To ask my children's pre-school not to let them play outside

"So everyone on this post sends there child out every single day of the year??? U doubt it! "

err yes! how often do you think you can ring the school to say "sorry not taking them in today because it's raining so we can't leave the house!"?

Yes, DS goes out every day - why wouldn't you?

Children don't care what the weather is like they WANT to play outside. Its up to parents to (try to) ensure they are dressed appropriately for the weather.

BTW if in a non uniform preschool, m&s do great fleece lined jeans which I find last 2 years because of the elastic waste (rolled up first year)

So everyone on this post sends there child out every single day of the year??? U doubt it! And I didn't mean all winter! I said a certain point!! All problems aside my dd asks to
Go home often because she is cold despite many layers on! I have worked in nurserys and in my experience children are else than enthusiastic to go out when it's cold!! There not going to suffer by not going out for playtime!! They will still get fresh air!

FGS it takes DS 20/30 mins to walk to school every day and we don't keep him home in winter just because it's not balmy enough out for the walk, when he does outside play he belts around the place as opposed to dragging his heels on the walk there/back so I imagine he's much warmer during daily outside play than he is during the daily walk there and back

Why would you want a completly healthy child kept inside all the time just because is winter? Seriously?

DS has very bad asthma but I would never dream of keeping him inside over winter because of it, that would do him no good at all.

Children NEED fresh air. Not just when the weather is good but all year round

Piglettsmumny- I think unless your child has a one to one work for special needs reasons then this may be hard if there is one tracer, and poss one assistant to look after 25 children, who do you expect to stay inside with your daughter? If one goes out they all do for this reason. Just buy some warm thermals for under clothing for her and a warm hat/ coat. You can ask people to get for Xmas/ birthdays over the next year if too expensive

Thermals for kids are £3.99 at uniquo btw ATM if anyone lives near one

YANBU!!! I would be just the same! My dd starts school in September . After a certain time during winter I will request she stays in until the weather wants back up a bit. She does have complex medical needs but that isn't the point I would
Still be requesting it even if she was completely healthy

"Proper outdoor clothing is very expensive, especially for kids" have you actually looked at the prices on the ALDI link? the stuff is very good.

outdoor gear is like shoes, its just something you do

Yabu

kids need air, fresh crisp air.

get them some warm outdoor clothes.

I had kids crying and begging to be allowed to go in. It was not allowed.

Don't try to blame the EYFS for terrible practise within the establishment you worked it.

It doesn't say children should be forced to play outside against their will, it says children should have opportunities to play outside daily. There is a big difference.

There is no such thing as inappropriate weather(or not in UK) - just inadequate clothing. It is good to get out all weathers.

Sorry, typo, should say 'in a number of schools' of course, not 'on'.

Ofsted seems to like it a lot if kids spend a lot of time outside whatever the weather. I worked on a number of schools. The schools which were given an 'outstanding' by Ofsted were the schools with 50% play and learning outside. Ofsted specifically commented on this in their assessments.

Lots of staff were not that happy having to teach numeracy and literacy outside, but were forced by management to do so. Kids literally sat in the pouring rain with their whiteboards trying to do their sums. Not fun, I can tell you.

Here is a direct quote from the Statutory Framework of EYFS (revised only a few months ago), section about safeguarding and welfare requirements.

3.57 The provider must ensure that, so far as is reasonable, the facilities,
equipment and access to the premises are suitable for children with
disabilities. Providers must provide access to an outdoor play area or, if that is
not possible, ensure that outdoor activities are planned and taken on a daily
basis (unless circumstances make this inappropriate, for example unsafe
weather conditions)

So children under the age of 6 must have either access to an outdoor play area or outdoor activities should be take daily eg a toddle outside along the road, unless weather conditions make this unsafe.

I don't think water play outdoors is very sensible in freezing cold weather. I am not a very outdoors person myself. But children do need fresh air and you should see to it that they are properly dressed for cold weather in warm waterproof clothing.

We use EYFS and have no clue where this 50% outside thing comes from, we don't spend 50% of time outside.

