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

No, don’t know why you’re making things up, exactly what I said, I’ve seen this post before. A while ago too.

Definitely not from me, this happened on my shift today, not something I would make up

I work in a nursery as lunch cover. You will always be believed. Please don’t think they won’t believe you. They are obliged to note down any low level or serious safeguarding concerns. They most likely will be keeping a closer eye on this staff member and have maybe received reports before - you could make a huge difference here. What’s likely to happen is they will speak to this staff member and tell them it can’t happen again - they can also review CCTV to back up your allegations in case of any doubt.

And this is why nursery really isn’t the best place for young babies who can’t yet communicate clearly. I with more people had the option to stay at home with their kids until they’re 2 at least.

@JollyGreenSleeves
Fair enough.

Report to management. If nothing is done, report to an external agency.

I think that if you do not feel comfortable reporting this to the nursery there is a whistleblowing number at the NSPCC and they will be able to help you.

This is awful. I've worked in nursery's. This behaviour is not acceptable at all. I wouldn't hesitate reporting it.

Goodness.

@MumWifeOther
In the case of Kate Roughley, she was management.

Obviously everyone does or they wouldn't send their child!

Makes my heart ache to think of that little child! Imagine sending your little one off so you could work and not knowing they were being treated like that :(. I hope you are listened to, OP.

Do u have an early years rep there?
Google it ..

I should have said, as I am lunch cover, I work where needed so I am not always in this room working with her, it just depends. So there may have been other things I haven't seen

Thank you everyone who has offered advice and contacts

I think there's a difference between picking a decent enough nursery and having to go to work etc and assuming it's all good to implicit trust and knowing some of the staff for decades like my position. But anyway each to their own!

If you've seen all this just during the short period you're there, just imagine all the stuff that's probably going on when you aren't! It's bad that nobody else there has already reported her!!

Go to the manager and if they don’t believe you do you really want to work there?

Hi OP

Yes, use LADO if in England, Safeguarding Team if in Wales.

I think this is a lot more common than people realise in all care settings and many others. We realised on a tour of nursery that everyone we knew raved about, that the head wasn't a kind person when we saw her interacting with a child in a negative way.

As a PP says unless you are in the room all the time, you really have no idea.

Yes I do.

Stop being so controlling.

This is a chat forum and it was a perfectly sensible question.

I see so many of these type of posts and o hear in rl of so many people unhappy with the level of care at their dc nursery. I see so much parent blame about being school ready and ‘Covid babies’ and older children waiting for years for camhs help and I think that the nurseries are the problem. Poor parents having to work full time and trusting these type of people and then the damage being done to a whole generation though sub standard early years settings is horrendous. Babies and toddlers need a consistent caregiver who is kind and responsive not these awful people .

As well as raising the issue with your employer, you could have stated something directly to her when she scowled about the nappy.
You really have it in for that kid, don't you.
Why are you not kind to that child? It's our job to be patient.

Or when she handled the child roughly the first or second time.
Hey mate. Easy on there! That was far too rough.
Hey, I saw that. You were way too rough!

Your colleague needs some retraining and some time off.

I used to know quite a lot of women who worked in nurseries and every single one said they’d never send a baby of theirs to one. Preschool when they can talk etc yes but not a nursery when tiny.

OP you must make some factual notes. You need to call the manager and tell them asap. Also call your local council safe guarding board.

Is reporting not mandatory for nursery staff? If its not, it should be.