I was impressed by this place when I first saw it. It's small, but intimate. The children are VERY quiet and well behaved. Suzy makes wonderful food from scratch in the kitchen and she is clearly very proud of her nursery. The price was expensive but it seemed worth it.
Unfortunately, every session was followed by a long lecture from Suzy and it became clear she is extremely opinionated, and she gives her opinions whether or not you want them. She said things which really grated, such as: 'I'll fix your child in three months' 'She's going to hate me, until she's trained like the other children'. My daughter wasn't even two years old, and the constant talk of discipline, fixing and training her seemed inappropriate, and quite Victorian. Suzy also expressed (un-asked for) how she doesn't like breastfeeding, how she believes it should absolutely be stopped at 5 months, how it impedes a child’s speech, their ability to separate from their mother and how there is no health benefit in feeding older babies, etc. etc. This is a load of rubbish, from someone who is not a health professional, or even a Mother, and it is dangerous rubbish when you take into account how she is dealing with young parents who are at their most vulnerable.
She also criticised co-sleeping, cloth nappies (‘disgusting!’), anyone who doesn’t sleep-train, and she told me off for giving my child toast and cheese. ‘That’s not food!’ She exclaimed again and again. When I told my Mum friends about these comments they thought she must be absolutely crazy, and that I should report the place to Ofsted.
I don’t think Suzy is crazy, I just think she needs to learn that her opinions are just that, and should not be voiced. Parents want someone to take care of their child, not receive a lecture. Two more alarming things were the obvious favouritism towards the children who followed her rules, and the lack of confidentiality in telling me things about the other children and their parents which I wouldn’t want her to be sharing if it were me.
In light of the above, it’s perhaps not surprising that my daughter didn’t enjoy herself there and after 5 sessions was so hysterical I simply couldn’t leave her any more.
So I stopped and changed to another local nursery. To my relief, I was never given any lectures, and the children were treated with kindness and respect without any mention of training and fixing. This has not turned my daughter into a ‘wild animal’ (as Suzy said the children from mainstream nurseries without her level of discipline are) but rather the opposite. One clear example: when Suzy gave my toddler the painting they had worked on that day, Isabelle tore it up, threw it back and stamped on it while crying in anger. Now when her nursery teacher gives her the painting they worked on, my toddler is happy and proud saying ‘look, Mummy, it’s pretty!’
When leaving Thespia, I told Suzy that I felt her rules were too harsh and she replied that she’s preparing her children for school where they have to obey orders and do things they don’t necessarily want to do - that’s life! Personally I feel that if you can’t have fun when you’re one, then when are you going to? Basically, I’m very glad I left, and I’m very glad that I didn’t meet Suzy when I was a new Mum and more susceptible to other people’s comments and judgements.