New to working in a nursery and witnessed horrible treatment

[Emrald1]

Today, my colleague was in a bad mood and just wanted to do tasks like clearing drawers and not interact with the children. She was frustrated with a DC crying and said 'right, this is what we're going to do' and she forcefully grabbed her by the hand and marched her over, plonked her hard down on the floor and then chucked her doll that she had brought in from home down on the ground next to her really hard. A bit later on, she aggressively marched over to the same DC with a angry look on her face and forcefully removed her dummy from her mouth. Whilst having dinner, the same DC was trying to take food from another's plate and she again grabbed her hand away in not a nice way and shouted NO. I don't do nappies as I am lunch cover so I let her know that this DC had soiled their nappy, as she was on nappies and there was no other staff present. She gave a look of disgust to the DC and didn't say anything. I made a note of these things. I was looking for advice as I know I need to report this but this member of staff has been there a long time whereas I haven't and I have a feeling I won't be believed as I think she is seen as a very competent member of staff but this was witnessed by just me. How can I approach this please

Kate Roughley had been working in Tiny Toes nursery in Stockport for 17 years before she was convicted of the manslaughter of Genevieve Meehan and sentenced to 14 years in prison. She was the manager of the baby room. Length of service is zero guarantee of good care.

Hi OP

There will be a Safeguarding team in the Local Authority. When you speak to the highest person in your nursery about this dreadful behaviour, I recommend starting with “I think this is a Safeguarding issue, but thought I should come to you first, rather than the Safeguarding Team”. That would let them know you are aware of where to go next if they try to hide it under the carpet. Also, you could look at the relevant Policy in your setting so you are clued up on what the next steps should be.

As someone who did report, I know it’s hard but it’s the right thing to do.

She may be burnt out and previously have been a good worker but ultimately op the why doesn't matter. You go to management and you tell them exactly what you saw. I personally would also go to the colleague and say to them directly that what you witnessed didn't sit well with you and you have passed it on but you wanted to be up front with them about it and I'd encourage them to be honest with management if they're struggling or if something is going on behind the scenes they need support with.

These situations are never easy to deal with but op it's your job to keep the children in your care safe, including from your colleagues. I've had to do this previously and it was horrible but it was the right thing to do.

Why are there no other staff around? How old are the children? Are ratios being met?

This is such an unkind comment.

OP, please do everything you can. This is every parent's nightmare realised, and if I was that child's parent then I'd be beyond grateful you'd called the behaviour out.

Thank you for your replies everyone. It was awful to witness and I immediately comforted the DC and made her feel safe but I could see my colleague was giving me a dirty look, probably thinking in her head that I should leave her. I will of course report, just worried about it being swept under the carpet as some have said

You should have a policy/process guide that you can easily access which will tell you the steps on how to go about reporting it. You will need to be brave as reporting negligence is a part of your role. It's good you are questioning it but you must do something about it now

If it gets swept under the carpet, contact the police (and make sure you tell them the manager has done nothing).

I bet this cretin wouldn’t be so quick with her hands against another adult.

I had similar but witnessed as I was working an agency nurse shift in a nursing dementia unit. I reported it to the manager and also CQC (as was unsure if the manager would take appropriate action) and a safeguarding to the local authority. It would be Ofsted/local authority for a nursery I assume, you can usually submit (an anonymous if wanted) safeguarding to the local council online.

Do report what you've seen, but beware if she's in management pocket nothing will come if it and you'll have to go over their heads. These carers are often in settings and covered up for various reasons.

Worked in nurseries, seen it happen, took complaints over management and lost a job due to it.

If you don't feel happy complaining to management you can whistleblow to your local council. You need the LADO. The number should be displayed at your work place or be written in their whistleblowing. Policy.

I would hate for this to be my child.

Report, Report, report

So I work upstairs where the children are 15months to around 2 years old. There is two rooms that they use so they're not all always in the same room at the same time, at the time 2 members of staff were in one of the rooms and me and her were in the other

Forgot to say, still worth reporting and wouldn't have continued to work in that establishment anyway due to treatment of the DC.

We saw round a nursery where a member of staff was really shouting at two 3 year olds as we walked in. Obviously we didn't choose it. So sometimes parents do see.
I imagine you won't be the only person to witness this so hopefully you will be believed. Especially if it's towards the same child every time.

Report ASAP. You have a duty of care.

I’ve seen this exact same post before- I remember it because it’s something that would stick in your mind.

Unless you're there all day in the room, you have no idea.

OP, report to the manager but also be prepared you may need to leave the job too if this woman is well thought off/liked.

Please, please report to Ofsted immediately - not just the nursery manager. This staff member must be disciplined. This is a safeguarding issue. Please report.

Forgot to say OP that your nursery setting will almost certainly have CCTV. You said you've noted down the incidents so hopefully you have a note or can remember the time and date.

Note this to the LA when you report. They can and should request the footage.

@JollyGreenSleeves
So are you saying the op is a troll? And the thread is a made up story? And that therefore there are no bad apples working in nurseries?

Sadly people like this crop up too often in nurseries :( My old nursery manager some years ago could be harsh to the children at times, encouraging staff to follow a disciplinarian approach such as forcing kids to sit at the table for upto an hour if they didn't eat their meals, even with babies who she wanted left to cry themselves to sleep :(

And I swiftly took my own daughter out of a local nursery after 4wks because of issues with the manager who was not very nice....she bullied DD's keyperson and after both her and DD told me some stories about her being unkind- cruel comments and rough handling sort of things.The woman didn't like me as I saw right through things and noticed the red flags that sadly other parents didn't, and told the keyperson to 'watch out for me' as I was too invested in DD!
Luckily she left afew years ago, but steered well clear for DD2 as there were still some staff there from the same time DD1 went, and I couldn't put her there knowing they didn't whistle-blow about the manager.

Whilst there are some wonderful staff in nurseries sadly you will always get these kind of issues with staff in nurseries, care homes, school lunchtime supervisors etc when the qualifications needed are low, pay given is low and there isn't always the screening there should be around whether someone's personality and skillset suits the role.

There are unfortunately still many people who work in nurseries that have old fashioned views around children needing to be controlled and punished.

I do or I wouldn't send my child there 🤷‍♀️ they have fully earned my trust and my child tells me all about their day when I pick them up. So I'd know if anything untoward was happening and I trust them implicitly.

Please report this, my little boy is starting in a nursery in couple months and I would never forgive someone who chose not to report this abuse, what if what you haven’t seen is worse :(

You should report to DSL at your setting. If you don’t feel you are taken seriously then please contact the local authority LADO. I am an ex LADO and would def want to know about this.