How to shortlist nurseries in one evening

Somewhere between the pregnancy announcement and the return-to-work date, every parent in Malta has the same evening: laptop open, seventeen browser tabs, a Facebook group with 400 conflicting opinions, and a growing suspicion that everyone else somehow already has this sorted.

Here's the secret: they don't. And you don't need seventeen tabs. Choosing childcare is really two separate jobs — shortlisting (desk work, one evening) and choosing (visits, your gut, a week or two). Most of the stress comes from mixing them up and trying to make the final decision from your sofa.

Tonight, you're only doing the first job. Put the kettle on. Here's the workflow, step by step — allow around two hours.

Step 1: Write your non-negotiables (15 minutes)

Before you look at a single nursery, decide what you're actually filtering for. Grab a note and answer these:

• Location: near home, near work, or near grandma? Pick a realistic radius — Malta traffic at 8am is part of this decision.
• Hours: what's the earliest drop-off and latest pick-up you'll genuinely need? Include your commute. (Unsure? Our working parents' guide to childcare schedules helps you work it out.)
• Start date and age: when do you need the place, and how old will your child be?
• Budget and funding: will you use the Free Childcare Scheme? If so, participating centres only. Read up on how the scheme works if you haven't.
• One personal priority: outdoor space, a smaller setting, a particular language environment — whatever matters most to your family.

Five answers. That's your filter. Everything else is nice-to-have.

Step 2: Build the long list (20 minutes)

Now gather every option that fits your radius — and only your radius. This is where a directory saves you an hour of scattered googling: on Niboo you can browse licensed nurseries, childminders and kindergartens across Malta and Gozo by locality, and see key details side by side instead of hunting through individual websites and unanswered Facebook pages.

Aim for eight to twelve candidates. If your area gives you thirty, tighten the radius. If it gives you three, widen it one town — or consider whether a licensed childminder might suit you (see nursery, childminder or kindergarten — what's the difference?).

One rule for the long list: licensed settings only. In Malta, childcare centres must be licensed by the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education (DQSE) — it's illegal to operate without one. If you can't confirm a setting is licensed, it doesn't go on the list. Simple.

Step 3: Make a comparison table (10 minutes)

Open a blank spreadsheet — or use paper, honestly — with one row per nursery and these columns:

Column	Why it matters
Name & locality	Obvious, but you'll thank yourself
Licensed?	Non-negotiable
Free Childcare Scheme?	If you're using it
Opening hours	Against your real day, commute included
Ages taken	Some centres don't take young babies
Availability for your start date	The great filter — see Step 4
Indicative fees/extras	Registration, meals, extra hours
Gut note	One honest sentence

Ten minutes of setup turns a fog of opinions into a decision you can actually see.

Step 4: Fill it in — fast (45 minutes)

Now work through your long list and fill in the table. Set a timer of about five minutes per nursery — you're gathering facts, not falling in love. Pull what you can from their Niboo listing and website; leave blanks where information is missing (blanks are useful data too — transparency matters in childcare).

As you go, apply the brutal filters:

• Doesn't fit your hours? Cross it off. A wonderful nursery that closes before you can get there is not a wonderful nursery for you.
• Doesn't take your child's age, or no availability near your start date? Cross it off — but note it if you loved it; waiting lists move.
• Can't verify a licence anywhere? Off.

Don't cross anything off for soft reasons yet — a dated website or a friend-of-a-friend's opinion is not data. That's what visits are for.

Step 5: Score what's left (15 minutes)

You'll likely have five to eight survivors. Score each from 1–3 on the things you can't filter mechanically: location convenience, how well the hours fit, cost picture, and your one personal priority from Step 1. Add a point if something genuinely impressed you — a thoughtful settling-in policy on their website, warm and specific parent reviews, clear written fees.

Rank them. Your top three to five are your shortlist. Congratulations — you've just done the part most people procrastinate on for a month.

Step 6: Send the emails tonight (15 minutes)

Momentum is everything, so before you close the laptop, message your shortlist. Keep it short:

"Hello — I'm looking for a place for my [age] from [month]. Could you tell me about availability, your fees including any extras, and whether we could arrange a visit? Thanks!"

Sending tonight means answers start arriving tomorrow — and availability answers will often shorten your shortlist for you.

What tomorrow looks like

The desk work is done; now the real evaluation begins. Book visits with everyone who has a place, ideally on a normal weekday morning when the children are in. Take our ten questions to ask before choosing a nursery with you, keep half an eye on the red flags, and trust what you feel in the room over anything in your spreadsheet.

One evening of method, a few visits, and this decision — the one that felt enormous — becomes a choice between a handful of good options. That's exactly where you want to be.

Find your childcare with Niboo

Start your long list at niboo.mt/childcare — licensed nurseries, childminders and kindergartens across Malta and Gozo, searchable by locality, all in one place.