the great equipment, what I particularly liked was the justification for all the areas as it was all lead by what the children were showing an interest in like transport and the soft play area as the babies hadn’t been able to go to these due to covid. I knew then I wanted Theo to start. Don’t get me wrong I was still really worried about Theo starting as he had been for some taster sessions at a different nursery and had really struggled.The initial meeting was with Kirstan, we met outside and sat and played and talked for half an hour. Kirstan made notes as I told her about Theo’s routine, likes, dislikes, etc. Then she took Theo to meet the rest of the room for an hour. Theo cried as I left which is always hard but I knew he was in safe hands which made it feel ok. You have to follow your gut, and in the other nursery I was anxious, it didn’t feel right. Here it did. On Theo’s first proper day he was met by Lillie his key worker, Theo was very sad but I was told repeatedly by everyone I spoke to to ring as many times as I wanted. Which I did, and Lillie was very honest telling me he was sad for the first few hours, but by mid morning he was gaining confidence and starting to explore. What I really appreciated was that they listened to my advice about how best to settle him and what is so nice is that I received lots and lots of photos and videos throughout the day allowing me to see him getting more and more confident. We are now on week 3 and have now had tear-free hand overs! We couldn’t be prouder of Theo and think Lillie, Kirstan and Stephen are excellent. Theo clearly loves Lillie already, her updates on EyLog are always so nice to read, hearing she is enjoying cuddles with him, or her talking about things he has done that’s made them laugh make me know he is genuinely ok! Even in the short time he has been there (he does 3 days a week) he has already done so many brilliant activities including painting, foam, playing with frozen veg, soft play, we even have a great picture of him rolling a painted ball down a slide, with him following on his tummy. All the staff have made a huge effort to not only get to know Theo and make him feel part of the room and nursery but also to get to know us as a family so we are all part of the journey. If you are looking for a nursery I cannot recommend Jolly’s enough. I am confident it won’t disappoint! Going back to work brings with it so much mummy guilt. It was so important that I felt Theo was somewhere where he wasn’t just passing the days with his basic needs being met but was somewhere he would thrive and have a great time. For us that is definitely Jolly’s. We are excited to see Theo‘s journey really begin.”
