Best nurseries in Bristol

There is the usual mixture of corporate (eg Daisy Chain), small local providers (eg Clifton Tots, Christ Church Pre-school, Mama Bears), family-run (eg Woodland House) and those attached to the independent schools (Clifton College Prep, Clifton High).

Demand is high and availability low. Waiting lists can last for up to a year. We suspect there are parents who use the ‘first come first served’ policy of independent school nurseries to get small children through the door before they have to face any kind of entrance assessment: transfer up the school is usually automatic unless the child is patently unsuited for the school setting.

Private family owned nurseries predominate in this part of Bristol (Green Door, Pooh Corner, Tin Drum, Moonriver and Archfield House) plus one local chain, Snapdragons and Torwood House, now part of rapidly expanding national chain Kids‘ Planet. All tell the same story of little, if any, availability for babies and year long waiting lists.

Some spaces for pre-schoolers at the start of the academic year, when 4-year-olds move on to school.

Younger children have a choice of nurseries, mostly privately owned; demand is high with year-long waits very possible. Toybox is in Henleaze; Once upon a Time, Lake House, Red House Children’s Centre and Manor House all in Westbury. The last of these claims to have a slightly different way of going about things, offering the children more autonomy in their day.

Badminton Junior School has its own nursery, taking girls from the age of three and much more a preparation for school: term-time only, uniform and academic in its approach eg early introduction to phonics.

Three private nursery options in the city centre, perhaps more likely to be near to parents’ place of work than the family home. Becket Hall will take babies from eight weeks of age and operates year-round. King Street Nursery right in theatreland is part of growing (60+ nurseries) Dutch chain Partou.

Co-op Nurseries, a national provider with 48 nurseries, have one site in a historic vaulted building right next to Bristol Temple Meads, the city’s main station, an area which has been massively developed in recent years and which now gleams with shiny office blocks. Redcliffe Nursery and Children’s Centre is a local authority setting, intended to provide affordable childcare for lower income families in Bristol and the admissions policy reflects this.

Quite a few nurseries in this part of Bristol to reflect growing demand. Notably North St and Lydstep, both part of local chain Nursery Village. London chain Magic Roundabout Nurseries has a branch here with a waiting list of a year; 18 month waiting lists and stricter admissions criteria for the two sites run by local not-for-profit BS3 Community, Southville Centre and Chessel Centre. National chain Bright Horizons nurseries has one branch here with a greener setting than the others.