Peaches

Attentive, caring and creative

Our son is 3.5 and has been at Peaches and Pears for over 2 years. It’s a small setting with warm and attentive staff, making for the perfect transition from maternity leave and beyond. Their child-led ethos is apparent in everything they do, while still setting lovely standards for manners and social behaviour.

We love the home-made meals and stimulating activities – from regular park trips, cooking, crafts and yoga to special days like pottery painting and a farm visit.

Most of all, we love the fact our son has a genuine bond with the ‘grown ups’, who know him well and respond to his moods, needs and interests through the many phases of toddlerhood.

It’s never easy choosing a nursery for the first time and putting your trust in others but P&P is the cosy, creative setting we hoped to find and we couldn’t recommend it more highly.

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by Lucy on 13/05/2025

Homely nurturing childcare

Our son (now 3) has been with Peaches and Pears since he was 1, and I wholly recommend them. The homely environment serves as a great transition into childcare, with those working there showing a genuine personal care for and knowledge of the children they're caring for. As my son has gotten older it felt like we were caring for him together as a team- I've definitely learnt lots from them and have benefitted from syncing approaches to behaviour etc.
The consistent staffing that such a family run business provides is also a unique benefit that I hadn't considered before but now really see the positives of.
Whilst the setting is informal, there is clear passion for childcare and development, and my son has enjoyed lots of different activities and experiences, all really geared towards him developing his own creativity and exploration, rather than overly structured syllabuses. Watching videos of park trips and seeing how they encourage that exploration shows a real understanding of the children as individuals.

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by Sarah on 12/05/2025

A home-from-home that we feel lucky to be part of

I think we looked at almost every option of childcare in the local area, and with Peaches & Pears it just clicked straightaway. Our son has now been attending for the last 2.5 years and he loves it. He’s made good friends and it’s become a home-from-home for him. You can tell its family run, so much care goes into every aspect of the setting which makes it comfortable and welcoming which is so important for little ones’ development. We’ve had lovely moments where he surprises us with things he’s learnt, be it counting on his own or making an omelette without any shell in! Peaches & Pears have been very supportive of every developmental stage; whether the emotional phases, or practical parts like potty training, they’re always on side and happy to help. They are also very flexible which is hugely important to us, especially during lockdowns where we felt it important that our child had as much normality as possible. We feel very fortunate that they’ve been such an important part of our son’s growing up and recommend them very highly.

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by Lee on 14/09/2022

A loving, safe place for my son.

My son has been at P&P since he was 14 months old. The settling in process was tailored to him and sensitive to his needs as well as the parents. I've always felt happy dropping him off, knowing he was safe and well cared for. The family care deeply for all the children and foster strong caring values and manners in the children. The menu is varied and I am relived knowing he is eating healthily while he is there and I don't feel so guilty when he has less good food at home!

I'm really glad we chose P&P for our son and would recommend it to anyone.

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by Holly on 30/06/2021

A truly wonderful family-run nursery

My partner and I are so grateful to have found Peaches and Pears. Our son has been there for 2 years so far. He loves it there. He settled in very quickly and has formed close bonds with all P&P carers as well as the other children. He is excited to go in the mornings and comes home happy and tired (in a good way!) from a great day.

Peaches and Pears is a well-run family business. They follow a ‘Curiosity Approach,’ providing open-ended objects and toys and letting children's’ imaginations decide how to interact with them. They supplement this with stimulating and varied activities for the children, keeping things fresh and mixing indoor and outdoor play, as well as trips outside the grounds to local playgrounds, walks, stay and plays etc.

The team are warm and caring, and their enthusiasm for their work shines through everyday. They have created a homely and social environment for the children, and each carer gets to know every child as an individual, adjusting their approach to each little person’s needs. They are helpful and supportive to us as parents. They are parent-led, while offering great advice, inspiration and ideas when needed – always respectfully and never out of turn.

As a business, they handled the COVID-19 situation very well, adjusting routines as necessary. They took advantage of lockdown to revamp the covered back yard and garden, creating an amazing play space. Our son particularly loves the mud kitchen!

All in all, we highly recommend Peaches and Pears to local families looking for a safe, caring and stimulating environment for their children to thrive in.

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by Gemma on 31/12/2020

Fantastic, caring childminders

Our daughter attended Peaches and Pears for just over a year and I cannot fault the care she received. The environment is like a home from home, and she loved attending. She settled in quickly, she spoke about her friends, she learnt things, she was happy. All of the team are kind and caring, and we are extremely grateful for the love they showed to our whole family.

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by Anna C on 04/09/2020

Lovely thoughtful family

Our daughter has been attending P&P since she was 10months old. She has loved the 2 year experience bonding quickly with the whole family, to the point that we were unsure who her key worker was initially as she was reciting all their names at home!
The environment was perfect for her transitioning into care from being at home with just myself on maternity leave. The family run a thoughtful and interesting schedule of activities for the children, often taking them for external activities both locally and afar.
The communication is particularly good with an online diary sent to parents and also a log book when the children are younger. This was perfect for us so we could see and keep up with all her development.
She really has had the best time and we have loved seeing her grown during her time at P&P.

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by NMANN on 17/12/2019

Home from home

Our son has been going to P&P for nearly 2 years and he loves it. He gets on brilliantly with all the staff, not just his key worker and he looks forward to his days there. This is a warm and loving environment where children are genuinely cared for, there have been numerous occasions where staff have gone above and beyond what is the standard level of care.

The staff are all highly skilled and professional and we have seen our boy develop an excellent grasp of numeracy and literacy from a young age. He enjoys all the daily activities which are wide and varied- creative play, baking, visiting local children’s centres, parks and libraries etc. It is a social environment and he has made lots of friends. I am also impressed by how sympathetic and flexible they are to each child’s needs.

We also appreciate that they make healthy home cooked meals and snacks!

Our family would highly recommend P&P to anyone

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by Katy on 02/01/2019

Wonderful family run childminders

Our daughter has been attending Peaches and Pears for over 18 months and absolutely loves it. They do loads of really fun activities; baking, mud kitchen, painting, reading, singing and go out on lots of little trips; playgrounds, woodland walks, stay and plays, library, blackberry picking! Our daughter always comes home having learnt all sorts of new things, with lots of exciting stories about what she and all her friends have been doing. They are really helpful with tips on how to handle new phases e.g. potty training, changes in naps etc... I'm so glad we found them!

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by Parent on 28/08/2018

Lovely family childminders

Peaches and Pears looked after our son from the age of 1 until the age of 2. Unfortunately he had to leave as our circumstances changed. All the family were very caring and sensible. We still use Zahra as a babysitter sometimes. They took the children out a lot which I liked and were practical and supportive. I would highly recommend them. They also recently had the facilities upgraded so it is better than the description above and they have an outside yard with toys. They were also very flexible with extra days when they had the capacity which was very helpful for us.

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by Parent on 08/04/2018