To be fuming with nursery

[Beenalongday]

My little girl has just started nursery and she absolutely loves it. It’s classed as a forest school and they can choose to be outside for lots of the day, very unstructured and kids choose what they want to do which is what I loved about it, however I’ve just picked up my little girl and she has been outside in 1 degree weather with no gloves and her jeans were sodden, she had gloves on when she arrived and had spare gloves and a waterproof all in one in her bag as well as spare clothes, I’m so fuming, her hands were red and sore and her legs are also red and irritated where her jeans were wet

It’s a shame she was cold but jeans “hold “ the cold/damp. I’d try leggings or Joggers with a base layer depending on how easily they can be managed at toileting.
Plus the retro string through the coat with mittens on is always a good idea!

Jeans aren't practical for nursery. Does she have spares?

Joggers much better

Imustbemad that's not true at all, some settings are very unstructured with just a loose routine and some are very structured.

Part of the forest school thing is them being outside in all weathers but they should be appropriately dressed, and the stuff you’ve provided should be used. I wouldn’t be at all happy and would ask for a meeting or write a letter.

When my DS did forest school (part of reception year at a normal school) we were told not to put them in jeans as they are impractical.

I would be a bit miffed that she didn't have gloves on but you don't know that the staff didn't try to put them on her, and you don't know how long she'd been outside for. I wouldn't go in all guns blazing, but definitely put her in some more suitable clothing, and maybe as you're leaving say in earshot of the staff "remember to wear your gloves because it's cold out!"

How old is she? As above jeans are not ideal for forest school really. Layers are much more practical.

A bit of cold and wet is not going to kill her

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the nursery to insist that the child be kid dressed for the outside when she goes outside. My DD2 is terrible at telling when she is cold, which IME is quite common among little kids. At German kindergarten, she got into the routine of putting on her waterproofs and wellies whenever she played out in the cold, because they wouldn't let her out unless she did. I think that's great. Let habit look after them until they are old enough to be able to feel the cold and plan ahead half an hour.

Sorry to hear you are not happy I wonder whether Forest school is the fifth environment for you. In my experience it is much more focused on independence and children learning about themselves over being mummied away from home.

I think half the issue is Forest schools have become very fashionable and attract those who do not understand the principle they are based on.

Perhaps rethink your strategy and see if there is a nursery who keep the children inside a bit more, they will come with staff who do insist on jackets gloves etc.

Mine does Forest school once a week and nursery is free flow into a large garden. It took a few days for him to accept he'd be cold if he refused to get dressed for outside. Their approach was to leave him to it which I support. He worked it out quick enough and now asks me for his hat and gloves when we leave home in the morning.

Most children wear jeans at our nursery and I've never seen this create a problem. As long as the 'outdoor' clothes are waterproof it's totally fine. You can get nice fleece lined stuff and balaclavas are great as they cover ears and neck.

I should say DS is 2

YABU to send your child in jeans, especially in a forest school.

Instead of being fuming, why don't you go and talk to the staff and check the level of independence of the children and what is expected of them. Nothing wrong with asking the staff to remind the children to wear the right thing, but you do need to send the right clothes too, not hidden at the bottom of a bag.

I second the gloves on a string in the sleeves of the coat.