Nursery concerns

[SimplyAmy1]

Hi!

i just need some perspective really.
my first child, first time looking at nurseries.

Just for context…..My child is 2 and has a double barrelled first name, no middle name.

I went to view nurseries and found one I liked. I had put their name down and all was great. Fast forward to later this year, they were offered a place. I accepted but had a few questions and they wanted to know if we were having funding hours etc. I sent a reply with my questions pretty much straight after the email from them…. No reply , fine they’re busy- I’ll wait.
Roll on 2 weeks, no reply. I called the nursery to ask and they could see the manager stopped replying and said they are back in 2 days time so will email me then. No correspondence. FOR A MONTH. I called the nursery, the assistant manager explained she is now the manager as that one had left and promised me the answers to my questions. This took another 3 weeks. I called head office as I wanted to get the place secured and due to severe lack of communication I didn’t know what else to do. I promised a call from the area manager. This never happened. The centre manager did email me on a Saturday though and apologised for lack of communication.
I was sent a link for payment to secure her place and within 6 hours I was being called AND emailed chasing for the payment.
my concerns:
when I first put my child’s name down, they only put down the first half of their name, when I told them, they said it doesn’t matter what the name says as it’s not important and can be changed later. I made it clear I wanted their name
correct as this is their name!
ever since, they have never been called by the full first name, just the first half- all correspondence (although limited!!) has only been the first part of the name. One email even said ah yes I can see the name is down as ‘correct name’ as requested last week but they still proceeded to address them by the wrong name.
it doesn’t sit right with me that it took months for a reply yet I’m being chased for payment just hours after receiving the link. I was called again this morning and they said ‘hi, I’m just reminding you to pay the fees for (half of her name)’ I explained that’s not her name yet again.

is it just me or am I right to be annoyed over this?
would you send your child somewhere where, time and time again, their name is still
wrong?

This

Getting her name wrong doesn't sound like the biggest concern in this situation, to be honest

Why does it matter if they use the middle name?

Fucking hell, mumsnet is on form today. From people saying that it is OK for a 23 year old to bully a six year old because the six year old is probably annoying to saying having a double barrelled first name is life ruining. So they don't go through IT systems very well, what are the humans' excuses for not remembering, other than being aresholes? And for having shite communication unless they want money?

She hasn’t got a middle name?

I'd be concerned about the poor communication, change of management and lack of respect for using your daughter's correct name.
I've worked in nurseries where staff call children by shortened versions of their name, nicknames and totally made up names!
They are usually young staff with little awareness of how this confuses the child. Managers don't ever correct them.

Some people have hyphenated first names - get over it

The name isn't the biggest deal as you could fix that once she started and make sure the staff in the room know what to call her.

The lack of communication is really offputting though.

Does a hyphen mean you have to say Gwendoline-Mary every single time? I didn't know that as I've known a couple of children with a hyphen and the parents only said both first and middle name occasionally.

I've had the opposite with school, put my child's middle name down on a form asking for their 'full name'. Now on everything they have put her first and middle name down as if it's a double barrelled first name. She doesn't seem to mind luckily 😂

I couldn't get worried about the name issue but the poor communication, demands for money and staff turnover would worry me. I'd start researching other options. Make sure you visit in person too x

It's up to the child/ parent

The communication is the primary issue here.

WRT to the name. I didn’t know that Ada-May or Lily-Ann were full first names, I’d assume a first and middle. That’s daft of me perhaps. But if you’ve corrected it then it should be correct. I had similar when DS started nursery (think Ed instead of Edward / Joe rather than Joseph… I actually don’t mind the shortening but he wasn’t talking when he started, we call him by his long name and I wanted to make sure he knew what his full name was), I only had to correct them once.

I didn’t know that Ada-May or Lily-Ann were full first names, I’d assume a first and middle.

Same, I just thought it was a different way of writing first and middle, as the children I've known have just as often been called by the first name only.

More likely Leigh

Double-barrelled names are SO common now I'm surprised they didn't get it, although I'd be more irritated and concerned by the general lack of communication.

Maybe they have a lot of double-barrelled kids who do use just one name/nickname.

No, it'll be Lily-Rose or Lacey-Mae or some such.

I’d be annoyed by the lack of communication although it sounds like the manager may have left suddenly so they’re probably playing catch up

I think you’re probably going to get over the name issue, your child will probably always only be called by their first name especially when they start school.

Sounds a bit chaotic and like communication is poor.

If the admin side of things is annoying you now before you've even started then it will only be worse once you are querying incorrect bills and trying to organise funding with them.

To be fair the name for me would be the least of my concerns, the lack of professionalism and communication would be the biggest red flag for me.

id be looking for a new nursery, it sounds like my previous place of employment and it was a shit place to work.

Sounds chatotic and disorganised.
They've probably done you a favour, I wouldn't enrol her there.

As an aside though. Nursery probably have hundreds of parents they need to deal with on a daily basis and you sound like you'd be "that" mum.

Not Leigh either, not writing the name as it isn’t very common (but it’s an easy English name so not as if it isn’t easily
pronounced )

Exactly this, turns out we aren’t eligible for funding ( or atleast I don’t think we are from what was said) everyone thinks ill
get
atleast 15 hours free but the nursery doesn’t know

I just wanted clear communication regarding wether or not she is entitled to 15 hours free, a clear start date and her name to be correct but I couldn’t even get a reply 😂
I think I will call the second nursery today to check waiting lists and decide from
thee x

A lot of unnecessary bitching on this thread 😂

1. The poor admin and communication would have put me off long ago, especially as you're not desperate for the place

1. The actual staff in the nursery rooms will call her what you tell them. The admin paperwork in the office in the contexts you give don't matter that much.

Case in point (not my child's name) - my child has a full name (eg William) and a nickname (eg Billy) and staff and children at nursery and school have always called him Billy as we simply made that clear in person when he started. The actual paperwork for the contract has a different name that they never use.

The same will happen to you - right now it doesn't matter much, but on official paperwork make sure it is right and when you introduce her in person when settling in emphasize her full name.

Forgetting the name aspect, surely the lack of communication and issues with senior leadership would be enough to make you think something is going on. No way would I be transferring money and handing my child over to them. They sound inept.