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’m a childminder. I am very much in favour of children playing outside, but there is a limit! It’s bitterly cold here today, we’ve been for a walk and played on the field for a bit and then come home and got warmed up and playing inside. Everyone was well wrapped up In fleecy puddle suits, hats, gloves, thick socks etc, but once it started to snow it was like a blizzard with the cold wind And not ideal outside conditions even for winter.

They sound like they need to sort out their hand washing situation. If children are getting wet sleeves, they will be freezing. I wouldn’t leave a child with wet sleeves inside, let alone outside in the freezing cold.

I actually can not find a solution for gloves other than each child having several pairs. Once they are wet, they need to come off and be replaced. Many small children will find water even when you think there is none about! And in the snow, they will end up wet really quickly.

Have you agreed to your child being outside all day? But actually, if you did, I’m guessing that was back in June, when it was much warmer and the thought of this still being an issue when there was the very real possibility of snow didn’t even cross your mind!

That’s ridiculous. It made sense in July perhaps - but not in snow in winter! Yes, outdoor play is great, yes it’s safe & healthy. But not for entire days in the freezing cold.

Do they not go indoors for lunch or a break?

The risk assessments seem to be rather blinkered to the risk of Covid only. What about colds, coughs, hypothermia?

Our preschool nursery seems to be running as normal, with a reduced number of kids. Yours sounds absolutely nuts, how on earth can they expect them to stay out all day at this time of year? Risk assessment be dammed, if that’s all they can manage they should have stayed closed. Unbelievable.

from what I can see they have one small room open that has a large sliding door that's left open and i'm assuming that's where the kids have been eating, they're allowed inside for the toilet / to wash hands but that's pretty much it. They were eating outside up until around November, the staff look cold and fed up too

Absolutely no way I would be keeping dd there, I'm sure sometimes it's fun for the children but sounds horrible for all that time.

I also find that email very... confrontational from them.

Being outside, even in snow, is great for them. Mine goes to a nursery where they are outside as much as they can be. In the summer months, they're almost never inside. But if they're outside in the winter, they need to be warm and dry. They do get wet and cold, naturally, so there need to be breaks to go inside and change clothes, etc. I would expect to collect them and have them be changed and ready to go how, not sent home wet without a change of clothes.

Totally not on. I have no problem with outdoor nurseries (they generally have much better outdoor wear in Scandinavia though) but there’s no excuse for your child to be soaked and freezing. I’d make a complaint. There’s no reason they can’t be inside sometimes - I’d bet my house management are indoors!

I wouldn't really have a problem with them being outdoors most of the day IF they were warm, IF they were dry and IF they had somewhere to go to get warm and dry if they were wet. I would also expect the nursery to make sure that they were warm and dry as well.

It does seem that they haven't really thought this through.

I would be mentioning about being cold and wet when at collection time to see what they say, I would also send in a couple of extra pairs of gloves as once gloves get wet they won't be keeping hands warm.

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

Bloody hell, I'm all for being out in all weathers in the right clothing but this goes too far. They need to update their risk assessment. Can you arrange a telephone appointment with the manager? Can you speak to other parents to get their view?
Do you have any other childcare options you could explore?
I hope you get something sorted.

That sounds a bit nuts. Mine has been to an outdoor forest school but it has a massive canopy to protect against shade and rain, a hut for the worst weathers and was set-up for dealing with crappy weather. I wouldn’t be happy if a nursery (presumably without those facilities in place) just unilaterally decided to de-camp outside.

My 1 year old didn’t cope for long at all in the snow. She was fully kitted out but got very cold quickly. She’d have been miserable out all day.

You should have dressed her better for the cold weather if you knew they were going to be outside all day surely?

Nursery I work at we are outside for big chunks of the day - take turns having each group/bubble inside for meals and activities etc - but most of the day they are outdoors - as the current guidelines are that it’s safer to be outside.

We’ve made sure all the parents have provided proper clothes, thermals, hats, scarves, gloves

We also have loads of spare clothes for each child and we provide proper waterproofs for all the children too!

If they don’t feel that they can stay open without having kids indoors (barring it actually being a specialist forest nursery), they shouldn’t be open at all.

I wouldn't choose to send my child to an outdoor nursery so I would move her.

They do run a forest school usually alongside the normal nursery for the kids over the age of 3 but that's on a set day per week and they leave the site for it and haven't been doing it this year due to covid but i wonder if that's played a factor in their decision? I don't feel i can keep sending her in this weather but i do feel awful about it as she's made so many friends

This reminds me of when I was in primary school playing a hockey tournament. The weather was horrendous and we were out in it all day. Below freezing, snowing/raining and we were all frozen to the bone. When I got home my mother was absolutely livid as I had to lie under multiple blankets for hours to get heat into me. We were all sick for weeks after.

It’s completely unacceptable. Covid is one thing but having CHILDREN out in cold like that is bonkers and unacceptable. I’d be keeping my child at home or moving them if that was their policy. No fucking way.

@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

Not if the nursery aren't doing enough to make sure the kids aren't getting cold

@BooBahBoo

This reminds me of when I was in primary school playing a hockey tournament. The weather was horrendous and we were out in it all day. Below freezing, snowing/raining and we were all frozen to the bone. When I got home my mother was absolutely livid as I had to lie under multiple blankets for hours to get heat into me. We were all sick for weeks after.

It’s completely unacceptable. Covid is one thing but having CHILDREN out in cold like that is bonkers and unacceptable. I’d be keeping my child at home or moving them if that was their policy. No fucking way.

But were you just in your hockey gear, or wrapped up suitably for the weather?

Keep it factual and not about being outside 'her hands were freezing because she didn't have her gloves on and her sleeves were very wet. I understand that you are spending all day outside and I have provided suitable clothes but can you assure me that you have policies in place that will ensure my daughter and the staff looking after have their wellbeing considered in this very cold weather. '

That’s not on at all. Plenty of early years settings are managing with other measures. Sounds like it’s 90% putting parents off, if you are a key worker than you have no wriggle room as you are stuck.

Covid trumps all common sense. Obvs.

If you can’t take off massive water proof gloves all day or indeed trying play with 4-5 layers on. You can’t be accessing the whole curriculum surely. You can’t paint, draw, turn pages of a book, play in sand or water, glue, use any kind of toy needs finger control. Or you have to do all above with no gloves on in minus temperatures for hours a day.

I'm assuming other parents have complained and that's why the message was sent out, i did notice today that the numbers looked lower so i think some people are keeping their children off when the weather is this bad but i don't have that option unfortunately, currently looking into other local nurseries

No, my DDs nursery isn’t. They are in a very large outdoor setting, access to lots of play areas, forest walks, lake. They have been doing lots of nature walks but they do this in winter regularly. They can be gone for hours at a time, but they use common sense. Last week during a particularly wet day they stayed inside all day. I would never agree to her being outside all day.

I would be be emailing them telling them your not happy, the policy was put in place in the middle of summer and now your child is coming home freezing with her clothes wet underneath her outer layers.

Where do they feed the children? Surely some children also need to sleep...

The issue isn't them being outside all day, the issue is them not being correctly wrapped up for being outside all day. Raise the issue about her being very cold, not having gloves on etc but don't be precious about being outside all day. DD's nursery ten years ago had the kids outside most days for most of the day in all but torrential rain. She was never bothered by it.