Nursery rated inadequate - help

[CathyandHealthcliff]

I’m in such a predicament tonight, I feel sick.
I already suffer with anxiety and I’m dreading going back to work next week. I’ve been having panic attacks about it.
He’ll be going two days a week.

The nursery we’ve chosen has a homely feel and the staff are lovely with the children. They get taken out on walks in the local area often and have a lot of outside time.
The children always seem happy and well looked after there.

Anyway, the ofsted report has just gone online and they have been rated inadequate in all areas.
I’m absolutely gutted.
I’m starting back at work next week and it’s too late to find anywhere else now. Plus he’s done several settling in sessions.
We don’t have any other alternatives for childcare. I don’t know what to do. Please be gentle with me, I feel really delicate and devastated tonight.

I really don’t think I want to send him there thinking about the extreme nature of being inadequate in all areas.
There is a warm and homely atmosphere and it is a small setting which was a positive for me.
However I just don’t think I could live with myself if something happens to my DS. I’m going to be absolutely struggling to leave him as it is.

The next biggest problem is not having anything else in place for next week. I can’t afford to lose my job or be sued by the school for not working my notice period if I decide to leave and not go back after maternity leave (when I’ve already told them when I’m returning).

The nursery my dd went to went from outstanding to inadequate. Mostly due to issues in the recently expanded nursery building.

The management decided it wasn’t worth the effort to improve after previously assuring parents that they would do everything they could to get back up to standard and decided to close the whole place down.

It was a nightmare and upsetting for the parents and children and to see the staff so so upset that they weren’t even being given the chance to be reinspected was awful.

The staff were fantastic and I had no qualms leaving dd there when they got that rating. We even kept her there after they announced the closure whist we did settling in sessions at her new place and I had so much respect for the women who cared for those children just as much as ever, knowing they were out of a job at the end of the month.

Could you put him in the current nursery just for the first half term while you look for alternative nurseries or childminders? Then you could settle him in at a new provider over October half term?

I agree with PP who have suggested speaking to the nursery manager about the report as soon as possible (although to be honest I'd expect nursery to have arranged an open meeting inviting all parents as soon as the report was published to discuss it proactively and answer parent questions).
Who is looking after your son the other three days a week?

Honestly, your update with the reasons they've been rated inadequate would reassure me massively.

Theres nothing to say he's not going to be well cared for. Lots of cuddles, fun outings, happy children there.

You're not or shouldn't be worrying about his learning/nursery teaching at this age so I would completely discount the points around that.

Are you off in October half term?

Book some visits for other nurseries if you are.

Or, ours it open until 18.00 pm, could you look around after work?

@toadabode

Yes you're too highly strung and put too much relevance on inspection reports. They are a one off and usually revolve around paperwork and results rather than actual care.

OP read the report first.

Go back to work. Your dc will be fine. Surely being in a school you know the nature of the ofsted beast.

Speak to the nursery and explain your worries. See what they are going to do to improve. Imagine there are a lot of concerned parents. Staff sound very caring and that’s a main consideration.

OP you sound as though you really don't want to go back to work and are looking for a reason to stay home with DS! Feeling physically ill is a huge over reaction.
If you were happy with the nursery before, nothing has changed so go ahead as planned. Nothing bad will happen to your son just because of a bad report. If it was unsafe they would close the nursery. You can find somewhere else and move him in a few weeks if you still have concerns after speaking to the manager /reading the report in detail.

I would send my child to a nursery with those issues. My children have been to “outstanding” “good” and “requires improvement” and the Ofsted reports haven’t tallied with my experiences.

The other thing is... the nursery you choose now is not the nursery you may have forever. Ring them up, ask what they’re doing about it. Keep exploring other childcare possibilities but don’t rule this one out.

My baby starts nursery next week. I know it’s horrible.

Have you messaged on a local fb group looking for a childminder?

They can be great ones that still have space

OP don’t panic.

