HELP! Nursery refusing pre-arranged place due to age of child

morganb

Hello

Just hoping for some words of wisdom.

We have two children. Our elder is due to start school in September and there is a nursery on the school site at which we have booked a place for our younger son to start at the same time. We have already paid a deposit and filled in all the paperwork.

We got a phone call on Friday from the nursery to state that they are now unable to give us a place for our son until he reaches 2. He is birthday is at the end of October. We now have 7 weeks where we do not have child care.

The nursery takes children but they have under-2 and 2+ rooms. They have just changed managers and in the handover this mistake was noticed.

What action can we take as trying to find a 7 week placement elsewhere will be a nightmare plus very disruptive for our sons.

Thanks

Crispy_Ambulance

I would doubt if there is much you can do to make the nursery take your child. There are strict ratios of carers to children, particularly for under 3s and if there is no space, there is no space. You should certainly complain about it though. If they are part of a chain, try the head office as well.

For alternative childcare, your local council may have a childrens information service - they will have childminder details and vacancies and you may also be able to feed back your concerns about the nursery mix up.

fesdufun

Have you tried asking the nursery whether they can manage any days at all? They may have spaces on some of the days but not all.

It may also be disruptive for you son to change groups after just 7 weeks. It may be better to start him 7 weeks later. Are they in childcare at the moment?

Sorry I can't help much more.