My child was left alone at nursery and I don't know what to do :(

[HelenwithaH]

Hi, I've just joined because I need a sounding board and I don't want to put this on Facebook (my relatives would freak out!)

My son is two and a half and is in nursery here in London part time. I was told this happened on Friday and I am dreading Tuesday when he is next in nursery. It was reported to me that they counted heads in the garden outside, came back in and had a toilet break, counted heads at the end of the toilet break and they were one short. My son had been left outside in the play tent. Now, he wasn't upset, was happily playing by himself, but the fact is that there is only a gate which does not lock (just a sliding latch) to the garden area and anything could have happened. The nursery manager said I could make a complaint, should I?

It's very scary.

What are the nursery doing about it?

I wouldnt complain if you are happy that the staff are being dealt with and they are looking at what went wrong and to making sure that it could never happen again.

You say they did a head count in the garden, was that while the children were playing or while they were lining up to come in? If they counted them in then he shouldn't have been missed, they should also have checked the garden after the children were in to make sure there was definetly no one left.

If you aren't happy with the nursery you can contact ofsted.

If you have lost trust in the nursery I would remove him.

its a positive that they've told you rather than try and cover it up. Maybe talk to them about what went wrong and what procedures they are putting in place to ensure it doesn't happen again, but basically i think it comes down to your gut feeling and if you would feel happy leaving in there in future.

note that if you do complain to ofsted the complaint is then available on website for anyone to see (altho it won't name names and won't be a copy of your actual complaint just an ofsted summary of it) but don't let this put you off if you feel it needs doing.

It's interesting that the nursery manager has asked you to make a complaint. Perhaps there are other issues that aren't obvious.

Often if there is a member of staff that doesn't do their job well (neglectful of duty) It can help with the disciplinary process if there are complaints from parents, for example. Or if they are short on staffing or are having loads of temporary staff who don't know the routine - it can really help get the owner or upper managements attention if a parent complains.

Could this be the case?

It might be worth writing down your feelings on the incident in any case. Hopefully the staff will be meeting about it & figuring out how it can be avoided in the future- it would be really helpful for the staff to hear your thoughts, so they can realise the potential seriousness of this.

Sometimes these things do happen

I am surprised that if they followed head count protocol that this did happen

Good points-

Full disclosure- they have told you all about it. Your dd is little he probably wouldn't have mentioned it.

Your dc was not upset- thank goodness.

Your dc was not harmed in any way.

The nursery worker has advised you that you are free to make a complaint- again this is good practice, you should know your rights.

Bad points-

Why was the count wrong? Was someone just following the routine but not paying attention?

Do they usually do a half baked job of important guidelines?

Will you feel that your dc will be safely looked after in the future?

Only you can decide.