Nursery Concerns.....what to do for the best?

onlyroz

My kids went to a nursery where they didn't segregate the kids by age all the time. They spent the mornings in groups roughly split by age and the afternoons doing group activities with all ages in together. I think that this system worked better than "babies must go into this room and toddlers into that room" because they get a much greater variety of stimuli and social interactions.

If you're not happy and you don't feel like your concerns are being addressed then perhaps you should start looking round for alternatives. I've used nurseries and childminders, and there are pros and cons to each - but you shouldn't dismiss other options out of hand without doing a bit more looking around.

susancs

I would point the Nursery in the direction of the EYFS Stautory framework (2012) that they have to adhere to which states

"Except in childminding settings, there should be a separate baby room for children under the age of two. However, providers must ensure that children in a baby room have contact with older children and are moved into the older age group when appropriate". ( 3.58 pg 24)
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/EYFS%20Statutory%20Framework.pdf

This indicates that children under two should be in the baby room but children over that age (who are developmentally able) should be moved out of the baby room into an older age group and either way should have regular contact with older children in the setting .

I personally believe in putting "complaints" in writing and would probably email along the lines of:

Dear X (Nursery Manager)
Thank you for your recent letter stating our child X aged 22 months will be moving out of the "baby room" in the summer and not as expected in March when he will be 24 months.

We are not happy that our child will be kept longer than necessary in a room with younger children, especially as the "every child matters, developmental age and stages" information provided by his key person indicates that he is developmentally asssessed as being at 36-48 months.

We have checked out the statuatory framework EYFS (2012) and note that it clearly states that:
"Except in childminding settings, there should be a separate baby room for children under the age of two. However, providers must ensure that children in a baby room have contact with older children and are moved into the older age group when appropriate". (DFE 2012 regulation 3.58 pg 24)
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/EYFS%20Statutory%20Framework.pdf

As my child will be two in March and according to your nursery's own assessment developmentally able to be with the older children, I would expect him to be moved out of the baby room when he turns two and into the older room where the children are more his age and all activities will be more age appopriate. If you feel his individual developmental needs are best met by staying in the baby room with children who are younger than him and therefore probably developmentally less able, I would be grateful if you could put the reasons in writing by return email as soon as possible. Otherwise I will expect an email confirming his move out of the baby room and into the two year old plus room from March 2014.

If you wish to discuss the issues raised in my email, please contact me to arrange a meeting but I would like a reply by email as requested above. I look forward to your reply by email.

Yours sincerely

pollypenny

Hope things are resolved for you,OP. My gorgeous grandson was unhappy when his best friend went to a different 'big class', but the crèche put them together quickly .

I'd be very unhappy if my child was the only two year old with the babies.

Lunar_Eclipse

sacha28 wrote: »

He is currently in the baby room and, after his best friend moves up fully in 2 weeks (he's been slowly integrated over the past few weeks) he will be the only child left in the room over 12 months old. I feel this will be detrimental to his development and will probably take him back, rather than bringing him forward further.

The new children will only be younger so I feel he will get left behind. I'm feeling my only option is to move him to a nursery where he can be with peers his own age BUT he has attended this nursery since he was 5 months old and is happy there.

Am I being over-sensitive? What would you do?

I don't think you are being overly sensitive and I wouldn't be happy either. However, it has nothing to do with him potentially being left behind. (I understand what you are getting at but hope you also realise how ridiculous it sounds to be talking about a 1 year old being left behind.)

My concerns would be about my child being in an appropriate environment suited to his needs and personal wellbeing. Being the only child over 12 months doesn't sound ideal (unless he ends up getting an increased amount of adult contact, in which case he might progress even faster!)

I would talk to the nursery manager. No-one will think it odd that you have concerns about him having no friends of a similar age to play with.

Lunar_Eclipse

whitewing wrote: »

Around our way there are a fair few childminders who are primary school teachers - or other managers - on a career break while they bring up their own children.

It's the same around here.

Although I chose a nursery over a childminder for my children, I would not do it again, having met several well educated childminders who offered a far superior experience than the young babysitting they got at their supposedly excellent nursery. You can then use childminders around a pre-school at the right time, which I think you'll like as a good transition to school (curriculum etc.)

My 2 year old nephew goes to a fantastic childminder. It's a husband and wife team (I've met a few) who gave up stressful well paid careers to look after children. He is definitely part of the family.

