incident at sons nursery, i need advice

[jellyjelly]

Posted in nurseries/childminders as well but would appreciate your views too.

my son who is 3.5 yrs goes to state nursery every morning in the week. He started 4 weeks ago. Bit of background to the nursery, it is wellliked, graded gold star by ofsted. Good nursery to go to.

Nursery does training sessions for parents and the parents can put their children their in their creche for the training. Ds is allergic to eggs so i told them this on the training and said that he musnt eat eggs or anything with eggs in. anyway he was given a chocolate cake and they didnt relise till i asked how he had been, doing etc, eaten and they said they had given him an cake. When i said he shoudltn have eggs there faces changed.

Second thing and this is the bit that i am really annoyed about.

This morning took him all happy into his classroom when i returned i was greeted by an assistant who had a record book and in there was a form saying that xx fell through the grid in the pond, took a huge amount of comforting/tlc after he was found crying. Also said that they had given a lesson in pond safety.

They said and it isnt on the form that he was stuck. I saw his clothes (before i even knew what had happened)we extremely wet like almost machine wet with only a small amount of dry on them.

I kindof feel that they had been given a 2nd chance after the first one and now not sure if i should give them a 3rd and 2 mistakes have been made.

I really dont know what to do and i expressed concern at the welcome evening that a pond with a grid on might not be the safest but i was reassured that it was safe.

He ran to me when he saw me when i picked him up and i got the biggest scared cuddle ever.

Ps - am childminder so i know what they should be doin

Hi, have just read this, and am appalled.

I would definitely get a copy of the Accident Book entry, and I wouldn't let my daughter go back until I was certain that the situation was being treated with the seriousness it deserves.

IMO the way the Head spoke to you was totally unacceptable.

I would write a letter to the Board of Governers, enclosing a copy of the accident book entry, and telling them exactly what the Head said to you.

I would also contact the Local Authority (I think they deal with Health and Safety issues in schools, rather than the HSE) and copy the letter to the Head and OFSTED for good measure.

How dare people like this dismiss your concerns? And how do they get jobs looking after some of the most vulnerable people in society?

I do think that ponds can have an important place in childrens' education, but only if they are safe, and the children are well supervised at all times.

Good luck!

I am also appalled by this and the thing that I would not accept is not that the pond incident happened (he could have been part of a small group supervised actually looking at things in the pond, and slipped in), but that he was not being adequately supervised.

With a ratio of 1-4 he should have had a carer within pretty close proximity and obviously he didn;t.

When DS goes outside to play at nursery, each member of staff takes responsibility for a small group doing one activity (e.g. two staff members take e.g. 6 children on teh climbign frame, and the otehr takes 3 children to play with teh sand). They stand right with them in the play area. There is no way DS under those circumstances would get anywhere near a pond before someone noticed him.

The egg thing is also unacceptable.

"most get one leg stuck "
Oh,that's ok then!!
Her attitude stinks Hon.

Why is the grill big enough for a child's leg to get through it? We have a pond, and the grill has little sqaures of about 2-3cm's, certainly not big enough even for a child's foot/leg to get through.

jelly, sorry mate but I'm DISGUSTED in the way you have been spoken to by the head. That in itself would be enough to pull my ds out - they are trying to make light of really serious issues!!!

Have you phoned Ofsted for advice? If you don't want to report them now, you can always ask them what they think of the incident generally to start with.

Although I said earlier I don't like the idea of ponds, I would be ok if it was fenced off with a padlock so basically kept locked. I'd be ok with a very small group of children visiting the pond with a teacher, therefore being supervised, but the idea of a pond children can go to un-supervised worries me a lot!

I would certainly complain to some of the people mentioned in this thread and mention the way they've belittled you etc.

I personally couldn't go back after being spoken to like that!!!

Good luck whatever happens :)

I agree that you were spoken to very badly by the head. Her retort that it isn't day care is terrible. What is it then if it isn't daycare? He is being looked after during the day time - hence it is daycare. Anyway, that's irrelevant, the point is at what stage would they call you?

What a terrible way for the head to speak to you. Sounds like she is trying to make you feel guilty for something which is HER responsibility. You are clearly fulfilling your responsbility as a concerned parent by raising the issues - IMO most parents would not leave it and so far her and her nursery have got off lightly.

\link{http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1999/99000202.htm#17\The Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999 - 17(3)} states:
Every part of a school building and of the land provided for a school shall be such that the health, safety and welfare of the occupants in aspects other than those referred to in paragraph (1) are reasonably assured.

• Paragraph (1) refers to Fire -

While I am not a lawyer, I do feel that the school is in breach of this regulation - after all, their current risk accesment on the pond is unsatisfactory as a child has breached the safety grid. When writing to the LEA, Governors, Ofsted, etc... may be worth asking them how they feel they comply with this regulation in respect to having a pond, when they care for young children.

From what you write, it appears your son fell through the grid. The grid is therefore unsuitable, as it should not break or allow a child aged 3.5yrs to fall through it.

Looking through Ofsted reports, where there is a pond at a school/nursery/childminder, Ofsted often have safety concerns. While I appreciate there are arguments for having a pond, I feel that outings could be made to a local pond for educational purposes - it does not need to be on the school site.

It's the king of links again

I've just emailed JellyJelly in case she hasn't seen this! Not sure if she was planning to take ds back tomorrow?

thanks for that, i will be asking ofsted to go into to make a surprise inspection.