The ofsted report coming out does not change the nursery. It’s still exactly the same setting you chose and liked.

Let your girl go as planned, get your own term at school started. Go through the report and highlight the bits that worry you. Book a meeting with the nursery manager to go through each point, asking what is being done to ensure this does not affect the children in the future.

It’s ok. Your daughter was there for settling in sessions and was fine. DON’T PANIC!!

Oops! Too soon.

If you’re not happy once you’ve met the manager, or they are unwilling to meet, you can look for an alternative in a more measured way.

OP, take a deep breath, breathe out sloooowwwwly, and make a rational assessment here.

Of course it's upsetting and worrying. If my mum's care home went from good to inadequate I'd be worrying too and I'm lucky enough not to suffer from anxiety.

Given you don't have any other immediate options the key for me would be what are the nursery going to do about the requirements and recommendations in the report, and how fast? Have they contacted you to tell you what their plans are? did they warn you the report was coming? it sounds as though the nursery was lovely and cosy but a bit clueless on current day requirements: do you think they are going to get their act together? The reports are pretty detailed generally - are the issues ones that will directly affect your little one or are they things you can live with?

Toadabode its bit necessarily that you are highly strung but perhaps don't have any knowledge around how inspections work.

I've managed Ofsted inspectionsnfor childrens homes and part of my current role is managing CQC inspections for care homes....we are talking at least 30 to 40 inspections .

The honest thing is it very regularly does not reflect what is actually going on. I've met some amazing inspectors who want to fix the bad stuff but have experience in the industry enough to know the difference. I've also met ones that absolutely have their own agenda and will conveniently "forget" seeing relevant paperwork , unless the service is experienced in inspections and canny they wont challenge it in the right way (it can dependant on situation be technical)

I've had inspectors mark us down and I quote " I don't really understand why that resident likes music in their room but I don't because it doesn't feel right to me, it feels like they are enjoying themselves"...a mark down.

I've also known an inspector who is a famous hard ass , who spent 6 weeks helping another service because they could see how good it was but the owner had been naive....she had to fail them but made it abundantly clear that they were improving quickly.

Don't set too much stock in these reports , I grant you that they worry people.

OP talk to the manager and trust your instincts. Ask what they are doing about risk , but my experience both as a mum using nurseries and as being part of these inspections , sensible questions and good answers and instincts are worth far far more than a report.

I can see why you’re worried though OP. An authority has said the setting isn’t good enough and continuing with it probably feels like a Wrong Parenting Decision. And the right childcare is so important.

Reading the thread you can probably see that the reports don’t always tally with experience. Since it’s only two days a week you could send DC and look for a plan B straight away. If you’re really not happy you can move. It might seem disruptive but better than staying somewhere you’re not happy. This was what I was thinking about when DC was starting (regardless of rating). I was ready to take DC straight out if needed.

You could collect early a couple of times when you’re not expected and you’ll get a better sense of what the place is like during the day.

Our nursery was the same but ofsted then go in and ensure it’s fixed ASAP so I wouldn’t worry

I’ve just realised that I don’t actually know what my childminder’s current rating is - I could look it up as I have her number, (and did when DD was there 4 years ago) and I know she has had Ofsted since as she told me about the inspector saying they should choose the colour of their plate at lunch all the time. (WTF?) She probably did tell me in passing, but I can’t remember and it isn’t important enough for me to check. The girls adore her, it is the warmest happiest place, lots of cuddles etc. and friends have always told me when they see the girls out and about that they are always happy and chatty. (DD1 is at school and prefers her to after school club.) My niece’s nursery went to inadequate in every area as well - the manager was away and deputy was new and newly promoted. It is back up at outstanding now.

These are your options:
Go ahead with the nursery. Your original gut instinct said you were happy. The Ofsted report said the staff were caring and suspect the fire door is already fixed.

Phone/email your head and ask for an extension to your return to work. (In a school, I wouldn’t fancy your chances unless your head is particularly supportive.)

