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Nurseries

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Original poster

Is this normal????????!!!

13 replies

HeyBaby · 24/01/2006 18:07

My son was born in Sept 05 and I completed in an application form before he was born for a place in an Asquith nursery within walking distance from our home beginning June 06. They said they would contact me about 2 months before he was due to start to obtain deposit etc. All good ... or so I thought ...

They have now contacted me (January 2006) to advise that they can only offer me a place starting from August 06. I have already informally agreed with my employer that I will start work in June 06 and I really don't want to send my DS to a temporary nursery (if I can find one in this area!) or childminder just for 2 months. So now we are on a "waiting list" and they have advised that there are lots of people on the "waiting list" and we will be contacted if places arise. They couldn't tell me exactly where on the waiting list we were and just said that a lot of siblings have started and people on the waiting list have stayed on and there have been no "drop outs" from the nursery.

I just cannot believe that this is happening! We can't really afford for me to start work later (ie August) and we don't know if we can get temporary childcare from June to August. I am SO ANGRY about the whole thing. I had heard good things about Asquith but now I am wondering - is this normal procedure for a nursery or does it seem to be really unprofessional?

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starlover · 24/01/2006 18:16

i think it probably is normal. siblings always get priority... and they probably overbook because people drop off the waiting list (like airlines)
unfortunatley in this case not enough have dropped off... and like they say, there have been a lot of slblings.

SqueakyCat · 24/01/2006 20:09

When I was registering DS1 before he was born, the nurseries who would have the same problem as yours is were upfront about it - saying "we can't guaruntee a place until the September". I would be very cross IIWY if you'd been led to beleive a place was booked and it now disappeared. OTOH, if they hadn't committed to a place, then you should have known there was a risk it wouldn't be available.
Lots of places become available in Aug / Sept because of children leaving to go to school.
Not sure what you should do - if you really did think they'd committed to a place in June, then go with the paperwork and try to get something worked out with them.

BTW - what I did was use a different nursery that did have spaces. I then didn't move when the space became available in first choice nursery as DS had settled in. I deeply regret that decision as the 2nd choice nursery turned out to be not good. If you do use somewhere else in the interim, do think carefully where you'd like him to stay long term - he'll be there for years, worth settling in again.

nannyme · 05/02/2006 00:40

I don't know what ALL Asquiths are like, but the one I have just spent time in is so dreadful I am going to have to turn down any more temp work they offer me, on principle. Will consider filing some sort of report to Ofsted too.

Make sure you do lot sof research, just now the name Asquith sends shivers...

CountessDracula · 05/02/2006 00:42

so bin asquith and go for another nursery...

teacups · 05/02/2006 19:00

Nannyme, what problems have you experienced? My dd (age 10 months) goes to one and suffice it to say that we have had some interesting coversations with the manager where our views diverge. I'd love to hear about your experience from the other side

Moomin · 05/02/2006 19:05

HeyBaby - what about using a childminder for 2 months? If you get onto the govt. childcare site for your area you should be able to get a list of childminders. you can then ring them and find out if they do temporary places and visit a load until you are happy with one. They're much more flexible than nurseries in this respect. we're having to do this with dd2 as dd1's childminder can't take her until sept and we're so happy with dd1's childminder that it's worth the fannying about. it's only 8 weeks after all.

getbakainyourjimjams · 09/02/2006 09:38

Asquith sends shivers down my spine too. DS1 was treated dreadfully in one, we pulled him out without giving notice. Any chain nursery depends on the manager, so if you have heard good things about one, doesn;t necessarily mean than another one will be good.

seb1 · 09/02/2006 09:44

Before my DD1 was born we put her on the list for 5 nurseries, luckily we got her into the one we wanted but several of them only got back to offer her a place at her 2nd birthday as they were so full. So it is standard practice.

Marina · 09/02/2006 09:56

at the experiences of Asquith here, really sorry to hear this.
We do have issues with dd's Asquith nursery actually, but at head office level and to do with premises renovation. I am very angry with how HO are handling it because it is having an impact on the staff and the children .
The staff at our Asquith are almost all fantastic though, with several very long-servers and a low turnover. Dd has always been very happy there and so far we have no concerns.
HeyBaby, I think your local one must have fouled up VERY badly. We did not get sibling preference as ds had been to a different nursery, and had no problems getting a place for dd on the date we needed it. I am so sorry you have experienced this and no, it is NOT normal.
Nannyme, can you bear to be more specific about location? It is clear that Asquiths vary widely round the country, there have been threads like this before. Please DO contact Ofsted about your concerns, I am sure parents will be very grateful ultimately.

Marina · 09/02/2006 09:58

I was just thinking about you baka. If it helps at all I glower at the establishment in question every time I pass it on the bus
Funny how another just down the road can be overall really very good with SEN children as far as I can see.

bluebear · 09/02/2006 10:01

Totally normal for a nursery round here. I put ds's name down on loads of waiting lists (and you have to pay £30 to do that at a lot of them) - all of them took the money and said encouraging things - yes they were sure they'd have a space for 9 months time......only one of them actually had a space (luckily our favorite) - got mail from one of them not that long ago asking if we want to stay on the waiting list - and ds is now at school!

getbakainyourjimjams · 09/02/2006 22:00

aww Marina that's sweet. I guess they dind't know he had SN, although tbh he was easy peesy then, far easier than either of my NT children at that age. I know other mothers with chidren who were slow to say potty train had problems with them (and removed their children), so I guess they just wanted "tick the box" childen. I think the main problem was the manager- she was a cow.

Original poster

HeyBaby · 12/02/2006 17:06

Interesting info! Am wondering whether anyone has had bad experience with West Hampstead Asquith?

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