Erm...ok not sure whether to hug the Managing Director or not. Was BCCed into this by the General Manager:..
"Dear (SW name),
Thank you for your email regarding MiniLady Toddler*. I am the managing director of (nursery company name) and I know the Toddler family and felt an email from me would stand them in a better position than from say my General Manager.
Mini**, as she is known to our staff, attends our (Nursery name) Nursery on (street name), (town name) for 9 sessions a week; Tuesday am and pm, Wednesday am and pm, and Friday am and pm. Mini has also attended for the occasional Thursday am session. Mini started with us on (Date in 2016) in our baby room and has been with us ever since. We are aware that Mini has a number of medical conditions, which are well managed and the Nursery is currently meeting her needs. Mini is funded by a mixture of the 2 year funding, a discount offered by the Nursery for her mother being a lone parent and a top up paid by CatLady Toddler. Fees have always been paid on time, apart from once which was the fault of my finance manager, as she took annual leave without sending new bills out to any of the parents. This issue was quickly resolved and there are no arrears on Mini’s account. As a Nursery we are aware of Mini’s situation and the recent split of her parents and we are aware of some of the circumstances surrounding that.
As you may know the (Nursery name) is set in two old town houses, which were purchased by myself in 1985. The nursery is open plan and makes use of both buildings. I like to update the decor regularly and the whole building underwent a renovation in June 2016. This Nursery caters for children from 12 weeks of age up to 3 years old. The whole of the downstairs of the building is dedicated to the 2-3 year olds which is the room that Mini is currently in. The room takes up to 20 children, from just before their 2nd birthday until the September after their 3rd birthday. A child spends an average of 14 months in the (room name) room. After this they move to our Pre-school Nursery based on (road name) which is a short walk from our (Nursery name) Nursery. Every child who is in the (room name) room is guaranteed a space at the Pre-school from the September after their 3rd birthday. The (nursery name) Nursery was awarded a Grade 1 Outstanding in its most recent OfSted inspection in November 2017, before this we were a Grade 2 Good Nursery.
I visited the (Nursery Name) Nursery today and happened to see the email you sent to my General Manager. When discussing Mini with the staff they were filled with praise for her. I was told by (room manager) that she is a happy and polite child, who is well liked by both the staff and children in her room. I was told things such as “Mini thanks us when we put food down at mealtimes” and “Mini likes to help us tidy up after an activity”. I was also given the names of 4 other children who do the same sessions as her that she plays with regularly. Each child in the room is assigned a Keyworker, this is the person who does the majority of the care for a child, so any toilet trips or nappy changes are done where possible by the keyworker, and the keyworker also fills out any paperwork associated with a child. Mini’s keyworker is (keyworker name) and she says they have a great relationship. Mini takes full part in all activities with a few adjustments such as being in a smaller group of children so she gets more 1-1 attention. The (room name) room also benefits from access to a huge garden which the staff try to spend as much time in with the children as possible. Mini enjoys spending time in the garden and there has been the odd tantrum from her as she hasn’t wanted to come inside after being in the garden. Mini along with the other children in her room also recently welcomed the two new members of the room, two goldfish, who live in a fish tank by the staff entrance to the building.
Mini’s speech is delayed along with her understanding, so it can be hard to have a conversation with her. But (keyworker) says that Mini will make comments such as “mummy brush teeth” and then point at her teeth which we understand to mean that her mother brushes her teeth, so it is of my assumption that Catlady is managing Mini well and following a routine with her. Mini always comes in as clean as a 2 year old can do, her hair looks clean and brushed and is sometimes in either pigtails or plaits, and she often smells of soap and shampoo. If Mini gets dirty at Nursery her mother has a change of clothes in her box which is in the changing area and staff are happy to change children’s clothes if needs be. Mini is not yet potty trained, but given her extra needs this is not a concern of the Nursery. (Nursery name) is lucky to benefit from an onsite cook, who makes all of its meals from scratch. Mini loves the food at Nursery and it’s not uncommon for her to finish everything on her plate, staff tell me there’s only one thing that she regularly doesn’t eat which would show an active dislike for and this is Salmon. Everything else she usually eats, or leaves very little of which is great for a toddler as we do have children who dislike most things we serve. Mini is a similar size to the children in her room who are around the same age as her, and on the day I visited her to discuss her she was happily running around the garden and interacting with her friends. This is not a child who we have any concerns about her home life.
