Staff turnover in nurseries

[Beveridge]

Just wondering if 4 staff members leaving the 0-2 section in 6 months is par for the course or unusually high (it's a small nursery)?

Bit worried about DD getting used to people who then leave, basically. And I understand that this was always a bigger risk with a nursery than a CM but I wasn't anticipating this much change for her in such a relatively short spell....

Hi Beveridge

Yes i personally think that 4 people in just 6 months is a bit on the high side and can be very unsettling to some children. I had the same problem with my childs first nursery, the problem we had was that nobody formally told us that the staff were leaving/left and each week i went in there appeared to be different members of staff which i found very confusing and unsettling and it was also the 0.2 months room my child was in which i think is in some respects even worse as the children are just starting out in nursery and need continuity.

I actually had to raise a complaint with the care commission about the nursery for various different things and it wasnt until the complaint was concluded that we were told just how many staff it was that left and joined over a small period of time, even the care commission themselves said that it was no wonder i didnt know what was looking after my child with all the different staff changes.

I think the important thing aswell is why the staff left ? But finding that out might not prove to be easy. The new nursery my child is in is so much different. The staff move up rooms with the children when they are moving to the bigger rooms so they dont find it too much too soon etc.

HI Beveridge,

4 staff leaving does sound alot, how many staff in the 0-2 section overall?

Have a chat with the nursery manager, it may be that they have had a run of bad luck ( for example a new staff member who turned out to be suited better to an older age group, one going on mat leave, one long term sick etc). This still isn't great but might reassure you that its not par for the course.

I am a nursery manager by the way.

It's not good and can be a reflection on the way the nursery treat their staff. On the other hand it could be that they've just had a run of bad luck with staff who've left because the nursery expects too much, in terms of high standards, of them.

I'd have a think about what your gut feeling tells you is going on and then go and have a chat with the manager. You may find that they've sorted some issues and things are much more stable from now on.

If it continues or is seen as acceptable by the management I'd look for a different, more stable, setting for your child.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, I definitely will discuss it with the nursery manager as soon as I can and take it from there. There's between 2-3 staff in the 0-2 section, depending on how many children are in that day.

There was never any formal notification of changes of staff and although I don't actually know why they left, I know it wasn't for reasons like mat leave or sick leave.

As you pointed out Al1son, in some cases it could have been because they weren't working to a high enough standard (although on a one-to-one basis with DD, they all seemed lovely) But I'm pretty sure this wouldn't have been the case for them all.

Apart from this, I've been really happy with everything else there and DD had settled in really well (and that took a while!).If it's a bad patch that's over, then I'm happy to keep her there but if this is going to be a regular feature then I would want her to be in a different setting.

We've had a bad run recently. 7 staff have left in the last year.
Most left to go to better paid jobs for less hours ie schools...... private daycare cannot compete with that.
A couple left simply because they realised how hard it is looking after other peoples children! Its hard work......
However my orginal staff are stillwith me some for 6/7 years and staff do come back after maternity. Although this does put strain on remainding staff without children as most often they cannot/will not work such long hours or do an early ie 0730 or a late ie 6pm so the others have to do longer shifts.
Some of our parents couldnt understand why staff were leaving but as i said if someone offered you a job for less hours but more pay youd take it.