Nursery Management. (Rant Warning)

[TiggyD]

I'm a bit frustrated at the moment and need a quick rant to let off steam!

A boss type decided we needed rubber matting on the floor by the water tray. They got some draw liner type stuff and put it down in several sheets. The floor was not slippy. It's a special non-slip floor. The rubber sheets curl up and are a tripping hazzard and mean you can't mop the floor properly. Sand gets under the mats causing the to slide about and it's hard to get rid of the sand because it sticks to the mats. The boss turned a non slippy area into a slippy, trippy area.

A head office type on a visit decided they didn't like the garden playhouse door being tied open. They said the children should be able to close the door and that a member of staff should be there all the time to monitor the playhouse. But, the only way you can see what's going on in the playhouse with the door shut is to be in it which means there needs to be a member of staff inside it, even when there's just one child playing in it. Do they think staff grow on trees?! On a ratio of 1:8, one member of staff looking after just one child means another is looking after 15.

Whenever a child gets hurt the usual response from the bosses is "Why was there no member of staff there?" If you add up all the areas the bosses have said a member of staff should be at all times, there should be more staff than children!

The bosses got some natural fibre baskets to put the water toys in because they look naice. The type of baskets that will rot if you put wet things in them such as, ooh, let me think....water toys!

Sometimes I wish there was a rule that all bosses should have to spend one month a year doing the job of the workers they're trying to manage.

the matting by the water tray seems ridiculous

but our nursery has several playhouses and the children are allowed to close the door. not sure why that would be a problem?

I take it you have let the boss type know about the mat problem?

Thisyesterday it needs careful monitoring after the poo in a hat incident.

I'm only supply, not full time staff, and any suggestion that the boss wasn't 110% right about the mats will be seen by her as a challenge on her authority.

Totally with you on the frustration here! Health and safety is obviously really important, but it would be great to be able to interact & work with the children beyond safety suggestions.

I think management forgets what it is like to actually be working in the rooms, so the practicality of the suggestions is often non-existant! I think a job swap would be a fantastic idea, I spent a few weeks working in the office with my boss on a project and quickly realised the rubbish she has to deal with as well, so a reminder for both boss & practitioner is needed at times.

The floor your on about are slippery when wet especially because the water just puddles and needs to either have towels on the floor or someone mopping every few seconds but the sheets your on about do not seem like they are very safe but we have bath mats on the floor which help and dont curl up because they are meant to get wet

Yes a playhouse door needs to close and the fact that it was tied open is not very child friendly as children should be able to close and open the door as part of there role play and a staff member does not need to be in the play house but near by interacting with other children keeping an eye on the playhouse encouraging the children to play nicely with each other and helping their role play continue with open ended resources

I have used wicker baskets for water toys for the past 4 years and as long as they are cleaned out as part of the general cleaning routine they are doing fine and working very well and are often used by the children as part of the water play area since the water falls out the basket differently than bowls, sieves ect so what kind of natural fibre are they as most fibre baskets are treated to prevented rot

The accident thing is perfectly reasonable because as the health and safety executor at work i have to justify accidents to riddor and after you hit a certain number you do more paperwork and it all goes on statistics for OFSTED and for the local council and the childrens center not to mention talking to parents about the accidents that have occurred and so you do not need a person everywhere but the people that are there need to be keeping an eye on more than one area even when doing activities with children i am always keeping an eye on another area as are other staff members