Do yoU think these are REAASONABLE QUESTIONS TO ASK A NURSERY??????

[drosophila]

When you are checking out a nursery and you ask the usual questions do yo think these are reasonable to ask also:

• Do your staff get paid sick leave?
• Do your staff get paid holidays?
• Do your staff get more than the minimum wage ( You can expect a rise is fees if minimum wage goes up)?
• Do your staff get emergency leave?
• How do you address the ratios if staff cannot attend work?

Can you see where I am going with this? Happy staff = Happy kids

They'll think you're after a job

I agree with your happy staff - happy kids bit, but I don't think they are at libety to dicuss their employment obligations with you & would understnad them being quite taken aback at some of them, not least the wage one.

"How do you address the ratios if staff cannot attend work"

I do agree however that that is a valid question.

OK forget about the slaary one that is a bit cheeky but the others can have a direct impact on staff ratios etc...

Or could you ask how motivated teh staff are or how do you motivate the staff?

Staff turnover would also give an idea of what it is like to work there.

Yes I think I have sked that one and actually got an honest reply. I didn't choose that Nursery.

"Or could you ask how motivated teh staff are or how do you motivate the staff?"

That would be better, imo.

All employed staff are entitled to paid holidays so that is not going to tell you much. And all staff earning over a very low limit (that would only really apply to very very part time staff) are entitled to statuatory sick pay.

I would suggest that a more appropriate and revealing question would be how long the staff have been there for. If it is a small nursery, you could find this out about ech memebr of staff. If it is a large nursery, perhpas just ask about the staff in the room your child will be in. If they have high staff turnover, it is not a good sign. Althgouh turnover is high throughout the industry as a whole, a good nursery will be able to hold onto its key staff (particularly those in senior management) for a long time. All nurseries will have some turnover - and this is a good thing. However, it really should be limitied to just a few staff replaces others who have moved on for reasons such as starting a family, personal circumstances etc. Of they may have new staff due to an increase in the numbers of children attending. If on the otherhand, lots of staff are leaving to go to other nursery jobs, its a problem.

Also look at your area with regard to staff turnover (if you are near a military camp for example expect a high turnover of staff and children - nobodys fault)

Thanks for you r thoughts.

our staff keep leaving to have babies (how inconsiderate) ha
but 2 did return to work part time.

i pay my staff on a scale, nursery assistants on min wage then increasing on levels of qualifications or jobs eg nursery nurses and supervisors.
the wages for ALL staff get put up each year so the fees will go up regardless as you cant put up the min wage staff without putting up the others.
unfortunately if you have to pay all staff £10 an hour then the fees to parents would be massive..