to feel worried about this? Re DD being taken out of preschool daily.

[polythenespam]

DD is 2.10 and attends preschool 2 mornings a week. After Easter that will up to 5 mornings.

The preschool is based in the middle of a busy city centre. The nature of the building is that they don't have any outdoor space, but that hasn't bothered me as she gets time outdoors with me.

Anyway. DD has come home with a letter today and apparently, new Ofsted regulations mean that children have to get at least 20 mins outdoors a day, so the preschool will be taking them out every day for short walks and visits in the area.

AIBU to feel worried about this? I have no idea where they are planning on taking them within those 20 mins, given the location. All that surrounds the preschool are busy roads and shops, there isn't any green space in the vicinity. At only 2 she is one of the youngest and I worry about her wandering off / falling into the road etc etc.

I will be phoning the manager tomorrow to find out more - where will they be taking them, how will they be supervised etc. What questions should I ask?

DH isn't happy with the prospect either. I feel really upset about this - the preschool is fab and DD loves it, but I really don't know whether I am ready for her to be taken out EVERY DAY without me there.

'The whole point of childcare is so that the child is in an enclosed safe, purpose built space the WHOLE time they are there?? '

Erm....no. That's not the point of childcare!

OP YANBU to be worried, you are being irrational though. A nearly 3-year old going for a short walk with trained and qualified nursery staff is not something to worry about.

YANBU - I would be worried about this too. The whole point of childcare is so that the child is in an enclosed safe, purpose built space the WHOLE time they are there?? Why would you not worry?? Your DC is at an age where he needs to be carefully supervised every second. I would consider another pre-school.

WOW seriously it is a pre school not a prison your view of childcare is a bit squewed,

Yanbu to ask them how they intend to do this safely for your own reassurance.

I personally can think of lots of different ways to do this after years of working with under 8s. There are so many learning opportunities for the children. If I was working there I'd be really excited about taking them out. With a group of children that age they are unlikely to get very far in only 20 minutes but would be able to learn lots about the area and staying safe.

In the risk assessment I'd do half termly for pre-schoolers crossing busy areas of campus I asked myself the following.

-what areas are they planning on visiting?
-what will they be doing?
-are they going to be doing activities relating to the fact they are now going outside?
-will the whole group being going out or will they be going out in small groups?
-if small groups, will it be divided by age to make sure the ratios are correct?
-how will they keep in contact with the pre-school when out? (mobiles caused a real problem in the setting I worked in because it took time to answer and get help if you had a problem, we used walkie talkies after a few annoying problems)
-how will they manage things like crossing roads?
-will they have a first aid kit with them?

We used a Montessori rope to keep all the children together. A long rope with an adult at the front and back and children lined up between holding on. Keeps all the children in a line and is really easy to tell if someone let's go. Loved by children from about 18 months in my setting.

If they are fab they will be able to manage this. But as a mum myself I don't blame you at all for worrying about this.

Why wound you go a preschool with no outside space?!!
Is there an alternative you could chose or could you afford private nursery ? You'd still get time off for the allocated free sessions
Or a childminder who , heaven forbid, takes your child to the park & library

Another one to say that the kids wear hi vis sashes and hold hands in short crocodiles...one adult at the front and one at the back...none can escape.

I saw a group of little ones last week it is extremely cute and the children were all well behaved in their crocodiles

I wouldn't do it (& I wouldn't care whether people thought me unreasonable or not).

There is a big difference between a parent taking one child to the park and a nursery worker taking 6 children on an enforced walk along a busy road to fulfil ofsted ideals.

I wouldn't be pleased if they are having to sent out every day on pointless trips. A nursery near a local park sells itself as giving the children a lot of outdoor time as they had no outdoor space but in actual fact this translated to the children being pushed around the park for a while strapped into triple buggies then allowed out of the buggies in shifts for five minutes being ignored on the the play equipment. I would not have been happy to have my child treated like that.

