What questions to ask at a nursery tour?

[GlassSuppers]

I'm going to be applying for DCs nursery place for next year soon and have booked to have a look at a couple of nursery schools.

Never done this before, she's my first child and I'm not sure what to look out for and what to ask.

I've had a google and have got a few pointers but want to hear of other people's real life experiences and views.

TIA

It was important to me that all staff were paediatric first aid trained

How long have the staff been there to get an idea of staff turnover. How many members of staff will be available for each session (needs to be at least 2 for 26 children where atleast one is a qualified teacher but I would say ideally for 20+ children you need 3 members of staff)
How long are the children allowed to play for in one stretch, should be at least an hour, ideally more.
Do the children get to go outside every day.

Nursery as in childcare or nursery as in pre reception at school?
I would have different questions for each

Ask what they would do if your child was crying, upset and not settling? This answer was what was most helpful for me when choosing nurseries.

The feel of it was most important to me.

The nursery we chose didnt need us to have an appointment to look around, the kids were always engaged and happy, some doing activities with the carers, other s playing or reading quietly to themselves.

The nursery had a child led focus so the kids were able to chose any activity, inside or outside and the carers worked around them.

They had an online learning diary so.we could log into a portal and see pics, videos, EYFS assessments on their progress.

We saw some kids getting upset and they were immediately comforted by the carers, hugged, kissed and distracted. I liked that my child would get a cuddle and kiss if they were unhappy and we werent there.

They also had a good mix of children and carers of differen t gender, religion, ethnicity and disabilities which i liked.

Thanks everyone.

I've had to book because they're school nurseries and the head teachers are showing us around.

Some good questions there 👍🏻

How pick up and drop off works. Are you allowed into the clock room to collect your child's belongings? Are things brought to you? Does this change depending on pick up time?

How key workers are chosen for the children. The best school nursery I saw picked the key worker based on which adult the child was most comfortable with after the first few weeks.

Routine for the sessions.

For me each time it has been the feeling of the place, within a very short amount of time I knew it was the right place for dd or ds. My current dilemma is if I move ds to the school nursery in September next year or keep him at the private nursery his started his 2 year old sessions with...