Private nursery asking for parents volunteering

[clande]

My DS goes to a nursery. It is a private company and has declared reasonably good profits last year (and they charge £1200 for a full time place). The owner is also the manager.

I feel a little bit annoyed with them sending letters asking for help. So far they asked for:

• Parent helpers to come and help with reading and literacy;
  
• Parent get-together on one of spring weekends to clean the garden and repaint the fence;
  
• Donate unwanted books and toys;
  
• Come and help on the trips, citing lack of staff (and if the helper numbers are not sufficient, the trip does not go ahead).
  

AIBU to think that while all the above is understandable in a state school (my oldest goes to one and I absolutely help out when I can), it is a bit cheeky for a private business to ask for the same? I am fully prepared to hear I am BU, don't know why it grates on me so much.

[IceRebel]

Companies House shows that the nursery ( one premises) made a profit (not turnover) of £1m last year..

Sadly Callingallbunnies that does not surprise me.

[NorthernRunner]

A lot of it isn’t financial, it looks amazing to ofsted if you get parental involvement. If you have parents helping on trips/reading/ odd jobs, then it screams positive relationships between setting and families

[Cranky17]

Yanbu, I used to run a nursery with high fees (the rent was extortionate) but the pressure to ask parents to help out from above was awful. I hated asking.

I now run a charity and am more than happy asking

[anniehm]

For trips it's quite reasonable, they need a lot of adults to go offsite but otherwise I agree, if it's for profit but it could be they are actually struggling

[WhiffofSnell]

Powernaps - the kids at nursery won't be reading- they'll be listening to adults read, looking at the pictures and talking about the story.

I am paying for trained professionals/childcare student employees ...

And you might be lucky and have degree educated workers with QTS working in your child's nursery but the majority won't even have GCSE literature and language.

[RomanyQueen1]

I'm surprised at the second hand books and toys, they should provide them, and also they should pay a painter to do the fence.
I understand the parent helpers, the childcare workers won't necessarily be able to do this any better, education is not part of the training.
Any parent could manage to tick the boxes of having done x task, like a level 3 childcare course consists of.
They are hardly professionals

[Powernaps]

Whiff Don't be daft yourself!

As if every parent would be kind, go at the child's pace, not force them to guess words they don't know, be patient, encourage attempts to say words, not speak over the children when they are trying, not laugh at their mistakes etc. I have seen some parents at nursery collection times who I would very much object to sitting with my child in a group or individually and reading with them.

I am paying for trained professionals/childcare student employees (to cover all bases before someone looks for the loophole and says something predictably boring like not everyone working with children in a childcare setting has finished their training, some are students etc) to take care of my DCs whilst at nursery - not any old parent.

[Uptheapplesandpears]

Books and toys fine, rest is CF from a private company. I'm also not sure I'd want my nursery aged child going on trips supervised by unqualified and unvetted volunteers. School age is ok but not a toddler!

[WhiffofSnell]

parents who aren't trained in teaching or childcare or child psychology might do more harm than good in "helping" with literacy in terms of putting children off

Don't be daft! You don't need an in-depth knowledge of literature or psychology to share a book with a child!

[Powernaps]

minipie parents nit checking by rota?!? What about the children's right to privacy? In our school, if nits are spotted then a generic message goes out to everyone so as not to shame an individual child, and (presumably, I don't know) if there was a child who frequently had nits then the teacher would have a private word with that child's parents - again, so as not to shame the child publicly or have it be common knowledge amongst parents. Before someone says it's not embarrassing because "nits like clean hair" actually nits are not at all fussy, the "clean hair" line is to make it more palatable to those with nits) but there are many children who would not want their nits being talked about amongst other parents and children in their class.

[Powernaps]

Isn't there a safety concern about parents "helping" in the day? What about CRB checks? How are insurances managed if an injury to a child occurred due to a "helping" parents' negligence?

Private nurseries are a business. Nobody forces someone to own a private nursery. Nobody has to attend a private nursery. If they aren't fully self-sufficient then the business model is wrong. They aren't a charity or state funded nursery which might rely more on/work better with donations etc.

I would be very worried if my private nursery appeared to need donations of time, maintenance, equipment etc simply to get by on a day to day basis. "Help make our playground a safe environment?" Uhm, it should already be a safe environment!!! Why are people's standards here so low? Why should parents be expected to volunteer their time if they can "afford to stay at home" because they send their DCs to private nursery? Maybe they are busy working to earn the money to pay for private nurseries and many other things

[SingleMumFighting]

For private schools in my experience its normal. You are more likely to have people who can afford to stay at home and volunteer their time.

