Nursery e-mails me 5 pm...

Could you enquire around to see if there is a university student or post A level student who would be willing to step in temporarily until you can sort out a permanent solution?

Just to add to this, @MrsMcisaCt's nursery isn't the only one. Many are struggling with recruitment / retention, and plenty of parents could find themselves in the OPs situation if just one 2 staff members left.

Maybe if the government gave nurseries more than £4 per hour for the 15 and 30 hours offering they could pay the staff better and charge less for the 1 and 2 year olds. We don't pay for food and activities so I'm pretty sure DS has cost them money for 2 years out of 4.

I feel for you. I've had 2 childminders do this to me - closed with immediate effect. One was shut by Ofsted, the other just decided she couldn't be arsed with the early mornings any longer. The stress of trying to find someone else was terrible.

Must be a nightmare for you OP, I'm sorry x

Just wanted to say, for people asking why they couldn't give more notice - I work in a preschool and we simply can't recruit new staff. We are still open, because we meet the minimum requirements for adult to child ratio. If one of us was to leave suddenly, for example if one of us had an emergency, or walked out, we would have to close with immediate effect. There's no getting around it, you can't stay open if you don't meet the minimum staff ratios. It is not safe (or legal!) It's a rubbish situation all round.

This is a nightmare. I really feel for you op. It also sounds like bad management to literally give NO notice at all to give parents, although I suppose there are situations where that could happen. It's super shit and, like others said, a symptom of an under funded industry that pay their employees way too little.

We were in a similar situation during covid when the nursery overnight changed their policy on second settings (we used a childminder too) and refused to have DS in the next day or ever again if we didn't dump the childminder and go there full time. Clearly not as desperate as yours as we had some childcare and I guess, had a "choice" (although it wasn't a real one becuase for lots of reasons we couldn't do what they said we had to do), but I know that feeling of standing a weekday evening thinking "FUCK, what will I do for childcare tomorrow and in future". It's really not fun.

hope you find something OP.

Well, I used to be the treasurer of a not-for-profit nursery and I can tell you we made a loss most years out of the last 5 or 6 even while barely paying our staff above minimum wage.
It's expensive to run a nursery and the government doesn't fund the "free hours" properly so other parents have to subsidise it. The entire sector is a mess.

Bloody hell, what a nightmare! And WHY can't these nurseries pay their minimum wage staff adequately / at all? Its not like they're charging minimum prices, is it? Someone's trousering lots of money, and I bet it isn't the staff who actually work with the children.

This happened to us - but it was the whole nursery. All other local nurseries full, bare few Child minding spots. The nursery also ran a before and after school club - it's left a lot of people high and dry

Where’s the LA? They should be stepping in to help.

God I don't check my personal emails more than maybe once or twice a week so I'd have been rocking up the next day with the dc. I think the manager should have rung round the families in the affected rooms.

Sounds a nightmare

If on a local town Fb page ask for cm who have spaces

Ring around other nursries for spaces

Do you have friends or family or pay for a temp nanny for a week while you sort out

That is awful, Op.

In an ideal world, yes. But right now childcare is in crisis, and if they haven't got the staff then they can't open.

OP I'm sorry you're in this situation, I really hope you're able to find another setting and work are understanding of the issue.

Surely they have to give a months notice like you would 🤯

In this situation (although hopefully not as extreme) our local EY team would be finding placements for all children affected. Look on the Local Offer to find their number and call them this morning to see if they can help.

Summer comes every year, people leave jobs for new ones often. I'm not sure some of this could not have been foreseen and notice given, if not in the OPs case in some others.

What a shit situation. Have a chat with your employer and explain what's happened, as although it's not ideal there isn't much you can do it about it. Perhaps you can book a few days last minute annual leave to figure something out. I'd get straight on it today to find another place. Are there many childminders near you? As that's another option.

That's so stressful for you op and hopefully staff wont be losing jobs

Well that is shit OP, really sorry.

I had this when my eldest was in nursery to. No notice. Got an email half an hour after pick up

Happened at a preschool near me after they received a bad Ofsted inspection report. It’s really shit and you have my sympathies. Shame they didn’t signpost you to other providers.

I mean, what is the plan for parents who didn't get the email or "didn't get the email"?

There will likely be a lot of people showing up with their kids at the usual time.

It’s horrendous, this happened to a nursery near us although it was the whole nursery, not just a room. I’m so sorry

A friend at an independent had exactly the same with her son. "Our nursery is closed from tomorrow. Please come and pick up any things you may have left between 1 and 3pm." They couldn't pay their staff so had to close immediately.