How does it work in Nurseries when a member of staff has their own child there?

[Katymac]

Just speculating really

Not sure how or if it works; whether it's a bad idea or a good one

Also they would be in the same room not different rooms would that make a difference?

[hotbot]

i feel its a positive comment about the nursery if the staff have their child there. Our has and they are kept in different rooms. Have to say we have been lucky with our nursery tho, its fab

[Bauble99]

It really depends on the staff member and the child, Katy. Not very helpful, am I?

We have had three staff members with children:

Number one worked fine. One of our two managers (who we would have not wanted to open the nursery without) came to us with a 2 year old and a ten month old. I think she found the settling-in for her ten month old difficult to begin with but she had a travel cot in the office and, failing her sleeping there, would take her out for a walk in the pushchair during her break. Once her DD2 had slept, all was well with the world! No probs with her being distracted at all and things have worked out well. Her DD1 is now at school (grandma drops off and collects) DD2 is still with us and she has just had a DS1. We are expecting her back form mat leave next summer with DS1.

We provide two concurrent (sp?) free places per manager,one for deputies, 50% for all other staff.

Number two.Hmmm. was our deputy with a DS at nursery until she went on mat leave and didn't return (we could not provide free care for her DD.)
We had a few problems here as she would allow her DS to pretty much do as he liked while asking other children to sit down when required etc. Didn't work out, TBH.

Number three. Nursery nurse. DD in a different room to her. DD was v.happy, mum was very anxious. Mum left to have a DS and didn't return after mat leave. Again, as we could not give her a subsidised place on her second child.

HTH.

[hotbot]

kep in differnet rooms lol i didnt mean locked away... just that it would be inappropriate for mum , child, echildren to be in the same room .i would be less happy with that situation

[Bauble99]

We also had problems with the deputy as she had lived in, and married a Moroccan (not that that was the problem!)

I walked into her pre-school room to find her 3 year old son eating fish pie, peas and carrots with his hands. I asked why he was doing this and she told me that

" We eat with our hands at home."

Now. Daal with Rice and bread + hands = No problem
Tagine with couscous and flatbread + hands = No problem.

But fish pie?

[milliec]

Message withdrawn

[SHEENA1]

I worked in a nursery for a few years and my friends there had there kids in they say it was hard as they felt guilty when there child was gettin into trouble and they had to stand bac and let them get on with it 9 times out of 10 they were in different sections but when the kid got in trouble they knew there mum was next door and made a song and dance to get to see them
but other than that it was ok

[Katymac]

Interesting

Not sure about discount

Highly motivated lady
Keen to train - in her own time too

Concerned about other people disciplining her child/or her not letting them

[Katymac]

That is me being concerned not her (iyswim)

[bizziebee]

i work in the office upstairs at my nursery and my dd has been in the baby room from 16 weeks, she is now 10 months. I think it is great having staff having kids in the nursery - as it encourages them to stay - once their little one is settled they are less likely to move on. A good discount should be offered though i think. Be interested to hear what discounts other nurseries offer.

[Katymac]

Complicated

[bambino1andbigbump]

My dd has been at my nursery from 7 months. Sometimes its hard other times its fab. Currently on Mat leave and she is thriving without me there. It is difficult but I would rather of had her with me in a place I trust than be away from me. I get a 50% discount and so too do all other staff with children there.

[nurseryvoice]

Had a supervisor with a child few mornings a week at nursery. They had to be in separate rooms as the child would literally scream and cry when mum was in the room.

Also had an aunty with nephew, she spoilt him rotten and he was always the one who got to do things, i spoke to her, ok for few days then back to spoiling.

[Katymac]

Thanks ladies - I am going to give it a trial

[moljam]

my ds came with me.he was fine,he found it hard at first that he had to 'share' mummy.but soon realised he had however many other people to go too as well as me.he did what the other children did so sometimes with me sometimes not.he got no special treatment.i didnt get discount and was fine with others disiplining him,as i said he was treated same as everyone else.

[Mummywannabe]

Interesting the discount thing i have been the manager of my setting for 4 years, worked here for 10 years. Pregnant and no offer of discount and strong hints it won't happen, is that usual or am i being a little unreasonable to ask for some discount?

[bizziebee]

I think you definitely should get a discount!

[Katymac]

Can I ask the reasoning behind the discount?

I can't really work it out/justify it - but I may be missing something fairly obvious (& I apologise) but I can't work it out

I earn £3.30 a child, so 3 children is £9.90

I pay out £5.60 (plus 11% NI so £6.21) so i make £3.69 per assistant per hr (& then I have all the fixed costs & food as well)- I can't see a way to discount her child by much

But I may be a stingy old cow

[bizziebee]

i guess it depends how much you want the staff members, imo opinion it is a good way to get a dedicated and committed staff member, who is happy and content and not worried about their child. Without a discount I doubt the staff member could afford nursery care - or at least it would make working pretty pointless. Also it is a relatively cheap benefit that you can give - nursery staff tend not to be on pension plans, get good maternity deals, sick pay etc. If you nursery is full to the brim and the child would be taking up a full price place then maybe I could see your point but even then ............. (p.s totally biased here! )

[Katymac]

Oh I understand the bias.....I just can't sort it out

I made so little money last year (£4700) that I am considering giving up - as I simply can't live on my wage

I seem to be offering a community service (almost)

Oh I don't know what to do

[OhLITTLEFISHofBethlehem]

Katymac, our nursery workers do not get a discount for their own children.

I could have taken my own dd to work with me, but chose not too as I didn't think it was fair on either her or me.

I've taught in classes where the teaching assistant's own child was in the class and at times, the child found it very difficult. It was particularly challenging on the few occasions when I had to speak to the child about her behaviour. She immediately tried to retreat to her mother, who equally unfortunately, let her.

[Bauble99]

Katy. It is a massive perk but as our nursery is in London we find that although it is easy to recruit staff it can be difficult to retain them as the cost of living is extortionate (rents, mortgages etc.) By offering childcare either free or discounted we can hang onto really good staff.

We pay over the average in salaries and also give an hour's paid break a day.

Although we obv earn less than we could, the benefits far outweigh the costs.Our nursery is now full and we have a waiting list! Hoorah!

I appreciate, though, that it is a lot different for you in your area, as you are working on slimmer margins.

[TiggyD]

Sometimes it really doesn't work!

I remember one member of staff I worked with wouldn't let her children go on our big slide. She told her children it was dangerous, while letting other children go down it.

It seems to work best when parent and child are in different rooms.

Children brought up in a nursery tend to use thier mothers first names a lot!

We will soon be having the tricky situation of a member of staff working at our nursery while not letting her new baby in our baby room because she doesn't think it's safe enough. Wonder what people will say. I think she's right though. It's not a good nursery.

[Katymac]

Thanks - I'll have a think - but I don't think a discount is on really

[MightyMoosh]

One nursery I worked at had two room joined by a door with glass panels, staff member DS would very occasionly see mum and cry- we put up paper and all was fine. Did offer descount, but to all of hotels staff (was a hotel nursery) actual hotel staffs kiddies fine!