Nursery. Any tips on what to look out for?

[lifeas3plus1]

Going to see a nursery this afternoon for ds 17 months.

It's 2nd choice as 1st choice won't have any places until next March.

I've had a look at Ofsted report which is "GOOD" and all the staff have level 2 nvq or above with the manager on level 4.

I'm not so bothered about the above though as my choice would be based on how the staff interact with the children and the atmosphere etc.

Has anyone got any tips on what to look out for apart from this?

Thanks.

watch the children.
what are they actually doing? are they happy? can you imaging you LO in their place? How do they interact with the staff. Try and spend as much time as possible in any rooms where there are several children.

staff can say anything, but the kids can't li.

oh and if there are any issues that you have strong views on, ask what their attitude/system is without saying what you think is best. otherwise they might just say what they think you want to here.

Don't be afraid if it looks like noisy chaos, esp with the older children.

Try and see a child like yours (ie a bit clingy or boisterous) and see how their needs are being met - is there space to be quiet as well as plenty to run around - outside space is a particular bugbear of mine as it will be unusable for so much of the time.
Is the outside space divided so that the littlies don't get runover by the 4 year olds, and there is adventurous enough equipment for the oldest

Ask about potty training - their approach should be that it is a partnership thing, meeting the childs needs

Obviously imagine your DC there and trust instincts. Also, seriously, do think about changing to your preferred nursery later, which means putting names on several waiting lists, even if you then pull out before deposits/cash paid. Flexibility much preached, but practically hard unless you do this.

I wish before I'd picked I'd thought critically about communication: what you wish to know and how it corresponds with what they give-much info is boringly functional (wet nappies, times, food eaten) and of little use to some parents; check that key workers will be there at handover-many nurseries operate shift patterns so you don't get to speak to keyworkers if picking up after 5; check (if you can) staff turnover-if you're not told look at noticeboards giving names and see how they fit with those in the room. This has always to me seemed the best bet-if nursery staff are happy to work somewhere (Given all nurseries seem to exploit horribly) it's probably a good nursery.

I took a tour and left my son (now 15 months, he was just under a year when I was looking for nursery) in the baby room. After my tour and asking a ton of questions, I went to get him.

I knew it was the place for him when he was sad to see me because he was having so much fun!

I used my gut a lot. But I also asked questions regarding food safety, first aid training, discipline methods, etc.

Thanks for all the replies.

As it happens, the nursery was nice enough and the kids seemed happy but I've chosen not to send ds there.

It was tiny tiny and ds is very independent and very much a free spirit and confident and didn't think he would be happy being contained to a very small section of the room with his age group playing with soft balls and wooden blocks when he could quite clearly see the slightly older kids in the larger main section of the room playing with trains and painting etc.

Your replies will come in handy for the next nursery I view though.

I think you've got it dead right, you go with gut instinct.

Bizarrely DD is very independent and her little nursery suits her really well because at times they mix the age groups/they go out on trips/have lots of outside play but everywhere is different. If you think it's right then it's right, if you feel otherwise it's wrong.

Something else to look out for is how much time the staff actually spend with the kids. They might have the correct staff:child ratio, but if everyone is actually gossiping in the hallway (like one place I visited) then the children possibly aren't getting the attention they need.