to be concerned about this nursery?

[questionsabout]

Posted in nurseries, but reposting here as I desperately need some quick replies. I am getting quite worried.

I've namechanged as some of this may make me quite identifiable.

I have had growing concerns about my dc's nursery lately. Firstly I found the quality of the food poor (vegetable fingers and baked beans regularly served, little non-dairy protein). Spoke to manager and didn't receive a satisfactory reply/action.

They recently fed my child a food which clearly caused a reaction, and which I had specifically told them not to give. I spoke to the manager and heard nothing. When I brought it up again, I was told to speak to the room leader, who was rather aggressive/defensive about the issue, and did not address my concerns in the slightest.

Recently I came to pick up dc early and found that there were 7 children (under 2) and only one staff member in the room. I had also never met this staff member before (she was not one of the staff in the room). I was concerned that the ratio of 3:1 was not being adhered to, and that the children did not have a familiar staff member in the room. Frequently at collection I notice that the ratios are quite off, usually at least one staff member down. Also there never seems to be any adult led activity, the children are usually just running around with minimal toys out.

Finally my child has been getting increasingly unhappy lately and distraught at drop off. I want to withdraw her from nursery but the provision where I live is particularly poor (either very expensive, rubbish, or both). Would I be right to withdraw my child from this nursery? I would need to travel quite a lot to find a decent one, but I'm thinking that needs to be done now?

Also council run usually have funding and budgets for food so you get your moneys worth as they are not for profit unlike some private nurseries. There are some excellent private nurseries btw I'm just saying council run pay the staff better wages usually and the staffs conditions are better so they are happier in there jobs which usually bodes better for the children. I think that's the most important thing good management and happy staff. Hope you work something out.

Thank you all. I think I needed others to reassure me that it wasn't just me. Writing it down I realise how bad it sounds as well. Will be signing up to a new nursery next week.

keepingupwiththe.... if your family own nurseries do you not know that ratios in the room must be adhered to at all times?

any settings that i deal with have what they refer to as extra numery (sp?) staff to cover breaks/lunches for staff, for staff to leave room and complete their paperwork, etc (btw these would be private nurseries)

my experience is like wilsonfrickett - arrive early and manager is holding my dc as staff busy at end of day getting their room paperwork uptodate. there was 2 adults to 4 children (all under 2)

Yanbu at all. The biggest red flag to me is the defensiveness. The staff should be open to talking freely about your DC's care without taking it personally. If you don't have this kind of honesty and trust then you will never feel comfortable.

The ratios being off once could be explained by an emergency or sickness, but not repeatedly.

I agree the meal sounds crap, but I know some places don't have any choice because it's outsourced. If this was the only issue I would try resolve it through discussions or give a packed lunch.

The fact that your dc was given a food that causes a reaction is very worrying. Like pp said if this was a mistake and there was no defensiveness in the response it could be forgiven. The correct response should be an apology and working together to ensure it doesn't happen again.

I feel for you because it's so hard to find daycare and such a stressful transition at the best of times.

Remove then report (in that order!). Good luck.

OP even if you have to travel further and it's more inconvenient at a different nursery or with a childminder, remember it will only be for a relatively short period of time, as it really won't be long before you're faced with pre-school nursery and school.

Ok ive only read the first post and no replies so sorry if i repeat what others say

I used to work in a nursery and was management for years, feel free to pm me

I would say trust your instincts, i know you have confronted the manager/room leader and its appauling that you didnt get a great response, i think you should put all your concerns in a letter to the manager, this way they HAVE to respond to it in a certain time frame as they have to have a complaints procedure set out by ofsted. If this is ignored then i would seek higher up, there must be a head office or area manager? Go to them OR report to ofsted

Most nurseries these days take part in promoting healthy eating so the food shoukd be of a better standard than is being given, in regards to ratios, if there was 7 children there should be 3 staff, i think 2 would be ok for a short time esp if someone else could be available if needed, was there one member of staff out changing a nappy? If there was only 1 member then that is breaching ofsted regulations. We used to do alot of child led activities but this didnt mean the children running around tge room, it meant staff provided lots of different varieties of activities around the room and the children then chose how they chose to spend their time, this gave staff the opportunity to observe the children and make next steps in their planning for them, i remember how manic the end of day used to be, we used to do a big story and singing session or music activity, i think there could be management issues at this nursery, please dont let it slide, also the fact your child is unsettled going in may be a sign too

Let us know what happens

Thank you again for all the replies. I am just posting again to give an update. I have secured dd a place at another nursery and am giving notice to her nursery shortly.

