To find this lady kicking off at nursery staff a bit much?

[ColonelHaiti]

My child goes to a good nursery. It's a chain. They have had issues, as we all have, with sickness and covid but kept going really well. Today I was waiting to be let in and one of the staff said they didn't have enough staff for the kids outside to come in and it would be 5 minutes. My little one was happy playing outside for 5 mins. Another mother royally kicked off though asking staff to close the blinds as its not fair her child sees other children playing while she's outside (said child didn't seem arsed), why is she paying ? Where are the staff etc?

I get she was pissed off but to kick off on the nursery staff who are there I thought was a bit steep. The nursery has kept open all through the pandemic with very little disruption.

@EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall

You might find yourself getting in later if your train doesn't turn up at all. Do you think nursery staff live on the doorstep?

No one thinks nursery staff live on the doorstep but it’s not exactly a scandalous expectation that they manage to get to work on time and plan accordingly. Like parents of nursery kids do. Like others, I planned my time management around nursery opening at 8am.

I think it's pretty clear from the OP that the nursery is good and this would be unusual - have you really never been late for reasons even outside your control? Really?

@HauntedPencil

If you are saying that in your particular nursery you were often made to wait pre pandemic regularly that's an entirely different situation that's being described here - and surely you can appreciate that speaking to the manager about the service is more productive than making strange requests to pull blinds.

I can't stand the whole Karen stuff but does that mean you can go around talking to people like crap because that's your right as a woman - no.

Why is it different though? If there’s enough staff to open the nursery it should open on time

Not saying it’s “a right as a woman” to be rude, but it’s infuriating that when women rightly complain about a legitimate problem, they’re seen as ‘kicking off’.

There's complaining and there's being shitty to staff who really aren't in a position to do anything about it - and asking them to close the blinds is quite bonkers.

Email the manager speak to them ask for a discount off the bill/what's going on if it's that much of an issue to be asked to wait 5 mins - speak to people tell them you are a brain surgeon and need to get the train now if that's the issue - obviously not in that much of a rush to waste so much time bothering about the blinds!

I'm not actually sure that it is a reasonable expectation that if a business opens at X time you will be able to conduct your business there at X.00 exactly without fail, and to plan your life around that. If a shop opened at 8 I wouldn't count on being able to buy something and walk away by 8.01. I have sympathy - my mornings are a really tight turnaround to get to work too and it is stressful when the nursery drop-off takes longer than usual - but I'm not sure it was ever wise to have a plan that relied on there never being a few minutes delay at nursery for some reason.

@HauntedPencil

There's complaining and there's being shitty to staff who really aren't in a position to do anything about it - and asking them to close the blinds is quite bonkers.

Email the manager speak to them ask for a discount off the bill/what's going on if it's that much of an issue to be asked to wait 5 mins - speak to people tell them you are a brain surgeon and need to get the train now if that's the issue - obviously not in that much of a rush to waste so much time bothering about the blinds!

TBH by your attitude I’m not entirely sure working with small children is your calling. You seem to think being a EYFS worker entitles you to turn up whenever and be horrified if your customers (as that’s what parents are!) don’t applaud you for it.

If your work starts at 8am and your expected in, it’s common courtesy to turn up on time. It’s not unreasonable to voice your frustration if people are making your wait in the cold when you’ve paid to be in somewhere

@HardbackWriter

I'm not actually sure that it is a reasonable expectation that if a business opens at X time you will be able to conduct your business there at X.00 exactly without fail, and to plan your life around that. If a shop opened at 8 I wouldn't count on being able to buy something and walk away by 8.01. I have sympathy - my mornings are a really tight turnaround to get to work too and it is stressful when the nursery drop-off takes longer than usual - but I'm not sure it was ever wise to have a plan that relied on there never being a few minutes delay at nursery for some reason.

My standards must be high because if a nursery says they open at 8am I expect them to open at 8am. The school I work at opens at 8.20am, I would LIVE to see the response if we all swanned in at 8.25 and said “Well you can’t expect us to be on time, how silly of you!”

@EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall

Bloody hell people can be so self absorbed. All those going on about having to rush to catch trains/buses do you not stop and think for 1 minute that nursery staff might have to do the same to get to work? You can never be sure that buses or even trains will be on time atm with staff shortages

The staff don't live at the bloody nursery you know

Some of the children do think we live there 😂😂😂

They ask where we sleep and where do we have dinner etc.
They are so cute at times.

@2pinkginsplease 🤣🤣 whenever a pupil sees me in town they are all “What are you doing in town Miss!”. What do they think I do on a weekend?! I wouldnt mind but some of them are teenagers 🤣

@HardbackWriter

I'm not actually sure that it is a reasonable expectation that if a business opens at X time you will be able to conduct your business there at X.00 exactly without fail, and to plan your life around that. If a shop opened at 8 I wouldn't count on being able to buy something and walk away by 8.01. I have sympathy - my mornings are a really tight turnaround to get to work too and it is stressful when the nursery drop-off takes longer than usual - but I'm not sure it was ever wise to have a plan that relied on there never being a few minutes delay at nursery for some reason.

I didn’t, though. I planned that IF nursery wasn’t open bang on 8, on occasion, and I missed my 8.10 train, I’d just about get to work anyway for my start time. I built in the slack.