Ask family to help out if you can.

Post on your local groups and see if there is a childminder able to help you out. Settling in may well be quicker.

Organise an emergency nanny to come to the house whilst you look for somewhere else.

However talk to the nursery and also see if you can speak to some current parents (Facebook groups may be useful here). You may be completely surprised and reassured.

If you can show me the report I can tell you if you should be worried, I’ve got years of experience in early years and with ofsted and can read between the lines.

Sometimes it’s very small things but other times it’s huge flags that mean it’s a no go

As someone that works in school think about what would happen if it were where you worked...there would be a focus on improvement. Often Ofsted serves as a kick up the bum to resolve things that need resolving. If your child was going to be at risk it would have been closed down.

We all want our children to go to an outstanding establishment, but it's not always possible.

Maybe talk to the nursery about the Ofsted report and discuss your concerns.

Good luck

Xxx

From what you've said it sounds like a dodgy door (will be fixed), hot food (wouldn't be a deal breaker for me) and being a bit rubbish at paperwork is the problem. If I were you I'd go in Monday morning and ask to go through the ofsted with them. Will they be fixing the issues and be re-inspected soon? It does sound like they've just not ticked the right boxes and they aren't things that would worry me (excluding door!). I'm a teacher and am not a big fan of ofsted!

I think before pulling out completely you need to speak to them ASAP. If you email over the weekend someone might pick it up as I'm sure they'll be other worried parents. Do you know any other parents with kids there?

@toadabode I’ve worked in education for two decades now (mostly in early years) and have come across ofsted many times. I’m not saying the report is to be discounted but if the setting were truly awful and a danger/ major safeguarding issue it would have to be closed even for an interim whilst measures were put in place. The fact it remains open and will have been given targets and deadlines- most of which will have been put in place before the report is issued some 6+ weeks after the inspection mean I wouldn’t be panic stations just yet. The nursery and staff will be working very hard to
Improve its standards and its highly unlikely for ofsted to return shortly and to remain inadequate and so therefore I would personally wait until then at least, particularly if my child has been happy during the initial settling in sessions, knowing I was to return to work shortly, and hadn’t another nursery place offered. But that’s just me.

Ask them what they're going to do about it.

Then decide

However I just don’t think I could live with myself if something happens to my DS.

I'm 99.99% certain that they will already have dealt with the safeguarding issues, both of which sound pretty easy to address. If you have any doubt about that, go in and ask them to show you what they've done about that and other aspects of the report.

DSis works in a school that was Ofsted inspected quite recently. During the inspection, one inspector made a big issue about a mistake in a whiteboard presentation prepared for one lesson, saying it showed their standards weren't consistent. When the year group leaders went through the presentation in detail they couldn't find the mistake. So they went to ask about it, and the inspector said it must have been the year group below - only no-one in that year had done that sort of presentation that day. The inspector then said they must have changed the presentation after she'd seen it, but they were able to demonstrate conclusively that nothing had been changed. Whereupon the inspector burst into tears and admitted that this major issue was purely imaginary.

What I find outrageous about that is that the inspector felt able to be all "poor me" when her mistake had been found out, yet she was criticising the school for a mistake in a way that could potentially have affected the livelihoods of the staff concerned, but they were supposed to suck it up. The whole incident tells you a lot about the reliability of Ofsted reports - it was sheer luck the staff were able to demonstrate they hadn't changed the presentation, and if they hadn't been able to, the report could have seriously damaged both them and the school.

Ask them what they've done about the fire door and what their plans are to improve. If immediate safety issues are fixed and you liked the place before then I'd still use it, just keep a close eye on the improvements being made and look for something else in the background. As others have said this nursery could be on its way up now and be better longer term than one rated good which is complacent. This is worse for you if you were dreading leaving your baby anyway, but try and get some reassurance from all the posts on here where it's been ok.