Testimonials/Written Reviews
Dear Susie and Daniela,
I’m writing to thank you both and all the staff at Tilbury for the invaluable experience you gave both Mathilde and Robyn during their time at the nursery. Robyn, who is now 6 and in Year 2 of school still talks about her time at Tilbury and is excelling at school in the top groups for everything and although she’s the youngest in the class, she is one of the highest readers in her class. She is so confident and willing to learn thanks to the values you guys instilled in her. Mathilde, having just started is also doing so well and although we didn’t get a proper last term at Tilbury due to the pandemic, we were overwhelmed with how you went above and beyond to make the children still feel valued and loved. They online sessions, the Whatsapp calls and the genuine care you showed for the children was invaluable. Through such an uncertain time it was nice for the children to know they had some consistency in their lives. Thank you.
As parents, we could not have wished for our children to have had a better nursery experience. We knew when leaving them with you that they would be cared for as if they were your own. You guys have such a rapport with each and every child and I can tell that you love your jobs and the children as much as they love being there. It’s such a caring environment driven by love and passion for what you do. I’m astonished at how you manage to make learning so fun and not only teach them to write and count, but, you also teach them valuable life skills and manners. I honestly don’t think the girls would be who they are today without your influence. Thank you Tilbury! We shall miss you.
Harriet and Shaun Holly
Tilbury Nursery is a fabulous nursery, and a great starting foundation for a child’s journey onto school education. Tilbury have wonderfully creative outside and inside learning spaces, with engaging and inspiring areas for the children. The staff are fantastic. They are caring and kind, and the children (and parents) adore them. They rise to challenging obstacles and circumstances with grace and unfaltering commitment, and turn negatives into positives, which shows the dedication and hard work from every member of the team.
We have sent two of our daughters here and we are about to send our youngest. The older two have absolutely thrived. Both girls left Tilbury polite, confident, happy and ready to embark on their next journey to primary school.
Natalie Rogers
My son started Tilbury in September 2018. In the lead up to his first day, I visited the nursery where his Key Worker spent a great deal of time with me finding out what he was like and showing me how progress is documented via ‘learning journals’. I was made to feel exceptionally welcome and genuine interest was shown in my son and his wellbeing.
My son enjoyed his first day, but this was followed by a few tears upon leaving him on the second day. Shortly after I arrived home, his Key Worker telephoned me to say that he was fine. She then spent all morning with him, getting to know him more closely and establishing what became a very strong bond. She emailed me lots of photographs so I could see at first hand that he was ok.
He flourished very quickly at Tilbury and made lots of wonderful friends, however, as he became more confident he began to push some of the other children. Naturally, I was mortified and very worried that the situation would escalate. His Key Worker and the other staff at Tilbury gave me their full support, consistently reassuring me that it was just a phase and he would grow out of it. We worked together and communicated on a daily basis until eventually he did stop pushing other children. His Key Worker has only ever seen the best in my son, even when he was testing the boundaries. During this period I couldn’t have asked for more from a nursery and never once felt that my son was at risk of being ‘written off’ as a bully.
Overall, I cannot speak highly enough about Tilbury Nursery. The staff are exceptionally kind and go out of their way to ensure all children are happy and content. Communication with parents is excellent with real interest shown in the child’s wider family. The children spend as much time as possible outside in the fresh air and come home covered in mud, paint, glue and glitter - a sign that they have had a truly great day!
C. Tansley
Dear Daniela, Susie & the Tilbury team
I have been meaning to email since Eady said her ‘goodbye’! Thank you so much for all you have done for Eady whilst she was at Tilbury. We truly could not have asked for a more caring, nurturing, structured, friendly, professional and fun setting for Eady and her older sister, Ava to start their journey in life. Each and every morning I kissed Eady goodbye with the utmost confidence that she was in the safest of hands, having fun with friends, being encouraged to be independent, learning through a huge variety of toys and facilities.....especially loving the outdoor play area. Since you, Daniela And Susie became the management team, and what a team! The nursery went from strength to strength, bringing in new exciting ideas, updating the smallest of details to accommodate and improve our children’s nursery experience. I can not recommend your wonderful nursery enough, I only wish that Eady’s 2.5 years could have gone on for a little longer. She is thriving in reception and that is all down to you lovely ladies at Tilbury for your hard, dedicated work.