Our nursery took the children out every so often, they would go to the park or the library or the green grocer but they would plan it well in advance and obviously the ratio was a lot higher than if they were in the nursery. Each child went out once every 2-3 weeks and it worked really well. They had free flow into the nursery gardens as well.

My DS went to a nursery in the city. Everyday in the spring and summer they had a walk in the park across from the nursery. It was fine. It did have outdoor space, but the park was better!

I remember living by a park and one of the nurseries used to have this cart like thing with seats it, which the nursery workers used to pull. A bit like this:

www.twinsuk.co.uk/products/100739/Turtle-Kiddy-Bus-6-seater/

The children always seemed well looked after and weren't running all over the place.

PourquoiPas - I agree with you. When we went out with DD aged 2.10 I had to have eyes at the back of my head as she had Ants in her Pants and wanted to run everywhere.

Now DS is 15 months, either my Husband or I have to hold him by the Hand very tightly. I would check the ratio of worker to child.

There would be at least two nursery workers with 6 preschool children. Wouldnt be allowed out with jut one staff member. The nursery nearest to me has 2 specially made pushchair things that hold 6 dc each and two staff members to push (so ratio of 1:3 which is the sam as childminder for preschoolers)

That should say 'running all over the place unsupervised'. The children were let out of the cart!

YABU. I don't blame you for being anxious but it will be a good thing for her. It's not ideal to be cooped up indoors all day, even in the winter but especially when the weather starts to improve.

Can you ask to go along with them the first time to see how they manage it? When you see all the precautions they have to take you might feel more comfortable with the idea.

The nursery I worked had free flow play into the garden but we would aim to take the children out at least 3 times a week in small groups of 6-8 children, staff numbers allowing.
If you factor in buggies and reins (assuming they're still allowed to use reins) and realise that potential 'bolters' are usually firmly attached to a staff member it's not as barking as it might sound and certainly doesn't risk the safety of the children. If you trust the staff with the safety of your child while in the building then it shouldn't be a problem outside.
YABU.

Good god I have read it all now.

You and your dh need to get a grip.

I have a runner and wouldn't have liked this. Particularly as I saw the level of 'professional supervision' exercised by the local pre-school in the park i.e. not enough for my child.

There's some really horrible replies here.

If this is the OPs first child, she may not know what goes on when a nursey take the children out. She might not know about risk assessment and adult/child arrangements, this is why she's asking.

So wind your nasty comments in.

OP do speak to the nursery management. I'm sure they will be able to reassure you and I think you're child will enjoy going out everyday. If the management don't reassure you, then chose a nursery with its own outdoor space.

The pre school my children have attended had no outside space and they were told they needed to take the children out each day so they got 2 or 3 of these www.walkodile.com/article/13/learning_with_walkodile_reg__/4654a72a75fd00202d29ccafd3a26e49
Each child wears a fluorescent jacket and is attached to the bar, the pre school leaders walk along the side and any extra children either hold their hand or are in a buggy.

A nursery local to us takes the children out all sort of shackled to a central piece of plastic. It's completely adorable, like an egg box of toddler.

Egg box of toddler I like that!
OP please just talk to the nursery management, you won't be the only one to have questions and a good manager will bend over backwards to reassure you.

The nursery we used had a massive garden but they still took the little ones out using a walkodile. My DS loved going to the greengrocers, the park etc. I think you are worrying for nothing .

It's the highlight of my day !

I dont know the specific details of your nursery/preschool, but I organise various trips out for ours so I can tell you a little bit about what we do.

Its 1 adult per 2 children and that adult is responsible for those two children. We have high visability vests for the children to wear and we walk to where we are going in a crocodile, so one pair behind another and so on.

I know it sounds daunting, but your DD really will get so much from it if its done in the right way.

I love a cart of children

aww egg box of toddler

it is quite sad really the parents who dont agree with children going outside for a walk or whatever dont trust the nursery workers to look after them