Messy nursery: wwyd?

[philbee]

I went to visit our closest nursery the other week, ten min walk from our house, on the way to the station. A friend of a friend's DC goes there and she is positive about it. People seemed nice etc. but the place just seemed a mess to me. There didn't seem to be any storage, mops and buckets leaning against the corners of the rooms where the children were, sleeping mats piled up on sink drainers, in the baby sleeping room there were piles of mats and other stuff and coats etc. draped over the ends of the cots which I assume they moved but would be dangerous if not. Corridors had piles of coats and bags, and there was a kitchen area for the kids which was half finished, holes in the ceiling etc., worktops not edged but still fully accessible by anyone walking past. Is this normal? I was a bit shocked, and DH was against putting the baby's name down when I described it, esp as they charge to go on the list. Is it worth asking about it? Worth paying up and going on the list in case it changes? There are others near but not as near. It's a new nursery so no Ofsted yet, but I found it odd that it was in that state already.

[Phil2216]

No I would look at other ofsted registered nursarys but don't go for busy bees though

[philbee]

What's busy bees? This one is registered, just hasn't had an inspection yet. I guess I feel like we shouldn't discount anything at this stage so we have some options when it comes to it.

[Passthesaltdear]

Why not busy bees my DS going there soon so would be interested to know if there are issues with it

[Pozzled]

That would be an immediate 'no' for me. I think first impressions and instincts are important with childcare, and they certainly haven't made a good impression.

I thought you were going to say there were toys everywhere, but this is completely different.

[dozily]

That would put me off. Definitely look round a couple more - hopefully you will find one you prefer.

[MajaBiene]

Busy Bees is just a big chain, some will be rubbish some will be great but general ethos is profit, profit, profit - so as many children as possible, as few staff, costs as low as possible. But to be honest that is the case with any private nursery, and any successful big business especially.

OP, nursery sounds disorganised and dangerous. I'm sure you can find better.

I wouldn't rely too much on recommendation from current parents as everyone thinks their child's nursery is good - no one is going to knowingly send their baby to a crap one.

[FamiliesShareGerms]

This doesn't sound good - if there ate other options I'd look at these instead

DS loved his BusyBees nursery, BTW

[philbee]

No, toys would have been fine. DD went to preschool and is now in reception and those settings were full of toys etc., but weirdly this seemed not to have much in the way of toys etc., just equipment lying around, no tops on bins etc. Am glad others think this is odd too. Will keep looking.

[takeaway2]

We love our busy bees nursery. DS went there for 4 years (since 6
Months old) and dd has been there for 2 years. Stop tarring all nurseries with your own bad experience!

[LadyKinbote]

Look at lots and trust your instincts, they vary so much!

[Sirzy]

That would put me off.

I was expecting you to be saying that there were toys and other things making it look messy but there is no excuse coats and mops hanging around, especially not in a new nursery

[Phil2216]

Busy bees is the worst now because they have introduced a new policy which states that only lvl 3 staff can be left with your child and in most places there are only 2 per room so many children can't go in the garden or the imagination station or even sensory room which is very bad for your children I work for busy bees and I took my daughter out straight away

[insancerre]

Phil, I worked for busy bees over five years ago and we had that policy then, so what you describe is nothing new.
Busy bees is a huge chain and you simply cannot say that all settings are awful. It just isn't true
The number of staff will depend on the number of children so it is not true to say that all rooms have just 2 members of staff.

Op, as an experienced early years professional, I would be concerned at what you describe and would be looking elsewhere.

[nannytime]

I worked for Busy-Bees for 2 days as bank staff and never went back!! I am very highly qualified but when I knocked on the door for my 1st shift no-one checked any ID, certificates, anything so i could have been any stranger walking in off the street! When i was in the nursery i saw two staff having a water-fight with each other (throwing cups of water at each other around where the children were playing) and laughing very loudly having a great time! Also writing "funny" messages to each other on the whiteboard and generally acting like they were the children! I also got stared at by the staff when I was reading the children a book like i was doing something very strange that they'd never seen before!

This was a while ago and I made my complaints to the right people so hopefully things have improved but i would always now be concerned if a friend or employer was sending their child there.

Sorry, i know this is probably the wrong thread and doesn't really answer OP's question, just intrigued me that other people had had problems with Busy-Bees, maybe there should be a new separate Busy-Bees thread?!

[merrymuzzie]

I agree the busy bees issue is slightly derailing this thread but I have to agree I wouldn't send my child there. I saw some shocking things when I went for a tour at my local one, which makes me wonder what they are like when parents aren't visiting.

[Willowbear]

I would look elsewhere i think. The room where the children are should be a safe environment, not a room covered in health and safety hazards. I would also inform the management of the nursery the reason for not taking up a place