Eady honestly misses you all so much, as do I. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Kindest regards
Hayley Brooks
My son always likes bringing the Nursery Library books home to read. This term, there are books in different languages with English translation. We took one home in Tamil, which is the language we speak. He enjoyed listening to me, read it to him in my language.
Also in Nursery, the teachers are explaining to the kids more about the Festivals celebrated around the World.
Reading in a different language may help children to learn about different cultures, new words and develop their interest in learning a new language too.
Thank you Tilbury Team for all your support and effort
Mrs. Dharini
Our sons experience was extremely positive at Tilbury nursery. He grew in confidence and was happy to go in each day. It is clear that Tilbury is child-centred with excellent use of Development Matters to ensure individual next steps were catered for. Pastoral care provided by the teachers was excellent and the daily communication was really helpful. Jack made very good progress particularly at the beginning of his final year showing greater awareness in the world around him. We particularly liked it when they ensured all the equipment was made from only natural materials.
The teachers went above and beyond during lockdown ensuring that they remained in contact with their pupils through zoom, phone calls and even providing activities to do at home.
A lot of thought and care went into the re-opening of Tilbury to make sure it was both safe and welcoming for parents and children alike. This even included an excellent leavers ceremony for those children moving onto school providing a celebration and closure for the children and parents.
Lucy and Kevin Dobson
My daughter Annabelle attended Tilbury nursery for two years and left in the Summer of 2020. Our experience of nursery in general has been faultless and we have always been delighted with the care and attention shown by the staff of Tilbury. It is an incredibly special and nurturing place and my daughter thrived there and loved her nursery experience and her Key Worker.
The overriding focus at Tilbury is the happiness of each and every one of its children. The staff go above and beyond to nurture the little community within its walls and is truly a very remarkable place. I feel very grateful that both of my children were able to benefit from the Tilbury experience under the dedicated care of Mrs Scutt and we are sorry to have left. Tilbury allows children to learn and grow, make friendships and enjoy a huge range of positive experiences in a safe and protected environment. It’s a beautiful nursery but the staff are the heart of the nursery and they work so very, very hard to bring happiness to the children. Thank you, Tilbury.
From March of 2020 the entire world was going through a terrifying and unprecedented situation with Covid-19. Despite the country going into “lockdown”, Annabelle was able to maintain her connection with nursery and the staff went above and beyond to stay in touch and look after the emotional needs of the children whilst also providing valuable learning opportunities. During lockdown we had a great many communications from nursery from a variety of staff. My daughter was able to take part in live yoga and story sessions with her keyworker and speak and interact with the rest of her “yellow group”. She was also invited to take part in smaller, more intimate zoom meetings with a few friends and her key worker where they could have a longer, more personal conversations. This was so gratefully appreciated at a time in which social contact was at a bare minimum. My children really struggled with not being able to attend school and nursery as usual and this personal contact from nursery was so special to her and really meant a lot.
We also received a wide range of emailed communication and videos from lots of different nursery staff members including the staff singing songs, reading stories, dancing (!), cooking, sticky kids sessions and a particularly heart-warming compilation video of pictures of the children (with parental permission) set to music that we will treasure forever. All these videos and messages meant such a lot and ensured that the nursery was never far from our minds. My daughter was able to speak to and see her friends and keyworker and this provided an element of normality and stability in a situation that was full of anxiety and stress. We were so grateful to the staff of Tilbury nursery for going above and beyond for the children and maintaining contact in such a wonderful, personal way.
When it came to reopening the nursery, we received a number of consultative emails to gather parent feedback and ensure that the return to nursery was as smooth as possible for the children. The management team at Tilbury spent so much time ensuring that the nursery was able to reopen in accordance with the ever-changing government guidance but in a way that the children were able to enjoy. Despite the extreme difficulty of reopening at this time, Tilbury was able to achieve this and the children were able to benefit hugely from seeing their friends, their key-worker and returning to “normal” life after a long period of isolation. This window of opportunity was such a gift to the children after such a difficult time in our lives and I really appreciate all of the dedication of the staff in ensuring that the children who were leaving nursery were able to return to nursery and bring this chapter of their lives to a natural close.
