To have a word with the nursery?

[lauraloveskitsch]

DD1 is 3.6 and in nursery five afternoons a week. We got the newsletter yesterday and this term they're learning about animals. They will have a selection of animals coming in provided by parents which the children will learn about and be able to handle.

DH was up there earlier to find the children had already met a big chocolate labrador and tomorrow will meet a ferret.

AIBU to have a word with the nursery? There have been no consent forms given, the newsletter was handed out late and the only people who knew about this are the parents who are bringing animals and are friends outside the school with the teachers.

What if there was an incident? AIBU about this? FWIW I would sign the consent form but I wish I'd been informed and had a choice.

MrsTerryPratchett, DS can do that. I'm taking him in to meet my class next week. I'd better ask my colleagues to complete a risk assessment, pronto.

DISCLAIMER: DS does not shoot shit out of his hutch. He is generally on his mat.

I'm sure the nursery will do their utmost to ensure that they are ORGANIC animals!

I wouldn't sue the nursery but I know a lot of people who would try. I am confident that they have risk assessed and I would not have a word to pull my child out, more to ask what would happen if there were an incident. They told me they were open to complaints amd already had four complaints as the children had been around the animals without notice. Those children have been pulled out.

It was not about me or my child. My chikd is around a range of animals from geckos to fluffy rabbits to hyperactive terriers. I was just wondering whether this seemed right to you all.

I was just wondering whether this seemed right to you all.

It seems right to me in that schools have to be cautious for their own protection, in the same way they stop DCs playing in the snow etc. At one time someone would just have brought a ferret in, no one would have thought to ask. Sad for the DCs pulled out-I doubt whether they were all allergic.(just problem mothers)

filibear I was livid with jealousy because I want an Owl to land on me

It seems fine to me OP, in DC's school they have had a vet visit with various animals, Crocodile Joe who has a selection of creatures and a Dad who trains guide dogs.
No consent forms were handed out and I don't remember getting a letter prior to the events. The only in-school events we get letters about are ones we need to pay for AFAIK.

Bristol Zoo brought a selection of animals to DD's nursery. We were only disappointed they didn't bring any big ones

On the nursery website were photos of DD holding a hamster, a rabbit, a snake and a cockroach

I believe they did give us notice and I'm sure no-one was pulled out.

I actually think the OP has a point, I don't think the OP is saying that she is worried what would happen but that there are some risks associated with animals (allergies, anxiety, fear of dogs) which parents should have been made aware of. It's a lovely activity, but I know my school's admission interview question sheet (Reception class) doesn't have a ' is your child afraid of dogs? question- perhaps it should, so I would have informed parents 1st. I would imagine some of the children in my class would freak out at the sight of a dog and we would want to be prepared to know which ones so we could support those children as effectively as possible. I think that's the OP's point.

Oh and we would have risk assessed and one of the risks we would have assessed is that some children are scared of dogs, so we'd need to know which ones. Simples

I am an old school scary Mummy and I think that asking "is your child afraid of dogs" may be setting the child up. Often children are less/not scared if the stimulus (dogs) is presented by different people in a different way. Throw the child in and see how they manage. I'm sure the teachers and the animal owners can assess the situation. I don't think some of the cockroach/rat holding children would have done it if anxious mothers were there.

As for your baby littlemachine I think a baby/ferret competition is in order.

I was just wondering whether this seemed right to you all.

And now you know FWIW, I want to know where the nursery is so I can send my child there!

Squeaky, Worra etc, thank you. You've made me laugh sooooo much.

Some children are afraid of Father Christmas. When Father Christmas visited my nursery before Christmas we didn't warn parents/send consent forms and the question hadn't been asked on registration forms. Some children were frightened and needed to be picked up or removed from the room.

Yes but Rita can Father Christmas shoot shit out of his arse for six feet? Was there a risk assessment?

Of course ask the teachers about risk assessments etc etc and then wonder in a few years time if you have another child at the same nursery, why their animals project just consists of looking at pictures of animals

There is always a risk assessment. There's a risk assessment for using sand and water trays. There's a risk assessment for putting things on shelves. Father Christmas was definitely risk assessed.

Joben - anxiety and fears of dogs etc??? In nursery aged children?? With the exception of a vast minority who have been bitten/ attacked (and whom with I totally sympathise), any nursery aged child with this sort of issue has it because they have parents like those who removed their kids from the nursery who flap and panic about animals. Its not fair to pass on your own phobias to your kids. Man up!

OP, i think you are maybe being a bit over protective and slightly pfb but honestly, the bitchiness and ridicule on this thread are really horrid.

Erm...a tad paranoid no?

Dd's nursery once had a man come in with snakes, spiders and a tortoise! They could touch them if they wanted to. I didn't find out until after I collected her from her Nans, I thought it was fabulous!

op, don't you talk to the people who care wonderfully for your dc all day? they would have told you about the activities that are going on or are planned. a bit sad, really.

DS is scared of dogs, because we don't have one and it is quite rarely he sees one. I would welcome the opportunity for him to have a go at overcoming his fears at nursery. If he sees the other children aren't scared, he'll be interested.

Honestly, how silly.

Lawks. What are they bringing round, Giant Killer Ferrets? Zombie Labradors?

Sorry, I think YABU. Clearly you trust the nursery with your child for good reason so why would they suddenly put him at terrible risk? Hardly good for business is it?

DS2's previous nursery was on a farm and the children could watch the cows and tractors from the garden. The older children even got to visit the cows sometimes (and, yes, I'm sure that the staff and the farmer thought about how to make sure the children were completely safe and had loads of fun). I was very sad that we moved before he got the chance to do that.

His current nursery ask us to sign 2 consent forms every time they take the kids out on so much as a walk (one before and another when we pick him up). And this is on top of the initial form we signed allowing outings in general. I fear they've encountered parents like the OP before. It seems like overkill to me. I can't imagine saying, 'Actually, no, I totally object to you taking him out to do something fun and exciting'.

I always wondered who on earth would even consider objecting to things like this. I now know.

YABU. Sorry.
It's because of that sort of rubbish that nurseries/schools etc don't bother organising unusual things anymore. It's very sad.

God, the bloody admin... These aren't dangerous animals.

I want a Zombie Labrador.