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 work across a range of nurseries, it has happened in all the nurseries I work in. It's ridiculous saying that it indicates high levels of unvaccinated staff. Pretty much every vaccinated person I know (who works in the childcare field) has had covid recently.

Is that serious - you can't choose to send your children to 2 different settings?? Why on earth not? I know loads of people (not Scotland) who send children some days to full day private nursery, some days to pre school. Such a good option for some families. Why would it matter where you send them?

Also I would be absolutely mad if my nursery charged for days they were closed - PARTICULARLY if it was clear that it was due to staff being unvaccinated.

@KodakNancyEurope

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.

You should challenge that. I'm in Scotland too and my local authority has allowed mixing of settings since August 2020. They initially advised against it, but then realised they had no chance of delivering their 1140 hour commitments. I had LO in council nursery two days per week and a private nursery with council funding two days per week from August 2020 - June 2021 except for the six weeks or so when they both shut down after Christmas. I've got colleagues and friends across the central belt with similar arrangements so I know my local authority isn't the only one that allows that.

I would be mad at being charged because like OP said, they are a chain so presumably have, or should have, a bank of staff they can shift around of necessary. That's what has always happened at my children's nursery (small, local chain).

Also, I work in a school. Staffing can be a nightmare but we have never (since bubble closures) had to close a single class because of staff shortages.

It's nationwide.

Everyone I've worked with since Covid who uses a nursery for their children has had to deal with more than one closure due to staff getting Covid.

Incidentally it is a bit weird as pre-Covid I only worked with UK people based in London and SE. Since Covid I work with people in the UK who are based anywhere in the country.

In my own case I'm in England so use a CM and nursery for different days. The CM has been more reliable than the nursery and has done extra days.

Ours haven’t closed at all. They are also a large chain and have moved some staff around to cover the absences and managers have been working in the rooms counting in ratio where they usually don’t.

Agentcarer unfortunately there are never bank staff available, it really isn't that easy. Nurseries can't accept children in that they cannot legally or safely look after.

Ours kept closing for same reasons. Also a national chain. We moved to a new nursery, it just became unmanageable as it was closed for more weeks than it was open. Some people said it was unreasonable to move but it's kind of a basic function for the nursery to be open... noones paying through the nose to send their kid to nursery if they don't desperately need them to be there! Our nursery changed management- never closed through the first 18 months of Covid then within a week of the manager leaving it was constantly closed... so I do think it comes down to management. We did get refunded tho for the days they were shut

They permit mixing of settings between private and council. We cannot get a place at the school pre school for love not money.

It’s mixing private settings that appears to be verboten.

Where are the bank staff - got other jobs when they weren't furloughed.

What are they doing to catch it so often - working in close proximity to kids who sneeze and cough in faces.

Is this normal? Yep and it will continue while staff keep getting sick.

Ours only closed once (aside from government mandated full lock down) they didn’t charge

@agentcarer

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

That's exactly what my thought was.

We've had agency staff in school consistently for months due to covid.

In fact - some have been so good we've asked for them and encouraged some to apply for long term positions we have available.

This is what it is like nationwide. There is a massive recruitment crisis in early years and it’s almost impossible to recruit qualified staff. It’s increasingly difficult to even get agency staff. Some nurseries have had to close down completely because of recruitment issues eg
www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/honeytree-nursery-announces-closure-8678196
www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/early-years-settings-warn-of-an-impending-crisis-as-covid-worsens-staff-shortages

[quote BasiliskFace]This is what it is like nationwide. There is a massive recruitment crisis in early years and it’s almost impossible to recruit qualified staff. It’s increasingly difficult to even get agency staff. Some nurseries have had to close down completely because of recruitment issues eg
www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/honeytree-nursery-announces-closure-8678196
www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/early-years-settings-warn-of-an-impending-crisis-as-covid-worsens-staff-shortages[/quote]
Yeah, I’ll level with you; it feels like this is a nursery that’s on the path to closure. Seeing as there are two other chain settings in the same area, metres away I wonder if they’re going to try and merge.

The staff are so lovely and really great with the kids. I’m starting to sniff a management problem here though.

@Letsallscreamatthesistene

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.

That's still awful! I'd never send DS to a strange place with total strangers looking after him

Mine's shut for one day recently (yesterday, due to storms) and asked those who can to keep them off for maybe 2 separate days? So no I don't think it is normal!

Many nursery's are closed due to parents still send poorly children in. Friend of mine who is a Nursery manager had a parent call the Police because my friend refused to have her child in the nursery, poor child had a temperature ( parent had even bought calpol) and a cough but the parent couldn't grasp why the child was not allowed in. P.S the Police refused to attend. As goes for bank staff, good luck finding them.

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

Have you ever run an actual business? You can see, logically, that any business can’t just employ more staff than it generally needs just to be able to manage illness? You know that there is an overall recruitment crisis in both care and education and getting agency staff when you need them is not as simple as it once was?

You also know that nurseries are governed by Ofstead and have ratios they are obliged to adhere to? That’s for the safety of the children concerned. And how on Earth do you expect a nursery to choose which children it takes on a reduced staffing basis and which it doesn’t? NHS staff? Teachers? Carers? Single parents? We all need to be able to work,we all have bills to pay, roofs to keep over our heads, even if we don’t have a key worker position.

Ours have not had to close due to staff absences during the whole pandemic. I would not be happy about this!

Mine hasn’t had to close at all. They still every child’s temperature before they go in which might help. It’s a small chain of 3 too so they do move staff across all 3 settings and have bank staff.

Had one closure since first lockdown and it wasn't due to covid! For two days and we're all being refunded. Your situation sounds awful!

My friend’s children go to a Bright Horizons nursery though and that keeps closing. You mentioned it was a big chain so wondered if it was the same one?

Our nursery has sent texts out to ask if we can make alternative arrangements due to short staff. No full closures, yet. Days have been refunded.

I’m an early years practitioner and we’ve had so many staff off with covid the past few weeks - all but one are fully vaccinated. We have just about scrapped by without shutting but on some days management have asked if children who are able too can come in a little later so we can be in ratio.

We aren’t a chain nursery but have used our usual bank staff, most staff have done over time and if needed management have been in rooms covering too.

It’s been exhausting and I think at one point we thought we would have to close because the whole thing just became so ridiculous. However, I am surprised to hear how frequently your setting has closed and I think it definitely indicates a problem higher up somewhere!

And how on Earth do you expect a nursery to choose which children it takes on a reduced staffing basis and which it doesn’t? NHS staff? Teachers? Carers? Single parents? We all need to be able to work,we all have bills to pay, roofs to keep over our heads, even if we don’t have a key worker position.

Mine has a lot of children on 15 funded hours termtime, where the parents don't work, so put out Facebook appeals asking for those people to swap days. Someone usually obliges. They are preschools as well as childcare.