I am so glad I made this thread as it has made me realise how bad things are. The issues I have seem to have only become worse since I posted the OP. I arrived to collect this week and found 11 babies with one adult! I stayed for a short time as I was concerned and a second staff member appeared around 5 minutes later, but I still don't think it was acceptable. The room leader in her room has become more confrontational and collection has become rather fraught. I also checked on the ofsted website and complaints have been recorded with similar issues that I have.

Right now I am so happy I am going to remove her, but upset that it has become this bad, and unhappy that I have to wait for the 6 weeks notice.

I recieved your pm and have replied

I cant believe what im reading 11 babies and 1 member of staff, there should be 4 members with that ratio, shocking

I think because of your concerns if you go higher you may get your notice period reduced as there have been similar complaints before

If I was you I'd be demanding a release of your notice period. I'd state your complaints and that you are unhappy to have your child there for another day. I wouldn't have any problems mentioning ofsted either. 6 weeks seems unusually long anyway!

I would most certainly provide a written list of all the instances in which you believe that they have breached their contract, also citing confrontational staff member, copy this to Ofsted, and inform them that you will not be paying the notice period as contract has been breached.

I doubt that they will take you to court, but you could inform them that if they choose to, you will welcome the opportunity for the below-par provision they offer to be made more public.

Baked beans are a protein food. But YANBU to worry about your child having allergic reactions there and being unhappy!

I just wanted to post an update for any parents who may find themselves in the same situation.

My dd recently started at her new nursery and is loving it. It is a 20-50 min bus from home, depending on traffic, but completely worth it. I just wish I had moved her sooner! She now greets me with a big smile on her face.

I made an official complaint to ofsted, and am waiting to hear from them regarding their findings.

In short, if things aren't quite right, then act on your instincts and remove your child.

we didn't use a nursery for DD in the end but we did go and have a look at a few while we were considering it.

one of them had a portal window to the lunchtime room and there were several babies (and i mean between 6-9months) being fed crisps!!!!
the 'helper' was also having the odd one herself out of the same packet

shoot me down in flames if you like, but i didn't feel that crisps were a staple diet for kiddies that young and i certainly didn't like the idea someone else might be having the 'odd' one if i had actually supplied that lunch for DD in the first place.

there was one poor little lad who was crying his eyes out. when i asked the (very) young girl who worked there what the problem was with him (no-one seemed to be too concerned) she said he was dropped off early every morning (8am) and not picked up till 6pm (sad in itself) but he looked so distraught it broke my heart looking at him and that no-one comforting him at all i felt was awful. she said he was always upset no matter what they did so now they just left him to cry it out.

(we didnt use the nursery)

my gut instinct was that it might have looked the biz with a nice building and lots of stuff for the kids, but the kids didnt actually look very happy and that means a lot. i also didnt feel happy with their ratio either

your DC is the important one here - follow your gut and take them out. like someone else said - file a report, but only once youve gone elsewhere.
write everything down - when you have complained and who to etc

trust your instincts here OP

Have you considered using a childminder?

Here's the thing about ratios. 1:3 sounds great but the reality is that usually in a room of 12 under-2s and 4 teachers, one teacher will be doing a bottle, another a nappy, and a third answering a phone/talking to a parent/changing a child's clothes/sorting out a crying child etc so parents need to realise that for supervision purposes, it is more likely to be 1:12
That is the reality of nursery, and well organised, it does function calmly.

However whatever your concerns, you should feel free and welcome to discuss with the manager. If you don't feel heard or respected, or that there is genuine care for your child, you need to re-think the arrangement.