My opinion of Catlady is that she is a respectable young woman* who genuinely loves and cares for Mini and is trying to raise her to be respectful and polite. Staff told me that Catlady has given appropriate discipline to Mini for example when Mini threw a toy at pickup time a few weeks ago, Catlady told her to “pick it up and put it back where it’s supposed to be properly”, Mini did as she was told and put the toy back. Catlady also backs up the very few punishments that Mini has been given at Nursery. When Mini sees her mother at the end of the day she runs up to give a hug and Catlady always asks her if she has had a good day. Myself and my staff have never seen anything that would concern us in Catlady’s interactions with Mini. Catlady has always shared everything that might help with Mini’s care with us, either through telling (keyworkers name) who tries to do hand over at the end of the day or via email to (general managers name) my General Manager for all 3 of our Nurseries, who then passes the email to the relevant person in Mini’s Nursery. I understand there is a concern that Catlady may be too young to care for Mini but if you hadn’t told me her age I’d have assumed she was at least 10 years older than she is. She is one of the younger parents at our Nursery but I do not feel her age holds her back, I also feel that she has handled this situation with dignity and maturity. She has never said a bad word about her daughters’ father and apart from an email to say there had been a domestic incident she has not told myself or any of my staff about what happened.
I never met (ExH) so cannot personally comment on him. Staff said that he was very quiet and didn’t interact much with either his daughter or the staff when picking her up. Although staff have said when he did do pick up Mini seemed happy enough with him and him picking her up has never raised concerns to myself or the staff. I keep records of whose picking up a child so that if there’s a problem we can alert the Police or Social Services to which parent it was that picked up but (ExH) has not been to the Nursery since February 2018 and has not attempted to take Mini from the Nursery since the ban on him was placed in March 2018. All staff are now aware of the situation and know that if he does turn up he is not to be let into the building. Staff also know to contact yourself, the Police and me or my General Manager should (ExH) attempt to take Mini from Nursery.
The only other person who is approved to pick Mini up is, (mums name) who is Mini’s Maternal Grandmother. I have never met her but according to staff Mini adores her and runs to her shouting “Nanny nanny”. She rarely does pick up, although has done a lot more recently as I am aware that CatLady has needed to be elsewhere to receive support following the incident at home. As a Nursery we have no problems with grandparents doing pick up for children and (mums name) is known to staff in (Nursery name) so will be let in if she does come to do pick up.
As a Nursery we are very supportive of all of our families, whatever shape they may take. I personally feel that Mini is the priority of her mother and she is safe and well cared for with her. And myself and my staff will continue to support them both right up until Mini starts school in September 2019. I have urged Catlady to let me know if there is anything more we as a Nursery can do to support them both, whether that’s extra childcare so CatLady can attend her own appointments or a chat to help them both make sense of everything, (Nursery Company Name) is here for them both. As you are aware if needs be Mini can move to our (other Nursery name) if CatLady feels she needs to move closer to her family, I have staff that work at both Mini’s current Nursery and (other Nursery name) so there would be familiar people there for Mini if the move is necessary, but for now Mini’s place in (Nursery Name) is safe and will remain that way.
Please accept this as (Nurserys name) official statement regarding the situation and our opinions on MiniLady Toddler. If you have any further questions regarding either Catlady or Mini, please contact me on my personal number; (number) or call through to Mini’s Nursery on (Nursery number) and ask for my General Manager, we are both happy to answer any questions regarding either of them.
All facts regarding MiniLady are correct as of 10/4/18 and may have changed at time of reading. As is the case with young children, situations can change daily so please contact myself or (general managers name) if you are aware of anything that has changed and I will update my statement to reflect that.
Yours Sincerely
(Managing Directors Name)
MD of (Nursery Company Name)"
*obviously they used her actual name
** A shortened version of her name which her keyworker came up with when she first started, I don’t use it at home but she likes it for Nursery and I am fine with that. It does suit her though 
*I’m 25...