The nursery was extremely good at communicating all of the new rules and procedures to parents so that the drop-offs and collections were safe, socially distanced and fuss-free. The children were put into separate bubbles with dedicated entrances, equipment and toys, one-way systems, temperature checks and hand sanitiser at the door and my daughter barely noticed any of it in her rush to get back into nursery, however I greatly appreciate the great efforts made to allow her to return. I am sure that this was very difficult to achieve but the staff continued to come to work, welcome the children with a smile and carry on in true Tilbury fashion. To do so without PPE in a frightening situation like Covid-19 is a great testament to their personal dedication to the children and full exceeded my expectations. It is a testament to their hard work that there were no positive cases of Covid-19 at the nursery during this period, despite its pervasiveness in the population at the time.
Despite the obvious difficulties and extreme challenges of hosting a Leaver’s ceremony during a global pandemic, Tilbury was able to host all of the graduates of 2020 and held an incredible ceremony in the nursery garden. As ever Tilbury communicated very well with parents to ensure that the ceremony complied with the latest regulations on social distancing and they took all of precautions needed to keep everyone safe. The ceremony was an overwhelming success. The children were given the recognition and send-off that they deserved and, as ever, the staff worked so hard in impossible conditions to create a wonderful event for the children. It was the perfect ending for my daughter, and we were so glad to be able to attend this event and personally thank the staff for all of their hard work over the years. The children each received a graduation certificate, were applauded and were able to take home their wonderful learning journals which mean so much to us.
We are grateful to be alumni of Tilbury nursery as it is such a special place and will always mean a great deal to me and my children. The responsiveness, dedication, care and kind-heartedness demonstrated by the staff and management of Tilbury nursery under extremely trying conditions was a real pleasure to witness. However, I am not surprised that this was the case as Tilbury staff always put the children first and this has never been more clearly demonstrated than during Covid-19.
Laura Glover
Dear Susie and Daniela,
I’m writing to thank you both and all the staff at Tilbury for the invaluable experience you gave both Mathilde and Robyn during their time at the nursery. Robyn, who is now 6 and in Year 2 of school still talks about her time at Tilbury and is excelling at school in the top groups for everything and although she’s the youngest in the class, she is one of the highest readers in her class. She is so confident and willing to learn thanks to the values you guys instilled in her. Mathilde, having just started is also doing so well and although we didn’t get a proper last term at Tilbury due to the pandemic, we were overwhelmed with how you went above and beyond to make the children still feel valued and loved. They online sessions, the Whatsapp calls and the genuine care you showed for the children was invaluable. Through such an uncertain time it was nice for the children to know they had some consistency in their lives. Thank you.
As parents, we could not have wished for our children to have had a better nursery experience. We knew when leaving them with you that they would be cared for as if they were your own. You guys have such a rapport with each and every child and I can tell that you love your jobs and the children as much as they love being there. It’s such a caring environment driven by love and passion for what you do. I’m astonished at how you manage to make learning so fun and not only teach them to write and count, but, you also teach them valuable life skills and manners. I honestly don’t think the girls would be who they are today without your influence. Thank you Tilbury! We shall miss you.
Harriet and Shaun Holly
Tilbury Nursery is a fabulous nursery, and a great starting foundation for a child’s journey onto school education. Tilbury have wonderfully creative outside and inside learning spaces, with engaging and inspiring areas for the children. The staff are fantastic. They are caring and kind, and the children (and parents) adore them. They rise to challenging obstacles and circumstances with grace and unfaltering commitment, and turn negatives into positives, which shows the dedication and hard work from every member of the team.
We have sent two of our daughters here and we are about to send our youngest. The older two have absolutely thrived. Both girls left Tilbury polite, confident, happy and ready to embark on their next journey to primary school.
Natalie Rogers
My son started Tilbury in September 2018. In the lead up to his first day, I visited the nursery where his Key Worker spent a great deal of time with me finding out what he was like and showing me how progress is documented via ‘learning journals’. I was made to feel exceptionally welcome and genuine interest was shown in my son and his wellbeing.
