Concerns about son's nursery

Bitsy_Beans

Christie_L wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for your insight. I have phoned this afternoon and withdrawn him from the nursery. Pukkamum - no I'm sure noone took any notice of me or DS when we came in because I raised it with the manager, who acknowledged that there was a problem and that they would 'have a meeting about it'.

It's such a shame because I hoped he could attend the primary school the nursery is attached to when he turned 4 (it has a good ofsted report).

Nicky x

not sure why you think he can't attend the nursery. the pre school isn't part of the school, just happens to be on the premises. bit like the wrap around care at my son's school/nursery. It's not actually owned by the school and run by private individuals as a non profit making company.

Buttonmoons

My DD goes to a council run nursery, attached to a school.

It's currently been moved to an old secondary academy because they are renovating their school. So it's actually not as "safe" as it would normally be. As just near the nursery people are coming in and out all the time (swimming pool)

I have no worries though. You have to buzz a buzzer to be actually let into the nursery, the kids cannot go back out through the door as it's a very heavy door with a push bar that no child I've seen can manage to do. The nursery teacher or nursery nurse is always near the door welcoming everyone coming in, normally the kids will take in a toy of theirs or have a new hat, and they like to show it off so they will be like "Wow ABC that is a lovely hat, aren't you a lucky boy etc etc"

Which is fab, because they show in an interest and the child loves showing off!

There is also a register for parents and kids, the children all have a little card with their picture and name on it, and it's laid out on a table, when the child goes into the nursery (I only know so much because the layout in this school is a bit weird, cloakroom in the nursery, where as before the cloakroom was seperated) they put their picture in a box, and the parents sign their name and say who is picking the child up.

They will not let the child go if whoever dropped them off didn't put "uncle" "auntie" in the box (If it was a dad/mum, I think they'd know but more so unfamiliar people)

I'd not be happy with that nursery tbh, and I wouldn't be happy about paying £10 a day for them to ignore my child either.

Blackpool_Saver

Make a formal complaint to social services and the council and pull him out.

dizziblonde

Normally in all the school-based nurseries I've worked in (a fair few over time on supply) the kids will come in with parents who'll help them hang coats up, and they'll go off to choose whatever they want to choose from the activities set out while the adults hang back near the door, discuss anything with parents that needs discussing, and be discreetly monitoring the door (letting later arriving parents in if it's a door that autolocks itself shut when it drops). As the parents clear, a member of staff will go around with the register and check who's there - just by visually checking for each child and ticking them off on there. Most also have some kind of self-registration going on as well - be it putting a peg with their name on onto their snack, or a photo onto the board, or a card in the box or whatever.

It can look like a bit of a chat fest at the start of the session - but generally that's how things operate. Personally I like a sit-down hello type time to get registers and things done (covering my own back more than anything else) but the ethos these days very much tends to be one of not interrupting children's play unless totally necessary - hence registers being done "on the fly" so to speak. I always make sure I'm stood very near the door, say hello to kids (usually get viewed with suspicion since I'm just a supply person) so I can keep my eye on who's arriving (I tend to keep a headcount going in my head as children come in as well).

ChrisCobra

Its always best to follow your instinct!

tandraig

it seems that some nurseries are very lax about who comes in and out! my daughter was a trained nursery nurse and worked for a nursery and i am sure i remember her telling me they signed kids in and out! at one time she worked for a creche and that was even more security conscious! the kids wore armbands which they had on arrival and the parents had to give the matching armband to get their kid back!
I wouldnt be happy either with that lax approach. you cannot have parents milling about and only when they have all left do a register! not on! the parents should at least sign the child in! so that the nursery know how many they should have after the parents have left!!! surely thats common sense!

bestpud

Did the nursery have more than one room?

I ask as the one dd attended wasa basically a room and a cloakroom so I don't think a child could slip out unnoticed even if the staff were not stood right by the door...

That said, I had to sign her in every morning and it's very unusual for staff not to say at least hello to the child!

At her other nursery we had to ring a bell and wait for them to open the door to get in and we had a password for any times we needed to arrange someone else to pick up our child. They wouldn't let a stranger in without a password.

Also, whenever a new member of staff started, they would always put them on door duty with someone else until they knew all the parents.

But like I said, the most unusual thing for me is they didn't attempt to greet your child! That's not good for little ones imo!

He is obviously used to being at nursery but new ones may well need some reassurance or distraction and how were they to know he didn't?

It's a shame though that you won't get to see if they sort it out or not - I think I'd want to know if my complaint was taken seriously. Do you know any other parents you could ask?

Christie_L

Hi bestpud,

Yes there was more than one room, and the main door was left open so he could easily have slipped out, and into the main school then out onto the road! That's why I wouldn't leave him until I had asked the manager to keep an eye on him. I just wasn't happy having to ask for that kind of attention for him. As I say though I wondered if for £9.50 for a morning that's the best standard of care I could reasonably expect to get, at his old nursery (which got an 'outstanding' ofsted report) it was £22.50 for a morning.

Nicky x

WASHER

The cost of the session shouldn't dictate the level of supervision in my opinion. I too would have withdrawn my child in the circumstances you have described. It is simply not good enough, I would write a letter to the Manager and explain the situation.

alwayspuzzled

They shouldn't be allowed to operate as a fee paying nursary if they are not providing adequate care and supervision. I certainly would not be happy to leave my child in a place where no-one spoke to her or where she was free to wonder out the door. My nephew is an expert escape artist, at 3 he would be out of there like a shot and I'm sure he's not the only child about with escape tendancies.

I agree that it shouldn't matter what you pay, they have supervision ratios that I'm sure are set out in law!