Are all nurseries staffed by really young people?

[herbgarden]

I've been looking around at nurseries in the Berkshire area (see other post as well) - a lot of the nurseries seem to be staffed by really young girls - not that I necessarily have a problem with that and know that they are all trained or are training. Should I just trust that all will be ok and is this normal?? Am I being a bit paranoid ? My lo will be going to nursery soon but for only 2 days with my inlaws and parents betwen them looking after him for one day a week and me the rest of the time. I'm not at all ageist so to speak but just wonder really !...

[Ceebee74]

The nursery my DS goes to is predominantly young girls - even the Deputy Manager (who pretty much runs the place as the Manager only seems to be Manager in name) can't be more than mid 20's. There are a couple of older nursery nurses (by older, I mean in their 30's!) so I guess it is quite common. Standards are excellent though and the care they give is great.

[EllieKthePA]

one of the factors in choosing the nursery i did was that there were women who'd had children working there too, gives a very different approach to training alone i think, so no, i wouldn't say you were being paranoid!

[FrannyandZooey]

There is a woman at my ds's who is, I believe, about 70 (have never dared ask)

she is fabetty fab

3 other members of staff just turned 50

[FrannyandZooey]

[TwinklemEGGan]

lol - I'm not stalking you CB!

I'd say the staff at my DS's nursery are mostly about my age or a bit younger. Those in charge are a similar age to me I'd say (that's 30 ish). I'm very impressed by them all. I think the key thing is that they seem interested in the children and enthusiastic. I went to see one nursery with really young staff who looked really bored - needless to say I didn't go back!

[KathyMCMLXXII]

It is normal, though ours is staffed by older people mostly, and we see this as a good thing not because they're necessarily any better than young people, but because there's more stability - less staff turnover, which is good for the kids.

If I was looking round a nursery again I would definitely ask about staff turnover as I suspect it's quite varied between different nurseries. And places with happy staff are likely to have happier children IMO.

[Katymac]

"When I open my nursery......."

I would like to employ a mix of ages for the staff, some younger, some Mums & some Grandma's - I think it add to the depth

[vitomum]

there is a good mix of ages at ds's nursery. they have good staff retention which i think contributes to this.

[jdd0709]

In my experience the better ones have a mixture of ages - for example my sons nursery probably has 50% young girls (well trained and very good) and 50% more mature women with grown up children. This was one of the factors in why we moved him from his previous nursery where they were mostly young girls just starting training and who changed on an almost monthly basis. I would say it is worth looking for one with a bit more of a mixture if you can.

[pinkmagic1]

There is a mixture of ages at DS nursery. I wouldn't say any of them where teenagers. The youngest is I would say in her early 20's and many of the staff are mums themselves. A couple of them are even Grandmothers.

[pinkmagic1]

Forgot to add that there is an extremely low turnover of staff which I really like as it gives the child stability.

[Ali5]

I understand totally where you are coming from.
Our ds starts nursery in Sept for 2 days a week. We looked around a few in the local area and there were 3 that were quite hard to choose between as they ticked many of our boxes.
We settled on one eventually for 3 reasons; easier to get to and park around, food bought from local farm shop AND the age range of the staff - some 20s, some 30s, some 40s, some 50s.
I'd have been happy with ds at any of them but personally, the different ages of the staff I felt would be an advantage.
I think it's because I teach and know that old and young teachers each bring something different and good to their classes.

[nurseryvoice]

ours is a bit of a mix from 20 to 40 years.
the problems is, when you recruit staff there are no older people out there.
most older people are mums and do not want to work full time or cant even do part time ie with an early (730 or 8start or a finish of 6pm
this is a problem as its busiest for all the working parents at 0800 and 6pm.
also whilst its a nice idea to have mums working for you, just because they are a mum does not necessarily make them a better child care worker, 2 of our 3 mums were so very laid back so could not see dangers and accidents were happening. it just depends on the individual.the other mum was brilliant but she was before she gave birth.... but parents like to know some staff as children, as when it works it adds and enhances their knowledge and experience.
i wouldnt just hold age as a barrier, it depends on the person.

[MellowMa]

Message withdrawn

[sophiewd]

Our DD in baby side and they have the more mature ones in there which is great and then they get slightly youbger when they progress. Apart from the ones on work experience I have to say that the average age is propbably 30 ish

[Plibble]

There are a lot of younger people working in nurseries in general, although I have to say that one of the things I like about the one we use is that there are older people about. In particular, the team leader in my daughter's group is in her mid-30s - she has also been with the company for a few years. The youngest looks maybe 21 and the other woman who works in there is at least 45.

They also have a low staff turnover rate which I really liked. Maybe older staff are less flighty and likely to stay longer... (or maybe not, but that is the impression it gives, I think).

[lemonaid]

DS's has a range from late teens through to late 50s/early 60s, with at least a couple of grandmothers.

[FrayedKnot]

At DS' nursery the room leaders and manager are all over 35 with school age children. There are also 3 younger girls.

I particulalry chose this nursery because of that aspect. Having seen most of the staff interacting with the children while DS was settling in, I know this was the right choice.

The younger girls are less positive and interactive in their approach, although perfectly nice.

[lackofgravitas]

Ours is a mix. The youngest is probably in her teens, a lot are in their twenties, there are a few who are maybe in their thirties, then I would guess there is a bit of a gap until you get to the fifty-somethings. The very youngest is not one of the best, and some of the older women are a little on the lazy side, or laidback if you're feeling generous. But the mix makes it - I didn't mind finding two of the older women letting a bunch of two-year-old girls 'do' their hair one afternoon, cos I knew that the twenty-something room leader would be back in tomorrow to do some more structured activities! It's not all about age anyway - there is a big difference between a twenty-year-old who is keen, getting qualified, reading up on new things to do with the kids, and a twenty-year-old who's drifted into childcare cos she quite liked babysitting when she was fourteen and can't really think of anything else to do with her life. Turnover is important too - the deputy manager has been there twenty years or something equally mad (I think she must have started at about fourteen ...) and the turnover is low generally.

[NorksBride]

Our pre-school is mostly staffed by late 30's & early 40's staff with one assistant in her early 50's. The original supervisor, now in her 70's, comes into read once a week. Also, we have a lady that comes to play piano, she's in her late 70's!

The staff are great. But if I could cherry-pick a new member of staff it would be great to have a really sporty man - it would lend more balance and the boys, in particular, would absolutely love the football opportunities.