Nursery tour tips

[firsttimemum889]

I am visiting nurseries with my 4 month old in march . Is my firstborn so i have no clue about what i should be asking /looking out for ? Any advise would be much appreciated !
He will be going when he is 11 months

Anyone ??

staff turnover.

Key person policy, some just do the paper work, others it's more involved and the keyperson does all of the nappy changes sits with their keygroup at meal times that sort of thing.

How many of the staff are qualified, how many are firstaid trained.

How do they plan for the children?

Is the learning journal paper or online?

What is included in the fees and what do you need to take with you.

How inviting is the baby room? We saw a couple of nurseries where the baby room was in the basement with less natural light than the older kids (usually where it was in a converted house).

What do they expect you to supply or pay extra for? Ours supplied nappies, did washing in case of accidents, and cooked their food on the premises, but I guess this is less likely to be part of the deal now, given funding issues.

When they are mobile enough, do the kids have free-flow (safe and level) access to outside areas? Are the outside areas varied (e.g. play equipment, grass, mud kitchen, shaded areas for summer)?

Do they take them out (e.g. to local park) during the day?

How flexible are they about drop off/pick up times? What is the charge if you are late?

Do the staff seem happy? How do they chat and engage with the children? How will they communicate with you about your child (we had a ‘daily sheet’, and the ‘learning journey’ folder, full of photos, came home a couple of times a year)?

firsttimemum889. I have worked in nurseries for 10 years now and am currently deputy manager at one. While the previous posters have provided some good questions the main thing that you should concentrate on are do the children look happy, clean and are they interacting with the staff. All nursery workers doing a tour will tell you what you want to hear - that they take the children outside, that they only eat home cooked meals, that their nappies are changed every 2 hours, that they follow and plan activities following the eyfs but I unfortunately know from experiences in other nurseries that this isn’t always true however you can always tell if the staff genuinely love their job by watching them with the children, yes the room and drop off times are important but the staff will ultimately be responsible for how happy your child is, hope this helps.

For me it was all about how the staff interacted with my child. We saw a couple that were in nicer buildings or had better outside areas but the staff at the one we chose were ace. So interested and genuine with my child. Couldn't be happier with my choice.