to expect my toddler to be in the right room at nursery?

[SunSparkle]

Hi

My daughter has been in nursery since she turned 1. She's now just turned 2. They move children between rooms in cohorts every 4 months - January, April and September (roughly).

My daughter is supposed to be moving up to the next room in April (she would be 2 years 2 months and the room is for 2-3 year olds) but they are saying they don't have capacity and want to keep her in her current room until September.

She's outgrown her current room, lots of her friends have moved up before her, and she's surrounded by much younger babies (many under 18 months).

The nursery are shrugging it off and saying it's tough - they've got a bottle neck in the older classes (presumably because they've taken on more kids in the older rooms - we've seen two local preschools just shut).

That and they've put the fees up again. Am I being unreasonable to be annoyed they are holding my daughter back?

I'm not a tiger parent - I just want her around similar aged children, and to be stimulated and not bored like she is right now.

If they haven't got space, they need to create opportunities for the older ones to access the appropriate activities.

It wouldn't bother me hugely at that age; my DS was often one of the very last to move up to the next class and it did wonders for his confidence to be the oldest in the room and 'help' with the babies.

If they don't have space, they don't have space.

YANBU - the difference between a 1yo and 2yo can be enormous, even if the 1yo is walking confidently. Agree with the above poster, they need to reshape the space according to their current intake.

I’d probably be annoyed too, but what can they do if they don’t have space? You can choose to accept this or move elsewhere.

YABU. They don’t have space, and they aren’t holding her back 🙄

What do you want them to do, turf out an older child to make space for her?

Fees go up because everything is going up.

I would presume it is not they can't be bothered so would assume they have their reasons

And as there would be more than just my child I would assume they were doing their best for all the kids as a whole?

They aren't holding her back, they don't have space. If there's kids 18 months they are also growing older as your child is. It's really no biggie.

It's frustrating but understandable she can't move - there is no space. What isn't OK is nursery not adapting what toys and activities are available in the younger room to match the ages it is currently needing to house. That would be where my complaint would be. She should be stimulated and not bored.

I would be asking what activities they are putting in place for the 2 year olds in the room to ensure they are having learning opportunities as per the EYFS framework. If she's in over the summer I'd also ask them to move her up in July when the term time only children have left.

I would ask how they are planning to meet her needs and ensure she can access age-appropriate activities.

I hope I don't come across like I'm trying to hot house her - I'm not. It's more than they've said she already knows the answers to lots of the activities they do - she knows her colours and her animals and she tries to encourage the younger babies to repeat after her when they do flash cards.

I think in the older room, being around older toddlers, would help draw out her language and so on even more and stretch her brain into drawing shapes, and also the social skills too of negotiating play with bigger kids. The staff in her current room have admitted they've been skewing the activities to the needs of the younger kids because there are more of them.

Additionally, she's showing signs of wanting to potty train and they've said they 'could' support that in her current room, but that really the next room up is better set up for that and there's a 'collective' mentality to seeing eachother go to the toilet/potty and not seeing all the other babies get their nappy changed.

I think you have a good point, and sleepless1096 , comes up with the good question ? Is the setting being inclusive to age and stage appropriate activities to your child , ask them about their next steps for her and how you can work as a parent in partnership to support her alround development in a holistic manner. The costs as pointed out by yourself are going up like everything - crazy !!!! Let’s hope Wednesdays Parliament gives some consideration to this , and the struggles both parents and settings are facing ,fingers crossed x

Why are they quizzing children with flash cards in nursery? Surely it should be learning through sensory and motor play at that age. She could not possibly "know all the answers" in that case. She should be playing in a sandpit, water table, climbing frame, rolling balls, building blocks, painting, role play, singing, number cubes, any number of useful activities.

Unfortunately if there isn’t enough space in the next room up there is nothing they can do.p to make space. The staff should be doing activities to all childrens abilities.

This happened in my last nursery due to staff ratios, the amount of children that were allowed in each room. It’s difficult but nothing can be done until the preschoolers go to school.