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Nurseries

Find nursery advice from other Mumsnetters on our Nursery forum. For more guidance on early years development, sign up for Mumsnet Ages & Stages emails.

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Original poster

Nursery not allowing me to view CCTV Footage

25 replies

LondonSuperTrooper · 07/09/2016 11:39

My DD has moved from the baby room to the toddler room recently. In the 3 weeks she's been there she has had about 6 accidents. She attends nursery 3 days per week.

She had an accident on a Thursday where she fell on her face & cut her lip on the corner of the wooden slide (she has recently started walking). The following Wednesday she fell again on her face and cut her inner lips and bashed her teeth on the edge of a chair.This last accident required a trip to A&E as her one of her front teeth has moved inwards. The nursery has CCTV but is refusing to allow me to view the accident footage stating the data protection policy.

All I want to see is how the accident occurred. Is there any possibility that they are fobbing me off? I just want to make sure that she is being supervised properly.

TIA

OP posts:

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JE678 · 07/09/2016 11:41

You have a right to view it. They can charge you up to £10 but you do have the right.

JE678 · 07/09/2016 11:42

Request it in writing and they have 40 days (I think) to provide it. I had to do this to get footage of a car accident.

Biglaugh · 07/09/2016 11:43

I don't think it is data protection. I think that is bullsh*t.
Some nurseries allow parents access to the CCTV all day by webcam so they can see how their DCs are.
Insist - and ask to see their Data Protection Policy.

Freezingwinter · 07/09/2016 11:44

I mean I think they probably do have to protect the other children BUT I would put the request in writing and maybe threaten Ofsted or something similar if no joy? I'd be quite suspicious of this actually. Hope your little one is OK!

lifeistooshort · 07/09/2016 11:48

They are not fobbing you off, allowing you access to the CCTV camera would potentially put them in breach of the data protection rules (if other children or adults appear in the frames) and in any event you haven't made a subject access request. But it would be a bit OTT generally for a parent to ask access to CCTV cameras

The question of supervision is different though, I would ask to speak to the room manager/nursery director to see what measures there are in place to safeguard your little one and ask what caused the accidents. Little ones can be quite accident prone. Having said that if you are not satisfied with the response/don't feel you can trust them with you little one's safety, you might need to reconsider your choice of nursery

JE678 · 07/09/2016 11:49

They are allowed to edit the footage to protect other children but your request is actually under the Data Protection Act!

Original poster

LondonSuperTrooper · 07/09/2016 11:53

Thanks for your replies. I did request to view the footage in writing. This was their response:

"My apologies for not getting back to you sooner regarding your request below. Unfortunately due to data protection we are unable to show you the CCTV footage of the two accidents as there are other children and staff in the footage. Our policy states:

6.8 There will be no disclosures of recorded data to 3rd parties other than to authorised personnel, such as the police, relevant children’s services and service providers to the nursery where these would responsibly need access to the data.

However I am able to provide you with a CCTV summary form which details the exact information form the footage. I will prepare this for you today and send it across to you as soon as possible."

OP posts:

Original poster

LondonSuperTrooper · 07/09/2016 11:54

Freezer, my DD is ok now, thank you.

OP posts:

Original poster

LondonSuperTrooper · 07/09/2016 11:56

JE678, so what do I do now? How can I request to view it?

OP posts:

lifeistooshort · 07/09/2016 11:58

I would say their reply is what I would expect and in line with Data Protection law. Their issue you see is that as their policy doesn't cover allowing access to CCTV to parents, the do not have the express consent of other parents/staff who might also be captured in the images for their sensitive personal data to be disclosed. Data protection is a difficult balancing act.

Having said that their offer to send you a transcript IMO makes them compliant.

This is purely from a data protection point of view though and not a judgment/reflection on the accident at all. Of course you should pursue this until you have satisfactory answers as to what happen to DC.

Hope this helps.

FoxesSitOnBoxes · 07/09/2016 12:00

It does seem a reasonable policy. What did their CCTV summary say? Are you concerned that they are lying to you about what happened?

UmbongoUnchained · 07/09/2016 12:03

I don't think I would be leaving my daughter there if she had 6 accidents, one resulting in A&E. If anything it just shows that they're not watching her properly or worse.

