Nursery staff all over the place - how to approach nursery manager? Concerned

[StationeryNerd]

Hi, can anyone more assertive than me help advise how and what to say to our nursery manager? My usually happy 2-year-old who normally strides into nursery has been very unsettled and clings to me at drop-off since his beloved key worker left 3 weeks ago. They haven't yet replaced her. On top of that, sickness means they keep shunting staff between rooms and mixing the children up from the ones they're normally with. I've never seen him like this.
I pay £88 a day for this. And I sense it's always haphazard. Today, his new (but temporary) keyworker saw him in the car park area crying and clinging, and she never offered any soothing words or a hello. To me that's just weird? Why would you not say "Oh morning Bob, we've got lots of toys today, it's going to be fun!" ... instead she just ignored him as she arrived to work.

My mum friends say there's no point speaking to the manager because they're so obviously struggling like so many nurseries. And we have briefly mentioned it to the deputy and they all sort of shrug "we're still trying to hire."

What would you do? What's been your experience? Do we say something even though they're between a rock and a hard place? And if so - how would you frame it? Thanks

I think the car park thing is expecting too much. She hadn't started work, might well need her morning coffee in the staffroom before dealing with a whole day of kids (plus parents), especially when it's clearly a pressurised environment at the moment being understaffed and with staff sickness etc. As your friends say, they're clearly struggling, so that's not something to be assertive about - that staff should be going above and beyond at this point. I'd focus more on your DS being unhappy - if he's actually unhappy? He sounds unsettled which is a very normal reaction to things changed but as long as he's safe and enjoying it when he's there, it'll help him to deal with things changing, which is no bad thing. But you know they're on the case, have put a temp key worker in place, are trying to hire, are covering staff sickness. You can talk to them if your DS really is unhappy and you can look for alternative provision, but I'm not sure what being more assertive will achieve with them.

Unfortunately there is a childcare crisis. Settings are struggling to get staff across the country. It’s an underfunded and underpaid sector so many are leaving as they get paid more to work a checkout than they do caring and educating children.

the member of staff hadn’t even started work. Yes, it would have been nice if she had come over for a chat but perhaps she was very limited on time. She needed to get inside to welcome all the other children as they are clearly under staffed.

being assertive won’t help them hire more staff. I suspect that if you were to change settings then you would face this problem elsewhere too.

And we have briefly mentioned it to the deputy and they all sort of shrug "we're still trying to hire."

They're trying, they will know things are all over atm and trying their best.

The car park situation, whilst I know where your coming from as staff done this for us but they had started work.
She's probably dreading going in being understaffed etc.

Your DS reaction sounds pretty normal with a lot of change.

I wouldn't add further stress addressing this.

Childcare settings are so difficult, I really don’t know how they do it. Not diminishing you either, it’s not nice to pay fortune to send DD off in tears every day.

I wouldn’t think too much on the car park situation. She was probably dreading the day ahead and needed a coffee, or she thought her intervening would not help as she’s not particularly beloved or close to your child.

Hi, am looking for some advice. My son started at nursery 3 months ago ive had difficulty logging on the parent app to be able to see what my child is up to throughout the day. I have emailed at least 7 times about not being able to log in to the app and each time they have acknowledged my email but the problem hasn't been resolved. Invoices are paid on the 1st of each month and they never used to send them to me I had to ring up for them to send them which I was confused about, this month had been really busy with starting a new job and I hadn't chased them up for the invoice, i had a phone call last week and someone from the nursery told me as I hadn't paid the invoice for 7 days that a late fee of £50 would be added on the invoice. The invoice had never been emailed to me, got to the bottom of it and they had typed My email in wrong so their error which i feel as though Is not my fault as when writing thr application I always have had the same email and my writing is very neat so I don't understand how they could of got it wrong, and apparently if I do not pay it my childs registration will be terminated I asked them as it was their error would I still have to pay the late fees which they said I would. Gave them my email again and still they haven't sent through the invoice! Even though they have all My previously sent emails on their system. Am I being unfair to the nursery by not paying the late fees when j still have not recieved the invoice? Does anyone know how the registration termination works as if that's the case I'd rather them terminate his registration then pay the 2 months notice period, states on there contract that the parent app should be set up immediately which it wasn't and so they are not following there own rules on the contract so do I have to still follow the rules? I will be paying for the time he has been there but feeling like this is really unfair and there's been a few things that have put me off so I have found a different nursery and am hoping for my son to start there ASAP. Am I better of just allowing them to terminate my sons registration instead of paying the 2 months notice period in which he will not be there? Thanks

It's so tough isn't it? Every single nursery and childcare provider on their knees. Not enough funding or respect. It's such a hard and important job yet they're on a paltry wage.
I do think it's not black and white though. His previous keyworker was so warm, emotionally intelligent and gave feedback about his day. Now they basically bring him out with no notes and look stressed - and he's feeling it. I think it goes against what their service agreement is. Yes they're struggling but I don't think it's helpful not to say something. Their fee increased this month (basically profiteering off the Gov scheme) and they do have a duty of care. I want to find a middle ground where we respect their struggles and need to hire, but we also give feedback so they're aware of it. I'm just very shy and don't like confrontation

How can they hire staff when there are no staff to hire? I did 20 years of it and left because I was sick of working so hard for so little pay and with the cost of everything these days, I couldn't afford to keep doing the job.

The staff member in the car park hadn't even started work yet and she probably knew that it would have made no difference or made the situation worse if she'd gone over to you.

I had it plenty of times when I had a bond with a child and tried to help in that sort of situation but ended up making it worse for the child and the parent. The child ramped up their crying even more!

You would be best starting a new thread for advice

You can of course say what you are unhappy about. However what are your options? Are there other nurseries with spaces? If not then what will you do if things don't improve? If the issues are due to staffing then what?

I work in a nursery and there’s no way I would have come over to you in the car park. I would have felt it was over stepping massively and undermining you as a parent.. I would have been prepared for your child to come In crying and gone to get their favourite toy ready for when they started or something similar

I work in a nursery too and unfortunately we are hiring people that are not 100% suitable for the job. There are only 2 qualified staff left in my nursery now, the rest are made up of apprentices and agency staff.
The pay is low, hours are long, I still love my job and strive to be accommodating, nurturing whilst providing the children with the best possible outcome but the job has changed so much over the years

I fully get nurseries do pay their staff low wages however you are still paying £88 for your child to attend, you are paying for a service that is currently not great. I would totally say something. If you went out for food, waited ages for your food and for it to be cold would be it ok because waiting staff don't get paid well? No. The problem is with the nursery not necessarily staff, so it's something the owners/ management need to fix.

In terms of the car park I get it would have been nice but also she might have to clock in at a certain time so could have been late as a result, management might have also spoken to staff to not engage in the car parks etc so would let that one go.
I would speak with management to address your concerns and get some stability for your child.

My daughter was in a setting like this. It started off great and went downhill fast when a few experienced staff left. They were constantly shutting the rooms, staffing it full of agency staff who had no knowledge of the kids and there was no continuity with care plans etc. I gave it a couple of months to improve because my daughter had friends and finding somewhere else was a nightmare but I did move her and it’s only now that she’s in a great setting I realise how terrible the last place is. If you can find somewhere else I don’t think you’d regret it.

There’s a huge staffing crisis in early years, complaining about that would achieve absolutely nothing. They are probably acting stressed, because they are.

I also wouldn’t have approached you in the car park when I’d be seeing your child in the next 5 minutes anyway.