to be pissed off at the 4th nursery closure in two momths

[KodakNancyEurope]

Hello

Short one: my kids’ (private) nursery is going into its second week of total closure due to staffing levels being massacred with covid absence.

They just confirmed the earliest date they’ll be open is the 24th and the last day they were open was the 11th.

This is after preschool was closed for a week in December and the baby room for a separate week.

I feel like I’m going out of my fucking mind and kissing the ground every time they actually go into nursery for a full day.

AIBU? Is this what it’s like nationwide?
Help me understand wise ones.

I know its frustrating but it really cant be helped. Your are not unreasonable for being annoyed, i would be but it is nationwide

We've been fortunate and only had one closure. Our nursery is very small and almost all the staff were out with Covid at once. Four times in two months seems particularly unlucky!

Nope. My sons nursery has been closed twice because of it, and each time they've found places for the kids that needed it at sister nurseries (its a chain in the south west of England).

I find it all very variable and down to management staff tbh.

Do they charge? Ours charges us even when they choose the closure!

I would expect a nursery to have some back up bank staff, although I think staffing is a nightmare across the board at the moment.

Mine hasn’t shut at all! (But it is on the same site as a hospital, it’s not funded by the hospital though!) I guess I’ve been lucky

They are “seeking clarification” about refunding the days :/

Why are they closing so often?

I would assume your not charged for the days they remain closed that aren’t ‘holidays’?

This isnt acceptable, they should be bringing in agency staff to cover

@KodakNancyEurope

They are “seeking clarification” about refunding the days :/

www.gov.uk/government/publications/nursery-and-early-years-sector-covid-19-restrictions-and-consumer-law/nursery-and-early-years-sector-covid-19-restrictions-and-consumer-law-advice#issue-1-charging-high-or-full-fees-for-services-not-provided-during-lockdown

This i related to lockdowns but relevant I think.

I would be annoyed to OP. Repeated closures suggests a high number of unvaccinated staff. I work in education and the number of covid absences now is few and far between because most staff are vaccinated.

Ours refunded the days no questions asked. We just got the cheque home!

Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t, in many ways it makes no odds to me, but they are insisting they won’t operate without the appropriate staff:child ratio. And that’s right.

But where the fuck are the bank staff? This is a National chain nursery and we aren’t in the back of beyond.

We are also stymied because in Scotland you still can’t mix private/private settings. So we can’t put them in for some days to one setting and some in this setting to try and guard against this impacting us so hugely again.

Ach, I’m just starting to get angry now. It’s the worst we’ve known in two years barring a total lockdown. Fucks sake.

My nursery closed once last year for a week due to around half the children having covid (on government advice) and again last Friday when directed to by the council due to the storm. They have tried very hard to stay open throughout even when a lot of staff had covid. It helps that they don’t tend to count manager or owner in their ratios but can do where necessary.

I don’t think it’s acceptable for a nursery to close as much as yours has for so long - it shows that they don’t understand that parents rely on them in order to be able to work. They should have back up arrangements or at least be able to take some children. My nursery have refunded us every time they closed even when it wasn’t their fault.

I would be annoyed if they were only considering a refund. They aren’t open. I bet the staff are not being paid in full and are on SSP!

I would also be annoyed (and surprised they are shutting fully) so no key worker provision/ability to accommodate at other nurseries (if in chain) or have some sort of relationship with other independents.

I'd find that very frustrating. DD has been in nursery since August 2020 and her room closed for one week ages ago, and that's been the only closure. Their staff ratios are generally higher than needed, so if staff have needed to stay home they can still keep the room open.

I have actually complained to the HQ of this chain, but I expect to get nowhere fast, meantime we are stuffed to move them as waiting lists are massive here.

I suppose I’m just asking if I’m an unusual case. I know of no other family that’s had the level of disruption we’ve had. We have two kids in the one nursery and I suppose the more children you have in one setting the greater the chances are of disruption but this feels really fucked.

How on earth are you coping OP? I’d be tearing my hair out

I’m also now dead, unable to get through the next two hours of Saturday and actively dreading tomorrow as my batteries have been used up from a week of unexpectedly having to (quelle horreur) have them at home.

They’re 4 and 2. I’m shattered. And my partner totally does his share too. We’re both shattered.

We’ve been lucky enough to not have any closures but when it looked like it could happen they were going to do reduced days so some children wouldn’t get there full hours but everyone would get at least a few days each week. This meant that even with reduced staff they could open with correct ratios. Could your nursery do something similar? Surely they have some staff if not enough to have all kids.

Preschool hasn't closed once, in the South East. I'd be pretty annoyed them closing so regularly, it makes you wonder what they're up to to be catching it so frequently?

I would be annoyed at that, no it's not the norm everywhere. It sounds like they have maxxed out their ratios which is understandable as there's more £££ in it, but similarly means there's zero flex if someone is off. Ours has closed once and we were refunded on the next invoice.

Every day I said to myself “it could be worse, it’s not another lockdown, we are all well, this is ok, we know that it’ll be all fine come Monday”

Then they send a text this evening and it feels like Groundhog Day

Ours are getting in bank staff most days, but this is upsetting my 3 year old, so can’t win I guess!

Hi OP, get on a waiting list and look for childminders , preschools too at this is not normal for nurseries now especially chains it suggests poor management in terms of planning staff back ups .. on the plus atleast you”ve only got a few months until school starts ! X

Our nursery only closed for the first lockdown when everything was shut.

Other than that the only thing they’ve ever asked was if we could drop off half an hour later one day due to ratios, but that was nearly a year ago now.