Want a different teacher working with my child in pre-school

stacey1993_2

ello, my 2 year old son has started a local pre-school and when I went to visit it all seemed lovely. He started this week, but has been given an elderly lady who is in an elecetric wheelchair as the person who will be looking after him. I stayed to settle him in and noticed that she just sits in the wheelchair watching the children. A lot of the activities are on the floor and she cannot join in with them. She cannot change nappies as can't reach the changing mat or put the children on it.. The other staff seem to do everything but are busy with their own children. Her speech is also slurred and she seems to find it hard to concentrate.

I spoke to a neighbor, who used to work in the pre-school and she said that as this disabled lady has worked there years and her pain medication makes her a bit confused but they can't sack her for legal reasons, although she can't do much. I feel unkind saying it, but I really would like one others to be the person who looks after my son, as she can't for as he is a lively 2 year old much for him and I am paying £10 a session. Do you think it would be reasonable for me to speak to the manager and ask for a different key worker or will she think I am being unreasonable?

fed_up_and_stressed

It is likely to mark you out as a bigot rightly or wrongly. I wouldn't be surprised if your child is asked to leave.

FBaby

Go and speak with the prep-school manager. It is very likely that she is only your child key worker on a name basis only. That is, she is the person responsible to ensure that his needs are met. It doesn't mean that only her looks after your child.

I don't know about all pre-schools, but the one my children went to, they had staff allocated to specific activities at specific time rather than spending time with only specific children, however, they all had a named child to follow progress on, write reports etc...

Ironically, on this above basis, it could mean that your son has the best key worker because she will be in the best position to observe him and ensure his needs are met. It also means that your child will learn to accept disabled people in his life, which is a valuable experience.

There is nothing wrong asking how your child's needs are met, but be very careful not to let your ignorance of the system and prejudice give yourself and your child a bad name.

System

I would be worried about this

her pain medication makes her a bit confused

Regardless of the disability, you wouldn't accept a teacher affected by drink so why should you accept one affected by drugs

thorsoak

stacey1993 wrote: »

ello, my 2 year old son has started a local pre-school and when I went to visit it all seemed lovely. He started this week, but has been given an elderly lady who is in an elecetric wheelchair as the person who will be looking after him. I stayed to settle him in and noticed that she just sits in the wheelchair watching the children. A lot of the activities are on the floor and she cannot join in with them. She cannot change nappies as can't reach the changing mat or put the children on it.. The other staff seem to do everything but are busy with their own children. Her speech is also slurred and she seems to find it hard to concentrate.

I spoke to a neighbor, who used to work in the pre-school and she said that as this disabled lady has worked there years and her pain medication makes her a bit confused but they can't sack her for legal reasons, although she can't do much. I feel unkind saying it, but I really would like one others to be the person who looks after my son, as she can't for as he is a lively 2 year old much for him and I am paying £10 a session. Do you think it would be reasonable for me to speak to the manager and ask for a different key worker or will she think I am being unreasonable?

This is just gossip ....and will not be helpful if you quote this.

mrsHall2b

I mcurrently feeling the same, the person who oversees the room my littlie will be going into (and is her key worker) is very over weight, when I went for her settling in sessions the woman was weezing, coughing everywhere and generally not seeming healthy! she spent most of her time sat down just watching, and whilst I was there 2 particular boys ended up with nbleeds from running around and they ended up headbutting, having watched them someone should have intervened long before but all she managed was a feeble "someone is going to get hurt in a minute"

I have nothing against larger people, but 2 - 3 year olds are highly energetic, have no fear of hurting themselves and are hard work! My girls are 2 &3 a thats hard enough woithout having 8-10+ of them all in one place. Hard isnt it.

stacey1993_2

fed_up_and_stressed wrote: »

It is likely to mark you out as a bigot rightly or wrongly. I wouldn't be surprised if your child is asked to leave.

I thought that might be the case and I feel bad thinking the way I do, but it was just that the other children were sticking with their staff member and doing fun games ,but my lad was just sat on a chair near her and was tearful.

stacey1993_2

thorsoak wrote: »

This is just gossip ....and will not be helpful if you quote this.

I would not mention the gossip I heard to anyone in the pre-school, but it has added to my worries. I am hoping that as he settles in, he will be able to join in the activities with other staff and children.

stacey1993_2

FBaby wrote: »

Go and speak with the prep-school manager. It is very likely that she is only your child key worker on a name basis only. That is, she is the person responsible to ensure that his needs are met. It doesn't mean that only her looks after your child.

I don't know about all pre-schools, but the one my children went to, they had staff allocated to specific activities at specific time rather than spending time with only specific children, however, they all had a named child to follow progress on, write reports etc...

Ironically, on this above basis, it could mean that your son has the best key worker because she will be in the best position to observe him and ensure his needs are met. It also means that your child will learn to accept disabled people in his life, which is a valuable experience.

There is nothing wrong asking how your child's needs are met, but be very careful not to let your ignorance of the system and prejudice give yourself and your child a bad name.

Thank you for your reply. I agree that it is a valuable learning experience to accept people of all disabilities, but it is not just that the allocated person is in a wheelchair, but that she seemed to zone out and not be fully with it as well. Maybe once he has settled in, he will be able to join in all the activities with the other children and staff.

KRB2725

I think it is perfectly reasonable to speak with the Manager and ask about how the day works and how children are rotated between activities and staff, just so you can get some reassurance.

You say that she is unable to change nappies, but that doesn't mean that the children she is keyworker for go unchanged. Other members of staff will step in and take care of activities that this lady is not able to do.

amistupid

emmatthews wrote: »

I think it is perfectly reasonable to speak with the Manager and ask about how the day works and how children are rotated between activities and staff, just so you can get some reassurance.

It's forum policy to be 'especially nice to newbies' but I can't help thinking this thread is a wind up.