Good in nurseries and TV

[zinher]

Is it usual for nurseries to have television? A nursery I visited for my DD had television on for both the pre schoolers and the 2-3 s group. They said it is for an hour but how can I be sure?

Another nursery I looked at which looked quite good on my first visit. I had gone to arrange her starting when a member of staff told me that they don't honour dietary restrictions. She saw that I was the same ethnicity as her so she told me in our common language. This really shocked me and despite the many good points of the nursery I feel like I can't trust them.

Not sure how to go about choosing a nursery.

[zinher]

Sorry title should be food in nurseries bloody autocorrect

[Heels99]

Tv for an hour?that isn't good

[Littlefish]

I work in a nursery. About twice a term we might watch an episode of "come outside " or "number jacks" if it links with something we've been talking about. Each episode lasts about 10-15 minutes.

Having the tv on for an hour a day is lazy and unnecessary.

The food thing is bizarre! We have children who are vegetarian, or allergic to peanuts, or reactive to milk etc. We cater for all of these as a matter of course.

I would ask to speak to the manager of the nursery and see what they say. If they say the same thing, then I would cross the nursery very firmly off your list and walk away.

[zinher]

On my first visit they said they cater to all dietary requirements and even showed me a chart with the child's name and dietary requirement. I was quite taken aback when I was told by the staff member that they give all the children the same food.

What sort of activities are usually done with toddlers esp in the winters? The nursery with the TVs was quite small. The weather is quite good now so I was expecting the children to be outside.

[zinher]

I was wondering if a small nursery would rely more on screen time just because of the cramped space. I like the cozy feel of the nursery and it was spotless. The babies and toddlers rooms were quite lovely. It was in the 2s and 3s rooms that the tv was.

[33goingon64]

I wouldn't like a nursery that had a tv at all and they should honour all dietary requirements. Find another nursery.

[HangingInAGruffaloStance]

I would keep looking. An hour of tv is a lot! I would not expect tv to be part of the routine. The dietary thing is awful.

[insancerre]

There is no place for TV on a nursery.
I have worked in nurseries that have had yv time and it is used as another member of staff and for crowd control
I ditched the TV in 2 settings I worked in
The food thing is bizzare. I wonder if they meant that they give children the same thing but with adjustments. Say its pasta and garlic bread. They would hive all the children pasta and garlic bread but use wheat free or dairy free for the child who needs it? Or a vegetation child would still have cottage pie but it would be with quorn mince
I think you need to keep looking
There are good nurseries out there

[zinher]

So a resounding no for the tv! I am
Looking for more but these were the best from what I had seen. Will keep looking thanks

[HSMMaCM]

Tv can be used constructively as someone said, for following up a topic, or for all the children to have a snuggle with staff after a busy activity (instead of a story occasionally). An hour a day regardless doesn't sound great.

We have children with special dietary requirements and I might say we serve all the children the same food, but it's just that they are all avoiding dairy, or nuts, or wheat, or whatever it is that day ... Or that one child has something different, but it looks the same (like the quorn mince example above). I would get that clarified.

[tinkerbellvspredator]

I would suspect that given the staff member spoke to OP in their shared language the dietary restriction involved may be cultural rather than health related and the staff member is unlikely to be mistaken about what food is coming out of the kitchen. I can easily imagine an unscrupulous nursery not bothering to buy halal (eg) meat if they don't think there's any way they will be caught out.

Less serious but there have been lots of posts in the past about people finding out the healthy home cooked meals advertised at their nurseries turn out to be completely different.

[poppetina]

The nursery my DC are at has a TV in the toddler room and a TV in the preschooler room. They watch TV after tea whilst the staff clear up. It doesn't bother me tbh, the children can be exhausted doing long days there and 10 minutes to switch off and calm down a bit does them no harm.
The food thing would bother me though, I assume like a pp that it was regarding something like halal rather than an allergy, so they think they can get away with it?

[Zinnher]

Hi it is the OP again.The dietary requirement is cultural. We don't eat beef and pork but for simplification I told the nursery to give my child vegetarian meals.

Have visited so many nurseries but something always crops up.