My son enjoyed his first day, but this was followed by a few tears upon leaving him on the second day. Shortly after I arrived home, his Key Worker telephoned me to say that he was fine. She then spent all morning with him, getting to know him more closely and establishing what became a very strong bond. She emailed me lots of photographs so I could see at first hand that he was ok.
He flourished very quickly at Tilbury and made lots of wonderful friends, however, as he became more confident he began to push some of the other children. Naturally, I was mortified and very worried that the situation would escalate. His Key Worker and the other staff at Tilbury gave me their full support, consistently reassuring me that it was just a phase and he would grow out of it. We worked together and communicated on a daily basis until eventually he did stop pushing other children. His Key Worker has only ever seen the best in my son, even when he was testing the boundaries. During this period I couldn’t have asked for more from a nursery and never once felt that my son was at risk of being ‘written off’ as a bully.
Overall, I cannot speak highly enough about Tilbury Nursery. The staff are exceptionally kind and go out of their way to ensure all children are happy and content. Communication with parents is excellent with real interest shown in the child’s wider family. The children spend as much time as possible outside in the fresh air and come home covered in mud, paint, glue and glitter - a sign that they have had a truly great day!
C. Tansley
Dear Daniela, Susie & the Tilbury team
I have been meaning to email since Eady said her ‘goodbye’! Thank you so much for all you have done for Eady whilst she was at Tilbury. We truly could not have asked for a more caring, nurturing, structured, friendly, professional and fun setting for Eady and her older sister, Ava to start their journey in life. Each and every morning I kissed Eady goodbye with the utmost confidence that she was in the safest of hands, having fun with friends, being encouraged to be independent, learning through a huge variety of toys and facilities.....especially loving the outdoor play area. Since you, Daniela And Susie became the management team, and what a team! The nursery went from strength to strength, bringing in new exciting ideas, updating the smallest of details to accommodate and improve our children’s nursery experience. I can not recommend your wonderful nursery enough, I only wish that Eady’s 2.5 years could have gone on for a little longer. She is thriving in reception and that is all down to you lovely ladies at Tilbury for your hard, dedicated work.
Eady honestly misses you all so much, as do I. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Kindest regards
Hayley Brooks
My son always likes bringing the Nursery Library books home to read. This term, there are books in different languages with English translation. We took one home in Tamil, which is the language we speak. He enjoyed listening to me, read it to him in my language.
Also in Nursery, the teachers are explaining to the kids more about the Festivals celebrated around the World.
Reading in a different language may help children to learn about different cultures, new words and develop their interest in learning a new language too.
Thank you Tilbury Team for all your support and effort
Mrs. Dharini
Our sons experience was extremely positive at Tilbury nursery. He grew in confidence and was happy to go in each day. It is clear that Tilbury is child-centred with excellent use of Development Matters to ensure individual next steps were catered for. Pastoral care provided by the teachers was excellent and the daily communication was really helpful. Jack made very good progress particularly at the beginning of his final year showing greater awareness in the world around him. We particularly liked it when they ensured all the equipment was made from only natural materials.
The teachers went above and beyond during lockdown ensuring that they remained in contact with their pupils through zoom, phone calls and even providing activities to do at home.
A lot of thought and care went into the re-opening of Tilbury to make sure it was both safe and welcoming for parents and children alike. This even included an excellent leavers ceremony for those children moving onto school providing a celebration and closure for the children and parents.
Lucy and Kevin Dobson
My daughter Annabelle attended Tilbury nursery for two years and left in the Summer of 2020. Our experience of nursery in general has been faultless and we have always been delighted with the care and attention shown by the staff of Tilbury. It is an incredibly special and nurturing place and my daughter thrived there and loved her nursery experience and her Key Worker.
The overriding focus at Tilbury is the happiness of each and every one of its children. The staff go above and beyond to nurture the little community within its walls and is truly a very remarkable place. I feel very grateful that both of my children were able to benefit from the Tilbury experience under the dedicated care of Mrs Scutt and we are sorry to have left. Tilbury allows children to learn and grow, make friendships and enjoy a huge range of positive experiences in a safe and protected environment. It’s a beautiful nursery but the staff are the heart of the nursery and they work so very, very hard to bring happiness to the children. Thank you, Tilbury.
