Our experience with Poppy Seed Day Nursery has been deeply disappointing and, at times, genuinely concerning.
From the outset, the level of organisation was poor. I received the contract for our son only one week before his intended start date. There had been no confirmed start date provided beforehand, and no meaningful preparation or onboarding process in place. This left us with insufficient time to properly review contractual terms and prepare our child for what should have been a carefully managed transition. For a nursery environment, where communication and planning are fundamental, this lack of structure was alarming.
More seriously, during our son’s third settling-in session, he was sent home with a chunk of Blu-Tack in his mouth. Blu-Tack presents a clear choking hazard, particularly for a child under one year old. When this was identified at pick-up, the staff member responded casually with, “Oh sorry about that, kids will just find everything, won’t they?” No escalation, no formal incident reporting, and no indication that the matter would be reviewed internally.
Due to being on holiday, we raised this formally with management approximately ten days later. Rather than being met with concern or accountability, my wife encountered defensiveness and hostility. There was no acknowledgement of responsibility, no reassurance about safeguarding reviews, and no indication that procedures would be strengthened. Instead of constructive engagement, the conversation felt dismissive.
This defensive posture appears to be cultural rather than isolated. On multiple occasions, when my wife raised concerns, she was met with resistance rather than solutions. Conversations were characterised by “but” and “why” responses instead of actionable steps. The tone was frequently aggressive and accusatory. At one point, she was told she was being rude and aggressive, despite simply expressing reasonable parental concerns about her child’s welfare. She was further told that “no matter what we do, it won’t ever be good enough for you,” a statement that felt patronising and dismissive rather than professional.
Additionally, on our son’s first full day, personal belongings were mishandled. Two items were not returned to his bag, and his coat — which he arrived wearing — was completely misplaced. When we queried this over the phone, we were asked whether we were “100% sure” it had not been lost on a settling-in day instead, rather than any immediate acceptance that it had gone missing while in their care. This approach again reflected a tendency to deflect responsibility rather than resolve issues constructively.
Rather than addressing these concerns through meaningful improvements or rebuilding trust, the nursery chose to terminate our contract. This appeared to be a decision made to remove the perceived difficulty rather than address the underlying problems. The message conveyed was clear: concerns are not resolved — they are eliminated.
It is worth noting that staff frequently referenced their years of experience and understanding of their duty of care. However, experience alone does not replace accountability, communication, or safeguarding diligence.
We entrusted this nursery with our child’s wellbeing. Instead of reassurance, transparency, and professionalism, we experienced disorganisation, defensiveness, and a worrying lack of accountability when legitimate concerns were raised.
For any parent considering this nursery, I would strongly encourage careful consideration of how concerns are handled — not just how things operate when everything appears to be going smoothly.

• Overall
• Setting
• Cleanliness
• Food
• Communication