In light of Montessori carer found guilty today of cruelty to think cctv should be in all nurseries

[Sunshineandoranges]

I just read about the ongoing cruelty of the Montessori nurse convicted today. I realise that any recording of children has to be kept away from paedophiles but would it be safer to have ongoing recording of little children to be reviewed by managers weekly to check what’s going on. The mums and dads of those little children will be heartbroken and the poor little kids didn’t deserve to be abused. Has she been on cctv, this abuser would have been stopped much sooner.

Why didn’t her colleagues report her?
where were the staffing ratios?
lots of questions

Cctv didn't stop the death of Genevieve Meehan.

“Reviewed by managers weekly” - I understand that some of this abuse was the carer pinching and scratching toddlers. Someone would have to watch all the footage very closely to make sure that wasn’t happening. Who has the time to watch a whole week’s worth of footage closely, and who’s paying for them to watch it?

I think what people really need is a society in which very young children are being cared for in smaller settings by a trusted adult, as opposed to in institutionalized childcare.

What an awful human being that woman is.

Don't think CCTV is the answer though - well, not the full solution anyway.

No one wants to be filmed and scritinised every minute of their working day - this is where the real problem is.

This is v true

The average nursery doesn't have the time, money or resources to actively monitor staff via CCTV. I've worked in some nurseries that had CCTV and they were used mainly to look back and check after an incident had already happened (child falling, child hitting another, etc) for clarification.

About 20 years ago I was starting to hear about nursery cctv that parents could log into. I remember a friend's mum logging in to watch her granddaughter. It seemed a good idea. I doubt kate roughly would have behaved as she did if she knew people could log in and see her. It's a shame it didn't catch on.

There was CCTV in that nursery.
It was used at the trial.

There was CCTV at the nursery where a baby was murdered recently.

CCTV doesn't stop abuse, it just creates evidence.

They did trial this in some nurseries but it’s a huge safeguarding risk. There would be multiple children available to watch and you just don’t know what hands it would fall into if parents were able to share a password for the watching of small children.

Personally though, as a nanny I will not work in a home where I’m subject to being constantly monitored by cctv.

My son’s nursery has cctv but only for the purpose of being watched back should an issue arise. This is for the benefit of the staff too. In the above case o think the most serious concern is that she was allowed to continue to abuse children and the other staff either didn’t see or didn’t report her.

I thought that might have been why it didn't continue. As long as there was no cctv in the changing area, what would anyone be seeing other than kids playing? Same as they could see if they lived in a flat overlooking a school or playground. I do think it would keep kids safer if workers knew a grandparent could be watching. I think it would be good in care homes or anywhere with non verbal residents too.

Yes but that’s putting a hell of a lot of trust into everyone’s family members that they’re not watching other people’s children for nefarious reasons.
plus as a childcare worker I wouldn’t work somewhere where I could be watched whenever anyone pleased. I worked for a toddler once, I was told there was cctv but not about the absolute micromanaging that would come with it as a result of someone being able to tune into my working day constantly.

Exactly this.

What's needed is safe staffing ratios, ongoing vetting and evaluation of staff, and robust reporting procedures alongside investigation frameworks so that concerns about staff can be reported and - crucially - acted upon.

You're making nursery sounds like a prison block. My dc's nursery was staffed by a group of women who have worked there for 20 odd years, are very trusted and remain my dc's lives 8 years later. Certainly they have more contact and have had a better input into my dc's lives than any of their grandparents or other family members.

What would nefarious reasons be for watching fully clothed children playing though? Like they could do in any park?
I think it would keep children safer if workers knew they could be watched. Children's safety has to be the first priority.

I think I agree with people saying it wouldn’t work. It would be off putting for staff. I had a bad childminder and for years felt really guilty at the injury my child got in her poor care.Most nurseries are safe. Just so sad for the families and little children involved.

CCTV is a really tricky one ….

as a member of school staff , I would be very uncomfortable with a system where parents could log in and watch- however I would actually welcome a system where classrooms where recorded , and the headteacher could view should an incident occur. I also think it would help with more challenging behaviour, if the child knew that eventually mum could see the behaviour in class or that they couldn’t get away with poor behaviour carried out when the teacher wasn’t looking.

if it was done carefully it could support staff and pupils…

would it be safer to have ongoing recording of little children to be reviewed by managers weekly to check what’s going on.

How much more per day would you pay for a nursery that had a network of cctv plus a manager that had the time to watch all the footage?!

Except children have nappy changes etc.

That’s what I thought too!

Absolutely shocking, she was hurting them for the sake of hurting them

Like Lucy Letby in many ways.

Why didn’t her colleagues report her?
One did, in June 2024.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/former-nursery-worker-child-cruelty-roksana-helena-lecka-b2770884.html

I think what is needed is for everyone working with children to not be scared to report concerns. Even minor things need to be documented and reported incase they build part of a bigger picture.

too often people have a “wouldn’t happen here” mentality and let things go, or don’t want to risk rocking the boat. But sometimes the boat needs rocking. It could happen anywhere and everyone working with young people need to be aware of that.

I reported someone when I was in a voluntary role working with young people. My concerns were brushed under the carpet. The concerns of other volunteers were brushed under the carpet. A year later he was in prision for serious offences against children. I left that organisation straight away!

Where does it end though?
Nursery staff and children have to accept being viewable by essentially anyone (nursery parents and any friends or family they give the details to)
should we have CCTV in every classroom and care home too and just make it all publicly viewable at all times?

I don't see why there isn't. I would want it if my kid was there.
That awful woman did it knowing the cameras were there though?

I don't think it would be needed for family to log in unless it was non verbal babies or adults.