Change in management at DS Nursery

[UngratefulDead]

Hmmmm, not sure about using AIBU and seeing what the vipers think but I genuinely am not sure if I should speak to someone.

OK, outline - DS has been at nursery for 6 months. He loves it. I have absolutely no issues at all with his care, what he eats or how well looked after he is. And I KNOW this is essentially all I should care about!

We picked this nursery as they are outstanding offsted but also sold us on the communication with parents. They use an app and send daily photos/videos of what the kids are up to, they also make personal observations on developmental things that the babies are doing. They split them into age groups and try and do lots of outdoor activities appropriate for the age.

Because of this and along with having a fantastic menu and promoting healthy eating with Chef etc, it is premium pricing for our area.

For the first 3 months we would see photos of the activities the children were doing and what they were up to in the day. We'd also (maybe twice weekly) have personal observations on what DS was doing and how they saw him developing along with really useful tips on what we could do to continue this learning at home.

New management comes in 2 months ago. Seems nice. A few staff leave: some we loved but to be expected with these changes. And then the communication has tailed off to almost nothing. Now, on a daily basis we get a list of his nappy changes, when he's napped, and that he's either eaten a lot or a little of something. And that's it.

The photos, observations stopped completely 4 weeks ago. Also newsletters have been sporadic and now stopped (upcoming events, what's on next week etc).

I've commented to the staff at drop off/pick up but this doesn't seem to be getting anywhere and they just say its been busy. So, do I say something to the new Manager and ask? I am aware that what they used to do was over and above: but it was heavily promoted as a reason to choose this, premium priced nursery. I have no issues on his care and really worried about being labeled as 'that' parent so early on.

YABU: Don't say anything
YANBU: Raise it with the manager

I personally would...they should really explain if that tone of communication is to not longer continue. I wouldn't be happy about this.

Thanks @CafeMochaVodkaValiumLate. I'm totally new to navigating this and really don't want to piss anyone off or for it to taint their view of me. I do think they're doing a wonderful job but they do charge significantly more than others in the area so I have come to expect quite a high level of communication

I would raise it but if you're worried about seen as that parent soften it by telling them you are happy with his care but that you have noticed a few issues with communication (and then tell them the issues).
It's likely they've changed policy but that should have been made clear and tbh they shouldn't be charging premium rates if they aren't providing a premium service.
Staff are probably just following orders so go straight to the manager or deputy.

I loved seeing Tapestry updates on my DS when he was at nursery but they only did them about 2-3 times a month, their explanation was that it takes a member of staff away from the kids for a long time each day to upload and write all those entries for however many kids they have, and they’d rather be focusing on the children and not sticking iPads and cameras in their faces all the time. I was happy with this even though I would have liked more updates! I expect this is what your new management has decided, but I agree with the pp that given that it’s a change from the status quo, it should be explained to parents and YWNBU to politely email the nursery about it.

They should be performing regular observations of the children anyway so should be able to provide these details at a minimum.

That's really weird, this sounds exactly like the nursery I use! They definitely upsold their 'above excellent' nursery as a way to explain the additional costs, but contradict themselves all the time. They recently increased prices (again) even though they've lost 5 staff members in 3 months, changed management, no longer have external people (dance teacher, animal visits for petting, music lessons), no photographer at Christmas....the 'chef' seems to only serve soup for a meal (although we were a bit shocked that on Friday 'parsnip soup' was sent to us as 'what I ate today' and what they told us on pick up was 'beans on toast....?')

Also no longer receive the daily updates, like you OP perhaps one photo every 2-3 weeks, one written 'observation' a week(ish). They state they're a 'premium nursery' and also pride themselves on their parent/ staff relations, but I've had to phone them to ask for updates, haven't received any comms from them ever (apart from sporadic comments on quick pick ups that I've had to phone the next day to ask them for more info.....)

I wish I'd picked the school attached nursery that was closer....haven't seen anything exceptional at all, Dd2 won't be going - it'll be interesting to see the comparison between what they state as elite and better than other nurseries....

Oh, yes I'd phone OP

I would ask; our nursery recently changed how they do it so we don’t get daily updates but a weekly one and regular photos. They said that the updates were getting in the way of spending time with the children so they were stream lining it which made sense to me

If they’re still charging their premium prices, but have reduced the service right down, that’s definitely worth a conversation. I’d want to check the new management hasn’t scaled back on the care for my child, too.

although we were a bit shocked that on Friday 'parsnip soup' was sent to us as 'what I ate today' and what they told us on pick up was 'beans on toast....?')

Did you say anything about this outright lie??

Definitely ask them. I'm sure you are not the only one who is concerned about these changes. Is your ds still happy there?

I’d raise it. Our nursery had a period where the manager wasn’t really coping and in hindsight the communication becoming rubbish was a sign. We’d get barely any info at pick-up, no proper handover etc. We’ve had a new manager and it is really good again- lots of photos, observations, someone assigned to do handover properly etc.

The early years foundation curriculum that nurseries are governed by has changed in 2021.

The emphasis is less written observations and paperwork and more time actually playing and interacting with the children to support the development. The emphasis is that they don't need to tick ever little milestone off and if children are on track developmentally then staff continue to engage and focus on their next steps without the need to document everything.

All nurseries, and early years settings are now trying to navigate the new curriculum and balance how to reduce paperwork tasks thats are unnecessary with ensuring good communication with parents.

Have a conversation with the nursery about what their plans are regarding communication and what you would like from them but be prepared to be told that they are not expected to be doing written observations as often as they previously were.

You are paying for a premium service and their communication is how they have justified their charges. Therefore if their communication strategy has changed, it is reasonable to ask about it. It's not being "that parent". You don't need to ask in an arsey way - you can simply say that you used to really value the communication and updates, it was explained to you as an important aspect of how the nursery chose to support families, and you wanted to ask about why it has changes and what the rationale is for that.

Especially at the moment with not being allowed to enter the room, it is good to get more detailed feedback as you otherwise have no insight into what is going on in your DS's life at nursery.

Equally, I would rather nursery staff were doing stuff with the kids than spending loads of time documenting it, so I would be sympathetic to that as a rationale. However that doesn't justify telling you nothing beyond nappy changes, or stopping the newsletter.

@nimbuscloud

although we were a bit shocked that on Friday 'parsnip soup' was sent to us as 'what I ate today' and what they told us on pick up was 'beans on toast....?')

Did you say anything about this outright lie??

It's just one in a long list of discrepancies, we won't be using them for much longer but I will be having a conversation with them - if Dd1 didn't love it there I would have taken her out a long time ago.