If nursery itself didn’t do that, by getting workers on site by 7.45, damn right I’d be annoyed if it was at all a regular occurrence.

@AsYouWishButtercup don’t be ridiculous, have you ever been late to work ? Has your car never broken down or have you slept in, or missed the bus, or the children weren’t getting ready quick enough or there was an accident on the road causing a jam?

These things happen on occasions! We aren’t all perfect.

Last week we had 7 staff off due to covid! We can maybe get cover for one or two staff but certainly not 7 practitioners and certainly not within 20minutes of opening or at the weekend even with notice,

This thread is just getting ridiculous with some peoples attitudes. Do you actually live in the real world?

At my work our shifts are 8-6.(which are the actual opening hours of the nursery) We aren’t paid for anytime before 8 so the majority of staff don’t turn up until that exact time, I hate being late so normally in the building 10minutes before hand.

I wouldn't have shouted at the staff. But I would have been irritated- drop-off takes ages as it is and I'm always rushing to get to work. If it was a one-off, I'd accept it, but more than once and I'd be in touch with the manager (not have a go at the nursery staff though- not their fault!).

@2pinkginsplease

At my work our shifts are 8-6.(which are the actual opening hours of the nursery) We aren’t paid for anytime before 8 so the majority of staff don’t turn up until that exact time, I hate being late so normally in the building 10minutes before hand.

It’s not your fault at all, but this is spectacularly crap management.

I appreciate you may be late for work. Your boss would have to accept this.

Oh they would, would they? That’s ok then. I mean, nobody ever had an unreasonable boss who would have a real go at them for being g late, did they? 🙄

She shouldn’t have kicked off. But if I’m paying for a service like that, I would be pissed off too. Especially as my nursery kept sending shitty emails to all parents about being late and started charging for being 5 minutes late to pick up.

No one is saying the nursery staff swan in late habitually are they? Because of course that would be a completely different thread and if I'm honest in that scenario my first thought wouldn't be that the blinds needed shut.

That's just making stuff up the OP hasn't even said.

I'd love to see the thread you might start if one time after working through a pandemic when a lot of other stuff shut, you might have been 5 mins late and a parent spoke to you like that.

If they are late constantly of course it would be more than reasonable to complain. But that's just not the scenario given to us is it?!

If staff are off sick ( and most workplaces in the country are struggling with this right now) then what are places supposed to do?

She was an entitled idiot....'kicking off', what a freak!

Yeh, bad management if staff are only paid from the moment the children arrive. There should staff on hand well before nursery start time (paid). When I was a student I worked as a checkout cashier and my shift ended at the exact time the store was supposed to close, but obviously we always had customers and they expected me to just work for free until they left - often 15 or 20 mins. Eventually I just started walking out at the end of my shift and leaving a queue of customers. Managers need to factor in shift overlap, start times and end times, and pay their staff for being there at those times.

No one is saying the nursery staff swan in late habitually are they? Because of course that would be a completely different thread and if I'm honest in that scenario my first thought wouldn't be that the blinds needed shut.

That's just making stuff up the OP hasn't even said.

I guess I’m assuming that as most reasonable people assume shit happens sometimes it must have happened to this particular woman more often than just today.

But you’re right, I’m projecting because I can’t believe anyone is that mad and demands blinds closed etc. She sounds a bit unhinged. The OP is not wrong that this woman kicking off was unnecessary.

But it is stressful when you’re paying for a service you’re reliant on and it’s not being reliable! After almost 2 years of pandemic-ness any goodwill is running thin, that’s evident everywhere.

Yes... I chose a nursery over a childminder mainly because I thought it would be more reliable! So it would frustrate me if it was not. Actually, last week my nursery opened an hour later each day (for 4 days) due to staff shortages... but we were warned (rather than being told at arrival time!) and it was frustrating but at least they refunded us and were very apologetic... and same rule for everyone. It's the first time this has happened.

@FateHasRedesignedMost

Maybe she was in a hurry.

Nursery fees are expensive, I’d be irritated too if there weren’t enough staff to let me collect my child, and I had to wait outside in the cold until they sorted it out. People pay for staffing ratios, I’d expect them to use agency staff if some are off.

Not necessarily that easy. Covid is absolutely rife at the moment in schools and nurseries, and agency staff aren't immune either.

@gogohm

If I was in a hurry, 5 mins could be the difference to getting to work on time, could mean missing a bus/train. Complaining her kid could see inside was ridiculous though

I suspect that if that was the problem and she'd explained it politely they'd have let her child in.

This would happen with my son sometimes waiting outside no shelter in rain for over 12 minutes it's ridiculous when people pay but I don't be rude about it I just raised my concerns as that made me late for work xx

Nurseries have to stick to their ratios'

This came out from the DfE on 13th Jan

Not at the moment they don't

But what the DfE says will be irrelevant if their insurance policy requires them to stick to the normal ratio.

I" suspect that if that was the problem and she'd explained it politely they'd have let her child in"

Really?! Do you honestly think so?! Either the ratios are acceptable or they're not. Also, what about the other parents standing around waiting, with places to be?! I'd be mildly irritated about having to wait, but much more irritated if they bent their own rules for someone!!