FBaby

I had the opposite experience. Both my kids started with childminders, and although both were good, I felt the care they received at nursery was much better. At nursery, my son share his care worker with only one other child. The childminder looked after 4 kids in and out of the day. The babies had to adopt their routine around the need of the older children. Might be as it would be at home, but I liked the idea that at nursery, my boy got to sleep when he wanted to sleep rather than the other way around and the transition to routine was made slowly as required. His key worker even rocked him to sleep in his pushchair for a few weeks when he first started as it was the only way he went to sleep.

I also believe that he received a lot more stimulation (which he craved) at nursery than he would have received with a childminder. I think it very much depends on the child, but for both mine, the nursery enviroment suited their needs much better than a childminder.

GobbledyGook

warehouse wrote: »

I would use an ofsted registered childminder over a nursery every time. There are enough out there to be able to choose one that suited you and your child, and the child would get a much more varied and caring day than any sterile nursery could provide.

Not every area has a wealth of childminders. Where I live there was 4 in a sensible driving distance. One has a waiting list that is never ending, one quit as she hated the fact that she couldn't simply do the things she wanted to do she had to tailor everything to OFSTED's latest specs, one is notorious for taking children to school late which is unacceptable in my opinion and the other - well I wouldn't even let her mind my cat far less my children having seen her driving.

So for some people nursery is the only childcare option.

valk_scot

Just a thought...moving up to the 2 yr old room will be an upset in his life and he'll take a little while to get used to it. Moving to another nursery will be an upset in his life and he'll take a little while to get used to it. in other words, there's going to be upset either way so don't let this sway your decision too much.


I'd be looking round for alternatives before you speak to the nursery manager though. No point in telling her you're going to move him if you don't have anywhere suitable to move him to, eh? You can tell her that you'll be investigating alternatives of course and in the meanwhile you'd like to know what will happen if a place in the older room unexpectedly becomes available before summer. Would your son get moved then, or would they be taking another child from the outside waiting list?

sacha28

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to reply

I feel kind of vindicated for feeling the way I do after reading your replies. This has been on my mind so much that I woke at 3am and was going through speeches in my head that I could say at my meeting tomorrow!!!! I have decided to take a look at a nursery just up the road from where we live. I have a friend who had both her children attend and swore by them, this is despite the fact that it took 2 bus journeys to take them in and pick them up as she didn't drive. I think I will phone and make an appointment for Friday morning for the whole family to look around. If nursery shock me and agree to move him (which I doubt they will) then I can cancel the appointment.

I have thought that I will request a set date by which he must be moved. I think 2 years and 2 months, so May, is plenty long enough to be spending with babies, or is that not long enough? Yesterday they had a new starter in his room......a tiny boy at the grand old age of 4 months! As I said, any new starters will only be getting younger

I worry about different things with him being stuck with babies until the summer.....he is quite robust and boistrous, he can't play with babies the way he does with children his own age. He's ready to start potty training, how on earth will he catch on at nursery if everyone he spends time with poops their own pants? He is amazing at talking, how can he talk to children that can't even crawl yet? How can they do activities that cover a 2+ year old when the rest of the room are under 1?

This is driving me mad, I'm starting to feel like I'm becoming neurotic about his development!!

Edited to add: the moving up process seem to take quite a long time, his best friend has been 'moving up' for the past 6 weeks so should I take that into consideration?

jetplane

Try to stop stressing, you are trying to think of an answer / reason / explanation for any scenario the nursery may throw back at you. I have been there and believe me I have been called neurotic and I probably wound myself up into that anxious state all by myself.

The nursery will have a learning journal for your son and methods for tracking his progress, they have to do this for ofsted and if they are outstanding then it should be up to date and show improvement. Ask the manager to have this ready for you to read, they should give you regular feedback anyway. Then ask the manager how they plan to progress with his learning journey if he is in the baby room. This is not confrontational it is something that you need to know.

Take a step back and write down the main concerns and don't keep adding to your list. The nursery is great, it is convenient and so far it has served yours and your sons needs well. They have been judged outstanding overall but this does not mean that they can not make a wrong decision or be complacent. It also means that they can not provide a place where there isn't one and you really don't want to start an argument over whose child deserves a place more.

So if you were looking at that nursery today for the first time and they said we only have a space for your son in the baby room would you place him there? No, you would look for another nursery and you still have that choice. You don't want to back the manager into a corner but simply put, if there is no room for your child there then you will need to look elsewhere.

Regards your sons attachment he is going to be left with no friends in his group anyway and still have contact with his current friend/s out of nursery, so the transition to a new nursery wont be so traumatic. He has already forgotten his much loved previous nursery nurse. He is bright so it will probably be a new adventure for him.