nursery - children outside all day in the snow

[jlm122]

I just wondered if any other nurseries are doing this.

Children playing outside all day, on warmer days not a problem but today it's snowed all day, i collected DD and she didn't have her gloves on, her hands were freezing she could barely move them, got her home and got her wetsuit off and her sleeves were wet and cold i'm assuming from hand washing. Feet were freezing, the nursery put a statement out a few weeks ago asking parents not to ask staff to take the children inside as they can't due to COVID.

I don't feel this is right but on the other hand i'm a key worker so need to send her, she's settled and will be starting school in September so i'm not sure if moving her to a different nursery would be the best thing for her.

I don't know what nurseries they are talking about. DS nursery is mainly inside with windows not open (well not when us parents arrive) and there only out for an hour max at a time.

I've also seen photos on social media of the nursery he went to prior to the one he's in now and they appear to be doing activities inside.

Very bizarre.

@PuffinShop that's all amazingly helpful info, thank you! Could you possibly link to one of the really warm/waterproof padded suits you mentioned? (Doesn't matter if it's not available in the UK, it would just be great to see a good quality example so I know exactly the kind of thing to look for - there are so many types out there. And I'll stop derailing OP's thread after that. )

@lilylongbottom

My nursery also says they will play outside as often as possible... which means freely inside and outside with active encouragement to be outside when it's nice weather. Not forcing them to freeze the entire opening time with no other option. I think your nursery have massively over done it.

I really have an issue with her tone of her emails as-well.

I'm so pleased you're looking elsewhere.

Same at DS's (which was always very outdoorsy anyway, and operates as a forest school too) - they still free-flow but do encourage outdoors more, and hold what would have been indoor activities, such as story and song time, outside if it's dry. They don't, however, force them outside for nine hours a day. It seems like a reasonable compromise to me. They do have an extensive cleaning programme and allow staff to wear masks if they want, mandate masks for both parents and staff at handover, take temperatures regularly etc - and that all seems like a much better, and much more child-centred, range of approaches than just insisting that the children be outdoors as your sole mitigation measure.

I haven't read the whole post OP so this has probably been pointed out already but they basically can't be arsed to implement the proper Covid measures, e.g. bubbles, thorough clean down each day and restrictions on certain types of toys/activities that would easily solve this problem. Close family member runs a nursery and has been operating perfectly fine with the appropriate measures in place since last July.

Also, I know you can't really compare but they have had 2 cases in this time, which has only required the specific bubbles to be closed, not the entire nursery. The emotional blackmail in that email is shocking

Oh man OP, stick to your guns and move her poor thing. You didn't sign up for Forest School so this isn't on. I have friends who happily send their toddlers to forest school settings and their little tough nuts love it, my DD I know would SUFFER in an outdoor scenario all day especially in this cold.
Well done for emailing them, and her reply was rubbish, it didn't address your specific concerns at all, just was a copy and paste defence of their outside policy.
You'll find a better fit somewhere else, our nursery encourage outdoor play several times a day but when the weather is awful they quite sensibly stay inside with windows open.

My son went to the most fantastic nursery. The children were outside almost all day every day. Playing, eating, and yes sleeping! They would come inside when it was really bad but as they would say... there’s not such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing :)

I would be absolutely livid. They should be in and out throughout the day. Please raise your concerns in regards to wet sleeves and freezing cold hands. Them poor kids 😩😩

You definitely should report to Ofsted as some other kids will be left there without parents bothering and they will be suffering. Also, have you thought about calling a local newspaper with this information?

The emotive language in that reply is so unprofessional!

I'm glad you've got that load of tosh on writing. Do you have much contact with the other parents to see what they think about the whole thing? I would definitely be looking to remove by DD but I understand it might not be so easy if there aren't spaces elsewhere.

I would contact the press or at least share my concerns on a local FB page.

What do outside nurseries do for the children of parents who cannot afford to buy specialist outdoor clothing?

I’d raise it with the local authority, OP. Very risky policy IMO.

@mouldyhouse101

My son goes to a nursery that is outside all day every day no matter the weather

The child's clothing is wrong, not the nursery

Are you out of your mind? It's minus 3! I bet you don't spend your time off stood outside?! I bet you have your heating on in your house and also at work.... Funny that

What do outside nurseries do for the children of parents who cannot afford to buy specialist outdoor clothing?

Well it's a choice to send your child to an outdoor nursery. The kit list is made very clear before you sign up and if you can't afford it I would imagine you would choose a different setting. It's not as though it's the only option or compulsory. Which is another reason that the OPs nursery is in the wrong- parents may have chosen that nursery for those reasons.

Also the outdoor nurseries I'm familiar with just operate quite differently - as I said, DS's nursery also runs a forest school but it runs 9-3 not 7.30-6 like the main nursery, and it also has a minimum age of 3. They do also have a yurt, so while they don't use the main building they do have some shelter. A specially designed outdoor nursery is quite different to just only using the outside of a conventional nursery.

That's awful your poor child I would think it is unsafe to keep little children out in this weather?!

OP please report them to Social Services as well as OFSTED

Wow. Is it a full day nursery programme? Do the children eat and sleep outside? How do they manage toileting?

I can’t imagine being outside for that long. I’d be totally miserable.

Well I know the industry well and of the many nurseries I know well NONE are doing this - perhaps a bit more outdoors than usual but kids are predominantly indoors.
It sounds like they are worried about staff getting the virus. Not unreasonably. I wonder what the actual staff think though given that presumably they're not that happy being stuck outside all day either.

I think you're just going to have to find somewhere else for dc to go if you're not happy (I wouldn't be), and no it won't affect school places.

ps just re-read the response and there is so much BS in there.
Enough grounds to be looking for a new nursery on the grounds on the email itself let alone the actual issue.

@ScepticalBandicoot I really rate Polarn O. Pyret and Reima, but we've also had Didriksons and that was pretty good too. E.g. www.reima.com/int/Kidswear/Outerwear/Overalls/Kids%27-Snowsuits/Kids%27-winter-snowsuit-Stavanger/p/520265-3880.

Having read the second email, I'm now past the toe-curling stage and actually hoping you report them to Ofsted, social services and the local gutter press. That woman has an ego the size of Wales, a brain the size of a weasel's wotsits and a fucking massive attitude problem to boot. She very plainly doesn't give two shits about children. Or her staff.

While I do agree to an extent with the old adage about no bad weather, just bad clothing... actually yes there is bad weather. Genuinely dangerous weather is rare in the UK, but of course it happens and the threshold is lower the younger you are and the longer you intend to stay outside. Cold is fine, snow/rain is fine, wind is usually fine up to a certain point. All three together makes bad weather in my book. And give me a clear -10° day with no wind rather than -1° and wet snow blowing in my face any day of the week.

Do the children even have any sort of shelter from the elements or are they literally just in a playground sort of area? It's not on and their response is absurd.

Her response to your complaint is utterly unprofessional. Please report your concerns to Ofsted if you haven’t already! I’m surprised the staff haven’t whilstblown themselves.

I would be reporting this service to relevant authorities. Children can take a lot longer than adults to regulate their temperatures,especially the younger ones. This is highly dangerous to have young children outdoors in such low temperatures for hours on end,especially if clothes get wet for whatever reason.
Request an urgent call from the owner of this facility and explain your concerns and if they don't agree with you,inform them that you have no choice but to remove dd and report them for the sake of the other poor children.

Thank you for the link @PuffinShop. I ended up finding these (only ones left).

www.polarnopyret.co.uk/collections/1-6y-gloves-mittens/products/kids-waterproof-shell-mittens-navy-6months-6years-60471754-483

🙂🙌🏼