[Callingallbunnies]

My child attends a nursery in north London where most weeks, the newsletter will contain a request for items for the dressing up box, books on a certain topic, etc. The Christmas party was a nice afternoon, entertainment provided by the staff in fancy dress but tickets were charged at £20 per child.
Companies House shows that the nursery ( one premises) made a profit (not turnover) of £1m last year...

[TheOrigFV45]

Yeah, I never understood them asking parents to help out in the day. My kids were at nursery because I was working. And when I wasn't working, buggered if I was going to be hanging around the nursery.

I was very supportive and did what I needed to do as a parent, but I was paying for a service.

[IceRebel]

Marcipex

Not quite as bad as yours, but the penny pinching is similar to my own experiences when working in a private nursery.

We used to have a make do and mend attitude. Not because it was better to do so, but because we knew asking for new toys and resources would almost always be an outright no.

[HavelockVetinari]

I love helping at DS's nursery, it's great to see him there and how he interacts with the other children (as obviously there's limited time for this at drop off/pick up).

Clearly not compulsory, but I do think it's fine to ask. You can always say no!

[Marcipex]

I used to work in a private nursery.
We did our best, but everything was rationed. A carrot stick for snack type thing.

Nearly everything was second hand and ancient. High chairs and buggies were old and grotty and mostly donated by parents.
Trikes and bikes and books and toys the same.
Holes in the carpets.
We were told we were getting a dishwasher....it arrived and it was filthy, absolutely crusted. It was the nursery owners old one, he had the new one.
Why pay for what you can scrounge.if parents will work for free...hurrah.

[Powernaps]

The only one I agree on is donating toys and books because, why not. It's either that or charity or passing on to others.

The rest is cheeky. It's a business, there's something wrong with the business model if they can't afford maintenance, enough staff for trips, teaching staff etc. Also with the teaching staff- in terms of insurance, CRB checking, or even effectiveness in teaching - parents who aren't trained in teaching or childcare or child psychology might do more harm than good in "helping" with literacy in terms of putting children off.

My DCs have been to several private nurseries and I have never heard of such requests. These things should be covered in the price they charge, and if they have set the price too low then they need to up the prices or change their business structure in some way because requiring parental top-ups or contributions in significant areas is no way to run a business.

[NewAccount270219]

I agree with you that some of it is really off. You're clients! Imagine if your bank sent you a letter suggesting that it would be great if all their customers could come paint the reception area that weekend - after all, it's you who will benefit from it being nice and it'll be lovely bonding and socialising for you! It's a cost of doing business and it's cheeky as fuck to try and get it done by 'volunteers'

[minipie]

There is a private prep near me (£15k a year) that gets parents to come in and do nit checking!! By rota not volunteering.

I approve of the donate old toys and can understand re the trips due to regulations but the fence painting is very cheeky!

My DD’s nursery doesn’t ask for fence painting but does seem to have loads of events that parents are expected to come in for... all at 11am so massively inconvenient if you are working. In theory it’s voluntary but if you can’t make it your child will obviously notice and be sad.
Oh and then there’s the all the stuff to be done at home - costumes, easter bonnet etc etc there is loads. They seem to assume we’re all sitting at home bored waiting for the next project...

[SuziQ10]

I might donate some books but I would not be painting their fence!

[Eliza9917]

They would be marked as very cheeky fuckers by me.

They charge extortionate amounts so there's no way I'd be volunteering.

[BeanTownNancy]

If the nursery is a registered charity (like the one my son attends) then I completely get it. We fundraise throughout the year and the staff get a salary and any profits are invested back into the nursery. So I'll help where I can.

If the profits were going into someone's pocket, I would be far less inclined to be their free labour.

[Doobydoobeedoo]

I used to help out at my children's preschool. It was a community one that struggled without volunteers so I didn't mind.

However, if it had been a private company like your nursery, I too would have found it grating. I can understand the need for helpers on a trip but certainly wouldn't be signing up to do their cleaning and decorating for them.

[mindutopia]

I think that's quite normal. I went to private schools my whole life and parents always did these sorts of things. My dc went to a private nursery and a state school and I'd say it's very similar. It's about being involved. It's not mandatory though, so just don't volunteer if you don't want to or have the time. To be fair, nurseries make very little in terms of profits now given the changes in funding.