I am about to ask people I know in the Netherlands whether their under 5s are kept inside. In Brussels, I know of no school which keeps children indoors in bad weather - I have contacts in almost 100 schools.

our school.has out door classrooms, some with a shelter/roof (but no walls) no.idea what % of time they are outside but its quite a lot. the school.tells parents to provide appropriate clothing and spare clothes and pretty much all parents do. the school also has a stock.if spares.

i dont know if there are guidlines dictating how much they should be outside but the eyfs actuslly says children should have access to outside not that they should be forced outside. mine all love it, i am not as big a fan if being outside but dont mind. i am pleased at home they can ay out in the garden or cul de sac and i can just watchbthem from inside whilst i make dinner etc.

my lot walk or bike to school, its a half hour walk so i spend at least two hours a day just walking to and from school.

most children i know enjoy playing out and being outside when at school, they loved it last year when the whole school played out in the field in the snow.

children.may moan.if they dont have appropriate clothing or they arent moving about to keep warm.

When working in the UK, we taught 50 per cent of lessons outside according to EYFS. I had kids crying and begging to be allowed to go in. It was not allowed. I don't think that these kids learned a lot from these sessions. This was not a one off BTW, it was a daily thing when it was cold/wet. Kids were utterly miserable. However, their parents loved it, they thought it was brilliant that we were out and about so much. They thought that it was very good for their kids and that they would become very hardy. I think they were just taught to hate the outdoors in colder seasons TBH.

In the Netherlands most kids cycle to school and go home for lunch. However, that is very different from being taught outdoors/having to play outdoors for hours. I doubt the Dutch parents of the kids in my class would be amused if their kids were to be taught literacy and numeracy in the rain BTW.

not just for adults the children dont need to be falling over and slipping on a wet floor.

waterproofs dont have to be expensive.

funny how you say in the netherlands they dont go out but lots of other posters who live their saying they do.

i would rather my children went out and got wet/dirty, they enjoy it and would spend far too many days indoors if they stayed in when it was wet.

would love to hear the schools respinse ad well if i didnt take them.to school.when.its wet, sorry i am not walking them.to school.today as its raining! sure.that would go down well..not!

"err a roof doesnt keep children dry when they are playing with water!"

:o

No, but it keeps them warm.

Which is a big advantage if you are wet.

"and yes it makes sense to have a water tabls outside so the floor inside doesnt get wet or slippy etc and the children can play without staff having to worry about mess."

Ah, so this is what is best for adults.

That figures.

Well, I am with AThingInYourLife on this.

I am a primary school teacher. I have taught for years in UK primary schools. Our kids were sent out in all weather, whatever their clothes. Some were sent to school without coats and even in shorts in freezing temperatures. We always made an effort to give them some extra clothes, although not all teachers agreed with this. We always had lots of ill children, snotty noses, feverish etc. etc.

Now I teach in the Netherlands. Kids are kept indoors in bad/cold weather. I can't say if we have fewer ill children but definitely not more.

Proper outdoor clothing is very expensive, especially for kids. Ideally you need breathable clothing with taped seams, otherwise they get very hot and sweaty. There are many people who cannot afford this, especially in the UK.

I find it very poor that the staff at OP's nursery send her dc home in wet clothes. At our school, we always tried to find a solution, often involving borrowing clothes from others if necessary. In part, it comes down to time (having sufficient staff to change children) and resources (having spare clothes) and in part it is down to attitude (it is/ is not the school's problem).

err a roof doesnt keep children dry when they are playing with water! our reception class has an outdoor area that is partly covered ovet which is great but children that are playing with water and tipping it and pouring and splashing etc are still going to get wet.

and yes it makes sense to have a water tabls outside so the floor inside doesnt get wet or slippy etc and the children can play without staff having to worry about mess.

children.tend to come and go from one activitu and they dont always stand still even whem playing at a water table. ours us still.in the garden and played wuth regularly, dd and ds4 can go from the outside tap to the table pouring and carrying they move about and even when stood on one place tend to jiggle around and fidget, jump etc. normal toddler behaviour.

hands will dry and warm up. the problem was the pre-school.not drying the children off.

Do you know what else is waterproof and keeps you dry when playing at a water table?

A roof!

Standing at a water table is sedentary. There is no good reason to do it outside in cold weather.

Waterproof clothes are for playing out in the rain or in puddles or pools of mud.

Putting them on so you can stand still with your gloves off and your bare hands in cold water playing with plastic toys that can easily be moved indoors is just stupid.

What on earth is the point of that?

Unless it's to keep inside nice and pristine?

yes it can a waterproof all in one over the top and the children are fine! if they stillmanage to get wet then the pre-school should dry and change the children. that is what spare clothes are for!

if we stayed in each time it was wet we wouldnt go.out much. september was dreadful this year, really wet. ditto the last week. appropriate clothing and its fine.