I work in a nursery - AMA

[Olivetreekit]

Hello! I have worked in two nurseries so far (including the one I’m working in,in which I am room leader.) I just wanted to see if I can help people with this thread as when people find out I work in a nursery they have quite a few questions - I’ll put some frequently asked questions here but go ahead and ask me anything! (Btw I don’t have children of my own yet so I can only answer specific questions about nursery life rather than parenting.)

FAQ & tips:
1 - Why does my child eat at nursery and not at home? There are several answers for this, I think it’s mostly because food is served at the exact time every single day so children are expecting it, we don’t give them food outside of these structured time. They also have their friends around them who they use as an example. Also there is a lot less pressure on the child because there are so many other children we have to pay attention to. .

2 - If when settling in you tell us your child is a nightmare going to sleep and we don’t react, it’s because every single parent says that! 90% of children sleep fine at nursery.

3 - What do you do all day (staff?)
A lot of people think we just play all day with the kids but it’s a lot more than that. The paperwork we do is absolutely never ending (planning activities and reports for each child), that takes up majority of the day.

4 - What do my children do all day?
To be honest, from where I’ve worked if it’s a private nursery they are most likely playing all day with some structured activities thrown in between. Obviously it depends on the nursery but both of mine have been like this.

5- If the nursery staff have asked you to bring your child different shoes/ any other item of regular clothing than the ones your child usually wears it means it has absolutely been a nightmare to put them on or off. So please do!

6 - Yes we are paid terribly.

7 - Please be nice to us, we’re human too

8 - if you’re struggling with anything we want you to tell us! We can be more helpful than you might think

I think a big issue is that it often isn’t parents that are expected to take a step back from their careers, it’s mothers. Fathers aren’t judged for working full time like mothers are.

If I took a step back from my career for a few years, I’d have to take a step down progression wise which would mean losing the flexibility that benefits my DC’s and will continue to benefit them as they get older, start school and have sports days and want to start hobbies.

Isn't the whole point of the updated EYFS removing the beef for so much paperwork to free up staff to work with the children directly and not to do paperwork?

How do you use your keyworker?

Have you knowledge of Childminders?

They don’t spawn up helpfully in every area you know. In fact round here a great many have gone out of business. There’s one but actually I didn’t love the idea of my 11 month old bundled in a car for the school run twice a day. A good nursery is never a bad option to enable parents to work. I only work part time so that I can be with my son 4/7 days but it’s shat my career down the toilet and I’m dirt poor as a result. We all make our sacrifices and choices to hopefully do the best we can for our children.

@jannier child-minders take holidays and sick leave, which isn't great when you have no village to step in and cover

Depends entirely on the place. Some Room Leaders are better than others but I know the difference is one nursery is 5p an hour.

When a job is advertised it’s normally for a fully qualified, highly experienced person who will work for minimum wage or less. It is not uncommon to find that Nurseries want fully qualified, experienced apprentices so they can pay them five pound a hour.

The “Education Manager” is normally a title given to an already overworked and underpaid staff member who expected to do more and more with less and less.

At DT’s nursery, the Early years manager (a qualified teacher with +10 years experience) was a totally separate role than the key workers. Their salary was the same as if they were teaching in a primary school.

Same at my DC’s nursery. Sometimes on threads like these, I wonder if my DC’s go to the same nursery your DT’s used to go to 😂.

Most take two to three weeks and tell you in an interview when they are such as Christmas and summer so you can plan it....and if they have co minders that doesn't always mean they close. They don't tend to be sick often as they don't get paid so unless it's contagious or serious they carry on....and again with assistants and or co minders they don't have to.

Why are you so hostile? Your post doesn't mention childminders so I asked but to be honest if this is how you are in real life you would fail my interview.
Not all childminders do school runs.
Not all work alone.
Most go out of their way to support parents and be flexible.
Children have less sick time in childminders because they are smaller settings.
I've stepped in when loan parents have been rushed to hospital, sent away for work, had deaths meaning they couldn't come home or where with the dying relative at weekends. The support you can get is way more than a nursery.
Several of us have brought food for different struggling families etc.
Were not scum you don't need to react like we are.

Interview for what?

You sound like you do a great job but childminders aren’t the holy grail in all areas of the country.

A meeting is a chance to interview the family and see if they fit the setting and ethos just as much as the parents see if you fit them. It's not a one way thing.
Nobody said they are a holy grail but many posters say they have looked at everything and considered everything nursery, nanny and family but forget or dismiss childminders. Many of us have equal qualifications to nursery managers. I have a degree, a level 3, senco, I'm portage trained, a level 3 in adverse experiences, Every Child A Talker, signalong, and many more but the attitude is were hobbyists or babysitters and a poor choice no matter how many outstanding grades Ofsted give us.

@Olivetreekitin what circumstances would a key worker assigned to a child be changed to someone else? Is it ever by request of the parent?

If I (or my partner) 'put our careers on hold' for a few years, we would most likely never get another job in our field, and almost certainly not in our local area. So I don't think this kind of guilt-tripping (primarily of mothers) is helpful. OP's nursery sounds great, and I think my DCs' nursery is also great.

But my question is:
Some of the other childcare practitioners posting on this thread are suggesting that parents would not be able to tell whether a nursery is good or not just by looking at it, and that you could only tell by actually being in there all day. As someone who has worked in a poorly-managed nursery and now works in a really good one, do you think this is true? I.e. am I deluded in thinking that my DCs' nursery is genuinely very good and being happy to leave them there? Or are there things you can look out for (beyond the obvious) that would confirm whether a nursery was good or bad?

Sometimes. I'm a man and I've had parents insist one of the women be key worker because of it. I remember an occasion when a parent demanded the room senior be their child's key worker despite the seniors in that nursery not having any.
And the usual staff leaving or swapping rooms of course.

@BarnacleBeasley I'm certain it's perfectly possible for a poor nursery to fake it. They just have to be good when parents and inspectors are about. The sort of nursery that know how to be good, but just don't.
The best way to find out if a nursery is bad would be to ask the staff. Assuming you can't ask directly find out about staff voting with their feet. Unhappy staff leave. Look at turnover. And too many very young staff can be an issue. It might mean that experienced staff have heard about the nursery and are avoiding it, or can spot it's dodgy on a look round.