JE678 · 07/09/2016 12:06

No, a transcript is not enough. They should pay to have an external organisation obscure the other people in the footage. They cannot opt out of a Subject Access Request.

ico.org.uk/media/1542/cctv-code-of-practice.pdf

3boys3dogshelp · 07/09/2016 12:08

If she has only just started to walk it sounds as though she is just to young to move up to the next room yet. our nursery only lets children move to the toddler room once they are old enough AND very steady on their feet, ie walking well outside/on steps/with other children around them. The ratios are lower for toddlers than babies and the toddler room tends to feel a lot busier and more bustling. The staff are probably trying their best but can't be standing next to her all day. Can you ask for them to move her back for a while?

twoundertwowillbefun · 07/09/2016 12:15

If she's just started walking the number of trips and falls she'll have is generally very high until she becomes properly competent coupling that with bigger kids in the new room that she's probably trying to mimic sounds pretty standard. The staff can't catch her constantly as she also needs to 'learn' from the experiences. I think their response was pretty good in terms of Data Protection but if you have any underlining worries about their supervision then move her. Otherwise a good suggestion from a pp was to pop her back in her previous room.

MummaGiles · 07/09/2016 12:16

Agree that accidents like that aren't unusual when they start walking. It sounds like it has been unfortunate where she has 'landed' and it could have happened anywhere. Maybe it would be worth discussing moving her back to the baby room until she is steadier on her feet. My DS is 19 months, has been walking since April and is only just being transitioned to the toddler room. He came home exhausted yesterday after a visit to toddler room so I don't doubt it is much busier than the baby room.

lifeistooshort · 07/09/2016 12:26

OP if you want to pursue the CCTV route, you can always call the ICO and explain your request and the reply you got and they might be able to give you some helpful suggestions.

0303 123 1113

Ringadingdingdong22 · 07/09/2016 12:27

As 3boys said, sounds like she's not ready to go into the next room. I'd ask to speak to her keyworker or manager and discuss putting her back until she's more competent on her feet.

I think their response to your cctv request sounds genuine but I would not be happy with that many accidents in that period.

They've moved her too soon imo

Original poster

LondonSuperTrooper · 07/09/2016 12:45

Thanks for your replies. I have just emailed the nursery manager requesting to view the CCTV footage again.

I'm in middle of writing another email (the manager is usually not there when I do the evening pick up) expressing my concerns about how she's settled into the toddler room.

Don't think that I've mentioned that DD is 16 months.

OP posts:

nat73 · 09/09/2016 07:53

My son went through a terrible stage when he was about 22 months when he was constantly falling over and bashing his face. Almost daily. It was a nightmare. Gravel, grass, carpets it didn't matter... he didn't start walking til about 17months.
The nursery cannot hover behind every child all the time and tbh neither could you at home. However 6 accidents in 3 weeks sounds alot and you are right to be concerned.
I would take a positive approach and discuss with the key worker why it's happening. Could be she needs to get more steady on her feet before progressing to the toddler room. Toddlers can be pretty boisterous so she needs to be robust to other toddlers as well as her self.
Good luck I hope it gets sorted.

insancerre · 10/09/2016 07:47

What do you hope to gain from viewing the CCTV?

If it didn't exist you would have to trust the management and staff in their account

Sounds like you are hoping to see something that will discredit the nursery's version and or supervision of the children

Can you see why the nursery won't let you see it? I doubt its because they have anything to hide. The fact is the CCTV is there so they can monitor staff and children. Not so that parents can do the same

If you are not happy with the nursery, then take your child out

SoHereItIs2016 · 14/09/2016 17:55

OP when my son fell at nursery resulting in an chipped front tooth the Manager offered to let me view the video.

All parents know that their children will be recorded at nursery and will have agreed to this so I don't think the issues re data protection can be Applied in usual sense.

However as pp have stated you can make s subject access request if they insist and they will then have to either gain the permission of the other people in the relevant part if the video or get faces obscured.

I would hazard a guess your DD may not have been closely supervised and that is why the manager is reluctant.

insancerre · 14/09/2016 18:02

Its not just about the children though, the staff have rights too
Releasing CCTV of people when they can be identified is probably against the law
They could obscure their faces but it will be easy to identify the staff members

Imaginosity · 26/09/2016 08:46

My child attended what seemed like a lovely nursery with lovely staff. The CCTV showed things weren't what they seemed and children were being physically abused. Staff members were fired and the nursery was successfully sued by the parents, including by me. So it's possible your daughter is just having lots of accidents or it's possible she's not receiving proper care. I would want to see the CCTV for reassurance. Our nursery checked with the data protection commissioner and was told that we could view CCTV of specific incidents we were concerned about but could not just generally watch any part of the CCTV.

anotherdayanothersquabble · 26/09/2016 09:09

I am wondering if you can get your health visitor involved. Ours once said that if our children were taken to A&E they health visiting team would receive a report and could decide to visit us and determine what had happened. Could you approach your health visitor and ask them to request access to the CCTV footage?

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