From March of 2020 the entire world was going through a terrifying and unprecedented situation with Covid-19. Despite the country going into “lockdown”, Annabelle was able to maintain her connection with nursery and the staff went above and beyond to stay in touch and look after the emotional needs of the children whilst also providing valuable learning opportunities. During lockdown we had a great many communications from nursery from a variety of staff. My daughter was able to take part in live yoga and story sessions with her keyworker and speak and interact with the rest of her “yellow group”. She was also invited to take part in smaller, more intimate zoom meetings with a few friends and her key worker where they could have a longer, more personal conversations. This was so gratefully appreciated at a time in which social contact was at a bare minimum. My children really struggled with not being able to attend school and nursery as usual and this personal contact from nursery was so special to her and really meant a lot.
We also received a wide range of emailed communication and videos from lots of different nursery staff members including the staff singing songs, reading stories, dancing (!), cooking, sticky kids sessions and a particularly heart-warming compilation video of pictures of the children (with parental permission) set to music that we will treasure forever. All these videos and messages meant such a lot and ensured that the nursery was never far from our minds. My daughter was able to speak to and see her friends and keyworker and this provided an element of normality and stability in a situation that was full of anxiety and stress. We were so grateful to the staff of Tilbury nursery for going above and beyond for the children and maintaining contact in such a wonderful, personal way.
When it came to reopening the nursery, we received a number of consultative emails to gather parent feedback and ensure that the return to nursery was as smooth as possible for the children. The management team at Tilbury spent so much time ensuring that the nursery was able to reopen in accordance with the ever-changing government guidance but in a way that the children were able to enjoy. Despite the extreme difficulty of reopening at this time, Tilbury was able to achieve this and the children were able to benefit hugely from seeing their friends, their key-worker and returning to “normal” life after a long period of isolation. This window of opportunity was such a gift to the children after such a difficult time in our lives and I really appreciate all of the dedication of the staff in ensuring that the children who were leaving nursery were able to return to nursery and bring this chapter of their lives to a natural close.
The nursery was extremely good at communicating all of the new rules and procedures to parents so that the drop-offs and collections were safe, socially distanced and fuss-free. The children were put into separate bubbles with dedicated entrances, equipment and toys, one-way systems, temperature checks and hand sanitiser at the door and my daughter barely noticed any of it in her rush to get back into nursery, however I greatly appreciate the great efforts made to allow her to return. I am sure that this was very difficult to achieve but the staff continued to come to work, welcome the children with a smile and carry on in true Tilbury fashion. To do so without PPE in a frightening situation like Covid-19 is a great testament to their personal dedication to the children and full exceeded my expectations. It is a testament to their hard work that there were no positive cases of Covid-19 at the nursery during this period, despite its pervasiveness in the population at the time.
Despite the obvious difficulties and extreme challenges of hosting a Leaver’s ceremony during a global pandemic, Tilbury was able to host all of the graduates of 2020 and held an incredible ceremony in the nursery garden. As ever Tilbury communicated very well with parents to ensure that the ceremony complied with the latest regulations on social distancing and they took all of precautions needed to keep everyone safe. The ceremony was an overwhelming success. The children were given the recognition and send-off that they deserved and, as ever, the staff worked so hard in impossible conditions to create a wonderful event for the children. It was the perfect ending for my daughter, and we were so glad to be able to attend this event and personally thank the staff for all of their hard work over the years. The children each received a graduation certificate, were applauded and were able to take home their wonderful learning journals which mean so much to us.
We are grateful to be alumni of Tilbury nursery as it is such a special place and will always mean a great deal to me and my children. The responsiveness, dedication, care and kind-heartedness demonstrated by the staff and management of Tilbury nursery under extremely trying conditions was a real pleasure to witness. However, I am not surprised that this was the case as Tilbury staff always put the children first and this has never been more clearly demonstrated than during Covid-19.
Laura Glover
